‘Greece 2.0’ attracts investors
After the submission of the national recovery and resilience plan, titled “Greece 2.0,” the office of Alternate Finance Minister Thodoros Skylakakis is now preparing the agreements with the banks that will direct the 12.7 billion euros in loans from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) toward private investments.
It is also preparing the next projects it will incorporate in the Greece 2.0 program, concerning information society, the cadaster and the programs of the Migration Ministry.
Investment interest is considerable, government sources say: Skylakakis had a teleconference on Wednesday with representatives of 40 French enterprises to explain the investment options in Greece. Similar consultations have taken place with groups from other countries, upon the initiative of ambassadors.
Besides the private investments to be financed, there is also the prospect of participation in public-private partnerships (PPPs), and procurements by private companies.
Another pending matter for the realization of plans for the recovery fund loans is the determination in detail of the eligibility criteria for investments: Out of the five criteria that a project must satisfy to become eligible for funding, two have already been determined – the digital and the green transition – and the government still has to define the criteria concerning the extrovert character of projects, their research and development aspects, and the dimension of mergers and acquisitions.
European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer speaks highly of the Greek plan, following the recent signing of the memorandum of cooperation between Greece and the EIB on the management of €5 billion from the European resources Athens has applied for.
“We are particularly happy and proud to participate in Greece 2.0,” Hoyer tells Kathimerini: “The Greek government has taken two very important steps: It wants a strong private sector involvement in the plan’s realization, which is where we can be very useful; after all, this is what we have been doing in Greece for years. The government also realizes that the resources must be spent wisely, which is why it relies on our specialized knowledge, so as to make sure the right investments are made,” he says.