The decision to set out on foot from the port city of Volos to Athens, some 325 kilometres away, was an easy choice for Triantafylos Karatziolis. A year ago the 40-year-old father of two lost his job at a factory owned by ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel and mining company. He was one of hundreds of workers who were laid off at the factory.
On Tuesday he was among the 300 unemployed people from the Volos who began the walking the Greek capital, hoping to be heard. "One after another factories and businesses are shutting down in Volos and everyone is blaming the difficult economic situation. The government urgently needs to do something, to provide incentives for these companies to remain in Greece," Karatziolis told dpa on Thursday.
He was speaking from the town of Aghios Constantinos, where those still marching had stopped to rest. Some 165 km away in Athens riot police and hooded youths clashed on the streets during at demonstration by and estimated 70,000 people opposed to the government's austerity plans. A 24-hour nation-wide strike was underway. A decade ago, the Volos industrial zone in central Greece was a hive of activity, with thousands employed at dozens of factories specialising in cement, steel production and manufacturing.
Considerable state and European Union subsidies lured businesses to the region, boosting the local economy and bring jobs. Today, many factories in what was once the country's most important industrial area lay abandoned due to the rapid decline in the construction industry, causing unemployment to soar to more than 30 per cent.
Greece's economy is in a deep recession, with the gross domestic product shrinking by 6.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, further complicating the government's efforts to implement new austerity measures to meet the demands of its international creditors. While industrial output rose by 2.5 per cent year-on-year in August - the first increase since April 2008 led by higher exports - many experts believe it is not enough to show the way to recovery.
"Credit has been drastically reduced and businesses and companies have run out of cash to pay supplies and its employees," said Karatziolos. Last week, Coca-Cola Hellenic, the largest company in Greece, announced its exit, following in the footsteps of dozens of other firms, including Greek dairy giant FAGE, that have left to do business in a more stable economic environment.
"The main reason is taxes, and the fact that since Greek banks are waiting to be recapitalized they no longer have money to lend to companies," a Coca-Cola Hellenic executive, who asked not to be named, told dpa. The company, established in 2000, said it would move its corporate headquarters from Greece to Switzerland and transfer its primary listing from Athens to the London Stock Exchange.
Officials have said the production unit in Volos will be unaffected by the move, but the government stands to lose more than 20 million euros (25 million dollars) a year in tax on Coca-Cola's profits. Even if companies are still operating in Volos, salaries have been reduced and workers have been asked to take unpaid leave. "These factories were our livelihood - and almost overnight we have been left without jobs and without any hope for the future," said Karatziolis.
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