The Minister is ambiguous

In other words, the Minister tried to prove that his officials were mistaken when they tried to warn him that we are going to pay 50% more than the selling price for Turkey for the submarines.

After the revelations of Proto Thema, the Minister tried to connect the articles of Proto Thema with pressure about other open contracts for military buys, especially those for 6 French ships and 420 Russian tanks, saying that “it is suspicious and not a matter of chance that these articles have just surfaced”.
 
It must be noted that the revelations of our newspaper were not our own opinions, but simple facts and the opinions of Ministry officials, which we show in the formal papers we include in our edition. And although the officials warned the Minister, he asked that no information be published about the military buys in the press.

During the Ministers Meeting on Wednesday, Mr.Venizelos confirmed that our article was correct, trying however to state facts in a way that showed that we really did not pay more for the submarines.

ND was not convinced and asked for the issue to be investigated further.

According to sources, Mr.Venizelos referred to the deal for the 6 French ships and the 420 Russian tanks and said that due to the financial situation of the country, the deliveries of these products might be delayed.

In reference to the payoffs
 
According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, there has been an issue of illegal payoffs of about 55 million euros which where given to Greek officials in order for Greece to acquire the submarines. Mr.Venizelos said there was a problematic period, and now this is a period of compromise. Mr.Meimarakis, former Minister of Defense, was insulted and demanded that Mr.Venizelos clarify that the “problematic” period had nothing to do with his tenure at the Ministry. The Minsiter replied that maybe Mr.Meimarakis' office was ineffective, but it was not unethical.