A meeting was held at the Greek Prime Minister’s official residence between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Werner Hoyer.
The meeting was opened with the following dialogue:
PM: “It is a great pleasure to welcome you in Greece at a very interesting, but also full of opportunities time. I think the economy has been doing rather well over the past months, and I would like to thank you once more for the support that the Bank [EIB] has offered to Greece; and as we have very ambitious plans for 2020, we look forward to your continued support on various fronts, including our effort to move quickly to a low-carbon economy, which I know is also one of your important priorities.
Werner Hoyer: Thank you very much, Prime Minister, for receiving me. You’ve put in a nutshell what we need to work on over the next years. I’ll put it in a nutshell too, and I’ll say that we’ve been here before the crisis, we have stayed during the crisis – sometimes we were a little bit lonely at that time, as foreign investors – and now that you are out of the worst, we intend to stay here, after the crisis. So, our work will go on. We are working on a record level presently here, of over 1% of the Greek GDP. Compared to all Member States of the European Union, Greece is number one per capita.
As you mentioned, our great ambition and expectation from your colleagues in the European Council is that we take steps on climate change. So, there’s a lot to do and we can do it together. I appreciate very much the strong emphasis of Greece on climate activities.
PM: For us it’s a non-negotiable priority, not simply because it is in principle the right thing to do, but because we also view the transition to a low-carbon economy as a significant opportunity to leverage our natural comparative advantages. Of course, it is a challenging exercise – as you know, we’ve set very ambitious targets; especially our decision to completely give up lignite within a relatively short time frame places particular emphasis on both of us working to make the people in the lignite-producing regions comfortable that they will actually be facing a better future, and this is a topic which I am sure we’ll have an opportunity to discuss in more detail.
W. Hoyer: Absolutely, that is key. When I discussed, at the end of last year, with almost every Member State the issue of moving out of fossil fuels, there was a concentration on the transition to alternative energies, energy security and all these things. That’s important, but what is much more important for the people who are losing their jobs in the coal mines and the regions that are branded by the coal industry, is that they need growth and jobs. So, it is a much broader approach that is needed, and therefore, I welcome the activities of the European Commission labelled “fair transition”. This is going to be key for the people, otherwise, we will lose the support of the people for this transition towards a carbon-neutral world.”
The subject of the meeting, which was held in an excellent atmosphere, was the further support of growth, new jobs, and addressing climate change in Greece, through the implementation of an ambitious and multifaceted investment project. Meanwhile, EIB will play an important role in the European Commission’s plan for a fair transition towards the “green” economy. The Bank has committed to allocate funds amounting to EUR 1 trillion to environment-friendly projects by 2030, and discontinue its support to energy projects that use hydrocarbons as of late 2021.
The Prime Minister welcomed EIB support and the agreements already concluded since 2019 for the financing of investments amounting to EUR 2 billion, by supporting important projects on energy, environmental protection, infrastructure and SMEs.
Greece has received more funding almost than any other European partner compared to the country’s income per capita. Around 50% of the funds was allocated to the private sector, and especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and the remaining 50% was used to support critical infrastructure projects, co-financed under the Partnership Agreement. Meanwhile, investments supported by EIB now support vulnerable social groups, such as farmers (to facilitate borrowing with favourable terms) and boost environmental investments that had fallen behind for several decades, e.g. flood-control works.
Government plans on working with EIB in 2020 are particularly ambitious in regards to developing financing tools to support entrepreneurship. In fact, within one month, new loans have been signed since 01/01/2020 for investments amounting to EUR 300 million. EIB is planning to support the Development Bank and become Greece’s main ally both for PA 2021-2027 and in individual actions, such as the lignite phase-out under developmental projects in cooperation with the Ministry of Development and Investments, and under energy and climate projects.
EIB, in cooperation with the National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank, announced today a EUR 560 million agriculture investment scheme, with part of the scheme dedicated for farmers and owners of agribusiness companies under the age of 41 years.
Furthermore, EIB and PPC have signed an agreement for a EUR 100 million loan for the modernization and improvement of Greece’s electricity distribution network, across the mainland and islands.
For 2020, besides projects led by the Ministry of Development and Investments, projects on migration, e-government, etc. are also under discussion. In addition, the government urges EIB to get involved in the financing of the northern part of route E65, to enable connection to the Egnatia motorway, as part of the plan for the transition towards a post-lignite era.
The government was represented in the meeting by the Deputy Minister of Development and Investments in charge of Public Investments and the Partnership Agreement, Mr. Giannis Tsakiris, the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, responsible for the Coordination of the Government Work, Mr. Akis Skertsos, and the Head of the Finance Office of the Prime Minister’s General Secretariat, Mr. Alexis Patelis.
Below are listed some of the agreements signed recently for the provision of financial support by EIB to important projects in Greece:
– Supporting the shift towards “greener” shipping (28 January): Agreement with DEPA to finance with up to EUR 20 million the construction of a new LNG bunkering vessel for maritime use in Greece. With a capacity of 3,000 cubic metres of LNG, the vessel, which will be based in Piraeus and refuel ships in the wider region, will support the shift towards green shipping, in line with the new more stringent international regulations.
– Supporting science and research (24 January): Agreement on EUR 24 million backing for the construction and renovation of “Demokritos” facilities. The project includes construction of three buildings to host research institutes, and expanding the capacity at the Lefkippos Technology Park.
– European wind in Crete (13 December – 23 January): Agreement for EIB co-financing the construction of a new airport in Kastelli, Heraklion, with a EUR 180 million loan.
– Upgrading Piraeus (11 November): EUR 140 million EIB backing for Port of Piraeus transformation, implemented by Cosco. This is the largest ever loan granted by EIB for port investment in any European country.
– Energy interconnection across the Balkans (10 October): EIB has announced that it will co-finance the construction of a gas pipeline connecting Greece and Bulgaria, with a EUR 110 million loan.
