INVESTMENT

With regard to the loan part of the National Plan, 107 investment plans have been submitted so far by interested investors. The total budget of these proposals amounts to 3.93 billion euros, of which 1.68 billion euros are loans from the Recovery and Resilience Fund.

Greece's Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis underlined that Greece has the potential due to its geographical location to become a gateway for natural gas from the Middle East and from the southeastern Mediterranean to Europe.

The plan provides for securing bank lending on the same terms for all joint ventures that will bid for the 25-year concession contract of Attiki Odos. For example, all bidders will have access to a loan of 2 billion euros on equal terms and the rest will come from equity. 

Banks had recommended the exclusion of Recovery Fund loans from the charge that was imposed during the country’s dictatorship and then turned into a tax. The aim of the banks' proposal is to keep interest rates as low as possible.

The ports of Volos and Corfu will be next in line for when HRADF will look for investors after the submission of nine bids for 67% of the Port Authority of Heraklion (OLI) and the ongoing tenders for the ports of Alexandroupolis, Nea Karvalis of Kavala and Igoumenitsa.

Both in the foreground and in the background, there is mobility in many industries, as dozens of groups - in view of the new reality that is coming - are repositioning themselves in the market, through stronger schemes. Shareholders, owners, funds and entrepreneurs are weighing up the developments based on the pandemic and the next day.

Τhe group of the expatriate businessman from Venezuela did not make any investments, did not list any of his companies on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, did not sign any agreement with an international hotel chain to manage the large hotel portfolio.

In order to unlock American investments, especially from technology giants, the government completed several preparatory steps, with perhaps the most important one being the initiative that allowed Greece after many years to leave the "black" list of countries that do not protect copyright laws, allowing public services to use pirated Microsoft software.

As announced by the Prime Minister’s office, the fund has five cycles, namely Employment and Social Cohesion, Digital Governance, Infrastructure and Transport, Productive Transformation and Private Investments. In each "cycle", projects or other actions can be included up to a specific budget, without meaning that in the end there will be no changes depending on the proposals submitted by the ministries.

For Alexandroupolis and Kavala, there has been a lot of talk about the interest from American interests, however, big names from the USA are not expected to participate. One of the groups that was formed, with the participation of a partner who claimed to be a representative of an American group, is being wound up.