Thu, Feb 23, 2012, 13:51 GMT - UK Markets close in 2 hrs 39 mins

Greece's Rich Pawn Luxuries To Ride Out Crisis

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On the outskirts of Athens there is a company that trades in the unhappiness of others.

A dusty Ferrari sits abandoned in a garage, while the forecourt of Auto (BSE: BSE-AUTO.BO - news) -Credit is packed with other luxury cars incompatible with this age of austerity.

This is where the wealthy come to pawn their supercars in order to ride out the recession.

Ten owners a day hand over their keys for a three-month contract and a handful of euros.

Increasingly, many of those struggling in the crisis can't afford to get their cars back, so the business has expanded into neighbouring lots.

There's even a secret location where company founder Christos Ioannou is now storing luxury yachts, which owners can no longer afford to run.

"Of course, they are emotional when they come here," he told Sky News.

"It's their car, or their boat and a means of transport and they are only here because of their difficult financial state."

There's an ironic twist to this story, too: the number of buyers is also drying up, so he's planning on reselling the cars in the country where many of them were assembled.

"Some owners cannot pay for cars which are left behind and can't retrieve them. These are usually big 4x4s," Mr Ioannou said.

"There is no demand for them in Greece right now so we have set up a company in Germany to export them there for resale."

It's not the only pawn shop doing a brisk trade in Greece. If you walk down Ermou Street, the equivalent of Oxford Street in London, there are flashing neon signs everywhere, offering cash for valuables.

Jack Moore, from Newcastle (Frankfurt: 725198 - news) , was one of the first on the block, after assessing how much gold was being hoarded by people in other European countries.

"When I first came here I was one of the first. You would be lucky if you could see two shops. Now there might be 400 or 500 shops within such a short space of time," he told me.

"They've come from nowhere."

He said business has been steady throughout the crisis, but more unscrupulous black market traders have been springing up.

It's a sign of the desperation here, where incomes of civil servants have dropped by 40%, taxes have soared, pensions shrunk and job prospects all but disappeared.

The threat of even greater economic deprivation now hangs on talks to try to keep Greece solvent with another 130 billion euro bailout.

If it defaults, Greece could soon find drachmas back in their pockets.

 

12 comments

  • mark  •  Madrid, Spain  •  27 days ago
    And yet their government has just placed an order for euro fighters worth 4 billion, a similar sum for French Frigate, 2 billion for German subs, A couple of years ago the Greeks spent 3% of output on defence, (in Nato only The US spends more) and Itchy & Scratchy are forcing Greece to honour the obligation and sign for more. So why this massive arms build up? allegedly to repel immigration, using Jets, Subs and Tanks? FFS where are they coming from. Anyone aware of any more strange deals going on? might put the whole Euro thing in perspective.Could be a sneaky way for Germany to build up its warfare equipment, on the basis of " we built them for Greece but now we cannot sell them" Just an idle thought.
  • GEMMA  •  Manchester, England  •  27 days ago
    the rich tax dodgers are now losing there wealth The poor are the ones i feel sorry for
  • ..- .--. -.-- --- ...  •  1 month 4 days ago
    so why are we having to bail out Greece, they should get no bailout until they have seized all the assets of these rich tax dodging fatcats one by one then liked em up and shot em.
  • Michael George  •  Hounslow, England  •  1 month 4 days ago
    Reality hits the tax dodgers, Let them sink and be dumped out of the Euro. It will start the breakup of the EU.
  • Bagsy_b  •  Milton Keynes, England  •  1 month 4 days ago
    It will Not Affect the Poor - When you have nothing, you have nothing to loose and they will survive despite government
  • Cindy  •  Youngstown, United States  •  1 month 1 day ago
    Why don t i feel sorry for them ?
  • Leonna  •  1 month 4 days ago
    Shame the headline didn't read, "Greece's Rich Pawn Luxuries to Help their Poorest Countrymen.
  • PatSyCola -  •  Brighton, England  •  1 month 4 days ago
    If you listen carefully you can hear the finishing touches being put to the plans for those empty shops on UK High Streets.......... " cant give you much for this Guv, gold aint what it used to be " Ferraris- Rolex- Rollers... sorry mate no call for em now....
  • t!n@  •  27 days ago
    luxuries...where their money went thus they fell into debt!
  • james  •  Maidenhead, England  •  27 days ago
    get yourself to england .bring your mother cousin jobs waiting or luxury benefits.
  • Rae  •  27 days ago
    If the Greek government which is supposed to have been elected by the people cannot discipline their citizens to owe up to their civic responsibilities they should be kicked out ot the EU. It is beginning to be a very tiresome exercise trying to help a people that do not want to help themselves.
  • MrCoolGuy  •  Leeds, England  •  1 month 4 days ago
    So the litany of Greeks avoiding paying their taxes finally catches up with the so called elite. What does the government do??? cuts the pay of or sacks its tax collectors....... you couldnt make it up !

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