Probe opens on PPC finances, ministry official says
Judicial authorities are opening an investigation into the financial collapse of Greece's public power utility (PPC), the secretary general for the Environment and Energy Ministry, Alexandra Sdoukou, said on Thursday.
Speaking to broadcaster SKAI, Sdoukou said her ministry will assist investigators in the case.
PPC recorded after tax losses of 542 million euros, according to the 2018 financial results released earlier this year.
When the assets it has conceded or is about to concede, such as four of its coal-fired plants, are added to the group data, the losses climb to 903.7 million euros.
These were the biggest losses the firm has recorded in its almost seven-decade-long history.
Sdoukou’s statement came a few hours after State Minister George Gerapetritis raised the possibility of a parliamentary inquiry.
Speaking to SKAI, Gerapetritis said PPC went from recording profits of 90 million euros in 2014 to losses of about 900 million euros in 2018, while the real value of the company slumped to 0.3 billion from 1.9 billion in 2014.
“This is an incredible downgrade. Responsibilities will have to be attributed either through the political process in Parliament, [through] an inquiry, or through justice,” he said.
