ATHENS — Demetri Politopoulos, the founder of a midsize beer producer in northern Greece, says he nearly fainted when he heard the news late one night in October.
The Greek Parliament was planning to pass a law that would increase the tax he paid for each hectoliter of beer he sold by 50 percent.
Just like that, the microbrewery he started 17 years ago would go under, as his new tax bill of 1.6 million euros would wipe out his expected 1.45 million euros in profit for the year.
“I about had a heart attack,” said Mr. Politopoulos, a 52-year-old entrepreneur who for more than 10 years has been trying to persuade bureaucrats in Brussels and Athens that Greece’s monopolistic beer market was damaging his business.
So he hopped on a plane to Athens and to the surprise of many was able to persuade the government to shelve the law within a day — an extraordinary turnaround given how slow the Greek state usually moves.
It was a triumph for Mr. Politopoulos and his Vergina beer brand.
But the tale is also important on a larger scale as it shows how many of the revenue-raising measures that Greece is rushing to put into effect at the behest of its creditors are threatening to put small Greek businesses — the beating heart of the country’s downtrodden economy — out of business.
It was midday here, and Mr. Politopoulos was sitting in a cafe, chain-smoking cigarettes and nursing beers.
He had stayed up most of the previous night celebrating the victory with friends and family and the low growl of his voice and untouched plate of food before him signaled that the evening’s effect was still with him.
“Yeah,” he said. “We really partied. I don’t know how my brother got on a 7 a.m. flight today.”
The celebration was a long time coming. Educated in the United States, Mr. Politopoulos returned to his native land 19 years ago with a dream to become an independent brewer. At the time, there were no Greek beer companies: The Dutch-based behemoth Heineken had locked up the market.
He started his business in 1998, but even as demand for his Vergina beer grew, his share of the market stayed in the low single-digits as the market leader did all in its power to prevent shops and restaurants from selling his product.
Even now, after 15 years and a 7 percent market share, it is almost impossible to find a Vergina beer in Athens.
In 2005, Mr. Politopoulos took his case to the Hellenic Republic Competition Commission, citing numerous examples of what he said were unfair business practices by Heineken, from persuading retailers to not stock Vergina to more serious examples of bullying and intimidation.
But as is often the case in Greece, his petition went nowhere.
With Greece under unremitting pressure to find new revenue sources, the idea to close the gap between the way small and large brewers are taxed may have seemed a good idea.
That is, until Mr. Politopoulos took the floor in Parliament on Nov. 2.
“We are proud to pay taxes in Greece, but this is going to put us out of business,” he said. “And when we do pay our taxes, we expect services — like justice. Without justice in a society, there is nothing.”
His 10-minute declamation hit a cord. A video of the speech went viral and parliamentary members rallied to his cause.
Indeed, concerns are growing here that in a rush to raise much-needed revenue, Greece and its creditors are placing an unfair burden on an already decimated private sector.
In the teeth of a five-year depression, Mr. Politopoulos says business is holding up fairly well. Via his company, which also sells tea drinks, and the farmers who grow barley and tea, he estimates that Vergina supports more than 1,000 families in the area of Komotini, which is just a short drive from the Turkish border.
How, he asked, could a tax increase and the closure of his beer factory be seen as good for Greece?
The government of Alexis Tsipras seems to have gotten the message. The tax bill was quickly shelved and a number of Parliament members called for an investigation into why the competition commission was taking so long to render a decision.
Last week, the commission did give its opinion, saying that Heineken would be fined 31 million euros for unfair business practices.
In a statement, Heineken said the decision was “unfair and ungrounded” and that it would appeal the ruling.
It has been an emotional time for Mr. Politopoulos. He is not married and has no children — as he likes to say, making beer in Greece (and frequently drinking it) is his life.
“I am really proud that we can make a difference,” he said, searching a bit to find the right words. “This shows there are Davids and Goliaths — and that sometimes the Davids win.”
source: NEW YORK TIMES
