We have said it many times and it is now commonplace. Thousands of workers are missing from the tourism sector. In fact, the hoteliers were the first to put to the Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis – two years ago – the request to import workers from third countries, presumably Asia. Yes!
“Pay”
But when in yesterday’s weekly report – which he has established… – Mr. Mitsotakis reaches the point of addressing the exhortation to the entrepreneurs of the tourism industry to “pay better”, what can you imagine? The obvious of course. That they don’t give good salaries, even though they themselves have been earning much more in recent years than in the past….
Minimum
But I also suspect something else. That this exhortation of the prime minister is not in vain. On the contrary, I believe that it is probably related to the discussions on the amount of the new minimum wage – which are ongoing – and to the complaints of employers, that if it is above a certain level – for example 4% – 5% – inflation will be burdened and various such . What will happen will be seen in the coming weeks!
Lots of vacancies
But let’s get back to the tourism sector. Mr. Mitsotakis typically mentions that “many vacant jobs also exist in the tourism market due to the high growth rates. The demand, especially for well-trained staff, is high in order to meet the needs of the industry to provide the best services to our country’s visitors as well as domestic travelers.” So good so far….
Rewards
And he adds “the problem is multifactorial, but it also has to do with the fees. I will repeat what I have said many times to employers in the industry: “pay better”. The data announced a few days ago by ELSTAT show that the turnover of businesses in the accommodation sector in 2023 recorded an increase of 10.1% compared to 2022, and catering services by 9.6% compared to the year 2022 »!
Political assistance
As you can see, he completely deconstructed what the employers in the tourism industry are saying about the possibilities of pay increases. For the prime minister to claim for himself the role of … Pancho Villa, you understand that he requires (!) political help from the businessmen in question to deal with the accuracy. And this because the specific problem tends to take on … existential characteristics for the government! 
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HERCULES
A few months ago, the management of the Greek cement industry HERACLIS had presented to the journalists the next strategic plans for its development.
Investment plans aimed at producing products with as low an environmental footprint as possible, the plans for activity in CO2 storage and a total investment program of 600 million euros were announced. 
HOLCIM
The Greek cement industry is known to be a member of the multinational building materials giant HOLCIM based in Zurich.
And so far the top management of Switzerland, I learn, seems satisfied with the management at HERACLES. After all, the growth rates of construction activity in our country, as well as of large infrastructure projects, are impressive. And the HERACLES cement industry has hit solid… jobs, such as the Hellinikon projects, the Amfilochia pumping station, etc.
Two days ago, the head of HOLCIM for Europe, Mr. Miljan Gutovic, was in Athens.
As I was informed, he also visited the HERAKLIS construction site in Elliniko, where he expressed his satisfaction both with the speed with which the first concrete fell on the Riviera Tower skyscraper and with the continuation of the concreting works of the so-called “green” tower.
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The ceiling
As is well known, the government, from the period of the pandemic until today, maintains the imposition of a maximum gross profit margin in many categories of goods and services.
In fact, after the explosion of precision, Megaro Maximos extended the “ceiling” to other products as well.
Its imposition may be aimed at containing the increases in the prices of basic goods that households buy for their living, on the other hand, it strains many businesses and several sectors.
The fuel
One such case is the liquid fuel sector.
The representatives of the large refineries themselves, as well as the oil trading companies and gas stations, have spoken about the effects of the ceiling.
The fuel sector is a special market – I am referring to Greece – as legal activities are threatened by the large and uncontrolled activity of smuggling.
Padlock
An executive at a petroleum trading company told me recently that the cap has greatly favored market abusers over businesses that insist either they don’t traffic in illegal fuel or they don’t tamper with… the gas station pumps.
What has happened;
A number of gas station owners cannot afford to maintain the ceiling on the gross profit margin and as a result they are asking the oil trading companies to terminate the lease contracts they have with them.
Simply put, they are unable to sustain their businesses and are returning the signs and gas stations to the companies.
FILE PHOTO: A person uses a petrol pump to fuel up a car, as the price of petrol rises, in Lisbon, Portugal, March 7, 2022. Picture taken March 7, 2022. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo
They sprout
And this is a trend recorded in the market.
However, there is another particularly worrying development in fuel retail.
Suspicious low-price gas stations are popping up all the time. Most carry independent marks.
In fact, an unofficial size is released. Until recently, these suspicious gas stations were estimated at around 300 throughout Greece.
Now, rough estimates say there are 600 suspicious gas stations….
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