#1
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How Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold is devastating the environment and local livelihoods in Greece and avoiding taxes by using Dutch mailbox companies. A new SOMO report reveals that Greece’s economic recovery is being undermined by large-scale tax avoidance – enabled by the Netherlands. At the same time, Greece endures harsh austerity measures imposed by the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF which are supported by the Netherlands. The report, Fool’s Gold, reveals that Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold uses mailbox companies in the Netherlands to avoid taxes in Greece. This has led to tax losses of at least € 1.7 million for Greece in the past two years. There are also serious environmental and human right concerns related to the company’s operations. The address of the mailboxes in Barbara Strazzilaan 101, Amsterdam. https://www.google.nl/maps/@52.33616...VwryChXdbA!2e0 How Eldorado Gold avoids tax through Dutch mailbox companies Read the story here http://read.somo.nl/story/fools-gold/ Download the research data http://www.somo.nl/publications-en/Publication_4177 This short video is based on SOMO research into Eldorado Gold’s tax avoidance structures and its human rights impact in Greece. video on vimeo : https://vimeo.com/123514796 twitter announcement for 1/4 ThePressProject.gr @ThePressProject Join us at the open event tomorrow at 12pm. @SOMO will present its research on Eldorado Gold's tax avoidance scheme http://www.thepressproject.net/article/75143 |
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Dmocecil, Nyckname, spudigitti |
#2
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Eva Joly on Dijsselbloem and his role in Eldorado’s tax avoidance: “To call this hypocrisy is to put it mildly” Vice-president of the EU Parliament΄s TAXE Committee, in a comment to ThePressProject, doesn΄t mince words: The Netherlands is one of the biggest corporate tax dodging havens...and their finance minister as head of the Eurogroup is forcing Greece to cut public spending while depriving the country of potential tax revenues Indicators such as FDI relative to the real economy show that the Netherlands is possibly the biggest or one of the biggest corporate tax dodging havens. The volume of artificial capital flows to and through the Netherlands is just staggering. As a result the Netherlands actively and knowingly contribute to the deterioration of public finances in many countries. In Portugal and Germany this is well known and strongly criticised. But the revelations concerning Greece are of particular concern. Dijsselbloem has forced, as Eurogroup chief, Greece to cut public spending in vital sectors such as health, while at the same time he has been defending as Dutch finance minister the Dutch model of robbing other countries of tax income. To call this hypocrisy is to put it mildly. It is time that Dutch citizens realise how their governments have been over decades defending this kind of robbery at industrial scale. And that decisive action has to be taken in the Netherlands and in the EU to put an end to what is a nightmare for poor citizens in many countries. " http://www.thepressproject.net/article/75209 ![]() |
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Dmocecil, kellyhound, spudigitti |
#3
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#4
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Source: Quotenet 17-02-2015 Translation by b0g. Today a deadline expires for the Greeks, and they will have to accept the reform plan of Dutch finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, otherwise they don’t get any more money. But no word about the fact that he and his predecessors have facilitated that Greek multinationals can evade tax in their own country, via the Netherlands. The Dutch whammy. Just look at these tax refugees here with open arms received by the Dutch mailbox sector. The Greeks are going to do everything now completely different. At least that is the plan of the extreme left party Syriza, which won the elections. One of the plans is to fetch € 3 billion by forcing large companies to pay tax in their own country. Whether they will succeed is highly questionable, multinationals have yet to pay the US has not succeeded. Just like in Europe where lawmakers have not yet launched better regulations to dam in aggressive tax avoidance. Syriza hopes in the foreseeable futureto collect 3 billion € in Greek multinationals, and that money is badly needed to carry out the € 12-billion economic program (higher minimum wage, small tax evaders and debtors spared, tax relief for SMEs). Syriza Should this thinking operation, there are a few countries where to look. Underneath Luxembourg, Switzerland and Cyprus, of course, but also the Netherlands. Which Greek companies have an address here to let the Greek tax authorities empty-handed? Seven big or striking at a glance: 1. Coca-Cola HBC The soft drink bottler Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company is the largest company in Greece, accounting for a turnover of around € 9 billion and net income of around half a billion euro’s. Bottles bottled in Greece are sold in 28 countries, including Russia and Italy. HBC is thus the largest soft drink bottler in Europe. In the Dutch-mailbox for example, managed by trust office Citco, parked € 3.3 billion. The holding company is in Switzerland. In 2012 was called up during demonstrations in Athens to boycott Coca-Cola because of tax evasion 2. Eldorado Gold A real gold mine? Yes! In Greece gold can be mined. That gold mine is worth more than half a billion, according to the annual report. European Goldfields Greece, the old owner of the mines, was already in the Netherlands. That was in form of a cooperative (ua). Which legal form is actually meant for agricultural ventures such as Campina. But this legal form has also been widely used to evade tax on dividends. The new owner since 2012, Canada's Eldorado Gold, which has left Gr, is also a co-op. Also includes a Turkish mine. Eldorado owns 95% of the Greek mine, Qatar, the remaining 5%. Because of the irreversible damage to environment and the mountainous landscape, the Greeks have been demonstrating against this company since 2012. Potentially there might be for some $ 11 billion in gold in northern Greece. 