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“The war of the deckchairs in Asteras Vouliagmeni” could be the title of the serial that takes place in recent months on the most famous beach in Attica. Lawsuits, arrests, spontaneous, harsh, expert reports and, in the background, a controversy over the management of the northern part of the coast that in recent years has been leased to individuals.
The “gladiators” seem determined to make it through. On the one hand, the management of the hotel complex with a representative, the general director Penny Zaglaridou, and on the other, the company MARATOP, which has rented the specific part of the beach with the lawyer Giannis Marakakis in charge. The last episode was played last Tuesday. Following a lawsuit brought by MARATOP, the managing director was arrested, taken to Autophoros and finally a file was sent to the prosecutor examining the allegations of illegal violence, agrarian clients and fraud against the clients of Astir Palace Vouliagmeni Hotel Company.
But what exactly is happening and why are the two sides colliding? As mentioned in one of the many lawsuits that have been filed in recent months: “The” Asteras “beach is 300 meters long, it is a private beach, that is, bathers have to pay an expensive ticket to enter. During the summer months, the beach can accommodate more than 1,000 bathers at a time, while on a hot summer day, that is, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., more than 2,000 to 3,000 people can pass through the entrance of the Beach bathers, for food, drink, coffee juices etc. They are served by two health shops, one at the north end of the beach and the other at the south end of the beach. The south shop belongs to the Astir Palace while the north one was sometimes leased to various businessmen. Until 2010, the 2 stores (south and north) were self-service. “After 2010, Astir Palace management decided that all customers on the beach should be served with service in his hammock by both stores and that is why he asked both stores that will be supported with additional personnel for this purpose “.
The Chronicles
The tenant’s side claims they are agreeing to the hotel war to break the contract and get off the beach. On the other hand, Astir Pallas in his resources has stated, among other things, that “the sublease company MARATOP serves a complete meal in the hammocks on the beach without complying with the legal requirements and without the written permission of our company to do so” .
The story may have reached its peak in recent months, but the controversy begins several years before and specifically in November 2015. When in the effort to renovate the complex, the Dodoni company, which had rented this part of the beach since 2011 , creates MARATOP with Mr. Marakaki, in order to commit to completing Astir’s new plan for the creation of a high-level restaurant-chiringuito. After talks with the Dodoni company, they finally agreed on the cooperation and based on the private commercial lease of January 22, 2016, MARATOP sublet the Dodoni store, which has been in operation from 2016 to the present.
The problems started a little later. In the summer of 2017 following the completion of the purchase and sale of Astir Palace in the Jermyn Street investment scheme, with the contribution of AGC Equity Partners of London, and the participation of investment funds from Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, Arab funds and the Turkish Dogus group, the Astir Palace board of directors changed and a new board of directors was formed.
As revealed through the petitions, the first lawsuit came in December 2018. In the latest complaint from MARATOP it is stated: “then Astir, for reasons related to the convenience service and aspirations against what we have contractually agreed, Among other things, he finally invented a series of imaginary grounds for complaint and filed his lawsuit against us (MARATOP) from 10/12/2018 and against our landlord – a public limited company under the name of Pagota Dodoni SA, whose court was appointed on 1/15/2019 and after the postponement It was set for March 6, 2019 with a request for expulsion from the lease in which our business activity is carried out through our restaurant with the name “40” “. The summer we went through at the top has peaked. As described in the latest lawsuit filed by Giannis Marakakis: “The opposing company, during its popular tactic of accusing us unjustly, denouncing us unnecessarily and defame us, submitted a multi-page complaint to the Police Directorate on May 27, 2020. SE Attica and the Tourist Police, with false content, in order to provoke our persecution. In particular, in the complaint of several pages of the opposing company, it states in the following order the following for us that “the leasing company MARATOP EE. Serves a complete meal on the beach loungers without complying with the legal requirements and without the written permission from our company to do so ”, while the truth, which the defendant knew, is that for a decade the beach service has been divided into two restaurants (north and south). Furthermore, since the beginning of our cooperation in 2016, our shop has served and continues to serve around 180 umbrellas (i.e. 360 hammocks at least) on the beach according to a special plan that Astir Palace itself sent us and which determined the number of umbrellas that we are obliged to serve “.
