Gov’t to take steps to ease red tape associated with extrajudicial mechanism

Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis announced on Friday in Parliament improvements to the extrajudicial mechanism for settling debts, including a reduction of the bureaucracy required for entering it.

Dragasakis, who is also minister of economy and development, publicized the joint ministerial decision which, as he said, is about to be signed. It provides for a reduction in the number of documents required for debtors to enter the process. They will soon be able to obtain nine out of the documents needed in digital form from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, while another five will only have to be produced during the course of the process and not from the outset.

In response to a parliamentary question, Dragasakis admitted that of the 30,000 enterprises that have shown an interest in entering the mechanism, only 26 have had their debts settled. One of the biggest problems with the process is the candidates’ obligation to collect and submit a total of 27 documents along with the application for debt settlement.

While 5,240 companies have secured eligibility by fulfilling the law’s conditions, just 810 have managed to complete the steps required to submit the application.

Opposition deputy Dora Bakoyannis reiterated New Democracy’s proposal for the mechanism to focus on companies with debts up to 2 million euros.