Talks continue on fresh loan for Greece's August repayment: EU

The European Union (EU) on Tuesday said the institutions and the Greek authorities continue their talks in Athens on a third bailout plan which is expected to help Greece pay a multi-billion repayment due next month.

"Progress is continuing to (be) made towards a supportive program for Greeks under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)," said Mina Andreeva, deputy chief spokeswoman for EU's executive European Commission.

"Our teams arrived on Sunday... talks are ongoing as we speak, and we should continue so as to conclude as swiftly as possible," she told a daily press briefing, adding that the cooperation with Greek authorities "works smoothly."

The talks, which started from Monday, came after that the Greek parliament last week approved two sets of austerity measures demanded in a statement issued after the tense Euro Summit earlier this month, aiming to unlock Greece's third bailout plan worth up to 86 billion euros.

Greece is again in desperate need of money as the country has to repay a 3.2-billion-euro loan to the European Central Bank (ECB) on Aug.20.

"If everyone sticks to the Euro Summit statement of July 13 and the agreement by the second fortnight of August... is possible, so the relevant national procedures can be completed swiftly and the ECB payment that is due on Aug. 20 can be disbursed from the ESM program," Andreeva said.

However, the spokeswoman declined to give a specific deadline of the new round of debt talks, saying that "there is no fixed deadline, the institutions are working hard to conclude the talks as swiftly as possible."

"It is premature to specify any actions or deadlines, but continuing the pace of reforms will in any case help reinforcing the trust between all parties," she said.

The ongoing Athens talks were amid criticism emerging from Greek former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who days ago accused "troika", the Commission, ECB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), of "fully and directly" controlling the general secretariat of public revenues within Greek Finance Ministry.

His remarks entailed a sharp response at today's press briefing as the spokeswoman claimed the allegation was "false and unfounded."

"The secretariat of general of public revenues is a quasi-independent entity, responsible for tax administration that is formally part of the Ministry of Finance," she said. "The Commission and IMF only provide technical assistance to the tax administration, but certainly do not control the secretariat general for public revenues."

"Alleging the troika were controlling the secretariat of general of public revenues is simply not true," the spokeswoman added. Endit