GREECE
Macro/Political:
- The trade balance in December 2025 presented a deficit of EUR 3,552.5mn compared to a deficit of EUR 3,469.1mn in December 2024, recording an increase of 2.4%. The total value of imports amounted to EUR 7.661.7 mn (+1.5% y-o-y) while the total value of exports was EUR 4,109.2mn (+0.7% y-o-y). The deficit of the trade balance, for the 12-month period from January to December 2025 amounted to EUR 33,515.5 mn in comparison with EUR 35,598.7 mn for the corresponding period of the year 2024, recording a drop of 5.9%.
Source: ELSTAT
- According to Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, four contracts with Chevron are expected to be signed by February 20, after which they will be ratified by Parliament, while geophysical surveys are scheduled to begin in the 2H26. He also referred to the corresponding agreement with Exxon Mobil, Helleniq Energy, and Energean in the Ionian Sea, where exploratory drilling is expected to commence in 2027.
Source: Kathimerini
Markets:
- Metlen announced that whilst its underlying core business has performed robustly and in line with expectations, due to unanticipated cost overruns in its M Power Projects (MPP) business and the timing of the closing of certain transactions in its asset rotation plan of M Renewables , the company will not achieve its EBITDA target, and now expects 2025 EBITDA to come c.25% lower.
Source: ATHEX
- GEK TERNA announced that its construction subsidiary, TERNA, has been declared by the National Railway Company of Romania as the contractor for two major railway projects with a total budget of approximately EUR 1 bn. The construction arm of the GEK TERNA Group secured the contracts as part of a joint venture with Alstom Romania, in which it holds a majority stake of up to 74%.
Source: ATHEX
CYPRUS
Macro/Political:
- Scope upgraded Cyprus’s long-term credit ratings from A- to A and revised the outlook to stable from positive. The upgrade in Cyprus’s rating was driven by robust fiscal performance, reflecting strong fiscal revenues and buoyant economic growth, which have led to a rapid decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio in recent years. Furthermore, the credit rating agency estimates that public debt-to-GDP in 2025 fell to 55.4%, representing a 58.2% reduction over five years, which is among the fastest debt declines in modern times.
According to the agency, the favourable fiscal outlook, with the headline surplus expected to average 2.5% of GDP in the 2026–2030 period, along with sound economic growth, will help the debt ratio remain on a steep downward trajectory toward below 40% over the next four years.
The upgrade, as per Scope, was also driven by continued strengthening in the banking system, with a sustained fall in the stock of NPLs, together with a rise in the NPL coverage ratio to record highs, which has strengthened the banking sector’s capacity to provide credit and reduced the government’s contingent liability risks. Scope also expects the NPL ratio to further decline over time and converge toward the euro area average of around 2% in the medium term.
Finally, the stable outlook reflects Scope’s view that Cyprus’s A ratings balance the favourable fiscal and economic performance against the challenges posed by a small and open economy, large external imbalances, and legacy vulnerabilities in the banking sector.
Source: Scope
