Foreign Policy 2017 07-08

JULY/AUGUST 2017 the culture clash issue Blackness, Belonging, and Discrimination in BRAZIL An American Soap Opera Offers Safe Haven in RUSSIA Racial Tensions Boil Over in INDIA How Pop Culture Threatens Philosophy in GERMANY



contents 07|08.2017 Departments Features Voices 005 046 080 APERTURE The Many Shades of BEST DEFENSE The Shaman Masters of Maíra Mutti Araújo Hohhot Have Returned We Are (Still) Living In a country famous for its egalitarian melting pot, in an Orwellian World photographs by KEN HERMANN one woman’s struggle with race-based quotas raises difficult questions about blackness and by THOMAS E. RICKS 014 belonging in Brazil. THE THINGS by CLEUCI DE OLIVEIRA 082 THEY CARRIED 054 SHADOW GOVERNMENT The Afghan Field Medic Santa Barbara Forevah! What Would America Do? interview by MAIJA LIUHTO How an American soap opera became a safe haven for Russians during the chaotic 1990s—and why by DEREK CHOLLET 016 it explains how they feel about the United States now. AND JULIANNE SMITH by MIKHAIL IOSSEL THE EXCHANGE 084 062 Can Stories About PERSONAL NOTE Food Upend Familiar Out of India For the Love of Narratives of War? A wave of brutal violence against visiting college Welsh Rarebit students from Africa has forced India to examine 018 its racism problem. by CHERYL LU LIEN TAN THE FIXER by PAMPOSH RAINA 003 Out and About in 070 Contributors Harare, Zimbabwe 112 Pop Goes German The Final Word interview by SIMON ALLISON Philosophy 020 With their TED Talks, TV shows, PASSPORT and runaway best-sellers, a new generation of celebrity The Diplomacy of philosophers has made German Dog Walking in Russia philosophy more popular than ever. But are they ruining it in the by AMIE FERRIS ROTMAN process? by STUART JEFFRIES Farewell, Lebanon’s First Brewery by DAVID KENNER The Elephant in the Comedy Club by KAVITHA SURANA Happy Birthday, Marie Jana Korbelova by EMILY TAMKIN Illustration by OLAF HAJEK; Cover photograph by KEN HERMANN

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contributors 07|08.2017 REZA ASLAN Pamposh Raina Cleuci de Oliveira is a writer, commentator, professor, producer, is a New Delhi- is a journalist based and scholar of religions. His books, which based journalist. She in Brasília, Brazil. include Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus reports on a wide She has reported of Nazareth and No god but God: The Origins, variety of topics— on Brazilian politics Evolution, and Future of Islam, have been covering politics, and crime for translated into dozens of languages around policy, women’s Portuguese and the world. As Aslan told FP for “The Final issues, and child English-language Word” (p. 112), he believes Islam does not clash rights. She has been publications. Her with American culture because the two are a staff reporter with work has appeared inextricably linked. And though the American the New York Times in the Guardian, the Muslim community may be relatively small, he and AFP in India. Huffington Post, and says, it is incredibly diverse and quickly growing Her work has NPR’s Latino USA. into “one of the most dynamic young religious appeared in News Before relocating communities in the United States. A community Deeply and Women to Brazil, she was that is becoming something completely unique.” in the World, in an editor at Latin association with the America News New York Times. Dispatch. ASLAN: LITTLE ROOM; DE OLIVEIRA: LUIZA OLIVEIRA; IOSSEL: CHANAN TIGAY Mikhail Iossel, Sofía Bonati the Leningrad-born was born in Argentina author of the story to a family of artists. collection Every She began her career Hunter Wants to as an illustrator when Know and co-editor she moved in 2013 of the anthologies to the United Amerika: Russian Kingdom, where Writers View the she lives with her United States, husband and two and Rasskazy: children. Using New Fiction from watercolors, gouache, a New Russia, is ink, and pencil, she a professor of creates a feminine English and creative and surreal world writing at Concordia of portraits and University in nature. Her work Montreal. Back in the has appeared in Soviet Union, he was Vanity Fair France an engineer and a and Womenkind samizdat writer. magazine. FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 3

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aperture photographs by KEN HERMANN The Shaman Masters of Hohhot Have Returned The confrontation of spirituality and industrial cityscape bridges Inner Mongolia’s past and present.

aperture THERE IS A SPECIAL BASEMENT ROOM at a clinic leadership role. In fact, many Mongolians has long struggled with unemployment. in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, where shaman believe Genghis Khan possessed shamanic Some, like Bai Aolao, practice in urban master Bai Aolao goes to contact the spirit capabilities. sprawls, where grocery stores and high- world. Enclosed spaces are preferable to ways converge with shaman-run clinics. the outdoors because in rooms like this one, Shamans were persecuted in Mongolia he can more easily contain the spirits he after the rise of communism there in the Photographer Ken Hermann captured summons to heal the patients. 1920s and in Inner Mongolia by the Chi- this confrontation of spirituality and street- nese government under Chairman Mao scape when he traveled to Hohhot in the Bai Aolao is one of the many shaman Zedong; shaman culture dwindled for close summer of 2016, setting the age-old sha- healers still practicing in northeastern to a century. In the 1990s, after the Demo- man tradition against the backdrop of China. Patients seek out care to help cratic Union ousted the communist regime industrial China. ease their physical ailments or mental in Mongolia and China’s Communist Party demons. This ritual healing involves adopted less stringent oversight of sha- Along with their colorful robes and evoc- dancing, chanting, and spitting rice wine. manic practices, they began to resurge. ative ritual dances, Hermann observed sha- For centuries, Mongols hailed shamans mans as they nursed patients with broken as sages and sorcerers of medicine, The rebirth of this traditional practice bones and open wounds. But Hermann nature, and religion—some even claim has contributed to a kind of recovery of a noted a key element. “If you want to get they can speak to the dead. In Mongolian lost history, becoming not only a source of cured by a shaman, you have to believe culture they always have played a unique regional pride but also an avenue of profes- in it yourself,” he said. “You really need sional opportunity in a Chinese state that to believe in it.” 6 JULY | AUGUST 2017

Lidafula, 46, a shaman master standing in front of a demolition site in Hohhot, wears a garment with red snake ornaments crawling out from its folds. Bai Aolao, a 45-year-old shaman master who has been practicing for more than 30 years, beats his drum in front of sprawling residential buildings, most of which are empty, on the outskirts of Hohhot. Although the city is home to almost 3 million people, many of its apartments are uninhabited, representing a larger problem brought about by China’s building boom. PREVIOUS PAGE Shaman master Bao Kaihua, 46, stands under a highway on the outskirts of Hohhot. Traffic there is rarely an issue because of the number of roads the Chinese government built, Hermann said. She is wearing her own dress and armor. FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 7

aperture 8 JULY | AUGUST 2017

Bai Aolao gave Hermann a rare glimpse of an outdoor ritual— chanting and humming for more than half an hour before he entered into a state that caused him to almost vomit and foam at the mouth. This left him completely depleted, collapsed on the ground, his face covered with sweat. He told Hermann that it was the second time he had ever “crossed over” in the outdoors. Bao Kaihua stands in an empty parking lot. FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 9

aperture Buren, 49, runs the hospital where Hermann photographed some of his subjects. Now a shaman master, he came from a poor family and studied martial arts before he discovered the craft. He bangs his drum in an empty alley behind his hospital. Lidafula stands outside a Hohhot demolition site. 10 JULY | AUGUST 2017



aperture Fenglan, 45, looks at the camera Eledenfbala, one of Bao Kaihua’s students, sits in a hospital room as she pulls her hand through the wearing his traditional shaman clothing. To his right is Manda, who tassels on her helmet. connected Hermann to all the shamans in the area, smoking a cigarette. Hermann said it was easy to pick out the students during rituals. “It didn’t Bao Kaihua stands in front come as naturally to them,” he said. The students shuffled about, banging of an old shop that survived the instruments and chanting, as the masters endured seizurelike convulsions, country’s reconstruction campaign. spitting and sweating as they connected to the spirit world. 12 JULY | AUGUST 2017

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the things they carried by MAIJA LIUHTO 1 2 The Afghan Field Medic Waisuddin 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 Oropharyngeal Suture kit IV set Arm sling / Chest seal Tourniquet airway triangular This is for If someone is bandage When someone This is the most If the injured someone who dehydrated or has a bullet wound important item soldier cannot has a wound that losing a lot of blood This is used in the chest, this in my bag. When breathe, this tube requires stitches. we give them this to hold a broken covers the wound there is heavy is put inside the It has all the items solution to keep arm in place or so air will not get bleeding due to a throat to help for sewing wounds. them hydrated. It when someone has inside and cause bullet or shrapnel provide oxygen. It It is needed quite contains water, a head wound; it a lung to collapse. wound, or a mine keeps the airway often, whenever glucose, different can be a bandage This is also needed blast has cut open. This is there are injuries. kinds of salts, and to wrap around for deep shrapnel someone’s leg off, for situations so on. I sometimes the head. Every wounds in the this needs to be when a person is use the solution soldier carries one chest. applied. unconscious. to clean wounds of these—even the as well. cooks. 14 JULY | AUGUST 2017 Photographs by IVAN FLORES

58 9 PROPELLERS WHIR IN A DESERT outside Kan- 6 dahar, Afghanistan, taking off and landing to transport Afghan soldiers to and from the battlefields of the almost 16-year war against the Taliban. Waisuddin, 22, who, like many Afghans, goes by one name, serves as a medic when he’s not fighting on the frontlines. From under the sleeve of his Afghan army uni- form, a long burn scar stretches toward his wrist. “There was a mine blast a year ago,” he 9 says. “Two of our soldiers were injured badly. Then I saw my own arm—it had been burnt, but not too badly. So I helped the others first and then took care of myself.” 7 10 Waisuddin, who enlisted at 17—a year younger than the age required by a law that often goes ignored—carries his M5 bag of first aid supplies wherever he goes, stav- ing off suffering and death while awaiting transport for the wounded. He says when there is too much fighting, he and his team have to wait for the injured to be evacuated. Up until the drawdown of international troops in 2014, the United States provided medevac support to the Afghan forces. Now, strained by ceaseless 7 8 9 10 casualties, the Afghan army must survive mostly on its own. Medical kit Cervical collar Bag valve mask Scissors Recently, Waisuddin remembers, “A This contains It has only When someone Usually the injury young soldier had been shot in the eye the essentials happened three is not able is underneath the by the Taliban. The bullet was still inside, for treating or four times that to breathe— uniform. I cut the and he was conscious.” He gave him fluids wounds in the I have needed to or breathe clothes off with and an injection to stop the pain and then field. There are use this. It is meant properly—I have the scissors. They brought him to a clinic. But he does not bandages, iodine for situations to put this mask on also have another know the man’s ultimate fate. When the for cleaning when someone has their face and start function: to injured are evacuated, Waisuddin returns wounds, an broken their neck. squeezing the bag remove extra tissue to the field. oropharyngeal The collar is tied to give them air. from limbs that are airway, and around the neck to severed in mine “It’s all in God’s hands,” he says. adhesive bandages. support it. blasts before they are bandaged. FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 15

the exchange interview by KAVITHA SURANA Can Stories About AC: I remember when I first had the idea for Food Upend Familiar my book, Day of Honey. It was 2005, and I was standing at the kitchen sink, and I had Narratives of War? all these different kinds of wild greens that they sell in the markets in Beirut. I thought, “What if people wrote about Lebanon the way that they write about France? What if they wrote A Year in Provence, but in Leb- anon?” Why don’t we write about Lebanon or countries in the Middle East the way we write about Italy or France? But you do need the yin along with the When it comes to conflict, culinary traditions and cultural passions yang. When a country is subjected to con- are considered lighter fare—often ignored in coverage of war and flict, you can’t ignore that. the communities it displaces. But journalists ANNIA CIEZADLO and DALIA MORTADA use food as an entry point for their reporting on the DM: It’s kind of like sneaking in the broccoli. violent upheavals of the Middle East and the people they affect. You’re sort of bringing people in from an Ciezadlo moved to the region in 2003 and covered wars in Beirut and angle that they wouldn’t ordinarily asso- Baghdad. Her memoir, Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and ciate with conflict and with very heavy War, raises the kind of civilian concerns that are “almost always subject matter. erased” in conventional narratives about the Middle East. Mortada, an American journalist of Syrian heritage, uses her connection to the AC: I always joke that my idea was to trick culture to tell stories through the lens of cooking. As the Syrian Americans into reading about the Middle refugee diaspora has grown in recent years, she has focused on East in a humanized way. I definitely got a “documenting the Syrian kitchen in exile” with a recipe-collection lot of pushback. Back in 2007, I was writing project, Savoring Syria. Here, the two writers discuss how cuisine can an article about Iraqi refugees for Saveur humanize people whose lives are being disrupted by war—and why magazine. And I called UNHCR [the United stories of cooking and culture demand to be heard. Nations refugee agency], and they got really angry, and the guy said, “Well, you know we don’t want you to write about refugees ANNIA CIEZADLO: Covering food was a great way to talk as people who have food. You know, that’s about civilian life during wartime—a way to say, “Hey, really wrong and bad of you, because we people are doing other things than just dying here.” want to present them as people who don’t Americans usually only see the Middle East in con- have food.” I tried to explain to him, “Right, flict. But this is a place where people do have actual but the idea is to present them as human lives. Because, actually, it isn’t normal for them to be beings who have pasts and mothers and in a state of constant violence. favorite foods and are trying to keep their lives together.” It made me think, “Wow, if DALIA MORTADA: I totally agree with that. I moved to he’s this angry about the idea of refugees the region in 2011 with the expectation that I would being written about this way, I’m proba- live in Damascus and report on Syria the way that we bly onto something.” Honestly, I think he see articles on France and Spain and Italy—these sort believed, “We want refugees to be seen as of very nuanced pieces that show these countries as suffering victims—people we are helping— whole societies that aren’t just wrapped up in turmoil. and not as people who can do things them- I wanted Syria to be a whole place because I loved it so selves.” Unfortunately. CIEZADLO: JANINA CIEZADLO deeply. That’s where my family’s from; it’s something I was always proud of. I grew up during the Bush years, DM: I’ve had a similar experience, especially during which Syria was almost considered part of the when it comes to larger NGOs or these “axis of evil”—it was thought to be this dark, scary place. larger aid organizations. Because for as And it’s absolutely not. It’s so much more than that. much good as they do, there is a self-ful- 16 JULY | AUGUST 2017

