New SSKY documentary on the crisis of 2015 analyzes decisions, political conflicts and the possibility of different management of the country’s course.
At a time when the public discussion on the financial crisis continues to come back with new questions and different readings, SKAI’s new documentary comes to shed light on crucial aspects of the events of 2015, attempting to provide an analytical record of the political decisions, international pressures and internal conflicts that shaped the country’s path to referendum and remaining in the eurozone. Through testimonies of protagonists and journalistic research spanning over time, unknown details about the management of the crisis emerge, but also the possible alternative scenarios that could have changed the historical course of events, bringing back to the forefront the debate about whether the choices of that period were indeed a one-way street or the result of specific political balances.
Skai’s president Konstantinos Zoulas presented the new SKAI documentary “At the Millstone”, based on the book “The Last Bluff”, stating that it is a journalistic investigation around the 2015 crisis and the country’s path to the brink of leaving the eurozone.
The statement
As Zoulas said, among other things, “this documentary and its upcoming screening is not in any way related to the current political situation and current political developments. Besides, no one could foresee them, neither when the idea was born, nor when the dozens of filming sessions in Greece and abroad from the beginning of 2025 took place.”
Then, Mr. Zoulas thanked Geroun Dijsselbloem on behalf of SKAI for his presence “as he unwittingly became one of the protagonists of the documentary. What I would like to say, and I am sure that he also recognizes it now, is that especially at the beginning of the crisis, our country was treated by our foreign partners as a paradoxical and problematic hybrid which, in order to get well, had to implement immediate and extreme decisions, many of which proved to be not only problematic but also ineffective.”
At the same time, he added: “Finally, on behalf of all SKAI journalists, I would like to say a big thank you to the owner of our Group, Yannis Alafouzos, not only because he immediately embraced the idea of implementing this documentary, but also because he has over time supported journalistic research and the typology of self-produced documentaries, which unfortunately has been almost abandoned by other private channels.”
Finally, he noted that this is “the third documentary presented by SKAI this year after the excellent recording of the history of 17 November, which was an idea that Alexis Papachelas implemented as only he could, and the recording of the discography and finally the life of Dionysis Savvopoulos himself, with the unique signature of Pavlos Tsima”.
In detail, Mr. Zoulas’ statement:
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to welcome you today to watch together the first episode of the third documentary created by SKAI this year, entitled “In Chiliostos” by Eleni Varvitsioti and Victoria Dendrinou.
The documentary, which will be developed in six episodes, is inspired by the excellent book jointly written by Eleni and Victoria “The Last Bluff” about the events that took place in our country in 2015 with repercussions throughout Europe. And before I say a few words about it, I want to make a necessary, I think, point.
The idea for this documentary was born in September 2024. I had just joined SKAI at the time, Eleni was working at another private station and in a brief conversation we had – we had just met at a concert – I suggested that she not only return to the channel from which she started her career, but that a documentary be created based on the book that she and Victoria had written.
I make this point of timing to make it clear at the outset that this documentary and its impending screening is not in any way related to the current political climate and current political developments. Besides, no one could foresee them, neither when the idea was born, nor when the dozens of filming sessions in Greece and abroad since the beginning of 2025.
And now I come to the structure of this documentary. If there is one thing I think makes it really special, it is that Helen and Victoria did not stop at the visualization of their book. They essentially did a completely new journalistic investigation of how we got to the 2015 referendum and the brink of leaving the Eurozone, starting their narrative from the economic crisis that hit our country and the embarrassment with which both the Greek parties and our foreign partners faced it, from its beginning and up to the events of 2015.
I say narrative and it is probably not the right word, as if there is another originality in this documentary, it is that Helen and Victoria quite consciously do not intervene by narrating the events. In all six episodes they let the actual protagonists narrate them, and the few times we hear their voices are for clarifying journalistic questions. In other words, it is probably the first similar documentary that has no personal journalistic intervention, i.e. voice over.
But I would like to dwell for a moment on this embarrassment of the political system and foreign partners that the documentary highlights. Mr. Daeisblum is here with us and on behalf of SKAI I would like to thank him very much for his presence here as he has unwittingly become one of the protagonists of the documentary. What I would like to say, and I am sure that he also recognises this now, is that, particularly at the beginning of the crisis, our country was treated by our foreign partners as a paradoxical and problematic hybrid which, in order to get well, had to implement immediate and extreme decisions, many of which proved to be not only problematic but also ineffective.
And I will give you an example that was the occasion of our first meeting with the new CEO of SKAI, Grigoris Dimitriadis. In 2013, in the midst of the crisis, he was assigned by the then government to take over the responsibility of OASA, i.e. all the capital’s public transport. The proposal-mandate from the then troika was to immediately dismiss 800 employees and to simultaneously and drastically increase the fare in the metro, buses, trolleys, trams, and so on. Within a few weeks of investigating what was really going on in the organisation, Dimitriades found that the problem was not the surplus staff, but the completely wrong allocation of staff, as well as the fact that there was a huge problem with fare evasion, as due to the absence of controls, very few passengers were paying for their daily journeys. And what it did. He proposed a plan for the reconstruction of OASA that took the Troika completely by surprise, as until then their proposal had been treated as a one-way street. It proposed and introduced for the first time the so-called single unlimited travel card on all means of transport and increased controls. And miraculously, within a few months the Agency began to drastically increase its revenues and consolidate without the need for either redundancies or an increase in fares. I remembered this recently and was telling Mr Demetriades about it as an example that all of us journalists covering the crisis highlighted at the time as it confirmed that one of the problems that prolonged the crisis in the country was the absence of a coherent alternative plan by the domestic political staff to the automated solutions of our foreign partners.
Culminating – and let me make a more personal comment – with the government that took over the country’s fortunes in 2015. One question that the new SKAI documentary understandably explores is whether there was then a single and coherent plan for what exactly the then government and the cabinet sworn in at the beginning of 2015 were seeking from Europe. I think the answer is self-evident as it was given in the course of the years that immediately followed.
I will put it to you with a simple question. How many parties have emerged from that first cabinet in 2015? And I am not talking about the ANEL but only the SYRIZA members who were part of that government. It’s not one, not two, not three, not four. Seven different parties were born from that theoretically unified government, and almost all of them are still claiming our vote to this day, presumably because their leaders feel that they have irreconcilable differences with each other. I am talking about today’s SYRIZA, the then People’s Unity, the New Left, Mera 25, Eleftherias, the Movement for Democracy, and the new party already announced by the then Prime Minister. I think the very fact that the then Syriza is again claiming our vote through 7 different parties demonstrates that 11 years ago the country was miraculously saved. Therefore, I think that the title in Chiliostos is the most apt title that could be found.
In closing, I would like to thank Rea Apostolidis and Yuri Averoff who, with their vast experience in the ANEMON company, undertook the execution of the production and Stefanos Bertakis for the supervision of the direction.
Finally, on behalf of all SKAI journalists, I would like to say a big thank you to the owner of our Group, Yannis Alafouzos, not only because he immediately embraced the idea of implementing this documentary, but also because he has been supporting journalistic research and the typology of self-produced documentaries, which unfortunately has been almost abandoned by other private channels.
As I said in the foreword, this is the third documentary presented by SKAI this year after the excellent recording of the history of 17 November, which was an idea that Alexis Papachelas implemented as only he could, and the recording of the discography and eventually the life of Dionysis Savvopoulos himself, with the unique signature of Pavlos Tsima.
