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The economic instability, reduced market demand and the often changing taxes are the main reasons for the withdrawal of many large international corporations from Greece. Apparently the trend for reduced sales and lower profits will continue for at least another three years until the memorandum of Greece with the triple of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission lasts. And while small local enterprises in the country are fighting tooth and nail for their survival, this perspective does not appear to the central administrations of larger companies. Many of them increasingly consider the possibility of withdrawal of their headquarters in another country with more friendly to the business initiatives.

This is the case with the subsidiary of the tobacco giant Philip Morris International "Papastratos" which the Imerisiya Journal describes. It reports that the Board of Directors of the company even considered the possibility of withdrawal of the company from the country due to the change in internal market conditions. "We must protect the interests of our shareholders who entrusted us this diamond firm," said the Executive Director of Papastratos Christos Tsokalis. The company in Greece has 800 employees and over 40 thousand customers. The businessman says that the emergency economic measures and frequent changes in the tax legislation have left their imprint on the company's sales this year. According to Tsokalis the cigarettes carrying the brand name of Philip Morris have registered a significant drop in sales for the first four months of 2010 as compared to the same period last year.

The Papastratos company has declared 317 million euros pre-tax profits for the year 2008, out of which 6.59 million euros have gone into the state as additional tax for this period, besides the due corporation tax. In 2009 this special tax on the still proffitable company will cost around 9.3 million euros. In the new economic conditions the company will have no chance to reach the profit levels from the previous years, nor will it have the chance to provide the desired income from taxes known from the previous periods.

Uncertainty is the main light motive which every businessman wants to avoid. Under the conditions of constantly changing tax rules, Greece is not only unattractive to new investors, but even for the high-risk older ones. Only for half a year the excise duties and VAT have increased twice.

Greek publication capital.gr points out that the increased direct and indirect taxes have led to repeated increases in prices for the end-user. An inevitable result of this is the large drop in consumption. The shrunk demand in turn leads to a great reduction in revenue from indirect taxes in the state pocket. Only the revenues from excise duties on tobacco products have decreased by around one billion euros for the first five months of 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009.

"Businesses need a stable tax regime in the long run, in order to be able to help for the country's economic growth," said George David, president of Coca-Cola 3Ε in Greece at the corporation's general assembly last week. He also shares the concerns of many entrepreneurs in the country, that the uncertainty in the economic situation will lead to complete loss of confidence and to the withdrawal of key investors. George David emphasizes that it is necessary to change the structure of the Greek economy. The reforms in public administration and legislative framework are mandatory as well as the liberalization of the closed professions. When Greece introduces these changes it will be able to present a new face to international markets and to develop a competitive and healthy economy.

Greece has always attracted the interest of foreign multinational companies that use it as a springboard for an expansion towards the market in Southeast Europe. At the same time, the macroeconomic picture in countries like Bulgaria and Romania changed dramatically in the last 20 years and more and more companies prefer to see the new opportunities which the young markets are offering. After the last tax reform in Greece, progressive taxation, was implemented under which the more money you earn, the bigger tax you pay. Moreover, since last year the additional profit tax for companies with turnover over 5 million euro, was also introduced which adds an additional burden on the costs of the profitable companies in the country. Taking into account the constant changes in the Greek tax legislation in general, the established in Bulgaria long flat tax of 10% for corporations and individuals make our country more attractive to foreign investors.