"Varoufakis gate" shadows launch of third bailout talks for Greece

The "Varoufakis gate" saga on Tuesday shadowed the launch of talks on Greece's third bailout. Conservative main opposition New Democracy party leader Evangelos Meimarakis, who introduced the term, requested that former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and the government provide "clear explanations" on the contingency plans that lead to a return to drachma. Following media reports, Varoufakis admitted Monday that he had planned a parallel banking system in case banks closed down. The plan allegedly included accessing the ministry's online tax system to receive data with the help of an old friend working in the office. The former official claimed he had the authorization of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to make such plans long before the January general elections that brought the radical left Syriza party to power. Varoufakis stressed he never intended to lead Greece to leave the eurozone. Government sources denied there was ever a plan to return to the drachma, as opposition parties and citizens called for an in-depth inquiry into the case. Meanwhile, Varoufakis' childhood friend Michalis Hatzitheodorou, a Columbia University lecturer who he had recruited to the ministry, said there was never any attempt made to intervene in the ministry's information systems. In a statement released Tuesday, Hatzitheodorou, the head of the Finance Ministry's General Secretariat for Information Systems, dismissed as "absolutely false" reports regarding any type of intervention in the ministry's information systems. The statement came as the General Secretary for Public Revenues Katerina Savvaidou ordered an internal probe to determine whether Finance Ministry staff had committed illegal acts. A group of lawyers also filed a suit against Varoufakis and whoever was implicated in the affair. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court forwarded to the parliament two separate lawsuits filed against Varoufakis by a mayor and a citizen. As a legislator, the former minister cannot be prosecuted until the parliament gives the green light with a vote. Until then, the opposition requests his immediate summoning for questioning by a special parliamentary committee. The Varoufakis saga has cast a dark shadow on the start of the negotiations with envoy's of Greece's lenders in Athens on the terms of the release of further aid to the debt-laden country under a third bailout. The first round of talks on the level of technocrats has started, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said. The heads of the 50-member team are expected to start negotiations on a political level by Thursday, according to ministry sources. The lenders' envoys were to be briefed by the Greek side over the next days on fiscal data and planned reforms. In contrast to past assessments over the past five years, there are no planned visits of foreign officials to ministries in Athens for talks with ministers. The two sides aim to have sealed a deal by Aug. 20 when Greece needs to make a loan repayment to the European Central Bank.