What a mess Greece is in.

tagged: bahalo, Greece, IKA,pensions, queues, stopped

Please keep taking your holidays in Greece, it is the most beautiful place, is full of beautiful people, and those people need your help.

Thousands of troubled Greek seniors form long queues after pension stop

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Society

Thousands of pensioners at the verge of brain-stroke and heart-attack formed long queues outside the offices of Greece’s biggest insurance fund IKA on Friday morning. The troubled seniors had rushed to the local branches of IKA because their pension had been stopped. Just like that. The seniors must have been in shock on Thursday when they went to bank to pick up their pension money for June – and to see that there was no money on their account.

08:07 a.m. waiting in Chios

For one simple reason: they did not receive their pension for June, when they went to the bank the previous day.

Greek media report of several reasons as to why the pensions were not paid out: missing insurance and tax numbers but also money shortage.

A total of 96,333 pensions were stopped: 54,193 main pensions and 42,140 supplementary due to missing or wrong  tax- or general insurance registration number.

Another reason is that IKA missed 21 million euro for June pension payments due to calculation mistake. Poverty allowence (EKAS) was to paid out retrospective.

Many pensioners have reportedly received also less pension after new criteria for the poverty allowance were set in April.

IKA had announced that pensioners whose pension had been stopped, would contact directly the local branches of the insurance fund. There, they could correct the wrong data and receive their pension.

  waiting, waiting  and still  waiting...

Worth mentioning: ΙKA pensioners had to participate in pension census already twice in the last two years. Why the insurance fund did not informed the persons involved that data was missing or it was wrong on their submitted census-papers is something that only the Greek state can know.

When will state disorganization and bureaucracy stop troubling the citizens? Good question … with no answer on the horizon.

BRITAIN PREPARES PLANS FOR COLLAPSE OF EURO

UK’s Plan B to Aid British Expats in Case of Euro Collapse

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Economy

Is the euro really collapsing? Does the euro zone near the end? I can’t answer these questions but the Britons allegedly prepare their Plan B to help British expats through the collapse of the common currency, collapsing of the banking system and outbreak of riots. British The Telegraph in an article Prepare for riots in euro collapse, reports that the Foreign Office and the Treasure  confirmed ”earlier this month that contingency planning for a collapse is now under way ” as the  Italian government struggled to borrow and Spain considered seeking an international bail-out.
British ministries seem to consider a euro collapse as an issue of a “matter of time”.

Recent Foreign and Commonwealth Office instructions to embassies and consulates request contingency planning for extreme scenarios including rioting and social unrest.
Greece has seen several outbreaks of civil disorder as its government struggles with its huge debts. British officials think similar scenes cannot be ruled out in other nations if the euro collapses.
Diplomats have also been told to prepare to help tens of thousands of British citizens in eurozone countries with the consequences of a financial collapse that would leave them unable to access bank accounts or even withdraw cash.
There is also the potential for social unrest: embassies and consulates have been told to prepare for a flood of inquiries and requests for help if the euro stops working in some countries and other currencies have to be introduced (there are a million Britons in Spain alone). Fortunately, the government can keep liquidity flowing at home in an emergency, thanks to the UK retaining its own currency. source: Telegraph

It's all a bit scary really. Ignorance is bliss, but this will affect everyone, and heads in the sand will get their backsides kicked!

Vrahassi was very quiet today. David and I popped into the cafeneio for a drink, we sat outside looking on to an empty street. A couple of old men were perched on the old bench by the statue. The travelling fish man stopped but had no takers for his fish. He was not a happy man. I had a word with Papa Niko, he was not a happy man either. The school taxi dropped off a couple of kids; a scooter carrying 3 people puttered past. Only David and I remained in the silence of the afternoon. The sun was warm, a slight breeze shook the young trees which masked our mountain view. Abandoned cafeneio chairs stood guardian to a heap of firewood, and we drank up and left with no one to say good bye to. We had obviously missed the rush hour!

Jane x