Greece submits game-changing plan for EU resources

Greece’s draft action plan for the utilization of the resources from the Next Generation EU fund contains major infrastructure projects, reforms and modernizing interventions so as to swing the economy toward a more export-minded growth model, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday after its submission to Brussels. “It answers the current questions of this juncture, mainly the protection and bolstering of consumption,” he said.

The fundamental part of the ambitious plan, according to a source that participated in its drafting, is the projected broad mobilization of private resources alongside the €32 billion set to flow in via grants and loans from the European Union’s recovery fund.

This leveraging will take place in three ways: The first is through the use of almost the entire sum of €12.7 billion in EU loans to back private investments that have also secured a bank loan – these loans could come to 50% of the entire amount borrowed by the investor. That means the overall private investments could add up to over €25 billion. The second is the extensive use of public-private partnerships in state investment projects, and the third concerns the development of multiple partnerships in the market, as in the Exoikonomo subsidy program and the utilization of energy service companies in the public sector for its energy streamlining.

Mitsotakis said the package includes roads such as the Central Greece Motorway (E65) and the Northern Crete Highway, the power interconnection of islands, the Exoikonomo project for energy upgrades, the full digitalization of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue and small and medium-sized enterprises, the financing of realistic local town planning projects, the acceleration of justice and a new framework for professional training.

There are more projects included in the draft than there will be after the monitoring and selection process. The needs foreseen in the draft are about 65-70% above the resources available, but the monitoring and selection process will bring the projected cost of the state’s contribution from €40 billion down to the €32 billion to be provided.