Online platform to monitor investments
The implementation of investments made with EU and national resources, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, will be monitored thanks to an integrated information system developed by the Ministry of Digital Governance.
Seeking to rid Greece of chronic obstacles and delays to large-scale investment projects, the system, an “electronic eye,” will provide real-time information regarding a particular project’s implementation, as well as allowing the possibility of intervention in case of complications, either as a result of bureaucracy or from the investor’s side.
The platform, which should be completed by December, is seen as key for the implementation of a new bill by the Development Ministry which established a new category of so-called emblematic investment and provides provisions to speed up licensing procedures.
Monitoring investments and the intervention by the competent bodies, if necessary, is considered crucial for the programs financed by the recovery fund, given that the public and private sectors will have to implement projects worth over 30 billion euros in four years.
More specifically, Greece is being called upon to absorb total resources amounting to 77 billion euros (from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the National Strategic Reference Framework etc), which according to estimates, could leverage another 40 billion euros.
As the lion’s share of these funds is directed to emblematic investments of strategic importance until 2025, the monitoring of their implementation is deemed essential.
This entails keeping a close eye from the moment that the presentation file is submitted for approval and goes to the Interministerial Committee on Strategic Investments (DESE) until its completion and the monitoring of any long-term obligations.
The platform will also provide information to investors about the institutional framework, as well as the ability to communicate with specialized investment advisers. To this end, a call center providing information and support for investors is also envisaged.
The new investment monitoring system is budgeted at 1.7 million euros. Its inclusion in the recovery fund was recently confirmed by a decision of Alternate Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis.
The implementing body of the project will be the General Secretariat for Private Investments and Public and Private Partnerships (PPPs).