ANNIA CIEZADLO DM: When my mom and I moved to the United States in the 1990s, when fax machines were a thing, I remem- filling prophecy: The aid organizations sort ber sitting for hours waiting for my grandmother’s of fear that if we don’t depict people purely Syrian recipes to come through from Spain, where she as victims, others, like donors, won’t think was living at the time, so that my mom could make that these people deserve help, deserve them far away from her mom. We have this notebook donations, deserve anything. And I don’t of a bunch of my grandmother’s recipes transcribed, buy into that at all. and it’s definitely helped drive, on a very personal level, my learning about where my family comes from. AC: This gets to the core of the idea of how Because my family on both sides was in Syria for hun- you depict people, right? If you have a pho- dreds of years, and I didn’t know much about them tograph of someone who is doing noth- until recently. ing but suffering, it actually makes you turn away. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t AC: Part of the reason why I wrote about food was depict suffering, but depicting people as because, as a woman, it’s very, very hard to sell stories only suffering can sometimes cause view- about war. They’re not taken seriously, often when you’re ers to turn away, especially if they feel like pitching them as a woman. I started writing about food there’s nothing that they can do. because I said, “OK, if I’m not going to be taken seri- ously as someone who writes about economics or war One thing about the power of meals is crimes or things like this, then I’m going to say, ‘Screw that they can upend hierarchies. This year you,’ and I’m going to write about these things through I was in Athens, and I was talking to a ref- the vehicle of food.” I was in Beirut in 2008 when the ugee from Cameroon. And the more we food prices had spiked, and I’d seen bread riots. That’s talked about his situation, the sadder he the sort of thing you are aware of if you pay attention became, and so finally I just said, “Hey, to women and to mundane activities like making din- tell me about Cameroonian food.” And his ner that are also an enormous part of the public sphere. face lit up. If they’re sharing food, people feel like they have something important to DM: We need to look at women more and the work DALIA MORTADA share. One of the things that sucks the most about being a refugee is that people are that they do. And we need to codify that. Starvation FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 17 constantly giving you things. You’re con- stantly this object of charity. Are you sup- as a weapon of war is something that needs to be cov- posed to be grateful? To be able to say, “Hey, you have this thing that’s beautiful and ered more deeply, too, because it is a collective pun- valuable that you can give other people,” is often one of the things that they really ishment on civilians. want. I think that there’s a specific context for food sharing and hospitality. It can be These methods specifically target the weakest of something of an orientalist trope, but this idea is also grounded in a specific history. the weak. The people who go first are the weakest. It’s something that’s more or less accepted: “Oh, well, it’s war. What do you expect?” But that’s wrong. You shouldn’t expect people to starve to death or to be brought to their knees and forced to declare what- ever it is they have to declare to be able to survive- and in order for their children to be able to eat. It’s an accepted part of conflict, and it should never be a part of conflict. Q Kavitha Surana is a fellow at FOREIGN POLICY. This conversation has been condensed and edited for publication.

the fixer interview by SIMON ALLISON Harare, Zimbabwe Columbus Mavhunga on where to overhear the juiciest gossip, find the tastiest goat stew, and see views that rejuvenate the soul. FOR THE CAPITAL of what is supposed to be a in their isolated mansions—have learned WHERE TO RELAX crumbling state, Harare sure doesn’t look to fend for themselves. Government ser- the part. Its streets are calm and wide, its vices like power, trash collection, and water ON THE WEEKEND suburbs dotted with tea gardens in the and sanitation are nice—when they work— shade of purple-blossoming jacarandas. but in their absence self-sufficiency is key. The cash-strapped middle The central business district, where many Wealthy residents of spacious, leafy suburbs, class can’t afford nice of the streets are named after iconic Afri- known locally as the “low densities,” install restaurants anymore, so they can leaders, boasts a number of tall build- generators for power and drill boreholes for drive to MEREKI instead. It’s ings and is generally considered safe. water. The poor, who live in the “high den- a large, open space where sities,” must make do with open fires and someone will bring juicy cuts But under the serene facade, all is not communal taps. of beef or chicken and grill as it should be in Zimbabwe’s largest city, them to order. Other vendors which is home to about 1.5 million people. Fixer Columbus Mavhunga often plays will bring vegetables, beer, It would be even more populous if many tour guide for visiting journalists. His cheap CDs, and even herbal of the country’s best and brightest hadn’t advice: “Harare might look like a normal aphrodisiacs. Tailgating, moved across the border to find jobs in city, but the same rules don’t apply. Being Zimbabwe-style. South Africa. right doesn’t get you anywhere. You have to chill, you have to bend a bit, and remem- WHERE TO EAT Anxious to escape President Robert Mug- ber that people just want to be respected.” abe’s dysfunctional and autocratic regime, Head to GARWE for traditional which has stifled economic growth through Zimbabwean food served endemic corruption and a disastrous mon- under a thatched roof. Garwe etary policy, hundreds of thousands of Zim- means crocodile in Shona, babweans from all walks of life have left the although that isn’t on the menu. country since its political troubles began in Try the excellent goat stew earnest in 2000. But Harare’s residents— with unrefined sadza (maize from the street vendors hustling at busy porridge) instead. intersections to the ruling party bigwigs 18 JULY | AUGUST 2017

WHERE TO HEAR LIVE MUSIC WHERE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL Clockwise from top left: LOGISTICS Fixer Columbus Mavhunga; Oliver Mtukudzi, the Afro-jazz When I’m feeling down—and a stir-fried chicken dish TIPPING icon and Zimbabwe’s most sometimes you can’t help it in known as “Road Runner”; famous musician, established Zimbabwe—I go to the KOPJE. a monument to mark the Tipping isn’t the PAKARE PAYE ARTS CENTRE This is the granite hill where height of the area set when standard, but leave at his home on the outskirts the infamous industrialist (and the Kopje was founded $1, or maybe $5 if of the city. Expect live colonialist) Cecil John Rhodes in colonial times; the the service was performances from up-and- organized the settlement of Fort view of Harare from the really great. I try to coming Zimbabwean musicians Salisbury, laying the foundation Kopje; a statue honoring share, but none of and comedians. If you hang for modern Harare. The fort Zimbabwean superstar us has much cash. around long enough, Mtukudzi no longer exists, but the views Oliver Mtukudzi depicts him himself will probably pick up from the top of the hill are still playing a guitar as a nzou NIGHT OUT his guitar. fantastic. It’s good for the soul to (elephant), which is his rise above the hustle and bustle. totem; Mavhunga at Mereki; Harare can be an WHERE TO OVERHEAR and the lobby of the Rainbow expensive place to WHERE TO STAY Towers Hotel. have fun. A night of POLITICAL GOSSIP drinking can set you Visiting heads of state stay at back $50, easy, and The SAPES TRUST is one of the RAINBOW TOWERS HOTEL. Vice add $20 for food. Harare’s few think tanks. But President Phelekezela Mphoko don’t worry if you miss its lived here for 19 months in STRANGEST REQUEST infamously heated panel a $1,000-a-night suite while discussions, because you’ll searching for an official In 2008, as learn more over a few Zambezi residence that matched his Zimbabwe’s lagers at the on-site bar than in stature. economic crisis a week of chasing interviews. was at its worst, a Swedish journalist Photographs by STEVEN CHIKOSI demanded that I find him families that were too poor to bury their dead. I went to morgues, I went to funerals, before finally finding what he wanted. But chasing dead bodies is not respectful, and I won’t do it again. GETTING AROUND Harare is small, so you can often walk between venues if it’s not too hot. The city is generally safe, even at night, although if you are white, you’ll be more vulnerable because you can’t blend in. TOP TIP Make friends with a bank teller. They’ll tell you when ATMs will be resupplied so you can beat the hourslong queues. FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 19

passport The Diplomacy her children has become her life. She doesn’t speak any Svetlana and her of Dog Walking English, only Russian, but “language doesn’t matter,” sister Lyuba take in Russia she tells me. “Dogs are like babies. They automatically their canine charges know when someone is a good person.” for an afternoon walk Meet the woman in Moscow caring in Moscow. for the U.S. canines of state. Just after lunch on a clear June afternoon, Svetlana readies the dogs before their walk through a leafy area AMIE FERRIS ROTMAN by AMIE FERRIS-ROTMAN of central Moscow, where many U.S. diplomats are housed. She has five pooches currently in her charge; MOSCOW Since the waning days of Bill Clinton’s pres- four belong to Americans, and the fifth, a Jack Rus- idency, Svetlana has walked the dogs of American sell terrier called Gary, comes from an Italian diplo- diplomats in Moscow. mat who is her first non-American client. She usually makes two trips, taking out the small dogs first, fol- The 52-year-old Russian is not a U.S. Embassy lowed by the larger ones. But today, her older sister employee but has come to this work through recom- Lyuba has joined her, and the two women divide the mendations by American pet devotees, lovingly passed dogs between them, stroking their snouts and doling down by word of mouth through the years. Svetlana, out dulcet-toned compliments. who gave only her first name, doesn’t remember how many dogs she’s looked after. “It’s definitely under Svetlana makes these walks, usually hours long, 100,” she says, pushing her oval glasses up the bridge each weekday, finding patches of green grass among of her nose. “But more than 60.” the shiny new high-rises. Her wards bask in her com- pany, wagging their tails and nuzzling her sport jacket’s Soft-spoken and extremely affable, with her char- pockets, which they know harbor bone-shaped treats. coal-colored hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, Svet- lana never set out to work for foreign diplomats. But what She has given all the dogs Russian nicknames started out as a side job to earn a bit of cash while raising because “those suit them better.” As she reels off their Russian monikers, the hounds stop in their tracks and turn their heads in recognition. Some have been given Russian diminutives of their original names; 20 JULY | AUGUST 2017

others have received entirely new identi- their homes and rearranging the furni- Farewell, ties. Alexandra, a large mixed-breed with a ture. According to memos described in the Lebanon’s lustrous ginger coat, is now Sasha; two Cav- Washington Post, one diplomat’s carpet was First Brewery alier King Charles spaniels—Max, a female, defecated on. During Obama’s first term, and Riley, a male—are now Masyanya and a dog belonging to a U.S. defense attaché A derelict beer factory stirs Lialik; a mixed-breed female found as a was reportedly killed by Russian agents social divides in Beirut. stray in India from a previous posting is who sneaked into his house. called Bindu, but renamed Bonia; Gary by DAVID KENNER has become Garik. When I ask about who could have killed the dog, the most Svetlana will concede is BEIRUT “You can’t be a real country,” cel- Bonia has a lame back leg but manages that sometimes “animals are better than ebrated political scientist Frank Zappa to merrily hop to the front of the pack; humans.” When it comes to the pets in her once wrote, “unless you have a beer and Garik is independent, uninterested in the care, Svetlana never lets her guard down. “I an airline.” others. The dogs act like their owners, Svet- scour the ground as we walk, making sure lana says, without giving too much away. there is nothing that could harm them.” Lebanon achieved its independence in “Sasha hardly ever barks; she’s so gentle. 1943 and founded its national airline in Little Garik is quick on his feet.” She believes that her American charges, 1945. But anticipating Zappa’s dictum, the at least, enjoy their time in Russia. “Some fledgling nation’s first brewery was founded Despite her proximity to the American have never seen winters like ours. The Cav- more than a decade earlier. The Grande diplomatic corps, she tries to stay out of aliers love to jump about in the snow,” she Brasserie du Levant opened its doors in the politics and away from the heightening recalls fondly. When the notoriously fierce 1930s, serving for decades as the beating tensions between her native Russia and Moscow winter, during which tempera- heart of the local beer brand Laziza. the country of her beloved wards. Rela- tures can regularly drop below 10 degrees tions between Moscow and Washington Fahrenheit, finally draws to a close, Svet- A hulking white building, the Grand are at their worst in decades, as the two lana takes pride in introducing the dogs Brasserie looms over the Mar Mikhael continue to clash over Syria, Ukraine, and to the perfumed flowerbeds that appear neighborhood. It transformed Laziza reports of Russian meddling in the U.S. across the center of the city. into one of the most popular beers in the presidential election. The Kremlin’s pro- country during its heyday in the 1960s fessed hopes of a rapprochement under The hardest part of her job is saying and 1970s but was eventually forced to President Donald Trump have all but been goodbye. Postings for U.S. diplomats last close after being hit with stray shells in dashed as Russia-connected scandals and between two and four years. “The dogs are 1990 during Lebanon’s civil war. Having intrigue engulf the White House. this big part of my life, and then suddenly remained unused for decades, it now faces they’re not,” she says wistfully. She is often demolition as investors plan to transform Since the start of Barack Obama’s pres- tasked with seeing the pets off. “When I the space into a luxury apartment project idency almost a decade ago, U.S. diplo- take them to the airport, they sit in their dubbed Mar Mikhael Village. Plans for the mats posted in Moscow have complained cages and give me this look, and my eyes new building reveal a gleaming glass and that Russian intelligence services have fill with tears.” metal tower dotted with terrace gardens waged a harassment campaign, including in place of the derelict factory. following their children and breaking into She tries to stay in touch and sends emails to the owners of the many dogs I live down the street from the old brew- SHE HAS GIVEN ALL and few cats she has looked after over the ery; at first glance the site may seem an THE DOGS RUSSIAN years, especially on the Fourth of July. “It’s unlikely place for a yuppie forward oper- NICKNAMES their holiday, you know, so I make sure ating base. Its neighbors include a crum- BECAUSE “THOSE they receive my congratulations.” More bling Masonic lodge, a car repair shop, SUIT THEM BETTER.” often than not, the owners reply, giving and a barbed-wire-encircled center for MAX, A FEMALE, her updates on the pets. Lebanon’s internal security forces. Yet, AND RILEY, A in uneasy coexistence with the neighbor- MALE, ARE NOW By the end of the summer, all five of hood’s older landmarks, pockets of the MASYANYA AND these dogs will be leaving Russia. “I’ll area have become cool during the past few LIALIK. GARY HAS miss them so much, but they’ll also miss years. Along with the Masonic lodge and BECOME GARIK. each other. They’ve become friends.” She the rifle-wielding soldiers, Mar Mikhael watches as Sasha sniffs the edge of the side- Village’s neighbors include a garden cafe walk, preparing to leave what Svetlana calls where patrons can buy a $5 cappuccino her “signature.” “I hope the new diplomats bring dogs,” she says. —Amie Ferris-Rotman is Moscow correspondent for FOREIGN POLICY. FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 21

passport or $12 yogurt and granola. Young profes- shirt rubbing up against a bottle as the The Laziza Brewery in Beirut (seen on the left LEFT: ANWAR AMRO AFP/GETTY IMAGES ; RIGHT: CAPSTONE INVESTMENT GROUP sionals and expatriates have flocked to the waves of the Mediterranean crash around in March) will be destroyed to make way for a precinct’s boutique bars and gourmet ham- her—some beer aficionados challenge the more modern apartment complex designed by burger purveyors, not to mention a sur- idea that there was ever anything particu- Lebanese architect Bernard Khoury (right). prisingly good barbecue joint. Longtime larly Lebanese about Laziza. residents have watched the influx of new- enforced zoning regulations. The result, comers with alarm, sometimes complain- Mazen Hajjar, founder of the local micro- Hajjar says, affects more than architec- ing about the loud music coming from the brewery 961 Beer, has been on a crusade to ture and infrastructure—it influences how bars far past midnight. develop a Lebanese beer culture that rivals citizens relate to one another. The lack of the country’s vibrant wine industry. He had public squares and the haphazard style of The investors in the luxury apartments a difficult time gaining a foothold in Leba- development mean that the city’s basic are betting that the bar and cafe patrons, non, he says, because of the obstacle-laden structure reinforces religious, ethnic, and not the area’s older residents, represent and anti-competitive business environ- economic divisions. Mar Mikhael’s future. Not everyone, how- ment. “I see snake oil salesmen,” he says, ever, has been won over by that prom- referring to competitors Laziza and Almaza. “We don’t know how to deal with others, ise of gentrification. Local activists have “They had an opportunity to educate peo- we don’t interact with strangers,” Hajjar mobilized against the project, accusing its ple about beer, but they behaved like big, says. “There are no public spaces for Leb- developers of neglecting the interests of faceless conglomerates.” anese to meet people outside their circles.” the area’s established owners and tenants. For Hajjar, the significance of Mar I know what he means. The two Mar “The residents had really different ideas Mikhael Village extends far beyond one Mikhaels, after all, exist side by side but on what [the new building] would be. Some building. Beirut has been transformed into may as well be in different worlds given thought it would be university dorms, some a concrete jungle. It has virtually no public the cultural disconnects between them. thought it would be a community center,” green space, and its last bit of open coast- If there were a place where both groups says Ghassan Salameh, an activist associ- line is being gobbled up by property devel- could come together and mingle—well, ated with the grassroots political movement opers who operate with little concern for I’d raise a beer to that.—David Kenner is Beirut Madinati. “Nobody tells them any- the environmental impact or the poorly Middle East editor for FOREIGN POLICY. thing. They don’t know what’s happening on the street next to them.” Mar Mikhael has been a working-class, historically Armenian neighborhood, and he worries that the new projects will sweep away the neighborhood’s artisanal shops and price longtime residents out of an area in which their families have lived for generations. Earlier this year, Salameh and other activ- ists met with locals to discuss the project’s implications. His group held a news confer- ence on the steps of the building to highlight their concerns, prompting Beirut’s governor to suspend the project until it received fur- ther permits for the demolition work. But Salameh isn’t convinced this temporary halt will resolve the underlying issues at stake. “The idea is to create a discourse, to engage people on what is happening in their city,” he says. “It’s people’s right to have a say in the neighborhoods around them.” Not everyone opposing Mar Mikhael Village feels a pang of nostalgia for Laziza beer. While the brewer often attempted to link its product with Beirut’s debauched side—one billboard shows a woman in a bikini bottom and an implausibly tight 22 JULY | AUGUST 2017

