Are they hiding the Troika officials, or have they... lost them?

The figures were reminiscent of classic Central Europeans, even though they were persons who appeared in the Finance Ministry for the first time. The five men were found shortly before four in the office of Finance Minister General Secretary, Mr. Elias Plaskovitis, representing our lenders, and reminded all of a “team” in the sense that their same-coloured-suit look was impressive. Although novices, they did not seem to be “green”, while one of them was comfortably eating a sandwich. This relaxed attitude might have been the result of the fact that they were accompanied by three ladies who have previously visited the Finance Ministry.

The Troika team remained in Mr. Plaskovitis’ office for about an hour. The issues are pretty well known already: “instructions” on a new storm of measures totaling over 11 billion euros, with a focus on eliminating tax exemptions, as protothema.gr posted this morning.

But the obvious result turned into a thriller! The Troika representative, Karlos Martin Ruiz de Gordeguela, specifically mentioned that “there is no Troika team currently in Greece”!

“There are always contacts between Greece and the Troika on many issues, from taxes to privatizations, from structural reforms to the implementation of measures which have been decided”, he said, adding that the next days will not see any negotiations.

Is there any reason for these reports by Mr. Gordeguela? Are they hiding the Troika officials or have they lost them somewhere between the creditor countries and Athens? Time will tell…