Thursday, September 7, 2017

Greek-Bulgarian memorandum for railway connection serves the profitability of monopoly groups

The Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece issued a statement about the recent memorandum signed between the governments of Greece and Bulgaria, regarding the construction of a new railway connection. 

"From the advertisement of capitalist businesses to the signing of- needed for the capital- interstate agreements, the SYRIZA-ANEL government continues to promote the known fairy tale of development which- supposedly- can be beneficial for both monopolies and the people. 

The truth is that the interstate agreement for the construction of "Egnatia Railway", which, through a new line, will connect Kavala with Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis and from there with the ports of Ruse, Varna and Burgas (Bulgaria), comes as a demand of the monopoly groups in the Transporation sector and during a period when the privatization of TRAINOSE (Greece's state railways) and ports is under way. 

What the Prime Minister said, about "a work of historical, commercial and geostrategic importance", regarding the railway connection between Greece and Bulgaria, aim in binding the people behind the plans and the aspirations of the monopolies which are active in the sectors of Transportation and Energy, of the bourgeoisie as a whole, which pursuits her geostrategic upgrade in the region. None of these works did not ensure growth for the people's benefit, didn't prevent capitalist crisis, didn't eradicate anisometry between regions.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras (left) with his
Bulgarian counterpart B.Borisov.
Like the "Egnatia SA" motorway, which came to serve the connection between Turkey and the EU for the faster transporation of goods- with the people paying the cost for the construction and preservation of it and with toll stations multiplied after the decisions of the previous and current governments- the "Egnatia Raiway" comes to satisfy the demands of business corporations in a period when the "restoration to capitalist development" is promoted and especially when the alliances between capitalist states are constantly reorganized.

The working people will pay today for the construction of a work and will continue to pay in the future as passengers the constantly increasing fares, when, at the same time, the monopoly groups will gain deduction of the costs for the transporation of their commodities. The experience of OSE does not leave any margin for misunderstanding and it's certain that the cost of passengers transporation will be increasing as a countermeasure.

If the government was interested in the need of the people in Northern Greece- of the whole country- to have cheap and modern transportation system, it would abolish tolls, it would decrease the huge taxation in fuel, it would create modern, cheap and accessible to all people public, combined transport and, of course, it wouldn't give Egnatia motorway to the private capital."

Source: 902.gr / Translation: In Defense of Communism.