Greek owners raise stakes in tax wrangle with Europe

The European Union (EU) will shoot itself in the foot and cause a stampede of shipping companies to the Far East if it insists on overhauling Greece’s shipping tax system, president of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) Theodore Veniamis has warned.

In a rare public speech, Veniamis launched a scathing attack on the EU’s executive body, the European Commission (EC), which in December threatened sanctions against cash-strapped Greece if it failed to tax shipping company shareholders and exclude maritime brokerages and insurers from the country’s special shipping tax regime.

“It