On August 4, Astir Palace Vouliagmeni FDI issued an out-of-court statement-protest where, among other things, it states that “Since the kitchen utensils are washed in our stand-up machines, a very high concentration of kitchen grease was found , a fact that generates a big problem in our facilities ”. MARATOP responds with a new lawsuit and states that “it is now obvious that the defendant deliberately maintains the beach infrastructure on the north side of the beach where our rental is outdated and without maintenance while on the side where ASTIR’s restaurant is ( now PRIVILEGE) which operates under the constant supervision of the defendants, however the infrastructure is new and the roofs are renovated. This methodical creation of a “two-speed” beach now has only the objective of neutralizing the client of our business to even more vulgar is the defendant’s false claim that we or our staff have allegedly turned beach walkers into a laundry room (as if we didn’t have enough space in our kitchen and laundry room). specially designed restaurant laundry) and that someone of the daring would never dare.Our staff to wash dishes in the beach, especially in front of the bathers “.
According to Astir, “the operating rules of the beach determine the terms of its use, they are issued by our company and are binding on everyone. The exploitation of the beach has not been transferred by our company in any way to third parties. We are in dispute with our tenant, Pagota Dodoni Societe Anonyme and his sub-tenant, and at this time, due to pending legal actions and awaiting a court decision that will resolve the issue between us, we cannot comment further. As for the spontaneous procedure that was followed, it should be noted that the Prosecutor’s Office has not filed a criminal proceeding ”.
What they support
Speaking to “THEMA”, lawyer Giannis Marakakis states that “the administration for the election of the Arab president of Astir has blatantly exceeded all limits of arbitrariness and illegal methods. AGC told us three years ago that it wants our business and that will accept it. When, of course, we refused, the AGC started a war. After the legal route turned out to be inadequate, then they went underground, considering that because of the size of the investment nobody touches them. Last year they sent applause to intimidate our employees and customers. The perpetrators were brought to Autophoros and convicted. Then they chose the tactic of defamation and systematic complaints. But it all fell into place. Recently, through the new CEO, they chose to impoverish our business and its 90 employees systematically misleading and disorienting Astir Beach customers into taking them solely to the restaurant of their interests. The managing director, under the g uía of his physical superior (president of “Asteras”), he surpassed all the limits of anarchy. Personally, I will not allow anyone, Greek or Arab, no matter how powerful and whatever profession they hold, to ignore the law and more arrogantly treat us in terms of gangs. Unfortunately, it seems that some people dreamed of turning the Vouliagmeni diamond into a bouzouki shop. I await the reflections of the competent ministers due to the previous misfortune ”.
On the other hand, Ms Zaglaridou states: “Asteras” is a top luxury destination in the vast Mediterranean region and has set Greece and the Athenian Riviera on the world luxury tourism map. We have implemented one of the largest tourism investments in the country (for a total of 650 million euros, most of which was made with capital from investors – foreign capital) and we continue to invest (in July and despite the pandemic we launched the “BeefBar “, which has already become a benchmark, while Astir Marina upgrade projects are expected to start in 2020) demonstrating our commitment both in Greece and in the local community of the Municipality of Vari – Voula – Vouliagmeni . The offer to the local community includes the creation of new jobs and infrastructure, the indirect contribution to the local economy, as well as the emergence of the region as one of the most important destinations internationally. We are already committed to carrying out actions aimed at improving and highlighting the environmental, cultural and social value of the area, with investments and actions with a significant footprint on the daily quality of life of residents and we will continue to offer our place, Vouliagmeni, and surroundings ” .
The managing director of “Asteras” Penny Zaglaridou was arrested with the spontaneous procedure after a lawsuit from the company MARATOP, from the lawyer Giannis Marakakis
