This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The sudden collapse of tobacco threw this western town into a tailspin of economic despondency; now some residents are fighting back The door opens with a creak of idle hinges admitting a shaft of sunlight into the cavernous Papastratos tobacco warehouse Once bearing the weight of hundreds of workers and hefty bales of tobacco waiting for export the floorboards seem to sigh under our light tread They have languished in dust and darkness for years but soon Agrinio’s most iconic landmark will be reborn as a cultural and administrative center this town of roughly 100,000 inhabitants in the region of Aetolia-Acarnania at the southwestern end of the Greek mainland – endowed with fertile farmland beautiful mountains and the country’s largest natural lake Trichonida – appears trapped in a vacuum between a bygone past and an unwritten future What happened to bring time to a standstill “Tobacco defined the people of Agrinio throughout the 20th century so when we stopped growing the stuff in early 2000 nor society and the agricultural sector were able to recover,” Ilias Dzanis tells Kathimerini he still remembers the smell of Tsembeli and Myrodato tobacco fragrances that have marked his entire life – from his childhood working in the fields alongside his family to his studies in agronomy – a journey that led him to a long career at the local tobacco station in Agrinio “In the years before cultivation stopped for good 25,000 families were in the tobacco business; that’s 90% of the town Aetolia-Acarnania produced just as much tobacco as France did The town’s middle class emerged from the tobacco trade but so did the working class and a range of other professions,” says Dzanis “Then 2000 came along and production became a victim of the European anti-smoking campaign We had to choose between a partial and complete break with tobacco production What prevailed was a climate of fear and poor choices by the unionists who opted for a complete break and big payouts so farmers who had been accustomed to working from dawn till dusk were paid between 20,000 and 150,000 euros to do nothing They saw it as a chance for early retirement abandoning their fields and spending their days in cafes and bars instead They had no reason to get out of bed in the morning The temporary wealth did not bring happiness And then their savings started running out and they hadn’t found some other crop to replace tobacco and bring in a similar yield There was a spike in suicides around that time didn’t provide any instruction or advice on what would be a suitable replacement for tobacco While other countries promoted the non-smoking campaign without hurting tobacco cultivation the approach here was shortsighted and destructive tried to do away with tobacco even though the United States had the biggest and most successful anti-smoking campaign,” he adds A farmer who still works his land agrees with this sentiment when we go to visit him in a field taking a dirt path that has been made almost impassable by the rain “NATO opened up this rural road decades ago and it’s stayed the same ever since,” says Dimitris Farmakis the agricultural economy was booming and I was making more than the average civil servant the union chiefs decided to stop tobacco production altogether We inherited these fields from our parents and grandparents and all we have to offer the next generation is the need to emigrate; to Athens All four of my children have left Agrinio and live in the capital The problem wasn’t that the crop was different; you can learn that The problem was that there were no trade outlets Agrinio is known for one product and one product only I won’t be able to sell them because no one knows who I am I’ve experimented with all sorts of crops and some of them did well But the fact is that farming has no future Greeks have a much higher standard of living than in the past; they want to go into lucrative professions The Albanians were the future a few decades ago but they have gone into business now The fields are now worked by Pakistanis and soon they’ll move on too – and then what?” Epameinondas Kamariaris may have found a solution to the problem He is one of a small number of farmers who moved on He repurposed the special drying chambers once used for tobacco leaves to process rosemary I studied economics in the UK and became a farmer Nothing fulfilled me if I wasn’t using my hands Being a citizen of the world helped me in my work If the state had supported former tobacco growers in transitioning to herbs There’s still great potential in this field,” he tells Kathimerini Anthir sells to big companies in Germany that buy plants from all over the world process them and then sell them on to other firms that produce anything from beverages to pharmaceuticals Another thing that keeps me in this business is that you see the result of your efforts and can feel proud You watch your tomatoes turning a different color every day your plants express their gratitude and smell wonderful you put your best foot forward every day and then face a state that doesn’t even do the simplest things You have a truck coming to load an order and you spend the previous night fretting about whether it will make it with the poor state of the roads A proper road network and transportation is the number one thing for the agricultural sector The Ionia Odos highway is 20 kilometers away and the railway stopped operating decades ago Have you ever heard of a place with a population of 100,000 people not having direct access to a highway?” When Agrinio’s tobacco plants were pulled up by the roots so was an