ATHENS – Development and Investment Minsiter Adonis Georgiadis on Tuesday said that "based on e-transactions, last week ended 40-45 pct up in comparison with the respective week last year and everything shows that the market has been working up until now."

Speaking to TV SKAI, he noted that he does not expect "a spectacular year with an increase in turnover but the indications are that the market is functioning, even under the current difficult circumstances".

Regarding the possibility of reopening the restaurant sector sooner, more specifically on May 25, Georgiadis said that the scientific data will be assessed on Thursday, which will be the 10th day after the lifting of lockdown restrictions. "The course of the pandemic will decide this. If it is good, then I will insist and will try to open them earlier," he said, adding that the entrepreneurs are pushing for earlier opening by even a single day or weekend.

The most important thing was not to put human lives at risk, he warned, or risk a setback in the easing of lockdown, as "to return to a quarantine for the second time would be a disaster."