The Elephant in and 33 years old—represent a cross-section of diaspora the Comedy Club Rwandans now returning to the country’s stability and the opportunities it provides after generations of strife. A troupe of popular young comics Michael is half-Burundian, Babu is half-Kenyan, George avoids mixing humor and politics is half-Ugandan. Their jokes shift fluidly among Kin- in Rwanda. yarwanda, English, French, and Swahili. by KAVITHA SURANA “I believe comedy is everywhere. Anything can be a joke,” Babu says. But sometimes here in Kigali the KIGALI, RWANDA The comedians trickle into a rehearsal young comics face tough crowds. “Here it’s very con- space in Kimihurura, a quiet, upper-class neighbor- servative very ... keep it inside.” hood, brimming with restless energy. Known as the Comedy Knights, the young performers slouch on Michael, 28, nods in agreement. Dressed in an unwrin- wooden school chairs and warm up for their Valen- kled pink button-down, sunglasses perched on his head, tine’s Day show by dissing one another. “His face looks he cuts a confident figure. He grew up in Burundi and like a cross between Mobutu and Jacob Zuma!” came to Rwanda to study law, but then gave it up to pursue comedy. When he and his friends rattle off their In the seven years since they first came together, the favorite foreign comedians, names like Eddie Murphy, group developed Kigali’s first regular stand-up show. Jamel Debbouze, and Steve Harvey surface. South Afri- With weekly live sets staged in hotel backrooms that are can-born Trevor Noah, host of the American TV hit The later broadcast on television, the Comedy Knights are Daily Show, is a particular inspiration. But where Noah part of a creative awakening in Rwanda’s capital that’s revels in skewering politicians, the Comedy Knights attracting young people to Kigali from across borders give government matters a wide berth. Cultural norms, and accelerating the city’s staid nightlife. The come- religion, and even sex are on the table. “We just don’t do dians themselves—all falling somewhere between 18 politics,” Michael explains. “The rest is cool.” When asked why, the comedians put their wrists together to mimic handcuffs. The gesture is a joke, but it hints at the government’s heavy hand when it comes to dissent. Free speech is tolerated up to a point in Rwanda, but it must never take aim at Presi- dent Paul Kagame’s administration. The comedians are wary of having their words twisted by opposition figures. Since 2002, Kagame has implemented broadly defined laws that prohibit both “divisionism” and “genocide ideology.” While the government’s carefully constructed image as a model of efficiency and progress in Africa often finds a sympathetic audience in powerful interna- tional circles—at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and think tanks like the Atlantic Coun- cil—it is just as often castigated by Western diplomats and U.N. officials for Kagame’s notorious crackdown on journalists and opposition parties. The latest U.S. State Department report on Rwanda’s human rights record describes a dictatorship willing to carry out politically motivated disappearances of media and opposition figures, torture of political prisoners, as well as harassment of NGOs, particularly those that report on human rights and media freedoms. A few years ago, the comedy troupe accidentally strayed into risky territory. A performer they intro- duced as “His Excellency Junior” regularly appeared in black-rimmed glasses just like the president’s and imitated his familiar mumbled whisper. One night he FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 23

passport made a joke about what Kagame used to eat during his an accident, you know. … I think the flower slid under- Above: A crowd time as a military commander. A few opposition media neath the elephant and just died somehow.’” enjoys one of the outlets abroad picked up the videos, showing them in a Comedy Knights’ context that was critical of the president. It’s not what Yet he bristles at any suggestion that Rwandans live weekly shows in the comic had intended. In an earlier 2014 article pub- in fear and believes Kagame “turned things around” Kigali. Opposite: lished in Rwanda’s main English newspaper, the New for the country. “I’ve seen the progress,” he says. “In Madeleine Albright Times, the comedian had called his routine a tribute to less than 25 years, from a genocide to this, I think some holds up her birthday the president. “Just to shake hands with him and say good is being done.” gift—a heart-shaped thank you would be enough for me.” brooch—from the Like many young Rwandans wrestling with the Czech ambassador. “They didn’t really get the joke … and that’s when country’s legacy, Michael is acutely aware of Kigali’s we were told not to do anything about politics,” George improbable recovery. On the surface, Rwanda seems says, shrugging, referring to the requests of family to be racing ahead of its dark past, positioning itself members. Many of them worked in the government as a self-proclaimed “Singapore of Africa”—modern, and were shocked by their comedic recklessness. efficient, inclusive, and a hub for investment. For the Afraid he had touched a nerve, the impersonator comedians, reports of government abuse are faint, left the country for a time and quit performing. “In and limits on free speech seem like the trade-off for Rwanda, if you talk about something in comedy, it is “never again.” like you are making fun of it,” George says. He down- plays the dust-up, but the group got the message. “We “As a Rwandan, I have a voice,” Michael says. But as decided, ‘How about we just let it go?’” a performer, it’s more complicated. “We do not have space for expression in that sense. Maybe because Sitting in one of Kigali’s many coffee shops, Michael there’s the possibility when you are an artist to have describes his view of Rwandan culture: “[We] don’t a certain power over the population.” address elephants in the room,” he says. “We prefer to address the forest and talk about the trees and the flow- Like many Rwandans, he has not forgotten that ers that bloom there and … At some point there was a radio broadcasts inciting Hutus to butcher Tutsis flower that was not able to blossom because it seems played a notorious role in the country’s 1994 genocide. that there might be an elephant that stepped on it, but we don’t talk about the elephant straight up. We say: “It was people who were good with crowds. … Peo- ‘You see this flower? It has a little problem. There was ple would chant their names, cheer them up, clap for them, and follow what they say. They were entertainers, and people followed.” —Kavitha Surana is a fellow at FOREIGN POLICY. 24 JULY | AUGUST 2017

Happy the various places Albright has lived over the days before his visit, but he agreed to spend Birthday, Marie course of her life), there was a certain irony the evening listening to Jiri Stivin, the Czech Jana Korbelova served throughout the evening. Albright saxophonist, flutist, and improviser, which became a famous Czech (or, as she called Albright signaled to Havel, upon landing, The Czech Embassy herself, a Czechoslovak) because of the life with a thumbs-up.) Albright’s relationship celebrates one of its own. she made for herself after her family left for with Havel would continue to flourish long America. Albright officially became a U.S. beyond the days when either held office. She by EMILY TAMKIN citizen at the age of 20, U.S. ambassador to served as his Washington guide during his the United Nations at 56, and, four years later visit in 2005, and when he died in 2011, she WASHINGTON Marie Jana Korbelova was in 1997, the first female U.S. secretary of state. spoke at his funeral. born in Prague in 1937. Her father, Josef Korbel, was a supporter of a newly inde- She is “one of the quintessential Czechs,” The era of diplomacy during which pendent Czechoslovakia and its nascent Hynek Kmonicek, the wisecracking, hot- Albright served as secretary of state was democracy. During World War II, like many sauce collecting Czech ambassador to the marked by excitement and uncertainty. Jewish families and others who strongly United States, said in his opening speech The Czech Republic, still finding its foot- supported the country’s leading democrats, that night, wryly adding that if Albright ing after the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Korbel family fled to England, where were to become secretary of state again, and Eastern Bloc, was led by a man hailed Josef converted from Judaism to Catholi- they wouldn’t need to worry about being as among the great intellectual dissidents in cism and worked for Czechoslovakia’s gov- forgotten by the United States, because European history. Today, the country’s pres- ernment in exile. The family moved home “we are you, and you are us.” ident, Milos Zeman, is a populist and a Vlad- after the war, but a 1948 Communist coup imir Putin sympathizer. During Albright’s forced them out again, and Korbel and his Indeed, during her time as secretary of tenure, the United States was the geopoliti- family left their native Europe and immi- state, Albright did keep her fellow Czechs cal champion of those countries in Central grated to the United States. in mind. U.S. President Bill Clinton once and Eastern Europe shaking off the Soviet joked that the Czech Republic was the only shackles. It’s a part Washington seems hes- Nearly 70 years later, Marie Jana Kor- country to have two ambassadors at the U.N. itant to play now with current Secretary of belova—now a tack-sharp octogenarian State Rex Tillerson having suggested it will in a deep red dress—was back in Czech In January 1994, when Clinton be pragmatism, not principle, that defines diplomatic territory. On a balmy spring announced in Prague that it was no longer the role of U.S. foreign policy. evening, the Czech Embassy, tucked away a question of if NATO would expand, but from the grinding hustle of Washington just when and how, Albright, then U.S. ambassa- “We are the indispensable nation,” outside of the city’s Cleveland Park neigh- dor to the United Nations, accompanied him Albright told her guests at the spring borhood, was packed with men in suits on the trip. At least as notable—for those in embassy party, a cloaked reference to U.S. and women in cocktail dresses. Diplomats attendance, if not for Czech history—is that President Donald Trump’s untraditional from the Czech Republic and the United Clinton and Vaclav Havel, the dissident play- view of U.S. world leadership (“and we’ll States and their spouses sipped champagne wright-turned-president of what was once figure that out again pretty soon”). and clinked glasses with a coterie of dis- again a newly independent country, went to tinguished guests: a former dissident from a jazz club. (As Czech diplomat and author That night, the Czechs presented Albright what was then Czechoslovakia, a Cuban Michael Zantovsky recounts in his biogra- with—what else?—a brooch in the shape of refugee, and a renowned Czech pianist. phy of Havel, Clinton’s mother had died just a heart, the kind with which Havel used to All were gathered to celebrate Korbelova’s sign off his letters. She smiled upon receiving 80th birthday—or, as she’s better known to it. To cap off the party, Czech pianist Tomas the rest of the world, Madeleine Albright. Kaco gave two performances— “My Funny Valentine” and his own composition, “Gypsy The guest of honor made her way to her Soul.” Perhaps it was a nod to the visit to seat alongside the Czech ambassador and the jazz club. Perhaps it was just a chance his wife at the front of the room. Adorning to show off Czech talent to a Czech talent. her dress was one of her famous pins—this one in the shape of the Czech lion. “I have always been very proud of where I came from,” Albright said in her closing In addition to the wine and pâté, duck remarks. And the American diplomat from breast, and knedliky (Czech bread dump- Prague was grateful that night, lifetimes after lings) presented at the tables (all named after her family was forced to leave Czechoslo- vakia behind, to be “back where I belong.” —Emily Tamkin is a staff writer for FOREIGN POLICY. FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 25

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Photo: Shutterstock / Nick Pavlakis GREECE The odyssey to reinvention After a successful conclusion to the Eurogroup’s second review of Greece’s current bailout Photo: Shutterstock / Olimpiu Pop program, coupled with a major economic transition and substantial regulatory reforms, the country is rapidly reinventing itself. Everything points towards 2017 being the year of the ‘Hellenic Turnaround’ All signs suggest that the Greek kets,” according to Minister of Fi- politically.” preneurship, foreign investment economy is on its way back to nance Euclid Tsakalotos. When President Barack Obama and a productive model that adds growth, after seven years of reces- value and is export orientated. In sion, during which the country lost Wide-ranging reforms visited Greece in 2016, he said “the 2016, exports grew by 10%, while more than a quarter of its GDP. As part of the original 2015 bailout world, I don’t think, fully appreci- investments increased 12% and, 2017 has already seen its economy program, the Greek government ates the extraordinary pain these according to Odisseas Athanas- grow by 0.4% in the first quarter recognized that it had to restore reforms have involved, or the tre- siou, CEO of property developer and the country’s government is and safeguard fiscal sustainability, mendous sacrifices that you, the Lamda Development, “there has forecasting increases of close to 2% implement structural policies for Greek people, have made,” a senti- been a substantial shift in mental- for both this year and the next – a competitiveness and growth, and ment echoed by Greek Prime Min- ity in the country with regards to ister Alexis Tsipras, who has called foreign capital.” “We have completed the most difficult reforms, not only the Eurogroup bailout review “an in technical terms, but also politically.” agreement that recognizes the sac- The Deputy Minister to the rifices of the Greek people.” Prime Minister, Dimitrios Liakos, Nikos Pappas, Minister of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media confirms that foreign investment The country still has major chal- and international investor confi- target the European Commission modernize the state and its admin- lenges ahead, though. The biggest dence are seen as key to creating sees as realistic and which became istration. Greece has moved quick- of which is unemployment that, the ‘Hellenic Turnaround.’ As part even more so with the Eurogroup’s ly, with a massive reform process while seeing recent improvement, of the large-scale reforms, the gov- recent completion of Greece’s bail- already implemented. is still significant at 22.5%. ernment has put “special empha- out program review. sis on creating a friendly invest- For example, new pension, Public and private sector debt ment environment that guarantees Not only does the latest agree- income tax and indirect tax leg- are also high, with the latter ham- fair terms for all economic agents, ment mean an immediate dis- islation is in place, coupled with pering the banks’ ability to sup- a stable tax environment, modern bursement of €8.5 billion, it also measures for increased public port recovery through the granting liquidity instruments, and invest- brings the country a step closer sector transparency, the tackling of of new credit. And there are still ment incentives,” he says. to medium-term debt relief mea- non-performing Greek bank loans, difficult reforms in the pipeline, sures and entry into the European privatizations and increasing tax such as the achievement of privat- In his view, Greece, which al- Central Bank’s quantitative easing revenues by broadening the tax ization targets, set at €2.15 billion ready offered many competitive program. base. for 2017. advantages, not least its high- ly-skilled workforce and geostrate- It provides a signal to the world These, as Nikos Pappas, Minis- Light at the end of the tunnel gic location at the southern tip of that Greece is returning to eco- ter of Digital Policy, Telecommuni- But Greece appears to be coming both Europe and NATO, is rapidly nomic normality and guarantees cations and Media explains, were out of its crisis as a much stronger turning “from being attractive, to “much greater clarity for both “the most difficult reforms, not and more competitive country, being ideal for investments.” Greek people and financial mar- only in technical terms, but also that has a greater focus on entre- 1

