Today, the former minister and member of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA, Mr. Giannis Ragousis, found himself outside the presidential line in the case of the 5th banking pillar. In statements to the television station OPEN, he supported the need to approve the recent Shareholders Agreement between Thrivest and HFSF for the restructuring and merger of Attica Bank and the Pancretan Bank.
As Mr. Ragousis emphasized, this is a very serious issue for the economy and the Greek people. He explained that failing to approve the restructuring agreement and the creation of the 5th banking pillar would be tantamount to having 2 Greek “Lehman Brothers” and would cause similar damage to the foundations of the banking system and the Greek economy.
“With the sole guideline of the interest of the Greek people, the depositors of these banks, as well as other banks, and also with the interest of the employees and generally the Greek economy in mind, I can clearly tell you that this is an agreement that – especially a party that has governed and wants to govern again – cannot, in my opinion, lightly enter into a sterile oppositional logic and reject it,” noted the former minister.
Mr. Ragousis clarified that he had expressed his position at the last meeting of the Political Secretariat of SYRIZA. He added that, having closely followed the discussion regarding the ratification of the HFSF – Thrivest Shareholders Agreement that took place in the Committees of the Parliament, he did not identify any element that undermined the significant importance of this agreement.
Moreover, he characterized the agreement as beneficial and expressed his hope that SYRIZA would not vote against it.
“The SYRIZA rapporteur, Mr. Karameros, did not say that SYRIZA would vote against it, but stated that they reserve judgment for the plenary. I want to hope that SYRIZA will not vote against it,” he concluded.