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Give Greece A Chance?

With fear of a Greek default still looming, and Greek society gasping under the pressure of severe austerity measures, business leaders have banded together to market a message: Give Greece a chance. “We are hardworking, taxpaying citizens unfairly labeled with stereotypes so easily handed out to Greeks today…” says this group, which has posted a [...]

With fear of a Greek default still looming, and Greek society gasping under the pressure of severe austerity measures, business leaders have banded together to market a message: Give Greece a chance.

“We are hardworking, taxpaying citizens unfairly labeled with stereotypes so easily handed out to Greeks today…”

says this group, which has posted a fresh Website called Greeceischanging.com.

European leaders are preparing for Greece to default this week if it cannot secure a voluntary bond swap. Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told Bloomberg News Monday that he expects bondholders to accept a 100 billion-euro debt writeoff that would cut in half the value of their holdings, “the only existing offer.” If all bondholders participate, credit default swaps would not be triggered.

Meanwhile, a “group of leading Greek business people” writes on Greeceischanging.com that structural reforms approved by the Greek Parliament mean the “chance to create a new Greece.” A note from Apostolos Digbassanis, the trade commissioner in the Greek government’s trade office in New York, alerted us to the site.

The site says government measures to cut bureaucracy mean it now takes much less time for an entrepreneur to establish a business in Greece: “reduced from 19 to 10 days.”

Brands with a broader European or Balkan scope, like the nation’s predominant telephony provider, Hellenic Telecommunications Organization — also known as OTE –  or Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling (CCH), are among the companies behind the marketing effort.  OTE trades over the counter in the U.S. (HLTOY);  Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY) owns a significant stake.

In other news Monday, Guggenheim Partners said it is advising the National Bank of Greece on a $26 billion solar project, called Helios, that could produce 10 gigawatts of solar power by 2020.

Of course, with imagines of tear gas and fire around the Greek parliament building in Athens still fresh on the Web, and reports that Athens grocery stores ask customers to buy and donate food for the less fortunate,  listed supporters of “Give Greece a Chance” have a tough road in their promise to “deliver on our commitment” to “a constructive role within Europe.”

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