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report The man at the helm: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras gives his view on investment opportunities Photo: Office of the Greek Prime Minister in Greece and his broad take on EU, as well as Mediterranean, relations AT During my time in office, we have Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras never failed on our targets. On the con- FP Is this the year of the ‘Hellenic trary, we are consistently overachieving, stability pact, and have deficits, while are expanding relations with France, Ita- Turnaround’? and I think this will continue for 2017 and Germany is having a current-account ly, China, the UAE, our Balkan and Black AT Yes – we are completely focused 2018 as well. surplus of about 6%. But I think we are Sea partners, as well as bilaterally and on making this happen. Last year, our in a position to turn the page and find vi- trilaterally – together with Cyprus – with economy performed above all expecta- Our first priority is to attract direct able solutions for Europe. The election of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and other countries tions. We had a primary surplus of over foreign investments. After the completion Emmanuel Macron – a strong supporter of the Middle East. 4% – 8 times higher than the projected of the second review and the agreement of the EU’s core values – is great news target of 0.5% – and the projections for on the measures that will make our debt for the progressive and pro-European Of course, we are actively supporting a 0.4% recession were proven wrong sustainable, we are now on a clear path community [...]. talks for a just and viable solution, on because we managed to end the year to put an end to a tremendous crisis and the basis of UN Security Council Reso- with a positive growth rate. Furthermore, achieve growth and prosperity. The idea FP Do you see Mediterranean lutions, regarding the issue of Cyprus. A the first results of 2017 – with a 0.4% of “Grexit” is now put to rest once and for countries collaborating more? solution to the benefit of all the Cypriot growth rate for the first quarter of the year all, which for me was and always will be What is your strategic vision for people, that will unlock the huge poten- – are showing that the Greek economy is a no-go scenario. the regional and international role tial for peace and development in the already on the path of growth. And now of Greece? region. we are in the process of regaining trust So, we are now in a position to support – of our partners, creditors, markets and our production, to attract investments, to AT We took a lead – along with One of the biggest challenges that we investors. encourage new forms of cooperation, faced were the negotiations regarding the to revitalize our industries, to boost our France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus refugee crisis that led to the EU-Turkey Our results are, first and foremost, due exports, and, all in all, create new jobs and Malta – in establishing the summit agreement. Despite all the challenges in to the sacrifices and hard work of the and significantly reduce unemployment Greek people. They need to see the ef- at the height of the EU average [...]. One “Greece can become a global hub for energy, fects of our recovering economy, in their of our main goals and – I am deeply transportation, new technologies and innovation, and of lives, their jobs, their healthcare, their in- convinced that we can achieve this – is course, tourism.” come, for example – not only in figures. that Greece can become a global hub for That is why our main focus is now on the energy, transportation, new technologies Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister growth agenda. My main objective is to and innovation and, of course, tourism. be the prime minister during whose term of Southern EU countries – an initiative our relations, I went to Turkey three times Greece returns to normality and stability, FP What is the way forward for that was long overdue [...]. As underlined [...], also because I knew that the only with substantially decreased unemploy- Europe? in the context of the Athens Summit, way to resolve a huge crisis – that affects ment. there can be no new vision for Europe the whole European continent – was to AT We have to learn a lesson from without a vision for peace, cooperation communicate and to cooperate with our FP How will you achieve Greece’s the founding principles of European and development in the Mediterranean. neighbor, building a positive agenda on 2018 GDP growth target? unification and, specifically, the need to the basis of mutual respect and interna- focus towards human needs, solidarity, In this context, Greece is increasingly tional law. growth, education, employment and so- strengthening its role as a pillar of stabil- cial justice. ity in a region of instability [...]. Our roots This will continue to be my goal. But are deep, historically, in the development the key factor in making sure that this I believe that the time is right to make of Western civilization and today as an migration crisis did not become an un- some crucial decisions. I am aware that active EU and NATO member [...]. We are controllable humanitarian one, were the there are members of our European fam- strengthening our strategic cooperation Greek people, who, despite their financial ily that do not share this view and, to be with the United States to confront re- difficulties, supported the refugees and precise, the prospect of European unity gional challenges, attract investment and protected international law and European and further integration. Nevertheless, we restore growth. At the same time [...], we values. have to act decisively and collectively. Meaning that if the majority believes in the principles of solidarity, democracy, freedom and social cohesion, we have to keep going. Most importantly, we have to make a decision to overcome endless austerity, because it creates divisions in Europe, and poses a threat for the European Union as a whole. It’s impossible to have a balanced EU when some countries are obliged to stay in the framework of the Read the full version of this and other interviews in this report at www.prisma-reports.com 2

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION A pillar of stability for the wider region Greece’s geostrategic position and proactive foreign policy are tiative, the European Union is creating Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the future, key for EU border security and the countering of terrorism new programs for them. For example, migrants will mostly come from Africa, we have put together a new project for due to climate change. We need an FP Greece is now recognized Nikos Kotzias five zones in Jordan, where Jordanian international development plan and a as a regional “pillar of stability”. Minister of Foreign Affairs citizens along with refugees can settle project like our Jordan one, but much How are you redefining foreign and plan their lives in the long term. bigger. We need to implement treaties relations? FP How is Greece providing re- Through these relations and the Rhodes and offer monetary assistance to these gional stability? Conference on Security and Stability countries to control refugee flows. In NK We find ourselves in a triangle in the Eastern Mediterranean, we have my opinion, you can’t build walls. We resulting from instability. Its corners NK Our relations with Lebanon and tried to create a positive regional agen- have to find long-term solutions. Now, are defined by Ukraine, Libya and Syr- Jordan, for example, are not only fo- da. That means not having always to we have a very specific situation in ia. Our duty is to find ways to transmit cused on economic diplomacy, but also discuss how we can find a solution to Syria. We have to find a solution for the waves of stability along this triangle. We on educational and cultural diplomacy. a war-crisis, but, instead, to discuss refugees, but at the same time to fight have created very specific relations with They host the largest number of refu- how we can create a plan of coopera- against the war in Syria. some countries which are very import- gees in the world, compared to their tion for promoting stability and security, ant for the security of the whole region. population. With Greece’s help and ini- building a positive agenda and reaching FP Obama chose Athens as one As an example, a cause of concern of out to young people. We have to create of his last stops as president. mine is Egypt, a country of 97 million positive conditions for the young in What is the future of US-Greece people. South of Egypt are Sudan, their homelands and ensure they can relations? South Sudan and Somalia. If Egypt easily create start-ups. Our cooperation were destabilized, millions of refugees with Israel, for example, is doing this NK It was very important for him or immigrants would have easier access sort of thing. to speak in Athens about democracy, to Greece. Human rights are extremely and he stood up for the country where important, but we also need stability FP How can the EU tackle migra- democracy was born and protested and security in that whole region. An- tion? against those who only think in terms of other example is Syria. For its sake, economics. I had established channels security and stability in the Eastern NK It has to have more courage of communication with the Trump ad- Mediterranean are very important. We and face the real problem of migration. ministration before the elections. I hope cannot “play” with the lives of people. Migrants are coming not only from and wish that we will have good cooper- Syria, but also from Northern Africa, ation with the new administration. 3

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Financial Photo: Shutterstock / Samot oversight Framework for change Open door to investors Dimitrios Liakos must address all sectors as reforms roll ahead Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Euclid Tsakalotos A naturally attractive destination for investment, Greece Hellenic Corporation of Assets Minister of Finance now has programs in place adding structure and substance and Participations (HCAP), to manage, exploit and enhance the FP How is the Greek economy Attracting foreign investment while a public procurement law value of its assets. Some deals have performing? is vital for sustainable growth in means the buying process will be already happened, like the selling Greece and so the government has transparent and open to anyone. of 67% of the Piraeus port, to Chi- ET It’s very promising, especially at prioritized reforms to provide the One-stop licensing centers are also na’s COSCO for €280.5 million. the micro level. Industrial production perfect business climate. These being opened, where investors can Upcoming opportunities include rose in March by 8.7% year-on-year, are already having an effect – in- get information and submit appli- liberalization of energy and the the sixth consecutive month of positive flows were almost €2.8 billion in cations quickly. state’s real estate portfolio. growth. Manufacturing is particularly 2016, the highest since 2010, and strong, retail sales are up 4.6%, car Dimitrios Liakos, Deputy Minis- Besides traditional invest- According to Liakos, the stock registrations by 22% and unemploy- ter to the Prime Minister, is “re- ments, Greece is prioritizing market also “has great investment ment is beginning to fall. Exports rose ceiving signals that there is great public-private partnerships and capacity,” and gaming compa- by 6% in 2016. interest in investing.” a privatization program. The ny OPAP recently completed a implementation of this program landmark €200-million bond is- FP What actions should take pri- But what’s in it for investors? was complicated and slow, but in sue. Whichever market segment ority to unlock the economy? Perhaps foremost is its location, 2016 the government set up the investors choose to tap into, the which Liakos describes as “at the first-mover advantage applies. ET It’s not going to be one big idea, crossroads of three continents, ful- “invest in infrastructure” or “invest in ly interconnected with the major agriculture.” We want a differentiated European ports and the gateway to development strategy with a coherent Europe for Asian economies.” As a framework, where small- and medi- member of the EU and Eurozone um-sized enterprizes have a crucial as well, Greece offers barrier-free role to play in creating jobs. That could access to over 140 million people. mean, for instance, new financing tools, The highly skilled workforce and or creating production clusters. We competitive labor costs are also need to sell our strengths better – very major assets. few people know how many structural reforms Greece has implemented. Other advantages Liakos high- lights are infrastructure, funding FP How can privatizations con- for investments, agricultural prod- tribute to the recovery of the uct quality, important shipping Greek economy? and tourism sectors, and research expertise. He believes it’s a nat- ET We have a strategy of both pri- urally attractive destination for vatizing and also restructuring Greek investments, that is now adding firms. Privatizations are associated “political and financial stability, with foreign investment. Additionally, along with an extensive set of sec- you can bring in international know- tor-wide reforms” to make it “In- how and those international firms will vestment Friendly.” use Greek suppliers and they will help to increase the skills of Greek workers, These reforms, plus new invest- and that’s what we consider a win-win ment-promoting programs, have privatization. The worst kind of privat- been introduced in collaboration ization is just privatizing and taking the with all economic stakeholders, profits out. including European institutions. They are designed to give inves- tors “the confidence that they have a clear runway in front of them,” as Minister of Finance Euclid Tsaka- lotos puts it. A new investment law offers 12 years’ tax stability, For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com 4

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Greek banks, restructured and well capitalized The recapitalization, consolidation and reform of the banking sector has seen short-term obstacles, but the picture is becoming increasingly positive The Greek banking sector has Chairman of Piraeus Bank, says things,” says Panayotis Thomo- Greece’s banking totally transformed as a result of that “the banks have managed to poulos, Chairman of NBG. sector in numbers the financial crisis. Legislation, sustain themselves, stand on their restructuring and recapitalization feet and they are gradually register- About €30-35 billion is tied Following consolidation and the have led to a sector that is now ing profits.” up in the large NPLs of some resolution of 14 credit institutions, internationally recognized for 100 companies, who are on the the sector comprises 4 systemic its high capitalization levels and But while it’s made advanc- books of all the systemic banks. banks and several smaller, non- for substantial improvements in es, the sector still has problems. The Hellenic Financial Stability systemic banks. stability, governance and trans- “The question of non-performing Fund (HFSF), which manages the parency. As Professor Nikolaos loans in the Greek banking sys- state’s bank shareholdings, is step- The 4 systemic banks have Karamouzis, Chairman of EFG undergone 4 stress tests and 3 Eurobank and Chairman of the “The question of non-performing loans in the Greek rounds of recapitalization since Hellenic Bank Association, states, banking system is a crucial one” 2010, for close to €65 billion. “we have been through four stress tests – no other system has been Panagiotis Roumeliotis, Chairman, Attica Bank HFSF manages the state’s bank stressed as much.” shareholdings: 40% of NBG, 26% tem is a crucial one,” says Attica ping in here by getting banks “to of Piraeus Bank, 11% of Alpha Consolidation from about 60 Bank Chairman, Panagiotis Rou- sit down together and facilitating Bank and 2% of Eurobank. banks has resulted in four sys- meliotis. The government has an optimum resolution – for every temic banks – National Bank of introduced a new legal framework case, every loan,” says George Mi- Greece has about 10% of the Greece (NBG), Alpha Bank, Eu- to reduce this, “which allows the chelis, the fund’s Chairman. EU’s total NPEs (based on FY16 robank and Piraeus Bank – and a sale of loans, out-of-court settle- data), representing 45% of total few non-systemic ones, the biggest ments, faster loan restructuring, In a first for the country, Atti- domestic loans, or €105 billion. being Attica Bank. Despite the dis- the formation of specialist NPL ca Bank recently securitized €1.3 ruption, George Handjinicolaou, management companies and sim- billion of its bad loans. A move The ECB has set targets for the pler bankruptcies, amongst other that could be copied by others and Greek banking system to reduce 5 which its Chairman, Panagiotis NPE volume to €67 billion, by the Roumeliotis, says will make it “one end of 2019. of the healthiest banks in Greece.” Initiatives like this mean that the Capital ratio is amongst the country’s targets for reducing highest in Europe (aggregate NPLs are being met or exceeded. CET1 around 16% in 2016), comfortably above the EU average Another big challenge is recov- of 13.6%. ery of deposits, which flew out of the country until restrictions were Between June 2015 and put in place in 2015. Since then, February 2017, €8.5 billion of €8.5 billion has been repatriated. funds that had moved abroad, Alpha Bank Chairman Profes- have been repatriated. sor Vassilis Rapanos thinks it’s “important to lift capital control www.atticabank.gr measures to restart confidence.” All banks are calling for Greece to enter the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing scheme quick- ly, so that the country can reenter international finance markets. In the meantime, they are increas- ing foreign investor confidence by improving their internal man- agement, efficiency, profitability, corporate governance and trans- parency. Unlike the subprime banking crisis of other countries, the crisis in Greece wasn’t due to any partic- ular problem in the sector. Rather, it was a consequence of the Greek sovereign debt crisis that created contagion. Coming out of that crisis, though, the sector has been transformed.

