Elliniko memo on antiquities

As decision time on the old Athens airport plot at Elliniko nears for the Central Archaeological Council, threatening to destroy the prospects of Greece’s biggest development project, Kathimerini reveals that the memorandum signed between the Culture Ministry and the Elliniko SA company to be sold to the investors is fully compliant with the clauses of the legislation on archaeology.

Sources say that the Council will reconvene next week after two interrupted sessions, the first on September 5 after a government intervention.

However, two weeks earlier, on August 24, minister Lydia Koniordou had signed a memorandum with Elliniko SA on the archaeological aspect, which according to legal experts and others not only protects antiquities that may be discovered at the plot, but also provides for the funding of all the necessary excavation, restoration and exhibition works by the investors.

Experienced legal sources tell Kathimerini that almost all major projects of strategic importance – public and private – such as the Athens metro or the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Cultural Center, follow a specific procedure for signing memorandums of understanding in the context of the application of the archaeological legislation, and the same already applies to Elliniko. That should rule out any objections raised by the Council.