9th Naftemporiki Shipping Conference-Economou: Greek banks have always supported shipping

Kostas Economou, General Secretary of the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping, spoke on the issue of shipping financing at the 9th Shipping Conference of “Naftemporiki”.

Asked whether Greek shipping raises money more easily from Greeks or foreigners, Economou commented: “The Greek banks and I would say the Cypriot banks, because they are together and that is how we treat them and that is how they are reported, have supported Greek shipping over time, even in difficult times.”

“When German and other European and American giants collapsed, Greek banks continued, which is a sign of progress despite the crisis.”

“Today, therefore, of the 53.5 billion that Greek shipping has, 35% has been lent by the cluster of Greek banks,” he added.

Referring to extroversion, he said that “extroversion for us was a very important part that we wanted and supported. Two years ago we seized the opportunity offered by China, which invited entities like us, to have an office and a delegation in China”.

“Same efforts are currently being made and same discussions are taking place for a similar initiative with the United States, but also with a corresponding European cluster,” he added.