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Top chairmen’s point of view What needs to happen for Greece to return to the financial markets and what is your bank’s strategy for growth? I think that the markets are closely moni- The key is the reduction of Greek political toring the Greek economy. It’s worth not- risk. Markets must be convinced that there ing that once the legislative requirements for are credible, concrete, stable steps being pushed the second bailout review were passed in our forward. The conclusion of the bailout negotia- parliament, the yield on the Greek 10-year tions will unleash a new wave of economic activ- benchmark fell below 6%, from above 8%, a ity by increasing consumer and investor confi- level similar to 2014 when the country and the dence. The greater the return of confidence, the banks last accessed the markets successfully. I faster all the good things will take place – it’s believe that now the second review is behind the so-called virtuous cycle and when it gets go- us, things will look more favorable, especially ing, it will surprise a lot of people. if a viable debt restructuring deal and quantita- Why would an investor invest in one bank Nikolaos Karamouzis tive easing participation are agreed. In any case, George Handjinicolaou over another? International investors have set Chairman under current conditions, banks today are able Chairman high standards and demands regarding trans- EFG Eurobank to repo in the international markets close to Piraeus Bank parency. If I’m going to put my money in an €25-billion worth of assets, while several Greek corporate entities have investment, I need to have confidence that my money is properly de- tapped the international debt markets at attractive rates. ployed, that it is not abused or channeled into non-transparent activities. After becoming wholly nationalized in 2013, we currently have the So transparency is fundamental, expressed through proper corporate lowest HFSF shareholding among all Greek banks, which underlines governance and an independent board that works for the shareholders. our firm commitment to return to full private ownership. We have And then holds management accountable, whilst putting mechanisms implemented best practices in our corporate governance, resulting in in place to ensure that the board, while it trusts the management, has modern, accountable and transparent decision-making. Going forward, the ability to monitor and verify its actions. We aspire to make Piraeus we believe that the steady and outstanding cooperation that now ex- Bank an exemplary bank in these terms and in performance metrics, that ists between our shareholders, board of directors and management is will be comparable or better than other European banks – to me this is a competitive advantage and a key to the bank’s success. That success essential, because we need to stand by our metrics in terms of profitabil- will become all the more apparent if Greece returns to a sustainable ity ratios, cost ratios and capital ratios, for example. These are the growth path and regains full access to international capital markets. yardsticks which we need to achieve. I don’t know how long it will take for Greece to be able to access international credit, but the sooner the quantitative easing program of the European Central Bank incor- porates Greek sovereign debt, the stronger the message to market players to start investing in Greece will be. If banks move faster on, for ex- ample, loan restructuring, write offs and selling bad loans, we will give a signal that the sector is willing to do what is necessary to regain trust, fulfill its obligations and become an active ac- Panayotis Thomopoulos tor again. Chairman I think that fewer than four banks might be- National Bank of Greece come an oligopoly. The four banks can stand on their own, they have the right market share to create economies of scale and eventually start competing amongst themselves more. Com- petition is on hold at the moment, as our attention is on the non-per- forming loan problems. All banks are introducing new technology and will compete more in the field of products and services that they can offer to their clients in the near future. As in the rest of the European Union, banks are turning their attention to the younger generation of IT users. The first thing that NBG has to do is reassure its clients and share- holders that the bank remains, not only a safe bank, but its return to profitability underlines its strong potential. Because of its 175-year history, people trust NBG and see it as a strong pillar of the Greek economy. We have to reassure shareholders that they are going to make a profit over the long run and, for this to happen, we are trying to make an efficient bank, able to meet the challenges of the future and stronger No.1 Bank in Greece competition from abroad. New technologies will boost productivity, fa- 6 cilitate client-bank relationships and reduce the cost of transactions, as well as increase product range. NBG wants to continue being in the first row of progress and the first rank of Greek banks. For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Reengineering growth: Greece 2021 The country’s new growth model is based on developing Photo: Pharmathen exports and value-added market sectors The Greek government has de- an important pillar of the plan. notes Stergios Pitsiorlas, Deputy startups. vised a five-year action plan for Recently introduced reforms will Minister of Economy. The Athens Chamber of Com- sustainable economic growth also encourage investor interest, called Greece 2021. It represents he believes, particularly a ‘Fast Another key to Greece 2021 merce and Industry (ACCI) is the fundamental changes that are Track Law’, that accelerates in- is the creation of a strong brand doing its part by setting up an being made to the Greek econo- vestments licensing and the es- name for Greek products, one incubator for young entrepre- my, which was historically ineffi- tablishment of an investor om- associated with quality and inno- neurs that has helped forty-seven cient and consumption driven. budsman. vation. Staikos says this will help schemes to date. Seven are now The plan is based on promoting his organization support busi- fully-fledged businesses and two exports and developing high val- Papastratos, subsidiary of Phil- nesses to reach new international have been sold to foreign com- ue-added sectors, such as real ip Morris, recognized the advan- markets and partners. The Amer- panies. “One of our startups has estate, information and commu- tages and announced in March ican-Hellenic Chamber of Com- been nominated for the €1.5-mil- nication technologies, energy, 2017 that Greece would be the merce is also active in this area, lion European new business food, agriculture, logistics and life award,” says Constantine Micha- sciences. “We chose Greece for three reasons: its geographic location los, ACCI’s President, “a tremen- that is critical for exports, its talented human capital and its dous invention that reduces vehi- It aims to achieve fair econom- proximity to tobacco.” cle fuel consumption by almost ic growth, by building a produc- 40%.” ACCI has also introduced tive and specialized economy, Christos Charpantidis, Chairman and MD, Papastratos a business angel funding mecha- widening production range and nism, which has received interest steering entrepreneurship to cre- location of its new smokeless to- enabling Greek companies to from Greek and international in- ate sustainable jobs, according bacco sticks factory. “We chose compete in the US through initia- vestors. to Christos Staikos, Chairman Greece for three reasons: its geo- tives like ‘Trade USA’. President of Enterprise Greece, the invest- graphic location that is critical for of the Chamber, Simos Anastaso- Local pharmaceutical com- ment and trade promotion body exports, its talented human capi- poulos, believes “Greeks are great pany Pharmathen, which makes responsible for driving Greece tal and its proximity to tobacco,” business people, very innovative 95% of its profits from exports, 2021. Christos Charpantidis, Chairman and quite extroverted in reality. shows what Greek businesses are and MD of Papastratos says. “It’s Given the right environment, I capable of. Based on a strategy of He says that attracting invest- a €300-million investment, in the am sure they and the country will “innovation, internationalization ments, leveraged by the coun- port of Piraeus. With this factory, thrive.” and investments,” according to try’s competitive advantages like they are planning to have many Vassilios Katsos, its President and its skilled workforce, geographic different investment projects,” The Greek people are well CEO, it doubled its workforce, location and infrastructure, is known for their entrepreneurial profitability and turnover during spirit and enabling new Greek en- the financial crisis, and made www.papastratos.gr trepreneurs is a strategic priority. investments of almost €200 mil- The government has made €260 lion. Proof that Greek companies million – which it expects to trig- are becoming more internation- ger a total of €1 billion – available ally competitive and extrovert, for innovative Greek SMEs via its and that they have the potential Fund of Funds Initiative. There is to come out of the crisis stronger also a €120 million program for and more fortified. www.acg.edu “One of our startups has been nominated for the €1.5-million European new business award.” Constantine Michalos, President, the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry [email protected] www.enterprisegreece.gov.gr 7

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Tackling the Achilles heel: unemployment and ‘brain drain’ Initiatives are in place to help young people build a long- term future for themselves and their country Photo: Ersi Drosou Jobs have been hard to come by in in Greece and have a genuine long- Greece. 22.5% of the population is term career,” Cope explains. The Deree – The American College of Greece out of work and there is 48% youth startups involved cover a diverse unemployment. But beyond their mix of sectors, “we’ve got every- Greece’s biggest asset skillset and talent, Greece’s young thing from a beer manufacturer, is its human capital people aren’t willing to sit idly by to online doctor services, to scuba and thanks to a ‘make it happen’ diving businesses,” Cope enthus- Public and private education organizations are making attitude, many have been mov- es, “and we want them to become sure tomorrow’s workforce is as skilled as today’s ing abroad to seize opportunities strong businesses that can pro- where they are readily available. mote and sell their products both Greece’s biggest strength is prob- organization, also has a plan for in Greece and abroad.” ably its highly skilled workforce. education: ‘ACG 150...Advancing A major challenge the country Unfortunately for the country, if the Legacy, Growing Greece’. faces is turning this ‘brain drain’ The Coca-Cola Company chose not employers, that workforce is into a ‘brain gain’. To limit the loss Athens as a regional hub due to its currently underutilized. In 2015, The $75-million plan includes of young scientists, the govern- location and talent, notes Melina the IMD ranked Greece second for setting up an institute for eight ment is prioritizing research and Androutsopoulou, Public Affairs readily available skilled labor. applied research centers of excel- innovation-based sectors. While and Communications Director, lence, in areas of strategic impor- some companies are playing a key Central and Eastern Europe. Greece has Europe’s second tance for Greece, as well as a cen- role, not only by creating employ- “Greece has always been a market highest percentage of Masters and ter for technology-based economic ment opportunities, but most im- that has been very successful and PhD students as a share of its pop- portantly, by empowering young very keen to innovate, whether ulation, with science, technology “Private institutions people and incentivizing entrepre- it’s for a product or other areas of and engineering being specialisms. can be complementary neurship. Market-leading gaming the business,” she adds. For each to the public system in company OPAP is a shining ex- of their employees, it supports Government and private sector contributing to Greece’s ample. It already employs around another 11 jobs in, for example want to further strengthen edu- revitalization.” 1,000 people directly and 17,000 supply and distribution, making it cation and the ‘triangle of knowl- indirectly, via 4,500 franchised responsible for 21,300 Greek jobs. edge’: the connections between Dr. David G. Horner, President shops. After its recent successful It supports numerous initiatives entrepreneurship, education, and The American College of Greece €200-million bond issue, it has to help young people in Greece. It research and development. a new investment program that has an ‘Enterpreneurships Schools development and employment, should create thousands more in Greece’ scheme, to inspire “We’ve increased student with links to 170 US research uni- jobs, says CEO Damian Cope. new startups, as well as programs numbers by 1,000 and created versities. “Private institutions can focused on skills, development, 250 post-doctoral posts,” says be complementary to the public As part of its corporate social employment and internships. And Kostas Gavroglu, Minister of system in contributing to Greece’s responsibility program, it’s ‘Busi- 300 graduates have found jobs Education, Research and Re- revitalization,” explains Dr. David ness Growth by OPAP’ scheme is through its internship program, ligious Affairs. The American G. Horner, the college’s President. providing mentoring and financ- which has an 80% success rate. As College of Greece, a leading in ing to twenty fast-growing SMEs. far as Coca-Cola is concerned, says dependent, non-profit educational OPAP wants to enable them to Androutsopoulou, “you can’t take reach their full potential and gen- advantage of the opportunities in erate employment. “What we Greece without investing in its are trying to do is prove that it is young people.” possible for young people to stay For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com 8

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION The new Greek digital economy Point of view Nikos Pappas FP How do you see Greece’s digital future? NP Greece can become a regional hub in many ar- eas, including transport, energy and communications. How? We have to build credible networks. The major initiative on which most applications will be built is new generation access networks (NGAs), such as fiber optics. Photo: Shutterstock / NicoElNino Already, we have €400 million available from the EU to start working on this. Greece is near the bottom of the EU in development of these networks. Our administration has faced this reality with actions and numerous initiatives. We have brought Nikos Pappas in cost-reduction legislation. This obliges every compa- Minister of Digital Policy, ny developing a network to allow other networks, such as Ongoing investment in new communications networks Telecommunications and Media fiber optics, to pass through. This ultimately reduces the means that Greece’s digital economy will be a tool for sustainable economic growth total cost of NGAs by around 60-80%. Using fiber optics, we are going to triple or even quadruple network speed, multiplying Greece’s attractiveness to investors. The distance between the countries that take advantage of the technological rev- olution and those that don’t will grow dramatically. The government is commited to The information and communi- the department’s minister, says making this digital transition take place and maximizing its effects for our country cation technologies (ICT) sector “Greece is experiencing a signifi- is already important to the Greek cant technological revolution.” and our citizens. economy and the country’s geo- strategic location means it has the The updated strategy’s first pri- FP Why do you see Greece becoming a communications hub? opportunity to become an ICT ority is deploying new generation NP Greece is so close to many countries in the EU, as well as North Africa. Any hub for the wider region. That’s access (NGA) network infrastruc- the government’s aim and it’s fo- tures. Fixed high-speed broadband product can come here, get an EU stamp and travel in a matter of a day, practically to cused on urgently digitizing the access is only 7% and it’s “the only everywhere. But investors look for stability and effectiveness, which is why one of the country and developing a strong European country with one tele- keys to Greece’s future is a first-class NGA network. digital technology industry. com access network, an old copper one.” points out Panos Papado- FP What do you aim to achieve by opening a Greek Space Agency? “Greece is experiencing a poulos, CEO and Vice Chairman NP Our country lacked an agency that could unite research centers, universities significant technological of internet and telecommunica- revolution.” tions services company Forthnet. and entrepreneurs intrinsic to space-related business activities and policy. For years, Greeks have been present in international space agencies, including NASA, and you Nikos Pappas European funds have been allo- can find us in essential space projects, even missions, but our flag is nowhere! There Minister of Digital Policy, cated to broadband networks and is a Greek professor that worked on the first mission to Pluto. There is a Greek busi- Telecommunications and Media other substantial investments are ness that develops sensors enabling flying objects to locate their position on their planned. Expectations are set for own, without the need to communicate with any radar or satellite. Hellas Sat 3 was “Adopting digital technology as the EuroAsia Interconnector, link- recently launched into the Greek orbital position of 39 degrees East. a fundamental strategic pillar can ing the electricity systems of Isra- and will reshape the wider Greek el, Cyprus and Greece, to include The question is how you persuade people to move towards using technology for economy, driving innovation, fiber-optic cables, for example. their advantage in their businesses. We have the applications and the products, we growth and job creation,” asserts are not lacking in ideas or entrepreneurship, but we are lacking in the coordination Anastasios Tzikas, President of The private sector is also invest- of forces. These are the kind of problems that we are trying to solve with the Hellenic the Federation of Hellenic Infor- ing in Greece’s networks. Forthnet Space Agency. mation Technology and Commu- is putting money into fiber-optics. nications Enterprises. OTE Group, Greece’s largest One way Greece intends to cre- support network include Taxibeat, telecommunications provider, has ate a stronger ICT industry is by a cab-hailing application recently There is now a Ministry for Dig- already spent €2 billion on NGAs nurturing startups and research sold to Daimler for €40 million, ital Policy, Telecommunications and plans to invest another €1.5 centers. Incubators have been set and Upstream, a mobile com- and Media, as a central platform billion by 2020. Vodafone Greece up, plus venture-capital schemes, merce platform, which has €25 for all digital and ICT initiatives. is also investing and sees itself as a accelerators and technology clus- million in European Investment It’s also updated its Digital Na- “catalyst in moving Greece to fiber ters for sectors like microelectron- Bank financing. These successes tional Strategy. Nikos Pappas, and NGA,” says Chairman and ics, gaming, space and biotech- give weight to Pappas’ conviction CEO Haris Broumidis. nology. Entrepreneurial projects that “Greece’s digital economy is that have taken advantage of this the tool for sustainable growth.” 9

