Hellenic Seaplanes (Athens) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Charalambous says the ongoing Greek economic crisis has forced investors to withhold capital needed to commence operations.
Speaking to Bloomberg news last week, Charalambous said Greece's uncertain economic future coupled with newly imposed capital controls had impacted not only tourist traffic, but also investor confidence.
“[The situation has] created some angst among our investors that led them to freeze much-needed capital until things get back to normal,” he said.
Greece's future within the Eurozone hangs by a thread following last weekend's marathon talks between bloc leaders and Greek politicians lead by Alexis Tsipras.
On Monday, July 13, Economic Minister Giorgos Stathakis warned that even if new funding is secured, Greece will maintain capital controls for "months" to come with citizens being prohibited from withdrawing more than EUR60 per day or exporting foreign currency. However, in a bid to restart the stalled economy, controls on export firms and the maritime sector will be eased while "a large part" of foreign currency related to the tourism sector would also be "liberated".
The announcement may help calm investors behind the Hellenic Seaplanes project, said to include US and European private equity funds. Given the country's instability, the start-up has had to defer launch plans from 2014, to 2015, and now to summer of next year.
As part of its operational plan for 2016, Hellenic Seaplanes intends to build a network of 112 waterways across Greece and its islands each of which will be able to service two to three seaplanes at a time.
In a vote of confidence, Greek energy company NRG Trading House S.A. announced last month it would partner the airline in building three waterways in the North Aegean islands of Chios, Psara, and Oinousses.
