Athens Mayor criticizes previous administration’s financial handling
Athens Mayor Haris Doukas criticized the previous administration’s handling of the municipality’s finances during a meeting Wednesday that was held to discuss the 2023 financial report, noting that it was a “financial year to be avoided.”
Offering a contrasting picture, former mayor Kostas Bakoyiannis, defeated by his socialist PASOK-backed opponent in a runoff municipal election last October, accused the mayor of “pulling the handbrake.”
Despite the exchange, the Athens municipality’s financial report for 2023 was approved by a majority of the city council, following its endorsement by the two main factions linked to the mayor and his predecessor.
According to Doukas, municipal companies reported significant losses, with poor financial management of organizations leading to cash deficits, inadequate project planning, missed opportunities for revenue generation, as well as unnecessary costs.
Figures for 2023 reported by the Athens mayor included a €1.7 million deficit faced by school committees, a loss of €3.6 million incurred by the Local Government Development Organization, and a €500,000 loss suffered by Technopolis SA, managing the municipality’s cultural complex of the same name in the central Gazi district.
For his part, Bakoyiannis said that his four-year tenure, between 2019 and 2023, left behind a strong, well-organized municipality with increased revenues, surplus figures, healthy cash reserves, as well as a significant investment plan. [AMNA]