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Point of view Panos Papadopoulos OTE Group: enabling growth through technology and innovation FP Could you tell us about Forthnet and your priorities looking forward? PP We are one of the leading companies in Greece’s media and communications sector and a pioneer in inter- net and pay-TV services. Right now, we are investing in content, customer experience and new generation access networks. However, our long-term priority is to keep pro- viding users with an ever-improving experience and in- novative high-quality services, such as mobile telephony using the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) mod- el, or other over-the-top services. Panos Papadopoulos CEO and Vice Chairman FP What investments are you making in NGAs? Forthnet PP We’ve developed a business plan with ZTE, the Chinese technology giant, to create a Greek fiber-optic network providing gigabit con- nection. We also have a cooperation agreement with Shanghai Gongbao Business Consulting Co. and KaiXinRong Group Co. to explore a partnership for financing this network, which envisages an investment of up to €500 million. FP Can you expand on your plans for MVNO? OTE Group is the largest telecom- launched speeds of up to 500Mbps. PP MVNO penetration is under 1% of the mobile market in Greece, far lower than munications provider in the Greek OTE Group is also a partner of market and, with subsidiaries in Ro- in other EU countries. We’re negotiating with mobile operators to expand into this mar- mania and Albania, it holds a leading choice for businesses seeking mod- ket. First, we will provide mobile services to our customers: over 700,000 households position in Southeastern Europe. It ern ICT solutions in the field of IT and two million individuals. We already provide their TV, land line and broadband, offers a full range of telecommu- integration, as well as in the fields of and want to include mobile services in the package. And we can leverage our strong nications services, including fixed health, tourism, information securi- content assets with mobile services, apps and experiences. and mobile telephony, broadband ty, energy management, Data Cen- services, pay-TV, ICT solutions and ter, Cloud and Internet of Things. FP What role do you think ICT will have in the upturn of the economy? maritime communications. Among the major ICT projects PP ICT companies are capable of improving the whole competitiveness and overall undertaken by the OTE Group are By implementing a corpo- the installation and operation of Co- position of Greece. rate-wide strategy, in recent years ca-Cola HBC Group’s data center OTE Group has managed to trans- for 28 countries, the national tele- Telecoms giant has Greece’s back form from a former state monopoly medicine network for the Aegean into a modern, customer-oriented Islands and the Fire Brigade opera- Vodafone Greece, part of international Haris Broumidis company that constantly upgrades tions center. heavyweight Vodafone Group Plc, is a Chairman and CEO, Vodafone Greece the services it provides. A big step telecommunications provider for indi- towards enhancing customer experi- Sustainability viduals and businesses, also engaged ees are highly qualified engineers ence was the establishment of COS- Despite the highly challenging and in spurring on economic and social supporting the Vodafone Group, and MOTE as the unified brand for all volatile environment it works in, development. Haris Broumidis, Chair- specialized teams addressing com- group products. the OTE Group is developing in a man and CEO of Vodafone Greece, plex ICT situations for Greece’s big fully sustainable manner, achieving says: “The commitment of the businesses. It is also the flag-bearer Growth through infrastructure strong performance to the benefit Vodafone Group to Greece is evident of one of the main concerns of its The new digital era is radically of its customers and the countries it by the €1.5 billion investment made in umbrella group: The Internet of changes the way we live, work and operates in. recent years and the 5-year investment Things (IoT); the connection of de- communicate. With this in mind, plan for €500 million by 2020.” vices beyond computers and smart- the OTE Group has invested in The group fosters digital trans- phones to the internet, touted to be creating the infrastructure of the formation with its products and Vodafone’s confidence in Greece the future way that businesses, gov- future. The group is, by far, the big- advanced customer servicing, and aids the country’s equal participa- ernments and consumers will interact gest investor in telecommunications it helps youngsters as well as older tion in the European Commission’s with the world. in the country. It has invested more people to develop their digital skills; vision of a European Gigabit society: than €2 billion in NGNs over the it provides support to vulnerable so- widespread connectivity delivered by past six years and has announced in- cial groups; it reduces waste and in- robust technologies. Broumidis says, vestments of €1.5 billion for the roll creases recycling for a cleaner envi- “I see Vodafone as a catalyst for mov- out of optical fiber and 4G/4G+ ronment; and it provides a healthy, ing Greece into the digital era, from before 2020. safe and creative environment for copper to fiber, and from ADSL its staff. Furthermore, ethical gover- to NGA; moving the country to a OTE Group currently provides nance is included in all its internal Gigabit society through the creation high-speed VDSL access to over 2 processes and its relations with part- of next generation fixed and mobile million households and business- ners and providers. networks.” es. Its 4G network reaches 95% of the Greek population, while 4G+ Implementing its strategy, the Vodafone Greece and the Vodafone coverage is at 85%. Its network is group is giving special meaning to Foundation also contribute to social among the first worldwide and first its vision of “making the world a bet- programmes that improve access to in Greece to have commercially ter place for all through technology healthcare and education for the most and innovation.” vulnerable. Among its 2,550 employ- For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com 10

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Photo: Terna Gek €25 billion to revive mega infrastructure projects Heavy funding, shrewd government planning and a pro-PPP culture are allowing Greece to build Top 10 investment big across multiple modes of transport and execute its obvious role as a regional logistics hub opportunities With maritime transport ac- Christos Spirtzis the security that the public sector 1. Thriassio Pedio Logistics Hub counting for 80% of global trade Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks can provide for the execution of One of the largest commercial rail- by volume, Greece’s geographical projects.” way projects in Europe and the larg- position as an entry point to Eu- er and faster alternative route est in the Balkans. rope from Asia lures in logistics to the traditional port routes for It is thanks to a shift in Greek 2. Egnatia Odos Vertical Axis and manufacturing investors. This Asian goods reaching Central and mentality that PPPs have the green Connecting the main section of the Egna- is why the government is seeking Western Europe.” However, the light. Pre-crisis, infrastructure tia Motorway with Albania, Bulgaria and funding to achieve its €25-billion government is realistic in its need projects were utilized as a way to FYROM. target for large-scale infrastructure for support. “Projects of this scale spur economic growth, but relied 3. Thessaloniki Logistics Hub projects. Their completion will have many positive consequences, heavily on government funding. Developments to place the Port of Thes- imply increased trade flows, and but cannot be completed without Major Greek construction compa- saloniki as an entry logistics hub for greater stability and competitive- the participation or investment of nies that during the crisis diversi- Southeast Europe. ness across the region. large multinational companies,” fied abroad are today committed 4. Athens Metro Expansion Spirtzis insists. to enabling the success of these Expansion of rapid transit system Minister of Infrastructure, projects. Dimitris Koutras, Chair- through 29 new stations to serve around Transport and Networks Chris- Indeed, Public Private Partner- man of one such company, Aktor, 500,000 passengers daily. tos Spirtzis explains how such ships (PPPs) are key to attracting says “the future of our country en- 5. Ionia Odos projects will encompass ports, air- funding from those global players tails the participation of the con- Connecting and serving three main ports ports, roads, railways and freight possessing the capital and techni- struction companies in large-scale and three airports, and connecting West- centers. “Currently,” he says, cal knowhow required for complex development projects. With the ern Greece with the rest of the country. “goods enter by sea through the projects, and a variety are set to accurate budget, appropriate time 6. Crete International Airport Ports of Piraeus, Thessaloniki, be tendered. Spirtzis places great schedule and close monitoring, we Upgrading and constructing regional Patra, Kavala, Alexandroupolis value on the PPP model: “private enable every project to become airports to support the increase of tour- and Igoumenitsa. We now need sector participation is key for sup- productive and profitable for in- ist arrivals that is forecast for the years logistics hubs connected with a plying high value-added products vestors.” to come. fast railway network in order to with an emphasis on new tech- 7. Water Desalination Projects distribute these goods.” The gov- nologies. Synergies are needed Another Greek construction Innovative desalination projects using ernment maintains that to cater between the private and the public giant, J&P-AVAX, had its first state-of-the-art renewable energies tech- to international freight transport sectors because the former needs PPP project 20 years ago with the nology. needs, it must foster a network of Rio-Antirrio Bridge. Managing 8. Railway Improvements intermodal transport. Many such Director, Konstantinos Mitzalis, Construction of double rail tracks and projects, on hold during the crisis pinpoints many current opportu- upgrade of signalling and electrification years, have happily recommenced nities, among them the Egnatia of network. since 2014. Railway and the logistics centers 9. Marina Hubs in Thriassio Pedio, Thessaloni- Upgrades of key marina hubs including The Ministry of Infrastructure ki, Larisa and Alexandroupolis. those to meet the increasing demand for wants to connect the wider region “These projects are of immense marine tourism. via three new routes to the Balkan importance to the country,” he 10. Seaports & Seaplanes countries and a fast railway be- says. PPPs imply lower risk for in- Developing waterways for the launch tween Asia and Central Europe, vestors. The stable environment of seaplane routes to connect Greece’s crossing central and western areas the government is committed to coastal areas. of the Balkans. Spirtzis says: “We guaranteeing adds further incen- have to act fast to provide a cheap- tive still. 11

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Intermodal transport projects to reshape European supply chains Photo: OSE Map: Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Having lost its prominence, the Greek railway is returning to the government’s radar as a logistics facilitator The Greek government has ear- developed it will have to work with Egnatia Railway a game changer marked railways as top priority. the railway in a win-win environ- Seen in the context of intermodal ment. Thriassio Pedio portrays this The spotlight is on the Egnatia Railway with roots in Northern projects linking railways, ports and paradigm perfectly.” Legislation, Greece and touted as Europe’s biggest mega-rail project logistics centers, the mode of trans- too, dictates that all logistics cen- port will act as a key cog in interna- ters of a national scope are obliged New tracks will connect the entire- subsidiary, covers both passenger tional supply chains. Major projects ty of Northern Greece, as well as and freight transport needs. Atha- pending completion include the the ports of Alexandroupolis, Ka- nasios Vourdas, former Managing railway network connecting logistics vala, Thessaloniki and Igoumenit- Director of ERGOSE and Sec- centers in ports serving as logistics sa, under the Egnatia Railway retary General of the Ministry hubs, such as the Port of Volos. Project. Access will be opened up of Infrastructure, Transport and to the vertical axes of neighboring Networks says “the core railway Also, work on logistics centers is and Central European countries. policy for the Ministry lies in the gaining international interest with development of the Greek railway Thriassio Pedio, set to be the larg- The 565km-long rail corridor and its exit to Central and East- est freight railway station in the Bal- signifies a 180-degree turnaround ern Europe. These infrastructure kans. A breakthrough in the tender for the Greek railways. As Kostas projects are managed by public at the end of 2016 ended ten years N. Petrakis, CEO of OSE (Hel- entities and are either co-funded lenic Railways), says “at the mo- by the European Union, following “The railway has better financial, environmental and social ment the share of goods transport- a PPP model, or privately funded. performance than any other mode of transport. Logistics will ed by the Greek railway is 2%, very Timing is key as we believe this have to work with the railway in a win-win environment.” low compared to 25% in countries project can help turn the crisis like Austria and Switzerland.” into an opportunity for Greece Kostas N. Petrakis, CEO, OSE (Hellenic Railways) Greece will be the linchpin link- and transform the country into a ing Europe and Asia as the project, big multimodal hub.” of deadlock. The joint venture of to be linked to the railway network. managed by ERGOSE, an OSE Goldair and ETVA Industrial Parks Athanasios Schizas, CEO of has seen €250 million euros pledged as part of a binding offer for the GAIAOSE, responsible for the real construction and management of estate portfolio of the Greek rail- the hub. Kostas N. Petrakis, CEO way says “synergies are necessary of OSE (Hellenic Railways), the amongst trains, ports and airports. major Greek national railway com- Multinational companies, and es- pany says “the railway has better pecially those involved in the tech- financial, environmental and social nology sector, need to send cargo performance than any other mode to Central Europe quickly and at a of transport, so if logistics is to be low cost. The railway could really be that link.” A timely social infrastructure revival history of the city within a modern The development of the Thes- structure.” saloniki Metro project created Kickstarting previously stalled social infrastructure some 1,500 direct jobs and 3,000 projects – the Metro key among them – sends a positive Another major project in the indirect ones. The re-initiation of message to the people pipeline is the tender for the these projects stirs confidence: fourth line of the Athens Metro – “Apart from the economic boost After years of delays, the construc- more than 65,000 passengers on a also under Attiko Metro – which that the Metro project has given tion works on the Metro of Thessa- daily basis. It will also render Thes- was launched in April 2017, and the city, you can now sense a flair loniki, Greece’s second-largest city, saloniki more attractive for tourists should be completed in 2025. of confidence in the air,” concludes resumed in 2016, and are set for for obvious logistical reasons but “The budget sought for the first Papadopoulos. completion in 2020. also because during the project, ma- section of line 4 is approximately jor archeological remains have been €1.4 billion and the rest of it, to- “The Metro project plays Theodoros Papadopoulos, Man- uncovered. “Many of the findings gether with the extension of the a key role in the national aging Director of Attiko Metro, will be exhibited within the Metro other lines, requires approximate- economy; creating which is responsible for driving stations in order to become part of ly €2 billion.” Papadopoulos says jobs, and increasing forward its construction, says “it is the modern city,” explains Papado- they are directing energies at a consumption.” a key infrastructure project for the poulos. “This is an example of em- PPP scheme to obtain these. “The city and will serve all the citizens of bodying the ancient civilization and carrying out of these projects plays Theodoros Papadopoulos Thessaloniki.” It is expected to serve a key role in the national economy; Managing Director, Attiko Metro creating jobs, and increasing con- sumption and expenditure.” For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com 12

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION New major motorways concluded in quick succession in 2017 Greece is turning to one of its time-tested tools for Photo: Aktor economic success, by drawing motorway projects to a speedy conclusion In the first quarter of 2017, na. It also joins western Greece The Port of Piraeus is the largest passenger port in Europe the Ministry of Infrastructure, with the rest of the country. Transport and Networks reached “The Egnatia Odos tonoudis signals how “the high- an important milestone with the The development of highways highway connects the big way also serves as the entrance conclusion of work on four out has long proven fundamental economic and industrial from the Mediterranean into of five planned highways under for the regional development of centers of the East and Central Europe, making clear the “Greek Motorway 5” project. Greece. The Romans initially the West, acting as a the importance that this highway The result comes in the form of used the early Egnatia route for solid commercial linkage gives to the development of logis- the new Ionian Highway, Olympi- military purposes, but as it be- point between them.” tics hubs all across Northern and an Highway, E65 and the middle came more widely used it rapid- Northwestern Greece.” section of the Athens-Thessalon- ly developed into the main road Apostolos Antonoudis iki Highway (Maliakos-Kleidi). from the Adriatic to the Black Chairman, Egnatia Odos Egnatia Odos undertook the All became fully operational Sea. Apostolos Antonoudis is design and construction man- through concession agreements Chairman of Egnatia Odos, the between them.” agement of separate vertical with the private sector and have entity responsible for the de- In light of the fact that the axes, too, which link the Egna- drastically changed the country’s sign, construction, operation and tia Motorway with Albania and routemap, benefitting the nation- maintenance of the 670km-Eg- ports of Igoumenitsa, Thessalon- Bulgaria. They have successfully al economy, users and local soci- natia Highway, which now runs iki, Kavala and Alexandroupolis completed 271km of the 442km eties at the same time. across Northern Greece and into are adjacent to Egnatia, An- of the planned network. neighboring countries. Antonou- The Ionian Highway stands dis explains, “the Egnatia Odos out by connecting the three ma- highway connects the big eco- jor ports of Patra, Astakos and nomic and industrial centers of Igoumenitsa, as well as three air- the West and the East, acting as ports: Araksos, Aktio and Ioanni- a solid commercial linkage point Milestone privatizations Photo: Shutterstock / Milan Gonda boost competitiveness The privatization program of Greek assets is seeing infrastructure deals pick up pace Landmark privatization deals in cies favoring investments and we of Assets and Participations – es- the idea now is to “create compet- the infrastructure sphere are being thank them for that.” tablished to consolidate the Greek itive tendering processes to attract concluded. Conspicuous among state’s assets under a common the right mix of investors and them is Chinese conglomerate The management of 14 regional umbrella and exploit them opti- generate revenues not only for the COSCO’s acquisition of a 67% airports by German-Greek consor- mally – Ourania Ekaterinari, says state but also the wider economy.” majority stake in Piraeus Port in tium Fraport/Slentel will step up April 2016, seeing the port climb the competitiveness of logistics. Proudly Extending from 93rd to 38th biggest in the Vice Chairman of Aegean Air- the Athens Metro world. Captain Fu Cheng Qiu, its lines, Eftichios Vassilakis, says “It Managing Director, credits the means the airports are going to be www.jp-avax.gr www.ghella.com government saying “it was not developed positively. Fraport has easy. But when COSCO moved specific standards to adhere to.” all its business-after-transit con- Ongoing privatizations furthering tainers from Venice to the port, opportunities in the logistics sec- the Greek government was very tor include the port of Thessalon- supportive. It gave us stable poli- iki. CEO of Hellenic Corporation 13

