ATHENS, Greece, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Efforts by Greece to repair its damaged economy could result in relaxing laws that restrict business development, officials said.
Experts said "closed professions," such as pharmacy and other professional trades, cost the Greek economy billions of dollars annually, The New York Times reported.
"It is an absurd system," said Antonios Avgerinos, a retired army pharmacist who always wanted his own drug store. "But it has been that way my whole life."
Breaking down "closed professions" isn't popular among everyone in Greece, although it might help the country avoid bankruptcy, the report said.
Since the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou announced plans to reduce bureaucracy and relax laws on "closed professions," there have been numerous strikes from interest groups that want to control the vocations, the newspaper said.
Greek law says pharmacies must be at least 820 feet apart and have a likely market of at least 1,500 residents. To break into the business, an aspiring pharmacist often has to buy a license from a retiring one, costing upwards of $400,000.
Experts outside Greece say its restrictive business laws are harmful to the country as well as those it borrows money from.
"Greece is the last Soviet-style economy in Europe," said Yannis Stournaras, an economist and the director of the Athens-based Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research, which studied the issue. "Other countries have some closed professions. But nothing like Greece. Every stone you turn here, there are regulations."
