868.51/8–2045
The Greek Ambassador (Diamantopoulos) to the President of the Export-Import Bank (Taylor)58
Dear Mr. Taylor: The magnitude of the devastation caused by the enemy during their occupation of my country is not unknown to you. Greece has repeatedly made public, and particularly to the Allies, the extent of the disaster which overwhelmed her during that period. This is especially true of her physical assets which has greatly impaired her productive capacity. Her railway networks and rolling stock are nonexistent; her roads are destroyed. The enemy, during the invasion, took possession of all passenger cars and trucks in the country, and communications in Greece, when possible, are now conducted in a large measure by primitive means. Of our coastal vessels none remain, and of our fishing fleet and sailing ships, but few. The harbor works and installations of our chief ports have been destroyed. The Corinth Canal has been completely blocked and the only bridge over it, the sole means of communication between the mainland and the Peloponnesus, no longer exists. A hundred and ten thousand rural buildings have been razed and six hundred thousand persons remain without shelter. The livestock for food and agricultural requirements has been depleted to less than half its original number. The greater part of agricultural machinery and tools which Greece had before the war have been looted. Irrigation and land reclamation works have been abandoned and are in ruin, and the machinery employed on them has been plundered by the enemy. Mining equipment has been rendered useless, and industrial installations have been seriously damaged. Under such conditions our national economy has been gravely undermined and our national revenue has fallen to a very low level.
Facing this situation my Government is sparing no effort and care for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country’s economy; as long, however, as the physical assets which were lost are not [Page 234] replaced and the country is not equipped with the essential technical productive means, these efforts can meet with no success.
If Greece is to enter into a normal economic life and to achieve a proper level of production, it is an imperative necessity for her to acquire with the least possible delay those essential technical assets which she lacks. Therefore, and following our recent conversation, I beg to inform you that I have been authorized by my Government to submit a request for credits from the Export-Import Bank amounting to two hundred and fifty million dollars. My Government has, moreover, instructed me to convey to you that the above amount was reached after very careful and detailed consideration; that it corresponds to only the actual and imperative needs for the reconstruction of Greece, not provided for under the UNRRA program, and that my Government is fully conscious of its obligation to assure that the funds so acquired be employed as efficiently as possible so that the materials and equipment to be obtained through them shall enable the productive capabilities of the country to be increased and thus create the necessary resources for the repayment of the credits to be negotiated. The industry of my countrymen and their ingeniousness in conjunction with the modern mechanical equipment perfected to such a high degree in the U.S.A., constitute, we are confident, an excellent guarantee for the substantial increase in the returns of Greek production which will facilitate the gradual meeting of the obligations to be incurred.
In this regard and in accordance with my instructions, I have the honor to submit the enclosed list of the main Greek requirements according to categories.59 Further, my Government informs me that the competent services in Athens are in the process of preparing detailed descriptions of the items in the above mentioned list; these will be submitted as soon as they are received from Athens.
Please accept [etc.]
- Received in the Division of Near Eastern Affairs on August 27; copy transmitted to Athens in Department’s instruction 408, September 4, 1945.↩
- Not printed; 18 categories were listed including machinery and equipment in connection with harbors, roads, hydraulic and water supply works, the Corinth Canal, bridges, and agriculture; railway rolling stock, trucks, buses, and coastal ships; shipbuilding installations; materials and mechanical equipment for sailing ships; timber and other building materials; and livestock. No dollar amounts for the 18 categories were given. (868.51/8–2045)↩