entire social class that had endowed the town with important public works Helene Sochoritis-Skavaras is one of just a handful of upper-middle-class locals who still lives in the house where she was born “My godmother insisted that I was called Helene and not Eleni and made sure it was written down that way on my baptismal cross too Thanks to tobacco merchants like my family Agrinio used to have ties with many cities and countries abroad Papapetrou – they all received foreign guests here But they also helped those who were less fortunate They helped society progress by supporting schools sports stadiums and associations,” she says bringing out a plate of cookies she made herself but as I always say – at this age anyway – you can’t appreciate the joys if you don’t put them beside the sadness and hardships We’ve been through hard times here in Agrinio and are still waiting for the good times to come around again The period that is most strongly imprinted in my memory is the 1970s and 80s when all the ornately decorated neoclassical buildings and simple one- and two-story houses disappeared,” she adds “The solution will come from the tertiary sector “What a place like this needs to get ahead is jobs and employment opportunities.” Civil engineer Kostas Patronis is one of the more active members of Agrinio’s local community having co-founded a film club and helped salvage some of the town’s most treasured buildings like the old train station and the Ellinis open-air cinema “I was born in 1950 when Agrinio was still a small and quiet town of just 15,000 residents with dirt roads Agrinio is introverted; access has always been difficult and it’s not near the sea It also doesn’t have much of a tradition; it was inhabited by Turks during the occupation The big tobacco warehouses appeared in the 1920s and that contributed to an influx of refugees who mixed in with the local population most of whom hailed from nearby villages and Souli What is really missing today is a vision about what comes next who are carrying out their own mini-revolution Panagiotis Theocharis and Vasiliki Pantoula are a pair of 40-something scientists who lived in Belgium before deciding to relocate to the latter’s ancestral town where they set up a research institute for robotics and technology Ghent helped me appreciate the pace of a small city where you can get everything done easily and get around by bicycle Vasiliki became pregnant for the second time during the crisis and we really wanted to raise our children in Greece knowing that Agrinio was going to be one of the first cities in Greece in the expansion of fiber-optics which was essential to our scheme of starting a tech business So we started our robotics workshop to focus on younger ages so we could get children excited about learning this way,” says Theocharis “We teach 21st-century skills like computational thinking Technology is not the ultimate goal – problem-solving is and we now have students who have made it to university: at the National Technical University of Athens the children seem to find a purpose,” the couple tells Kathimerini “Agrinio has taken some steps toward modernization following the standards of European cities new water networks and smart city applications have improved daily life creating a more modern and functional environment the city’s greatest challenge remains the mass departure of young people The question is: How can there be development without a dynamic youth?” they ask as they show us the many awards their students have won in international competitions an actor and director with the Municipal Regional Theater (DIPETHE) of Agrinio “We are all indoctrinated by our parents with the notion that we need to leave as soon as we graduate from high school,” she tells Kathimerini I left for Athens and got involved in the theater before being hit by the usual disappointment with the big city ‘There are too many of us here and not enough room.’ I eventually came back for personal reasons a decade later The DIPETHE had opened its arms and the municipal authority was supporting young creatives so we were able to stand on our feet Leaving is easy; staying and fighting on is the hard part Now we have 14 amateur groups – including that of the police and a student acting society – and every September we host a festival for them We also have a separate student theater festival Agrinio is going through a restructuring phase; it’s like a sleeping city waiting to be kissed to wake up But we can’t wait for that kiss to come from the state People care for each other and that’s priceless The people are also fun; they love their food and their drink; they’ll come sit with you if you’re alone Students at the University of Patras’ Agrinio-based School of Food Science and Technology Eleftheria Dimoulitsi from Thessaloniki and Maria Kapranou from Athens “It’s a great place for when you’re living away from home for the first time you can do very nicely with 300 euros a month a film club and all sorts of sports activities The locals have embraced the student community Having grown up in a part of Athens where it’s a bit dangerous to venture out alone at night I wanted to know who my neighbors were when I first moved here When they learned that I was a student and living alone ‘I’m here if you need me for anything at all.’ It was unbelievable You don’t have that standoffishness here that you see in Athens and Thessaloniki But young locals feel restricted here and can’t wait to leave everyone is either below 18 years old or 35 and above Only people who have solved their financial and professional problems come back after studying somewhere else I’d create something that would bring more jobs for young people,” they say One local trying to give Agrinio’s youth a much-needed outlet is Babis Posonidis together with a few other enlightened folk created the Agrinio Athletic Association in 2020 Despite having a shoestring budget and a stadium sorely in need of maintenance the association has distinguished itself on multiple occasions not least with runner brothers Kostas and Nikos Stamoulis My grandparents came to Agrinio as refugees and encountered a very insular community but they were also very hard-working and were eventually able to buy a plot of farmland Agrinio was unable to find a new identity for itself that would determine its future the solution lies in our natural surroundings and especially the lake which is the cleanest and biggest in Greece And in just 20 minutes you can find yourself at the top of a mountain Yet no one is doing anything to develop these assets and that’s what we teach the kids here: discipline These are essential for youngsters growing up in a town that doesn’t look at the future with optimism,” he says Local sports fans are proud of the athletics association and follow its achievements with interest Sofoklis Gkournelos owns a betting shop and is regarded as the treasurer of the team’s history having amassed an impressive collection of memorabilia from tickets and news stories to old photographs so Sundays are a big highlight for people who don’t miss a game whether the team is competing at home or away My heart still beats like crazy every time we play,” he says Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox Fire brigade crews rescued and relocated five persons whose lives were endangered by heavy rainfall in the wider Agrinio region Crews also conducted eight water pumping operations to remove water from flooded ground floors and basements caused by excessive water accumulation and torrent overflows in the Agrinio area The deputy regional governor of Etoloakarnania described the overall situation as being under control “Machinery is working continuously at torrents to clear debris from the heavy rainfall as well as on numerous road sections to remove soil deposits and debris,” the official said Road infrastructure issues and landslides caused by the downpour were reported along various stretches in the Etoloakarnania region while major water build-up was reported in the areas of Megali Hora Parts of the road network in the nearby Achaia region of northwestern Peloponnese were affected by heavy rainfall This latest weather scare comes just over a fortnight after a heavy storm claimed the lives of two men on the island Lemnos in the north Aegean before heading south to devastate infrastructure on Rhodes PAOK B are currently tied at the top of the Super League with 58 points from 23 games Olympiacos have collected 56 points from 21 games There are three matches left until the end with PAOK taking a break from their league obligations and turning their attention to the Greek Cup semi-final with Panathinaikos PAOK took the lead via Mythos in the 16th minute and then again in the 39th minute Mythos struck once more (the pass came from Koupenos) for Tsiapakidis and Hagan’s side to go 2-0 up The home side reduced the deficit in the fourth minute of added time at the end of first half with a penalty Polykratis passed to Balde who made it 3-1 converting the rebound from Eleftheriadis shot which came back off the crossbar the Double-headed Eagle made the final score 5-1 Agricultural cooperative Agrinio Union said works are underway on a group of photovoltaic facilities developed… 0 A solar power complex of 100 MW is due to be finished in the fall in the Greek region of Aetolia-Acarnania and connected to the grid by the end of the year The energy community founded by a local cooperative is on the way to start running the biggest facility of its kind in the country before domestic utilities finish the first giant photovoltaic projects in lignite mining areas to replace the harmful fossil fuel Five hundred households and their strategic partner kIEFER TEK will install their own electric power substation. As the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO) rejected numerous applications they decided to group the individual projects said agricultural cooperative Agrinio Union It is based in the neighboring municipality The state included the energy community model for solar power in recent changes in the law and regulations Greece recently enabled such joint efforts in legislation The Agrinio Union stressed at its presentation that it took months of consultations with the relevant ministries and that the model is now incorporated in the legal framework as a guide for projects elsewhere in the country ProCredit Bank is financing the endeavor worth EUR 90 million and the families picked JinkoSolar to supply the equipment for the works in Katouna in western Greece Union executives estimated the annual gain at EUR 14 million initiated the development of individual solar power installations even before the 2010 law enabled it The Pan-Hellenic Confederation of Unions of Agricultural Co-operatives is currently promoting the example in the region of Western Macedonia (PPC) is planning to install 2 GW in photovoltaic – PV plants in lignite open pits Be the first one to comment on this article 06 May 2025 - The island town of Novalja could become one of the first in Croatia to begin the production of green hydrogen 06 May 2025 - Renewable energy projects for self-consumption are expected to reach 1 GW this year in Greece 05 May 2025 - The Trebinje 3 photovoltaic plant would have an installed capacity