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Lamda Development’s landmark Hellinikon project Photo: Lamda Development The Midas Touch in real estate With property prices at an all-time low, Greek real estate is inikon development, on the site of adding “the Hellinikon Project offering golden opportunities for international investors a former airport near Athens. One means €8 billion in investments, of Europe’s biggest urban regener- 75,000 jobs and a 2% increase in Greek real estate has historically NBG Pangaea invests in a wide ation projects and Greece’s largest annual GDP.” He sees it as a game been one of the country’s main range of commercial property, privately funded investment, it’s changer for the country, that will growth engines, responsible for mainly in Greece, but also in oth- owned by a consortium led by have multiple positive effects in over 20% of annual GDP growth. er southern European countries. Lamda Development (part of the areas like construction, culture, at- It suffered during the crisis, with Some of the biggest investments Latsis Group) and includes Glob- tracting investment and tourism: investments shrinking by two made in Greece during the crisis al Investment Group, with both “it will be a landmark and attract thirds. But many think the time is were in real estate and NBG Pan- Emirati and Chinese capital. tourists to Greece.” It will also, he right to start investing again based gaea, which sees itself as a long- adds, put Greek real estate back on on comparatively high yields cou- term investor, was at the forefront: “It will be the first integrated the map and be “a reference point pled with quality. As Aris Karyti- “we’ve invested €600 million, of resort and the largest coastal park for many years to come.” nos, CEO of Greece’s leading real which 70% has been in Greece,” in the world,” says Athanassiou, estate investment company, NBG states CEO Aris Karytinos. Pangaea, explains “here you can find yields that are more than 15% Karytinos believes companies higher than what you can find in like his are an ideal way to take other European countries.” advantage of the opportunities in Greek property. “If you don’t “I’m confident risk-weighted returns of 15% and above can be achieved.” Odisseas Athanassiou, CEO, Lamda Development It is no coincidence that several know the people or the market, the leading foreign investors have put practicalities can be difficult. It’s Greek real estate on their radar far better to enter indirectly and again, as shown by the acquisition invest in real estate through a port- of a 67% stake in NBG Pangaea by folio like ours,” he argues. Dutch company Invel Real Estate and, most recently, the strategic One opportunity is a result of agreement between Lamda Devel- Greece’s non-performing loans. opment – Greece’s foremost retail A large part of these are backed real estate developer and owner of by real estate collateral, Karytinos two of the country’s biggest malls explains, “so we will have an in- – and US-based Varde Partners. creasing supply of property on the market for at least five years.” Odisseas Athanassiou, CEO of Lamda Development, says that The ongoing privatization of the the partnership provides them state’s real estate assets through a with important growth capital subsidiary of the Hellenic Corpo- and prospects to invest in its pi- ration of Assets and Participations, oneering Hellinikon project. “Ex- represents another huge opportu- troversion and collaborations with nity. “I’m confident risk-weighted foreign investors are essential for returns of 15% and above can be increasing investor confidence” he achieved,” says Athanassiou. The states. best example of what privatization can deliver is probably the Hell- For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com 14

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION A regional energy hub Photo: Hellenic Petroleum Spurred on by EU targets, major infrastructure projects and its geostrategic advantages, Greece is opening up its energy sector Greece lies at the crossroads of sev- George Stathakis sources by 2030. Major infrastruc- Liberalizing the eral complex energy projects that Minister of Environment and Energy ture initiatives such as the inter- are vital for increased EU energy se- connection of the Greek islands energy sector curity. Primarily, the Southern Gas market.” The shift presents oppor- will play their role too. Corridor, bringing natural gas from tunities for international investors This major move from the the Caspian region to Europe; the from electricity production and May 2016’s inauguration of the government is complex but EastMed project, connecting East- grid expansion, to the transmission €4.5 billion TransAdriatic Pipeline will pay dividends ern Mediterranean gas with the and distribution of natural gas and project, key to the Southern Gas mainland; and the Greece-Bulgaria hydrocarbons. Corridor, is one of the biggest for- The liberalization of the Greek Interconnector linking Greece to eign investments in Greece. With energy market is an integral part Central Europe through Bulgaria. Also spurring on growth of the increased EU energy security con- of its commitments to creditors. This, coupled with its geostrate- energy sector will be fossil fuel re- cerns, according to Stathakis, the Public Power Corporation (PPC) gic position, lends Greece a great duction, driven by the revised EU Greek government is addressing is the largest power producer and opportunity to be an energy hub. policy of 27% renewable energy the European effort to diversify electricity supply company in With ample possibilities for renew- gas supply routes in three ways, Greece with 87.5% of the electric- able energy too, its potential to be “by supporting the Southern Gas ity market, yet by 2020 its share, a core ingredient of Western Eu- Corridor, planning EastMed as an both in terms of production and rope’s energy mix is clear. additional route and transforming retail, will drop to 49%. PPC is into an LNG gate for Southeastern committed to pushing liberal- The sector is in transition. Min- Europe and the Balkans.” The na- ister of Environment and Energy tional energy policy will prioritize George Stathakis explains, “Greece attracting investments and increas- is moving towards privatizing cer- ing geopolitical influence. tain energy sectors and unbundling companies, to establish a rigid reg- ulatory framework for the energy 15

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report 16 ization forward by turning this Liberalization is not without its change of affairs into an opportu- challenges. Panayotis Bernitsas, nity to reshape the company. Managing Partner of Bernitsas Law, points out that “there are PPC’s Chairman and CEO, deadlines regarding the opening Emmanouil M. Panagiotakis, ex- of the electricity and gas markets plains “we are obliged to become in Greece, which should be re- a different company; smaller in spected” but adds that “the gov- electricity in Greece yet stron- ernment is making substantial ger and bigger.” It will diversify progress in this direction.” Effec- its activities and expand to other tive measures fostering compe- markets through collaborations. tition in the wholesale and retail Panagiotakis says PPC “has a electricity markets remain to be dual role to play: to act as a regu- implemented too, whilst Greece’s lator and guarantor of the energy gas retail markets are still legal market’s operation and to act as monopolies. Nevertheless, a gas a lever for investments in Greece release process aiming at effective and abroad.” PPC will also seek competition has been constantly to conquer the Renewable Energy improved, and a new gas law was Services market (RES), a high val- adopted for full liberalization of ue-added sector with a prominent the gas retail markets by 2018. role in the government’s Greece 2021 strategy. Whilst the legal framework is complex, if investors commit to the long term, all participants will need to offer more sophisticated products and the pay-offs will be clear. New players like Elpedison recognize this. Chairman Nikos A. Zahariadis says “We will con- tinue to support the authorities in liberalizing the Greek electricity market, for a healthy operating environment to be secured.” Leading high value-added exports Some Greek energy players have become more successful due to the crisis, particularly in the refined petroleum sector The government’s strategic growth into an opportunity and become an plan, Greece 2021, is based on increasingly more extroverted and changing the economic model to successful player, through a forced one of high value-added products need to diversify its supply sources. with export potential. Given that the As a result, it is the most profitable country is already a leading interna- it has ever been, with net profits in tional exporter of refined petroleum 2016 ascending to €329 million. “It’s important to be a leader rather than a mere observer, especially in a highly competitive sector such as energy.” Grigoris S. Stergioulis, CEO, Hellenic Petroleum products, with over 27% of Greece’s CEO of Hellenic Petroleum, Grig- export revenue in 2016 generated oris S. Stergioulis, says “our target is from them, the energy sector is set to meet 50% of our needs through oil to lead the way with this strategy. producers and 50% through traders. Any company wanting to survive Hellenic Petroleum is the sole pet- at this point has to transform its rochemicals producer in Greece with activities to satisfy the future energy a domestic market share exceeding buyer, no matter what their existing 50%. The group’s domestic refineries business. Our vision is to export any in Aspropyrgos, Elefsina and Thes- kind of energy product, to become saloniki cover approximately 65% of an energy trader. It’s important to be the country’s total refining capacity. a leader rather than a mere observer, It is a stellar example of a company especially in a highly competitive that was able to turn a challenging sector such as energy.” local environment during the crisis For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Leading energy players’ perspective Point of view Grigoris S. Stergioulis Point of view Emmanouil M. Panagiotakis FP What role is renewable energy going to FP What prospects do you see in the Renew- have in Hellenic Petroleum’s ambition to di- able Energy Sources (RES) sector in Greece versify its energy mix in terms of supply? in the next few years? GS Greece has a unique problem and a unique EP According to official estimates, in 2025 the opportunity. The issue is that we have around 500 production of renewables will be between 28-29%, islands and we need to find a way to make them en- without the large hydroelectric units. Bearing in mind ergy sufficient, but investments in renewables present it is currently about 19%, there is a very big margin a huge opportunity. We want to grab this opportunity to increase electricity production based on RES. PPC and our plan is to do so either alone or though joint is not a leader in this sector right now – our market ventures with other companies on the islands. What share is only 3%. However, our market plan is to be- could be better for tourism than having an island that come one of the top players within the next decade. Grigoris S. Stergioulis is totally free of diesel and that has solar, geothermal, Emmanouil M. Panagiotakis We want to expand our activities into neighboring CEO, Hellenic Petroleum wind or wave energy? Our dream is for about 32 is- Chairman and CEO, PPC countries by collaborating on renewable energy pro- lands to be totally independent of fossils fuels and for duction projects. When it comes to geothermal ener- them to be interconnected. So, we have big money to invest there. gy, we will likely become a monopoly because we have the exclusive right to exploit Greece’s geothermal fields. FP How would you like to see more US companies getting involved FP The US is a leading player in the energy sector. How would you in Greek energy? like to see US companies getting involved in the Greek energy sec- tor? GS The US is the major technology provider of the oil business. All the com- plex processes are developed by the Americans and we are happy to have used EP We have collaborated in the past with US companies to engage in proj- their technologies in all of our refineries. Regarding the oil business, refining ects in Balkan countries, in hydroelectric and thermoelectric projects specifically. and retail, Americans are moving out of Europe and there is a reason behind There are a great deal of opportunities for collaborations with US companies. this; companies are moving towards exploration – the big money – and out of In the case of renewables, we will launch a tender to choose a partner for the refining, giving room to smaller companies like ours to close the gap and provide exploitation of the geothermal fields on Greece’s islands. I think that Ormat Tech- the services. So, we are using the biggest percentage of technology from the US, nologies Inc. – a big US player in geothermal energy – would be a good partner. because they are the best, and we are open to any kind of cooperation. Attica region: a hub for economic and creative activity Why invest in Attica? The region of Attica, a multi-func- Rena Dourou like the Five Year Tourism Road- tional key area of Greece with a Governor of Attica Region map, the Government of Attica is 1. Attica is Greece’s Information unique landscape, rich culture and creating a multi-tourist product and Innovation Center a wealth of industrial, financial and sive growth model at national level. geared towards collaborating with The region stands ready to act commercial activities makes up In the words of Governor Dou- the 66 municipalities of the region as a hub of information, coor- approximately 40% of the Greek to enhance the visibility of the main dination and facilitation, and is population and contributes over rou: “We are aware that we have to attractions, enable growth and job proud of its flourishing R&D 47% to Greece’s Gross Domestic act fast. This is why we have opted creation, and raise the overall pro- activity, which exists alongside a Product (GDP). for synergies, in order to overcome file of the region, as well as Greece, fast-growing and dynamic start- the current bureaucratic obstacles on a global scale. Innovative proj- up scene. In recent years, it has become and become more efficient towards ects combined with the strong one of the key centers of economic business and investments. Atti- support of the Attica Administra- 2. Attica is a Global Gateway and developmental activity thanks ca is a unique business friendly tion to the Eleusis candidature for Attica is a prime international to the paradigm shift operated place, offering many investment the capital of culture of Europe for gateway to Greece, the eastern by the current Administration of options.” 2021, are putting the region on the part of the enlarged European Governor Rena Dourou. international map. Furthermore, Union and the Middle East and Attica has no shortage of ancient Governor Dourou says, “what we enjoys extensive transport con- Establishing the proper ecosys- and modern sites, apt for luring need is a new concept for attracting nections. tem for new forms of entrepre- tourists. Through ambitious plans direct investments and promoting neurship, smart specialization, the image of Attica”. 3. Attica is an International digital policy and innovation, Tourism Destination through synergies with important The Attica region has numer- With its direct connections to in- stake holders, such as the Athens ous assets to be taken advantage ternational locations rendering it Chamber of Commerce and Indus- of, including tourism, culture and the most accessible destination try (ACCI), and innovative new investment opportunities. As Rena in Greece, Attica offers a wealth business entities from the Athens Dourou emphasizes, “Attica is an of cultural and historical attrac- Startup Business, is the main goal unparalleled place for business, tions across the region, present- of the Attica Administration. work and fun.” She continues: “We ing many options which are easy are working hard to maximize all to access and satisfying all kinds In order to achieve this goal, of these assets, by changing the of tastes. the current Attica Administration administration paradigm, fighting is working out a set of new policies against red tape and inefficiency.” and initiatives in order to contrib- ute to a new sustainable and inclu- 17

