Greece: Reflection from the button

June 11, Greece became the first and only country of the European Union to abandon state television

Cigarette in protest. The Greek government closed the state television company ERT. 2907 people were left without work

On this day, the state television and radio holding ERT was closed. The people of Greece lost three unpopular television channels, 29 radio stations and a number of unclaimed appendages in the form of two musical ensembles, a magazine and a website. All 2907 employees were dismissed. “ERT is a classic example of incredible wastefulness and opacity,” the press secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers Sims Kedikoglu commented on the government’s decision to close the Government.

For many Greeks, ERT personified everything that led the country to economic collapse: corruption, inefficiency, bureaucracy, falsification ... dozens of ghost employees, whom no one saw at work and who regularly received salaries. Expensive programs with low ratings. ERT was funded by additional electricity tax, which is about € 300 million per year. Costs are three to seven times higher than on private television channels, employees are four to six times more.

Television and radio is one of the most public spheres of government agents. ERT is an absolutely logical completion of the Greek management model. You need to start disassembling any structure from above - Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and began with television. Moreover, the ERT is closed by the usual order for the Cabinet of Ministers - there was nothing like this before in the country. This means that just now you can close any ineffective and expensive state -owned company.

Photo: Reuters