of 53.63 MW and an estimated annual production of 85.5 GWh 05 May 2025 - VDE Renewables found that SolarEdge’s advanced safety capabilities minimize photovoltaic system risks and effectively prevent fire hazards © CENTER FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2008-2020 website developed by ogitive are left aghast by the emergence of brick-and-mortar shops supposedly by popular Chinese fast-fashion online platform Shein However the parent company reportedly knows nothing about them and considers taking measures while the emergence of the news has apparently made those stores’ operators rather nervous at the western town of Agrinio a physical store bearing the name “Shein” started operating followed this summer by the announcement of a store in Greece’s third city Then a few days ago two signs in the central Athens district of Pagrati announced the arrival of a Shein store in the capital inviting CVs from those wishing to work in it However to date there has been no registering of a company associated with Shein at the General Commercial Register (GEMI) The upcoming opening of a store in Athens bearing the Chinese company’s name attracted the interest of the Greek media in the capital leading to the revelation that Shein is not related to such ventures in Greece and is not planning to open any stores in this country Suspicions were raised by the very fact that Shein simply does not operate through shop sales – it is a web-only platform Having a physical chain would run counter to the founding idea of online platforms such as Shein whereby there are no go-betweens or representatives and sales are only based on demand and not on supply Nowhere in Europe has Shein opened permanent stores – instead it has only operated temporary “pop-up” stores that serve the purpose of on-the-spot promotion for a specific period of time so that consumers can see and try the products and order online These stores even using a logo for Shein that a watchful eye can discern is not the original one of the famous Chinese platform The irony is that not only does the email given for the hiring of staff not bear the Chinese giant’s domain name (shein.com) It is reminded that Gmail has been blocked in China for years All this led to Greek media probing the story with a Shein representative refuting to OT.gr any connection with the stores that use the company’s name: “We are an exclusively online platform,” stated Martin Reidy He added that any brick-and-mortar stores are not related to Shein at all: “They are not associated with Shein We have no physical stores in Greece and are not planning on opening any,” said Reidy The Shein representative added that “Shein’s products are only available online through the official website and app,” before clarifying that “any stores in Greece claiming to be Shein stores nor are associated with us in any way and we cannot guarantee the quality of the products they offer or that they are genuine.” Reidy also warned that “we are taking the necessary measures to tackle these unauthorized shops and to protect our customers in Greece.” opened this year before Easter and according to media in that city it belongs to a company registered at Kato Achagia It made sure it advertised itself through a video on TikTok the very platform that boosted Shein’s popularity especially during the lockdowns The unexpected publicity that the opening of those stores got has apparently made some businesspeople involved quite worried and Kathimerini understands they expressed their anxiety about it to other local media This is understandable given Shein’s intention to “tackle” any shops that may be unauthorized However there are many questions arising from this situation: Who would benefit and who would lose from a possible unauthorized use of Shein’s name Would consumers be cheated by getting below-standard products Would those stores earn money by charging more for the products already available online This will be very interesting to monitor indeed with local traders’ associations also following closely given the possibility of anyone riding the wave of the fast-fashion platforms’ popularity without authorization Olympiacos won 1–2 against Panetolikos for the 25th matchday of the Stoiximan Super League Despite having lagged behind 1–0 in the first half as in the match against Asteras Tripolis in “G Karaiskakis,” the “red-and-whites” managed to overturn the game in the second half and won the three points of victory with a final score of 1–2 Panetolikos led with Duarte’s goal in the 33’ with Martins’ individual play leading to Torrejón’s own goal in the 72’ and El Kaabi’s goal in the 79’ OLYMPIACOS (Jose Luis Medilibar): Paschalakis Cabral (59′ Martins – 84′ Alexandropoulos) A panorama of modern and contemporary Greek art, the Agrinio Municipal Gallery's digital collection has been published at  SearchCulture.gr the Greek national cultural aggregator developed by the National Documentation Centre The Municipal Gallery of Agrinio has acquired its collection of 167 works by 125 artists through donations from the artists themselves a compelling narrative of post-war Greek art the artworks cover the second half of the 20th century and offer multiple interpretations of the world: views of the countryside and the urban landscape Browsing through the works of the collection at SearchCulture.gr and exploring the local production of the recent decades one can explore the flavour of artistic creation today Trends of the contemporary art scene emerge for example the co-existence of new and old media - with oil painting continuing to be a vehicle for many young painters Special mention should