GREXIT Greece's creditors: Negotiations with Athens are getting complicated

Finance ministers in the Eurozone (Eurogroup) are waiting for new reform proposals for from Athens, but the result of the recent referendum in Greece will make negotiations difficult, says Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the Eurogroup, who thinks that keeping Greece in the Eurozone will require hard reforms.

"The outcome of the referendum is very unpleasant for Greece's future. To relaunch Greece's economy, difficult measures and reforms are unavoidable. We are waiting for an initiative from the Greek authorities", said Dijsselbloem, quoted by Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

The Eurogroup official stressed that staying in the monetary union remains Greece's goal, as well as of the group of finance ministers.

We remind that in the referendum of July 5th, 61% of the Greeks voted with "NO", against the austerity measures proposed by the international creditors. Only 38.99% voted in their favor.

Starting with July 1st, Greece is essentially in default, after it failed to repay 1.6 billion Euros to the IMF. The country still has 7.2 billion Euros available from the financial aid program of 240 billion Euros it received in 2010, but the money does not get released unless Athens accepts the austerity measures demanded by its creditors.

• Varoufakis surprises with his resignation

The Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, surprisingly handed in his resignation yesterday, after the referendum, but his action is seen more like a concession made to the creditors, despite his anti-austerity victory.

Varoufakis explained that in doing so he wants to give prime-minister Alexis Tsipras the chance for a new beginning in the negotiations with the creditors, during which it may be decided whether Greece stays in the Eurozone or not. According to his statements, Varoufakis has been informed that some of the members of the Eurozone would prefer for the former minister not to attend the reunions of the Eurogroup. The former minister mentioned: "The referendum of July 5th will remain in history as a unique moment, when a small European country rose against the slavery of debt".

The officials of the European Central Bank (ECB) think that Varoufakis' resignation will not help, nor affect the negotiations between Athens and the creditors, because the problems are not about "personalities, but about economic circumstances", which didn't change after the Greeks' vote.

After Varoufakis' resignation, the new finance minister in Athens is deputy foreign affairs minister Euclides Tsakalotos.

• ECB: "Every country in the Eurozone has the interest of Greece staying in the Union"

The European Central Bank will probably maintain the emergency financing line (ELA) meant for Greek creditors to its current restricted la a decision which means the banks could soon run out of cash, according to sources quoted by Reuters. A potential decision of the ECB in that regard was being awaited yesterday.

Currently, the emergency financing offered by the ECB to Greek lenders is limited at 89 billion Euros.

Ewald Nowotny, member on the Board of governors of the ECB, says that every country in the Eurozone has the interest of Greece staying in the monetary union.

• New summit of the Eurozone

The leaders of the Eurozone have scheduled for today, in Brussels, a summit dedicated to the consequences of the victory of those who voted "NO" in the Greek referendum, an outcome which is considered "regrettable" by the head of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

The summit was called by German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Francois Hollande.

It bears mentioning that the authorities in Berlin have stated that cutting Greece's debt is not being considered. "Our position is well known. A cut of the debt is not an issue to be cut for us", German officials say.

On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund (FMI) announced yesterday, that it is monitoring the situation in Greece and it is ready to help Athens, if it is asked to do so.

"The IMF has acknowledged the referendum in Greece. We are closely monitoring the situation and we are ready to help Greece, if we are asked to do so", said the executive of the IMF, Christine Lagarde.

Spanish minister of the Economy, Luis de Guindos, thinks that the Euro is "irreversible" and Greece must remain part of the monetary union. De Guindos also says that Spain is open to negotiations for a third rescue package aimed at Greece.

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Through its vote against the proposals of the international creditors, Greece has taken "a significant step towards the exit from the Eurozone", said the Russian deputy minister of the economy, Aleksei Likhacev, who says that it is too early to pretend whether the government in Athens will go "all the way" to drop the single currency.

"An eventual Greek exit from the Eurozone would be a kind of a shock therapy for the European Union", the Russian official said. In his opinion the Euro will weaken against the dollar in the coming days.

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The Greek government has extended the closing down of the Greek banks until July 8th, according to the Greek Banking Association, and cash withdrawals from ATMs are still limited to 60 Euros a day.

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Russian president Vladimir Putin was yesterday contacted by phone by Greek prime-minister Alexis Tsipras, and the two leaders have talked about the result of Sunday's referendum and about "a number of issues which concern the continuing development of the Russian-Greek cooperation", according to Kremlin's announcement.

At the end of last week, the management of the second largest Russian bank, VTB, said that Russia may be interested in buying Greek assets, if they were privatized.

Moscow is also interested in ports, airports, railways or companies from the energy sector.

Also yesterday, Tsipras spoke on the phone with the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, according to some government Greek sources quoted by french newspaper Le Figaro.

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British finance minister, George Osborne, says that he respects the result of the Greek referendum and he will do all that is necessary to protect his country's economy from the effects of the former.

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Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front French party, urges countries in the European Union to admit the "failure" of the Euro currency and to return to the national currencies.

Marine Le Pen said that "the ECB must immediately stop abusing its power and stop depriving Greece of cash".

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The Serbian Central Bank has limited the transactions of Greek subsidiaries with their parent banks and has extended its oversight of local branches. The four major Greek banks - National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank and Eurobank - have a combined market share of 15% in Serbia.