3. Lamda Development Lamda (indeed not lambda) is the real estate company of Spiro Latsis, the richest man in Greece. The heir of a wealthy ship-owner owns an oil company, a private bank (with parent holding companies in Luxembourg and Switzerland, and affiliates in a dozen tax havens) and thus residing in the Netherlands real estate company. It has interests in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. It has about € 75 million to property on the balance sheet. 4. Brink’s The American owner of money vehicles has invested heavily in Greece. Always handy in a country where the euro may disappear and a new currency should be distributed. Brink's is also a great security company in Greece, it supplies include security companies, attendants to football stadiums and traffic controllers. All those Greek operations are housed in letterbox-eg at trust company Intertrust to Amsterdam Prins Bernhard Plein. That's for example, with unimaginative names like Apollo Acropolis Holdings, Athena and Zeus Oedipus Marathon Holdings Holdings are housed in Brink's Dutch Holding. It has about € 60 million to property on the balance sheet. 5. Antenna Group The media empire of the owner family Kyriakou, with operations in Greece itself, the Balkans, the US and Australia in their own words with more than 2,600 employees. The Dutch letterbox holding company has another 18 firms hanging below it for the various activities. On the balance sheet shines for € 39 million as property. 6. Hanergy Solar Power A major Chinese company investing in solar projects in Greece. Has twenty firms for the Greek operations in the Netherlands, and above this hangs a UA (co op). Since 2012 active in the Netherlands. The UA has not yet deposited. An firm where some parts of the other limited companies are grouped, notes total assets of 5.6 million. |
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#5
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What is this thread about - Succinct version... Under 140 characters... and GO! |
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b0g |
#6
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Big Greek corporations are avoiding taxes since decades by using several accounting techs, such as Dutch mailbox companies. So Greek corporations h bn funding the Dutch treasury, not the Greek. Meanwhile D. Fin. Min. Dijsselbloem (as crr. head of €-zone group) is working to enforce even more austerity on the Greek ppl. They endured 5 yrs of aussy and counted 10,000 suicides on a population of +- 10 million. A multi layered racket getting clearer? |
#7
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Greeks don't do well under the control of others. History has continually proven that. Get rid of that damn euro and let Europe self implode. Greece did quite well independently. They will survive and flourish when they don't have all this shit hanging over their heads.
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#8
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A monetary union does not work, or will not last, when there are different tax and fiscal systems plus a Eur CB who's flexibility is capped by Eur treaties and Eur laws. So the Greeks cannot devalue cos they have the single currency €. That leaves few options: like internal devaluation of labour. But you know wages are very sticky. And what you do when rent and mortgages stay same level, but you get only +- 50 percent of former wage? It's ok in theory but horrible in practice. Also Germany is still allowed by EU to have a budget surplus cos of the reunification of east Germany in 1989. But this exception is no longer necessary. Add that there is no surplus recycling mechanism currently in the EU, so Greece will be joined soon by another sick country. What you want when Obama listens Merkels phone and Putin exploits Merkels fear of dogs. |
#9
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Not sure how I feel about this. This sort of thing is going on pretty much everywhere sooo how am I supposed to feel? Not like 2 million over 2 years in back taxes could save the Greeks... Hell 2 Billion in 2 months cannot save them ![]() |
#10
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In Greece for decades the big firms barely pay taxes. or rather for a lower % to the Dutch treasury. So this very poor tax income rate for Greece is / might be a reason for the ECB to demand harder conditions for bridge loans, like austerity. a mechanism similar to shopping at diff. banks for a payable mortgage loan. the Greeks can also ditch the €, and start a new drachma. material and non-material credits for this new currency they can get from Russia , China, ... on their terms. See? |
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Agapeti |