Ukraine called Greece to shut its ports to Russian vessels and stop business with Russian companies in an effort to increase pressure on Moscow to end the war, Ukraine’s ambassador to Greece said.
According to Reuters, Sergii Shutenko told reporters that Ukraine asked Greece in particular to close the ports to Russian vessels, and stop doing business with them, as well stop sending Greek ships to Russia.
Responding to the call, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that sanctions against Russia by European Union countries would be implemented.
Adding more pressure to Greece, Mr. Shutenko noted that “accepting Russian money, you should be aware, that the blood of Ukrainian children, of Ukrainians and Greek Ukrainians in Mariupol is on these bank notes, on this money. Don’t accept bloody money from Russia.”
What is more, new talk of compromise from both Moscow and Kyiv on a status for Ukraine outside of NATO lifted hope earlier during the week for a potential breakthrough after three weeks of war.
With over 4,500 vessels, Greece’s merchant fleet is one of the largest in the world. In fact, KPMG noted that Greece ranks 1st globally in ownership of merchandise vessels, presenting a 28% increase in owned capacity in the last five years, while the average vessel’s size is almost double, which indicates that Greek ship-owners mostly operate in high volume markets.
As for the top-15 key players in the Greek shipping industry, according to fleet size, the KPMG survey concluded to the following:
- Navios Maritime Holdings
- Angelicoussis Group
- Star Bulk Carriers
- Dynacom Tankers
- Costamare
- Cardiff Group
- TEN
- Laskaridis Shipping
- Thenamaris
- Eastern Mediterranean Maritime
- Minerva Marine
- Alpha Tankers
- Danaos Shipping
- Stealth Maritime Corporation
- Marmaras Navigation
