ATHENS – Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday met with the board of the Hellenic Union of Municipal Enterprises for Water Supply and Sewage and expressed his concern over “successive explosions in prices, including the water rates, due to the tremendous increases in energy costs.”

“I am very worried that this tremendous explosion of the energy cost will result in a chain reaction [affecting] the price not only of electricity but also of basic goods and water,” he said.

Tsipras said there was “tremendous speculation” in energy and explained that “based on our calculations, the excessive profits of power companies from the summer to the end of spring will be around 1.5 billion euros”.

Finally, he re-introduced a proposal for the reduction of VAT on water to 6 pct “to avoid the hikes in water prices for consumers but also give municipal enterprises some relief so they can avoid bankruptcy.