The Ministry of Development is moving forward with a review of the sanctions regime governing investment projects covered by Development Law 4399/2016 (photo: Takis Theodorikakos).
The new decision was published in the Government Gazette on June 12 and primarily concerns cases where a company’s ownership or corporate structure changes after its investment plan has been approved.
The decision stipulates that companies that were in the process of being established or merging at the time of submitting their application for inclusion will be able to retain the investment aid even if there are changes in their shareholders or partners, under specific conditions.
In such cases, a fine equal to 5% of the approved aid will be imposed, provided that three basic conditions are met.
First, the request must be submitted by at least one of the original shareholders or partners and must be accompanied by the consent of those who are leaving. Second, the terms of the call for proposals and the eligibility decision must continue to be met. Third, the change must not affect the score the investment project received during the evaluation.
Conversely, if the above conditions are not met, the eligibility decision will be revoked and the entire amount of aid will be recovered by the State, plus statutory interest from the date of each payment.