Catastroika Page #2

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...do not overcome

the european average.

Public administration' defects

are well known.

But it is usually the state-

nurtured financial elites...

...the first to accuse

the public sector.

After preparing the public opinion

for the fire sale,

the only thing missing is

the mechanism to do that.

All eyes turn

to the german Treuhand,

the company that transformed

the 10th largest industrial power...

...into a shopping catalogue

of 510 pages.

Eurosaal - the euro room.

In a 280 sq.m. room beats the heart

of the german ministry of finance,

for some, the heart of the eurozone.

The room has

its own dark history...

...synonymous with the course

of the modern german state.

Here, the Luftwaffe officers

planned their strategy...

...for the bombardment

of european cities.

After the war, the soviet army

installed here its headquarters,

whereas in this very room,

the first constitution...

...of the German Democratic

Republic was signed.

The architectural monster

that Goering constructed...

...as the largest building block

in Europe...

...now houses the biggest industrial

enterprise of that period.

After the dissolution

of the Eastern Bloc,

Treuhand undertakes the sell-off

of East Germany's public assets.

A disastrous experiment...

...that results in millions

of unemployed workers...

...and a crushed industrial base

in the area.

Historically, it is a tragic event,

because the Treuhand idea derived

from various DDR movements.

When the people

of East Germany realised...

that reunification was in fact

an acquisition by West Germany,

Treuhand was already a state

within a state in Berlin.

In order for the bureaucratic

monster to function,

it used equipment and networks

of the east german armed forces.

Treuhand is transformed into

an economic occupation army.

It started working when East

Germany typically existed,

but it was basically influenced by

western politicians and managers...

...and economic sharks.

They had this popular slogan at the

Treuhand:
...

...which stands for

There is no Alternative...

...and Thatcher's portrait

was hanging in many offices.

Treuhand owns 8,000 companies,

...and 4 million sq. km. of arable

land and forests.

More importantly,

it holds the fortune of 4,5 million

workers in its hands.

And then, the plundering begins.

They privatised even on weekends,

up to 10-15 businesses.

This of course

was the real dilemma...

...which brought about

chaos and fraud.

People with no financial

background appeared...

...in order to buy businesses.

They didn't have any money,

but took part in auctions,

took the money from the companies,

paid their bills...

and dissolved the company.

There are innumerable examples.

A lot of companies went bankrupt.

Of the 4,5 million workers

there were 1,5 million jobs left.

The privatisation criteria were not

always financial.

Many decisions were taken

in political offices,

while several businesses closed...

...so as not to threaten their

competitors in West Germany.

Truehand's companies had value.

It is said they were problematic.

Some of them indeed were,

but others were competitive...

with the western companies

and exported goods to the West.

There were accusations that

political parties were bribed...

...in order to put pressure

for certain privatisations.

In Bischoferrode

there was a potash factory,

which is important

for industrial activities.

Such factories were found

both east and west.

But BASF's influence

was very big...

and as a monopole this company

didn't want any competition.

Thus, although there were investors

interested in the factories...

...they had to be destroyed.

The toll of Treuhand's action

is terrifying.

The GDP in areas of East

Germany shrinked by 30%,

while unemployment

rised from 0 to 20%.

But, most importantly, after

selling out a whole country,

Treuhand succeeded in

presenting billions of losses.

Treuhand created a 300 billion DM

debt and a 60 billion DM profit,

but we expected to get 600 billion DM.

There is a lot of debt left...

...which is still owed

to the corresponing fund.

This fund is not included

in the federal budget.

It cannot be considered a model as

many companies were destroyed.

With a 250 billion debt, it can't be

a model for other countries.

However, the president of the

Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker,

presented Treuhand

as a model for Greece.

A month later,

the Greek "Asset Development Fund"

is created.

The greek Treuhand

is housed in a building...

...behind the former parliament.

The three parties supporting

the austerity measures...

...share the organisation's

administration.

This is professor emeritus Koukiadis

of Aristotle University.

Mr. Konstantinos Mitropoulos is

the manager and central figure.

He owns a company, Kantor,

and has worked for the Latsis group.

A few months later,

the journalist that presented

the fund's structure...

...is appointed as its spokesman.

Other key-positions are occupied

by many executives...

...of the two companies managed

by Kostas Mitropoulos.

The fund is supervised...

...by Herve Le Roy

of the french embassy...

...and Maarten Verwey of

the dutch ministry of finance.

The troika also appoints 3 members

of the fund's board of experts.

The conditions set by the troika

in Greece for the fund's function...

...resemble those

in occupied countries.

The privatisation costs devolve

upon Greek taxpayers,

whereas the profits,

which were initially estimated

to reach 50 billion euros,

go to the creditors.

The fund operates

with great secrecy...

...assigning extreme powers

to its members.

The latter take on the sale

or the concession...

...of buildings, land, infrastructure

and share packages.

The fund can exploit the littoral

zone or the ancient monuments.

The only condition is

that they remain in place.

Even before

the creation of the fund,

government officials had started

advertising greek assets...

...in road shows,

like a travelling circus.

Zorba's Greece is a country

subject to foreign multinationals...

...that control the infrastructures.

A country in serious debt

with a corrupted political system.

The situation was similar

to the interwar period.

Especially between

the years 1924-1930...

...Greece was an ideal candidate

for lending.

There was a series

of huge scandals.

The governments were bribed,

even Venizelos' consultants.

Foreign embassies directly

intervened in all this.

One example was the contract

with Power company,

another one was

the contract with Ulen.

These contracts were

of a colonial nature...

...and proved to be very profitable

for those who invested in them.

Almost a century later,

the troika,

in collaboration

with the Greek governments,

demands the privatisation

of the country' s infrastructure.

What isn't explained

to the citizens...

...is that privatisation and

derregulation experiments...

have failed even in the most

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