ATHENS, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of empty chairs were set up across Syntagma square in front of the Greek parliament in central Athens and many cities all over Greece on Wednesday, as restaurateurs staged symbolic protests requesting state aid to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
SYMBOLIC PROTESTS
Members of unions representing businesses of the sector nationwide joined an initiative entitled "empty chairs" which is unfolding across Europe by similar associations, to draw attention to the impact of the lockdown and the restrictions of the post-lockdown era on restaurants and cafeterias beyond borders, organizers told Xinhua.
"It is an action unfolding simultaneously all over Greece by various associations, on all squares, from Crete (island in the south) to Evros (region in the north) and from Corfu (island in the west) to Rhodes (island in the east)," said George Kavvathas, President of the Panhellenic Federation of Restaurant Enterprises (POESE).
"It symbolizes the situation we will be facing in the coming period, if the government will not take substantial measures to support the sector. We estimate, based on data we have collected and the messages we are receiving from across the country, that 30 percent of businesses in the sector will not be able to meet their obligations," he added.
The full lockdown which started in Greece on March 23 eased Monday with a few stores reopening. Restaurants, cafeterias, as well as hotels and other enterprises are scheduled to reopen on June 1, according to the government's planning so far. Once open, they will have to observe new rules regarding distances between tables and other restrictions or face heavy penalties.
Officials have said that the restart of this sector of the economy could be brought forward if Greece will not register alarmingly increased new novel coronavirus infections in the coming days. Greece so far has over 2,660 infections.
"Whether we reopen on June 1 or May 20, if the problems are not solved, the businesses in this sector are not viable," Kavvathas stressed.
CALL FOR SUPPORT
Businesses are already wounded by the acute economic crisis Greece has been dealing with since late 2009. In the summer of 2018, the country formally exited the third harsh bailout program implemented since 2010 to avert a financial meltdown.
As the economy was recovering, posting positive growth rates in recent months, and businesses and employees were counting on a Greek comeback to fill in gaps, the COVID-19 crisis erupted.
The Greek economy will contract by 9.7 percent this year and grow by 7.9 percent next year, according to a new European Commission forecast.
Greek restaurateurs ask the government to immediately lend a strong helping hand to the enterprises in the sector which struggled to survive the debt crisis, and to stay afloat also this time.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said last week that the government has already spent 17 billion euros (18.4 billion U.S dollars) to support households and businesses and more will be invested.
The organizers of the "empty chairs" protests, however, asked for more and sooner.
"It is a kind of mild protest. We are requesting the reduction of VAT rates in catering to 13 percent and 6 percent. We are requesting reductions in rents, we are requesting a lower contribution to social security funds," Andreas Andrianakis, President of the Association of Athens' Restaurateurs, told Xinhua.
"Our forecast is not rosy. We are talking about tens of thousands of padlocks. We are taking about unemployed. The state should help, should support businesses at least in the reopening, with fast track procedures in approval of loans by banks. They should give a few subsidies," he said. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars) Enditem
