Loading ...Russia To Offer Greece New Loans, Gas Price Discount
While Greece spent Easter weekend (not Orthodox Easter that is)assuring the IMF (the “institution”, not the critical third member of the Troika that shall not be named) that the €450 million payment due to Christine Lagarde’s “institution” will be made despite Greece officially (rather than just unofficially) running out of money and being forced to prioritize repaying its creditors over paying wages and pensions, its Prime Minister is currently evaluating what the Plan B will be when he visits Vladimir Putin tomorrow, one day ahead of the double Greek deadlines of IMF payment and cash running out.
As FT reports, “when Alexis Tsipras visits Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin on Wednesday there is a chance the Greek premier’s eastern manoeuvre will immediately bear fruit: kiwis, peaches and strawberries to be precise. Athens is hopeful that Moscow will lift a retaliatory ban on Greek soft fruits to demonstrate the abiding strength of Russo-Greek relations, just as both leaders feel a diplomatic chill with Europe over the Ukraine crisis and Athens’ bailout saga respectively.”
Of course, every Greek request for a concession “quid” will be met with a proportional Russian quo, and it is this that worries European diplomats – namely will the Putin-Tsipras gladhanding amount to something more significant than fruit trade. “The big fear, in the words of one suspicious senior official, is a “Trojan horse” plot, where Russia extends billions in rescue loans in exchange for a Greek veto on sanctions — a move that would kill western unity over Ukraine.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-07/russia-offer-greece-new-loans-gas-price-discount