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Photo: Shutterstock / Yulia Grigoryeva Agribusiness is set to play a key role in Greece’s economic recovery Top-quality products mean that Greece’s agribusiness has significant added-value and export potential Investing in taste “Agribusiness is a top priority in promoting Greek wines, because our development plan: Greece they are open to new experiences.” Investors are starting to make gains by combining 2021,” states Minister of Rural traditional Greek foods with modern business practices Development and Food, Evan- The financial crisis is having a gelos Apostolou. It’s not hard to positive impact on agribusiness, Greece is ideally placed to take tion,” says Oikonomou. Nikas is understand why. Agribusiness has with producers becoming more ef- advantage of the global shift to a also heavily investing in machin- long been a major export sector ficient, competitive and export-fo- Mediterranean diet. A tradition ery, like pasteurization equipment and, as the world moves towards cused, and moving towards high- several centuries long enriched to increase shelf life and allow ex- the Mediterranean diet, the coun- er-value crops and products. with high quality means agribusi- ports further afield. try has maintained a positive trade ness has huge growth potential. gap in a wide range of products, This is being driven by govern- And Greek and international com- Another business investing is many of which have stable prices ment initiatives, the private sec- panies are starting to invest in im- Dodoni, the dairy company synon- and rising demand. tor and by farmers’ cooperatives, proving supply chains, adding val- ymous with feta, which it exports which are helping to modernize ue to products and developing new to over 40 countries. In 2012, it This success is attributed in production methods and improve markets. Several companies are became one of Greece’s first pri- part to the uniqueness of Greek entrepreneurial skills. Apostolou proving how this potential can be vatizations when a 67.7% share products or, as Dodoni’s Chair- says “we are focusing our endeav- capitalized on, with a prime exam- was acquired by Strategic Initia- man, Michael A. O’Neill puts ours on the Greek diaspora to ple being leading cured meat pro- tive Foods. The new leadership is it “the added advantage of real promote agribusiness as much as ducer Nikas. After undergoing sig- showing how to transform a public possible.” nificant changes, it is on the path company into a thriving corpora- to transformation through planned tion, having invested in modern- “We are committed to maintaining that traditional and strategic growth, having been izing all aspects of the business, Greek taste.” bought by Chipita, a food compa- including production. Chairman ny operating in 25 countries. Michael A. O’Neill explains, “the Aggeliki Oikonomou, Managing Director, Nikas keys to our success were brand- taste”. Managing Director of Ni- The importance of the sector is “The keys to our success were branding coupled with kas, Aggeliki Oikonomou, believes clear both in terms of exports and quality and new product development.” a traditional approach to its reci- economic impact. Dodoni’s CEO pes will prove to be advantageous Tom Seepers notes that, with 500 Michael A. O’Neill, Chairman, Dodoni in foreign markets, stating “we are employees, it plays a big economic committed to maintaining that role within the region: “every year The new ownership will enable our ing coupled with quality and new traditional Greek taste.” we pump over €80 million into the expansion plans, says Managing product development.” Dodoni is local economy.” Director Aggeliki Oikonomou, already one of Greece’s top three Topping the list of Greek ex- whose priority is to “invest and yogurt brands and is expanding its ports are vegetables, fruit, olive Yet stiff international com- create new innovative products,” product line and planning exports. oil, dairy, seafood, olives and wine. petition means that neither the to strengthen its presence in the Why invest in Greece? O’Neill re- Europe is their biggest market, but government nor producers can market, tap into new ones and plies “the food product ingredients sales to countries including China rest on their laurels. Increased ef- become more export oriented. Its and their purity. And the work- and the US are rapidly increasing. forts must be placed on creating a first target is central Europe, “due force, which is very hungry to learn Constantine Boutaris, President strong international Greek brand, to its high cured meat consump- and hard working.” and CEO of leading Greek wine “and the necessary marketing plat- company Boutari Winery, thinks form for exclusive quality Greek “the US is the main country for products” concludes O’Neill. It’s good... Tradition in taste 18 to never stop creating www.nikas.gr For further information please visit www.prisma-reports.com

Sponsored Report GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Record-breaking arrivals keep tourism on top A long-time favorite for holiday makers, Greece’s tourism sector is riding a wave of growth thanks to government policies and private sector zeal Greece’s tourism sector drives the Photo: Shutterstock / Netfalls Remy Musser Elena Kountoura country’s economy, accounting Minister of Tourism directly and indirectly for 20% of Porto Katsiki beach on the Ionian Sea in Lefkada GDP, and is a model case for Eu- Point of view rope, having battled the debt crisis cities and regional airports to our chios Vassilakis, Vice Chairman of Elena Kountoura whilst maintaining a strong mo- traditional markets as well as new Aegean Airlines, Greece’s largest mentum in the sector. ones.” airline, says “the private sector is FP What is the plan for tourism? contributing substantially through EK It’s a top government priority. 2016 saw 2 million more arrivals Improving the perception of sta- new investments in hotels, mak- than 2015 and indications point to bility in the country has supported ing products more sophisticated We’ve implemented a new national 2017 following suit, with another the rise in visits. The synergy be- and adding destinations.” Part of tourism policy, based on five strategic 2-million increase, meaning 30 tween the government and the the sector’s success, too, is the pillars: extending the summer season, million tourist arrivals. It’s this private sector has fuelled this. Efti- diversity of the tourism offer and opening new dynamic markets abroad, pattern that led the World Tour- agile marketing of the ‘year-long’ creating new Greek destinations, pro- ism Organization’s Secretary Gen- tourism offer. Athens is poised to moting thematic tourism and attracting eral, Taleb D. Rifai, to commend receive 5 million visitors in 2017, high added-value investments. It’s the Minister of Tourism, saying partly thanks to the way the capital already born results. In 2016, tourism that Greece’s actions for managing has been pushed in this way. grew 7%, double the global average. the situation were “a case study.” Keenly aware of tourism’s con- FP What are some practical Elena Kountoura, Minister of tributions, the Ministry of Tour- achievements of your govern- Tourism, says “2017 has begun ism has developed a strategic plan ment? phenomenally. As a result of our to enrich the tourist product. In policy for growth, and our nego- 2016, for example, it carried out EK We have abolished a law that tiations with the global travel in- a dynamic and successful promo- prevented 1 to 3-star accommoda- dustry, there are around 150 new tion showcasing Greece as beau- tion facilities from benefitting from EU direct connections from capital tiful, safe and welcoming to tour co-funded schemes for modernization, operators, travel agents and travel making it possible for hotels currently bloggers. If Greece continues with out of business to reopen and upgrade. its bullish and creative approach Campsites are being upgraded and new to tourism development, its am- diving parks are being built. Through bitions of becoming a ‘Top 5’ Eu- the EU Interreg initiative, we are sup- ropean destination could be closer porting partnership projects such as than expected. cross-border collaborations, ener- gy-saving in small hotels, accessible Attracting and promoting tourism, senior tourism and innovative new investments technology applications for the sector. www.acci.gr FP What markets are particularly important for Greek tourism? EK Last year, the Greek diaspora in the US helped us in negotiations and we now have three US airlines flying to Greece in the summer, instead of just one in the past. Another huge success we negotiated was a new direct Emirates flight that connects Athens with Dubai and New York, daily and all year round. We have also begun to reinforce other markets in Europe like Serbia, Poland and Romania. We have maintained our focus on our traditional markets like Germany, England, France, Scandina- via, as well as Russia – a key source of the impressive increase in bookings for Greece in 2017. 19

GREECE THE ODYSSEY TO REINVENTION Sponsored Report Government and private sector Point of view Eftichios Vassilakis working in unison FP How would you define Aegean Airlines? From subsidizising small businesses to raising the calibre and EV We were created to be a carrier that promotes the capacity of hotels, diversifying the tourism offer is the goal country and offers a quality experience. We realized early Elena Kountoura, Minister of venture tourism.” Eftichios Vassilakis on that the greatest opportunity was to be found not by Tourism, calls the current gov- Massive investments in hotels Vice-Chairman, Aegean Airlines being a low-cost carrier but a high-quality one. Olympic ernment and private sector’s joint Airlines used to have a great reputation, but it had dete- effort to diversify Greek tourism a will help raise the quality of all of- riorated by the time that Aegean was created. Ultimately, “365-days tourism” approach. A fers. Andreas A. Andreadis, CEO we ended up buying Olympic and now we are a group. whole host of sub-sectors are being of Sani/Ikos Resorts, says “we need This is very different from most European countries, developed, from medical tourism to build about 100,000 new 5-star where the previous state carrier is still there and is com- to business travel. The Ministry hotel beds and increase the per- peting with new low-cost carriers. In Greece’s case, the has launched a program subsidiz- centage of 4 and 5-star beds from void was quality. ing small- and medium-size tour- the current 42%.” In the Olympic ism businesses by up to 50% in year of 2004 it was 25%. “We want FP How would you evaluate the recent transfer their efforts to modernize, deploy- luxury hotel beds to be over 50% of the 14 regional airports to Fraport, and thus the privatization of the ing a total budget of €90 million. of the total offer by 2021,” he says. airports? Yiannis A. Retsos, President of Grecotel, the largest Greek ho- EV The great news is that the international group managing the privatization is not SETE – the Greek Tourism Con- tel chain, will continue to inject allowed to increase the cost of the airports unless they first improve the quality of the federation – says “We have pack- money into the sector as President airports; it’s the first privatization or BOT in Greece where this is taking place. Overall, aged destinations like Rhodes, Nikos Daskalantonakis explains: I see it as is a very welcome development and we are looking forward to an extremely Crete, Santorini and Mykonos, “we have an investment plan of positive progression with Fraport and the other operators. which are well-known worldwide €100 million for the next 3 years, and have their own brand name, starting with the opening of a new FP What role do you attribute to public-private collaboration in boost- but also thematic products like boutique hotel in the historical ing Greece’s tourism sector? MICE, religious tourism and ad- center of Athens at the end of this year.” EV In terms of communication, I believe we’ve all realized in the tourism sector that we have the companies and products to promote Greece. If we all pool our resourc- es – hoteliers, airlines, other private sector companies, cities and regions – we can definitely have more effective campaigns. This is exactly what we are trying to do in Athens through our different initiatives. The beauty of Greece all year round! Temple of Poseidon, Sounio Mount Parnassos Navagio Beach, Zakynthos Stefanos Basilica, Kos Welcome to Greece, a country of onymous with summer holidays. Greece is literally a vast archae- winter sports. Ski resorts with ul- beautiful contradictions. Walk The country has almost 16,000km ological site, with more than 100 tra-modern facilities can satisfy through the country’s groves and of coastline – offering countless outstanding archaeological sites even the most demanding skiers, archaeological sites, visit groups of small beaches and charming bays. that attract hundreds of thou- offering an unforgettable experi- islands, get to know the beaches, Half of its coastline is on the main- sands of visitors each year from all ence down spectacular ski runs, gorges and mountains, and enjoy land, while the rest can be found over the world. As the country was where the beauty of the alpine nature’s breathtaking scenery. The on the thousands of Greek islands. already inhabited from prehistoric landscape is guaranteed to take country’s rich history, culture and times, traces of human civilisation your breath away. coastline have made it one of the And yet, Greece is more than a can be found everywhere, in all world’s favourite tourist destina- summer destination. You can en- corners of the land. Theatres, pub- Enjoy a ski run in some of the tions. joy holidays during all seasons in lic assembly buildings, great tem- best known ski resorts of the Greece: spring, autumn and win- ples and public markets portray a country and feast your eyes on the The country’s unique light, the ter promise experiences that will history exceeding 5,000 years. beauty of snow-clad mountaintops endless blue color of Greece and remain indelibly etched in your as you experience an overwhelm- the islands have made Greece syn- memory. In winter, Greece is ideal for ing feeling of freedom. This report was produced by Prisma Reports Ltd. www.prisma-reports.com 20 Country Director: Nadine Padrón | Communications Manager: Ana Trebolle | Editorial Consultant: Lalela Chryssanthopoulou | Writers: Sally Crail and Alice Tozer PRISMA REPORTS Prisma Reports would like to extend a special thank you to Evangelos Kalpadakis and Danai Badogianni for their invaluable guidance and support in making this report a success.



the culture clash issue The Many Shades of Maíra Mutti Araújo WHEN MAÍRA MUTTI ARAÚJO speaks, she In a country famous for draws out her vowels and pronounces its egalitarian melting pot, them with a distinctively sharp tone. Her one woman’s struggle accent is immediately recognizable to with race-based quotas Brazilians as typical of Salvador, a coastal raises difficult questions city in the country’s northeast that is as about blackness and famous for its beaches as its rich African belonging in Brazil. heritage. Araújo grew up in Salvador, just like her mom. Her dad, who grew up in BY CLEUCI DE OLIVEIRA a rural town eight hours away, has lived there since college. She has her mom’s ILLUSTRATION BY SOFÍA BONATI features—a broad nose, full lips—and her dad’s nut-brown complexion. Araújo comes from a bookish family. Her parents met when they were both chemistry majors at a local university— they now work as middle school chem- istry teachers. She got her law degree at the Federal University of Bahia, one of the country’s most prestigious. During her time in law school, Araújo began to consider a career in the civil service. She interned at the Federal Attorney General’s Office in Salvador while still a student and took a job as an analyst at the government accountability office in Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, after graduation. Her goal was to eventually FOREIGNPOLICY.COM 47

“It doesn’t matter if I apply as an affirmative action candidate or not. People will assume that I’m a cotista anyway, because they judge you based on the color of your skin.” become a prosecutor. “I love arguing uated from law school, Brazil’s Fed- Brazil’s current human rights minister cases,” Araújo says, “that whole pro- eral Supreme Court unanimously ruled and the country’s first black woman to cess of taking a case and finding a solu- that race-based quotas in universities become a judge, said in a statement. tion for it.” As a prosecutor, she says, were constitutional. Two years later, “Bahia, the cradle of black culture, has “you’re responsible for propelling the then-President Dilma Rousseff signed a set an example through Salvador.” case forward. The outcome depends on law that guaranteed 20 percent of pub- your approach.” lic sector jobs at the federal level for Araújo felt apprehensive about using candidates who identified as negro— the quotas option, despite its public In late 2015, Araújo set her sights the Portuguese term used by the cen- embrace, to apply to the prosecutor on an attractive job opening for a sus department and embraced by black job. Wary of the stigma she knew was prosecutor back in her hometown, in rights activists to denote African heri- attached to it, she feared that her future the Salvador municipal department. tage and which encompasses the iden- co-workers would think less of her and Everyone encouraged her to apply tities of preto (black) and pardo (brown assume she hadn’t scored high enough using a relatively new affirmative or mixed-race). Bahia lawmakers went to get the job through regular hiring action option. “You of all people! You even further, reserving 30 percent of channels. It was a stereotype she had have to do it,” Araújo’s boss at the time jobs in state and municipal depart- encountered before: After learning that told her. “If I had the chance to apply ments for negro candidates. Like many she had a law degree from a federal uni- as a quotas candidate, I would totally such laws in Brazil, it will come up for versity, an acquaintance had reacted go for it,” her friends said. “And you review in 10 years. by saying, “Oh, so you’re a cotista”— do! So apply!” the Portuguese word to describe affir- That Bahia now provides the most mative action students and hires, Since 2011, lawmakers in the state of extensive affirmative action mandates which can be neutral or carry negative Bahia and in Salvador, its capital, have out of all Brazilian states is demograph- enacted a series of measures aimed at ically fitting. Since the 1940s, Salva- tackling racial inequality. These include dor has held a cherished reputation legal measures banning discrimination among locals and international visitors against followers of Afro-Brazilian as the “Black Rome” of the Americas. religions, the creation of a committee Currently, more than three-quarters to combat institutional racism, and of baianos, as people from the state racial quotas for government jobs. are called, identify as black or brown. The policy efforts in Bahia reflected a According to the most recent census, national wave of legislation spurred by Salvador is the blackest state capital in the landmark Statute of Racial Equality the country. signed in 2010 by then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After decades Bahia’s most prominent black lead- of fighting to be heard, Brazil’s black ers have celebrated recent equality activist movements saw the concerns measures—such as the decree in Sal- of the country’s black population— vador that formalized racial quotas the largest, by some measures, of any for municipal jobs, like the prosecu- country outside of Africa—become a tor position that piqued Araújo’s inter- political priority. est. “Thank God! This measure couldn’t be more appropriate,” Luislinda Valois, In 2012, the same year Araújo grad- 48 JULY | AUGUST 2017