be made to the 38 women artists in the collection a figure which outnumbers the average gender representation in major art collections in Greece Women make up one third of the artists in the collection of the Agrinio Art Gallery; a fact that testifies to the growing female presence in the Schools of Fine Arts opening prospects for gender equality in today's art  scene such as the potters Stella Giakoumatou and Christina Morali the Agrinio photographer Lena Arkoumani and many others One could say that the Gallery's collection embodies the vision of the Greek feminist Kalliroi Parren who founded the first art school for women in Greece Art collections in the digital public space Through the collaboration with the Municipal Gallery of Agrinio EKT strengthens the network of art institutions and expands the volume of arts content in the digital public space The works of the collection of the Municipal Gallery of Agrinio, together with the collections of other museums and galleries in the aggregator such as the collection of the Municipal Gallery of Larissa - GI Katsigra Museum documenting the timeline of artistic creation in Greece from the early days of the Greek state until today the value of digital resources increases exponentially as the volume of data aggregated in SearchCulture.gr augments Scientists and historians can pose new questions about the history of an artwork or the cultural dissemination of a certain style or technique and  perform micro and macro research  that extend the traditional methods of observation and analysis used by art historians and humanists 'The school for learning to appreciate works of art are other works of art and nothing else ….' With this thought of George Seferis as a guide the founders of the Municipal Art Gallery of Agrinio created a cultural organization that is now a landmark Housed in a modernist building of the interwar period the Art Gallery of Agrinio is not only an ark for artistic expression of the region but also a space for shaping aesthetics and knowledge it promotes modern and contemporary artistic creation and sets clear educational goals for all age groups of visitors Agrinio was distinguished as a place of tobacco production and trade the modern city claims an expanded identity that embraces culture and promotes art education Regional Municipal Galleries: key drivers of creative communities and strong regions © 2025 National Documentation Centre Ligue 1 strugglers FC Lorient have been rebuffed after making an enquiry to sign 25-year-old central defender Pape Cissé from Greek giants Olympiakos but Olympiakos are not open to such a deal and would require a permanent offer in order to change their position on the matter An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale occurred on Saturday afternoon in the region of Aetolia-Acarnania the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.7 Richter and a focal depth of 18.4 kilometers with its epicenter located at Lake Trichonida specifically 5 kilometers west-northwest of Thermo The seismic tremor was strongly felt in the area of Agrinio and other parts of Aetolia-Acarnania According to the measurements of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.9 on the Richter scale with its epicenter located 13 kilometers east of the Kainourgio area near Agrinio Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr Agrinio has a very high level of seismic activity Based on data from the past 25 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900 there are about 5,200 quakes on average per year in or near Agrinio Agrinio has had at least 24 quakes above magnitude 6 since 1900 which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently probably on average approximately every 5 to 10 years The quake had a very shallow depth of 18.7 km (12 mi) and was too small to be felt by people Agrinio has had 1 quake of magnitude 3.0 and 11 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0 There were also 35 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel The quake had a very shallow depth of 12.8 km (8 mi) and was reported felt by some people near the epicenter the Tour of Hellas 2025 will cover 811.19 km including two World Tour teams: Jayco AlUla and XDS Astana as well as the national teams of Greece and Cyprus The XDS Astana team also features a Greek legend in its coaching staff—Vasilis Anastopoulos both former winners of the Tour of Hellas (2003 and 1981 As Deputy Minister of Sports Giannis Vroutsis highlights: “The National Cycling Strategy, developed by three Ministries—Sports and Energy & Environment—aims to make our cities more sustainable encourage citizens to integrate exercise into their daily lives and promote alternative means of transportation The PPC Tour of Hellas is more than just a top-tier sports event Through the parallel activities of the PPC Tour of Hellas 2025 we educate the younger generation to incorporate cycling into their lives.” The breathtaking routes from Patras to Athens will highlight Greece’s natural beauty and cultural heritage organized by Cycling Greece under the Ministry of Sports represents a major step toward revitalizing competitive cycling in Greece and establishing the country as a global cycling destination The PPC Tour of Hellas 2025 is more than just a race—it is also a social event with multiple community activities spectators—especially children—will have the chance to experience exciting cycling events at the PPC fan zones featuring interactive workshops and educational programs These events aim to promote cycling as a primary means of transportation reinforcing the message of the race: DEI Power Up the Race