Industrialists send out SOS
SMEs and energy-intensive companies may collapse under the burden of rising energy costs
Greek industry has sent a distress signal to the prime minister through a letter, asking for a meeting with him and for his immediate intervention to deal with the effects of soaring energy costs.
“The intensity of the problems, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] as well as for the energy-intensive industries, is now taking dimensions of existential danger,” says the letter co-signed by the presidents of the country’s nine industrial associations. It forms part of a joint intervention reportedly launched following pressure from their member-companies, as the protracted energy crisis makes the struggle for survival harder by the day.
The problem has become even greater since the start of the year, with the expiration of the contracts of energy-intensive industries with Public Power Corporation, as a result of which companies exposed to international competition have to operate with market power prices and without any predictability, since the rates change every month.
The associations recognize the state’s efforts to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis on businesses, but point out that after a period of positive rates, industrial production in Greece has been moving at lower levels than the EU average in recent months. They warn there is a risk of losing the positive momentum that industries have managed to recover and of a possible slowdown in industrial activity.
Industries are asking for support measures to continue for as long as the crisis lasts, in a way that allows at least medium-term predictability for business action. It also reinstates the request to remove the cap on the industries’ bilateral contracts with producers.
It calls for the reinforcement of bilateral contracts by limiting the participation of new projects in the next tenders to 50%, directing producers to the market and taking every possible measure to facilitate businesses to install renewable energy systems, as well as incentives to support businesses in the green transition through European Union funds.
