Greek state suppliers wait the longest

The Greek state has the worst solvency in Europe, as the real time of repayment of supplier companies has averaged out at 103 days this year, beating even the Italian state, which had held the dubious lead until last year, according to data in the “European Payment Report 2017” released on Monday by Swedish company Intrum Justitia.

The statistics issued by the collection and obligations management firm illustrate the hostage status many Greek enterprises have been stuck in due to state practices.

The state’s payment time of 103 days is an improvement compared to last year’s average of 115 days. However, it must be noted that the contracts the state signs with its suppliers provide for repayment within 80 days, so the state delays its payments by an extra average of 23 days more than what it has signed a contract for.

The data also show that the average time of payment in transactions between companies in Greece exceeds two months, one of the longest recorded in Europe. It has risen to 63 days from 62 days in 2016, while the average contract time agreed is 49 days. Only Portugal has a higher average (68 days) than Greece among the 29 countries surveyed.