Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou stressed the need to support households in the face of international energy market turmoil while safeguarding fiscal stability, in an interview with ANT1 and the programme “Good Morning Greece”.
The minister made particular reference to the Vertical Corridor as an area of cross-party consensus. “Both the government and representatives of the main opposition, PASOK — including Mr Maniatis, for example — and ELAS agree that the Vertical Corridor is of national importance. It is important to discuss the things we agree on, too,” the minister said, emphasising the project’s strategic importance for the country and the need to highlight in public debate the areas of agreement on energy issues.
Mr Papastavrou also stressed that advancing energy infrastructure and interconnections is a critical factor in strengthening Greece’s energy security, enhancing its geopolitical role and ensuring reliable energy routes in the wider region.
Referring to geopolitical developments and the pressures building on energy prices, the minister said the government was preparing targeted measures to protect citizens. He noted that these measures must meet people’s needs without putting fiscal stability at risk — a consideration that becomes even more important amid international uncertainty and geopolitical turmoil.
“We must safeguard fiscal stability during this global crisis as the apple of our eye,” he said, adding that “collective progress must lead to individual prosperity, but in moderation, so that we can conserve our strength for the difficult road through winter.” He also said that “Greece, along with Spain and Sweden, is one of the three countries that have provided the greatest support for energy relative to GDP.” “Measured, targeted, specific,” he said, summing up the approach behind the measures.
Mr Papastavrou announced two significant measures to support households ahead of winter: a substantial increase in the heating allowance compared with last year, and a subsidy at the pump for heating oil. He stressed that the allowance covers different forms of heating and reaches about 1,170,000 households.
The aim, he said, is to bring the price of heating oil below €1.75 per litre, in line with the target set by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He also emphasised the geographical dimension of the support, given that heating needs vary from region to region.
Mr Papastavrou also discussed progress on major energy interconnections, with particular emphasis on the electricity link involving Cyprus. He said the entry in August of French company Meridiam — a highly specialised firm that has completed the UK-Germany interconnection — into the project’s share capital, along with the steps taken since, had created the conditions for advancing its implementation.
“This is a complex project that ends Cyprus’s energy isolation and is linked to broader plans for the Eastern Mediterranean. Meridiam’s entry confirms the project’s viability,” he said. On the timetable, he said the project was moving forward and that the coming weeks would be decisive, clarifying that the next steps depended on the company implementing the project.
In closing, the Environment and Energy Minister stressed that “supporting households, responsibly managing public resources and advancing strategic energy projects remain key priorities of the government’s energy policy.”