Friday’s debate in Parliament on the Recovery Fund, following a question from PASOK, revealed a great deal. The issue wasn’t whether the 36 billion euros from the Recovery Fund had been absorbed. The government and PASOK agree on that. The disagreement lies behind that figure.
The €36 billion Recovery Fund covered the period 2021–2026. It included 180 projects and investments with the sole purpose of transforming the production model within the framework of sustainable development. The final program, following revisions, includes 195 projects—that is, more than before.
The first question that arises is based on common sense: Is it possible to have more projects of the same importance and quality? A large portion of the necessary projects that were initially included are either missing or were not retained with their original specifications.
The big picture shows that only one-third of the projects originally included remained in the program—and even then, without any cuts. The remaining two-thirds were either removed or replaced by others with cuts.
Let’s look at a few examples:
1. Establishment of a Radiotherapy Center at the “Sotiria” General Hospital for Chest Diseases in Athens. The building was constructed. But, as they say, the devil is in the details. The project called for the establishment, construction, and completion of the Center—that is, for it to operate normally and hold the required quality certifications. In addition, there were commitments regarding coordination with other major hospitals, etc. The final plan does not include the word “completion,” nor does it contain any relevant commitment regarding the quality indicator outlined in the relevant report. Consequently, we are now talking about constructing a building, but without any commitment that it will actually be operational. We will have to wait for completion—perhaps through another program—to see the final outcome.
2. Electrical interconnection of the islands and upgrading of the power grid. There is no longer any mention of island substations.
3. Energy grids and storage. While projects to boost renewable energy sources have moved forward, 16 of the 24 investment plans have been dropped or scaled back from the energy storage project. “The result? We produce a surplus of green energy, export it to Bulgaria for storage, and then reimport it,” said PASOK MP and head of the Parliamentary Energy Committee, Fragiskos Parasiris, in Parliament.
And because each case may be different and some projects may have been replaced by many others, as Deputy Finance Minister Nikos Papathanasis noted, let’s look at the big picture based on the special presentation given by PASOK’s parliamentary spokesperson, Pavlos Geroulanos, at the offices on Charilaou Trikoupi Street.
This presentation was the result of a comparison. He examined the measures in the original plan and those in the current one. He identified the differences and similarities. However, some projects were dropped, and the quality standards were lowered for others.
However, Mr. Papathanasis noted that while some projects may have been dropped, many other significant ones were included, such as the housing program (“My Home”) and the electric buses.
His critics were quick to point out that the electric buses were introduced after the measure for electric taxis was withdrawn, while they cited a number of other major infrastructure and transportation projects, such as the railways that were dropped from the plan.
Specifically, all projects related to the following were excluded:
- Establishment projects
- Regional civil protection operations centers
- 5G network development
- Submarine fiber-optic cables
- Childcare facilities within large companies
- Research and innovation
- Rail network
At the same time, significant cuts were made to projects related to:
- National irrigation network
- Aerial resources for crisis management
- Active labor market policies
- Excellence in universities and innovation
- Personal physician
- Social Inclusion
- Digital Transformation of Tax and Customs Authorities
- The financial system’s capacity to finance the real economy.
- Northern Road Axis of Crete
- Restoring Accessibility Following Storms “Daniel” and “Elias”
- Energy storage
- Organizational reform of the railway sector
Regarding business financing, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Mr. Papathanasis noted that of the program’s total loan allocation of 18 billion euros, 3 billion euros were directed toward 17,000 SMEs.
To these 3 billion euros, an additional 2 billion euros transferred to the Hellenic Development Bank must be added. Consequently, the 5 billion euros—or approximately 30% of the loans—are allocated to small and medium-sized enterprises.
However, if we consider that 98% of businesses in Greece number approximately 700,000–800,000 and that 17,000 have been financed so far, then the TAA loans accounted for 1% to 2% of small and medium-sized enterprises. And this is assuming that all disbursements from the Hellenic Development Bank are completed.
And this issue appears to have further developments, as we’ve learned that PASOK will request detailed information on international tenders—particularly those in which only one bidder participated.
Time will tell what is substance, what is noise, and what is just empty talk.