indications that rather interesting developments
are afoot – most importantly, the fact that,
apparently, more and more people believe that
the exit from the crisis will be achieved through
the change of the growth model, the increase of
private sector activity and a shift towards pro-
duction.
This view is compounded by the recent decisions
by multinational groups, which operate in various
sectors, mainly chemicals and tobacco, to rein-
state or enhance their production lines in Greece.
The latest good news from the manufacturing
sector include the decisions reached by multina-
tionals Elais Unilever, Henkel and Philip Morris
Papastratos. Unilever was the first to announce
the outsourcing of 110 of its product lines to
Greek industries (Famar, Plias Papoutsanis etc.).
Next came Philip Morris Papastratos, which
invested €3 million for the creation of a new pro-
duction line that will cover new needs arising, not
only in the Greek, but also in foreign markets.
Henkel, also a multinational, followed suit by
announcing that it will reinstate its detergent pro-
duction on Greek soil, following a deal with Rolco,
one of Greece’s historic manufacturers.
The first deals
For the heavy industry sector, which has been
facing an unprecedented crisis mainly as a result
of the steep drop in domestic demand, the year
2013 seems to start with relatively good portents.
This, at least, is suggested by the first deals
struck, or about to be completed, by the big
names of Greek manufacturing. The first agree-
ment was signed as soon as January 3, and con-
cerned “Aluminium of Greece”, one of the flag-
ships of Greek industry, which secured a contract
for the sale of 75,000 tons of aluminium to
Glencore, the Swiss multinational, for a total of
$200,000,000. The aluminium that will be pro-
duced in the Greek plant will be distributed in
European and American markets from January
2013 to June 2014. Principally an exporter,
“Aluminium of Greece” boasts a value added of
more than 80% in the final exported product.
There are also positive prospects for industries
that manufacture specialty products, such as
cables and conductors, whose demand has
increased thanks to the new infrastructure proj-
ects. This category includes two industrial com-
panies that produce high voltage cables: Hellenic
Cables, a member of the Sidenor (Viohalco)
Group, and the Greek subsidiary of Nexans, the
French multinational giant. Recently, the
Independent Power Transmission Operator
(IPTO), announced the plan for the development
of new transmission systems in the forthcoming
years. According to this plan, three giant projects,
concerning the interconnection of the Cyclades
and Crete with the mainland, as well as the inter-
connection of Cyprus with Crete, are being given
the go-ahead. The first contract is expected to be
awarded later in the year and will amount to €250-
400 million, depending on the final solution that
will be chosen for the routing of the transmission
line. The interconnection of Crete is expected to
be realized by 2015, at a cost of about €900 mil-
lion to €1 billion. It is directly linked to the Crete-
Trade with Greece
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