That said, I would like to see the banks, now when we've paid for them so many times, into state hands.

When the Communist government collapsed in 1990-91, all land was in state hands.

It is estimated that barely 10pc of all care remains in state hands.

Foreign trade, banks and heavy industry would stay in state hands, the rest was privatized.

This readiness to see a company that has been in state hands since 1922 pass into private, maybe foreign, ownership is rare.

That system persists, to some extent, because 80 percent of the economy is still in state hands.

Management of the vineyards and wine production has continued in state hands.

The state hand must still be clearly seen to regulate the market and the Commission must act as judge.

The net result is hard to judge, but it appears that more than 50 percent of Politika remains in state hands.

A heavy state hand in the economy is also the key to the patronage-based politics of prime minister's party.