ATHENS/PARIS –
For Athens restaurant owner Christos Kapetanakis, rent has always been high, but now he faces what he calls “a second rent” as soaring electricity bills slash profits and force him to raise prices.
Kapetanakis pays between 3,000 and €3,800 ($3,083-$3,905) a month on power, up 40% since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and triggered a European energy crisis. Electricity used to amount to 3% of monthly turnover and now it’s more like 15%, he said.
“The continuous increase in prices, especially in the tourism sector … will lead Greece to become less competitive compared to other Mediterranean countries,” he said from his restaurant in the historic Plaka neighborhood.