It has been exactly ten years since one of Greece’s most storied industrial groups, Aristovoulos G. Petzetakis S.A., was declared bankrupt. The company, founded in 1960 by the visionary chemical engineer Aristovoulos Petzetakis, grew from a modest workshop into a global player. Within little more than a decade, it had developed dozens of patents and established a presence across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, becoming a symbol of Greek industrial innovation.
The founder’s sudden death in 1973, however, left the company without clear leadership. His son, Giorgos, was still a minor at the time, and by the time he assumed control in 1986, the group was already burdened with heavy debt. Recovery never came. In 2010, control of the plastics empire shifted to the Swiss-based Javes Services, which soon pushed Giorgos Petzetakis out of the management. He was left to confront the combined weight of Greece’s financial crisis, spiraling debts, and court-ordered auctions.
By 2015, the end was sealed. The Athens Multi-Member Court of First Instance declared the company bankrupt, setting in motion the dismantling of what had once been one of Greece’s industrial champions. Factories in Elaionas and Thiva were sold off, warehouses in northern Greece liquidated, valuable properties in Athens’ coastal suburb of Voula auctioned, and even farmland in Crete put on the block. The unraveling marked the quiet, unceremonious end of a business long associated with technological innovation and international reach.
Yet the Petzetakis story may not be over. This autumn, Giorgos Petzetakis signaled his intent to make a comeback. On September 30, he filed an application with Greece’s Ministry of Development to register the “PETZETAKIS” trademark. The filing covers products central to the company’s historic identity: flexible and rigid plastic pipes, water and sewage conduits, irrigation systems, and related components. If the request is approved, the trade name will once again be legally protected until 2035. Whether this move will mark the rebirth of a brand once synonymous with Greek industrial pioneering remains to be seen.
