Yiannis Dragasakis appointed Economy Minister in reshuffle
Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis is to assume the portfolio of the Economy and Development Ministry after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was forced to moderately reshuffle his cabinet on Wednesday, following the resignation of two ministers this week.
Dragasakis, a close aide to Tsipras with good knowledge of bailout negotiations with Greece's creditors, is taking over from Dimitris Papadimitriou who quit on Tuesday following an outcry over his wife receiving a state rent allowance.
Rania Antonopoulou, alternate minister for Social Solidarity, is to be replaced by Athanasios Iliopoulos.
Another significant change is the inclusion, in the post of alternate defense minister, of Fotis Kouvelis, former leader of Democratic Left and a former junior partner in a coalition government led by Antonis Samaras.
Current alternate defense minister Dimitris Vitsas is to replace Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas.
Other changes include the appointments of Constantinos Stratis as Deputy Culture Minister and of Meropi Tzoufi as Deputy Education Minister, replacing Costas Zouraris, who quit in January.
The reshuffle was announced by government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos who said there would be no other changes.
