He was found dizzy SYRIZA a few days before the opening of polling stations due to the statements of Mr. George Katrugalu on the restoration of 20% of insurance premiums for the self-employed in the event of a party victory in the elections. The appointment of Katrugalos caused a storm of reaction from the chambers and institutions, a fierce attack by the ND, as well as a strong background in Kumundura, which ultimately led to the “withdrawal” of the former minister from the ballot. Initially, Mr. Katrugalos was asked to state that he was expressing a personal opinion. However, as the noise continued, Mr. Alexis Tsipras he was forced to intervene, emphasizing that “contributions to the SYRIZA program are not increasing”, and in a telephone conversation with Mr. Katrugalos, it was decided that the former minister should announce his withdrawal from the election campaign. Commenting on the events, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking yesterday at the Sports Palace in Thessaloniki, stressed: “Katrugalos admitted that he wants to restore his law on insurance and they hastened to write him off, because he was a martyr and discovered the truth.”

SYRIZA own goal in one of the elections

Antonis Anzoletou

A storm of indignation, a political storm inside and outside SYRIZA and his resignation caused the statements of Giorgos Katrugalos in Blue Sky about the restoration of 20% of the insurance premiums of self-employed professionals in case of re-election of SYRIZA. The former foreign minister caused great surprise to Kumundur, as he is a man who measures his statements and does not cause problems for the party. A little more than 24 hours before the opening of polling stations, the official opposition sounded the alarm, and in the first meeting he was asked for clarification. “Regarding contributions, I expressed my personal opinion that it is better that most people pay less and that no one is overburdened,” he said. This position, however, was not considered sufficient. Fiery ND announcements intervened. and Akis Shertsos and, above all, the reaction of the chambers and agencies. There was also a speech by the President of SYRIZA, who, in an interview given to in.gr, said: “There is no increase in contributions to the SYRIZA program. In the program, freelancers will see changes in their lives, but the changes will be positive.” This was followed by communication between the former Foreign Minister and Alexis Tsipras, and the next steps were taken simultaneously. Giorgos Katrugalos, in fact, with his new statement called on the inhabitants of the northern sector of Athens not to elect it on Sunday, emphasizes Komundour. “Slander N.D. about the “hidden agenda” is false. Leftists always speak the language of truth. If there was a hidden agenda, would I voluntarily reveal it two days before the election? But the damage is done by the tool of the right-wing media empire. I won’t make it easy for her. In addition, my participation in politics has never been done from the point of view of personal interest, but as an offer… Yesterday I take full political responsibility for my position and declare that I am withdrawing from the election campaign,” he stressed.

Tsipras’ assurances that freelancers’ fees will not increase – “They were caught in the act,” Maximu notes.

Government spokesman Akis Skertzos stated that “we all understood that they were just caught in the act and he left badly because he is a ‘witness’.” Dimitris Manzos stressed that “SYRIZA confirms the lack of credibility that makes it the golden sponsor of New Democracy.” SYRIZA made it clear in a statement that Katrugalos’ exit from the electoral battle was a one-way street: “Anyone who deviates from the Change Contract, knowingly or by mistake, places himself outside the collective effort for great change.”

Sources at the Electoral Department of the Ministry of the Interior say that since Mr. Katrugalos’ candidacy was nominated by the Supreme Court, he remains in force. If elected, he has the right to resign his seat.

“Panspudasti” and… a meeting with SYRIZA

Born on March 27, 1963, G. Katrugalos began his political path, which brought him to SYRIZA, from the youth of the KKE as a student, and later, as a student, he was a member of the well-known red student organization “Panspudasti”. His studies at the Athens School of Law and the Sorbonne led him to become a constitutional scholar and professor of public law at the Democritus University in Thrace. First in the European Parliament, then in Parliament and then in the highest government portfolios, however, after the meeting with SYRIZA, when the party gained speed to power, he found himself.In particular, he was an MEP from May 2014 to January 2015. In the first joint government of SYRIZA-ANEL, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Administrative Reform.In the second joint government of Tsipras —Cummenow (September 2015) he was promoted to the position of Minister of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity and was associated with the well-known “pension reform” law, which was criticized as completely negative. In 2016, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs “for European Affairs”, and after the resignation of N. Kotsias, he was promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He was first elected to Parliament as an MP for Messinia SYRIZA, but for the previous four years he had been on the ballot of Athens B1 Northern Sector. His name as a candidate is now also included on the SYRIZA ballot in the same field for Sunday’s elections.

Up to three times the amount of insurance premiums

Rula Salurou

The reaction of the business community, representatives of professionals and the self-employed, as well as the leadership of the Ministry of Labor, to the possibility of a possible return of the provisions of the Katrugalu law on the unemployed, was sharp. As stated in the message of the Ministry of Labor, in this case, the self-employed will have to pay up to three times more insurance premiums compared to the current regime. For example, a professional with a net taxable income of 20,000 euros today pays 230.25 euros (category one), while under the Katrugal law he would pay 449.17 euros, i.e. an increase of 95%. With an income of 30,000 euros, the increase would be 192.6%, since, according to N. Katrugalu, he would have to pay 673.75 euros.

The business world also reacted immediately. G. Stasinos, President of the Hellenic Chamber of Tech, said that everyone – engineers, scientists and freelancers – would never agree to the restoration of the corresponding position, which turned out to be disastrous. President of the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce (CFC) K. Kolias noted that Mr. Katrugalos seems to be forgetting about the huge damage done to businesses, as well as the fact that the provisions of his law were declared unconstitutional. For her part, EBEA President Sophia Kunenaki-Efraimoglou noted that this particular choice has led to the destruction of thousands of freelancers in the past, G. Kavvatas of GSEVEE referred to the policy of overcharging and turning insurance into a tax, condemned to the conscience of professionals, while Athens The chamber of commerce also expressed its concern.

A storm of reactions from freelancers and the business world to the statements of the former minister.

It should be noted that under the Katrugalu law, classes of insurance were abolished from 01/01/2017, and until 2020 – the year of the application of the Vrutsis law – the basis for calculating contributions in the amount of 20% for basic insurance and 6.95% for health insurance was real income of the unemployed. In fact, one of the important problems, not in essence, but in the implementation of the measure, was that the income of the previous tax year was taken into account for calculating the contribution. In fact, until such returns are confirmed by the tax administration, the calculation takes into account the income for the last year during which the calculations were made, which led to the payment of contributions based on income two years ago.

The main argument of the then leadership of the Ministry of Labor was that contributions should be calculated the same for both employees and self-employed. For this reason, in the end, it led to the results, the opposite of those calculated on Stadiou Street: the declared business income from 3.86 billion euros in 2016 fell to 3.4 billion euros in 2017, the first year of its application. . despite the growth we had this year.