2024-09-18 08:38:35
“In the last year, the state and the private sector jointly undertook specific commitments for the timely implementation of flagship projects, but at the same time we also made an agreement. An agreement to launch projects with secured financing”, said the Minister of Infrastructure Christos Staikouras, at the 7th Infrastructure and Transport Conference – ITC 2024, at the Athens Concert Hall – International Conference Center.
“It would be easy for the leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to distribute projects without funding, but the resources are not inexhaustible” the minister underlined
“We cannot hand out billions without the money. Especially when resources are needed to both run existing projects and tackle challenges like Daniel. We are therefore trying to find the financial tools, so that we are primarily consistent with the private sector”, he noted, asking all those involved to work even more intensively, so that the 2.2 billion euros of the Recovery Fund can be disbursed immediately.
In fact, he revealed that in the previous days the order was passed to increase the Public Investment Program (PIP) of the ministry from the 330 million euros it had until now, to over 550-600 million euros per year from this year and for the following years .
Mr. Staikouras also referred to the major projects that are to be completed by 2027 and the launch of water management projects worth 1 billion euros and railway infrastructure over 1.2 billion euros.
The minister attributed, to a large extent, to the better pace that has been achieved with the private sector, the fact that in the last year emblematic projects, such as the Thessaloniki metro, were delivered or completed, while at the same time, as he said, important public projects are progressing at satisfactory speeds .
Given the above, Mr. Staikouras emphasized that “this year we are ready to build the next day of a new generation of projects, with standard proposals, but better designed by the state, and with concessions, a model that has succeeded in the country”.
Creating dams
Referring to the enormous challenge of climate change, Mr. Staikouras emphasized that “we need and have about 1 billion euros, in order to build dams throughout Greece through public projects or PPPs, of which some are being implemented and others are being launched, while in the summer 320 million euros worth of projects have already been contracted. But we also need an additional 1.5 billion euros to deal with the adverse effects of Daniel in Thessaly”, clarifying that this funding will be missing from somewhere else.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport placed particular emphasis on the smaller projects being carried out throughout Greece, focusing on the concepts of economic efficiency and social reciprocity. “The fact that next Friday, they will be delivered, after a major natural disaster, two excellent kindergartens in Palamas -and as the mayor says better than before- and an excellent Health Centerthis means that the daily life of the citizen in this small village automatically becomes better and this is of great importance for the local communities”, he said characteristically.
In this field, as he noted, in the next period of time, an important intervention is being launched, mainly in school infrastructures, totaling 500 million euros, half of which will be financed by the PDE. He expressed the belief that the private sector will contribute significantly to the remaining 250 million euros required.
Secured resources for the railway
Regarding the railway, Mr. Staikouras underlined that, after many years, projects exceeding 1.2 billion euros are being launched for the railway alone, clarifying that these are secured resources. Of these, approximately 450 million euros are intended for Thessaly, with the aim of making the railway infrastructure better and more durable, and approximately 200 million euros for the “Nea Karvali – Toxotes” section.
“This summer we secured another 520 million euros from CEF II to make other interventions either in the two new corridors that exist at the European level, one Thessaloniki – Promahonas and the other Alexandroupolis – Ormenio, or to repair things that have not has ever been done in Greece in terms of signaling and remote control”, he pointed out.