Ad. Georgiadis for Elefsina Shipyards: Without a broader agreement we will go into violent liquidation

“This draft law provides for the authorization for the Minister to sign the representation of the State in court for the approval or not of the clean-up plan of the Elefsina Shipyards” said the Minister of Development and Investments Adonis Georgiadis in the debate on the draft law “Clean-up” of the Elefsina Shipyards and other provisions of a developmental nature” which began its processing today in the Production and Trade Committee of the Parliament.

He made it clear that if the draft law is not upvoted by all three major parties, without evasions and asterisks, “I will not go to court and I will not submit the request. And we will go to violent liquidation” and “each of us will take the responsibility of. Period and dash”. However, if the Shipyard is closed, “the workers should know that they will necessarily be fired and will not get a single euro except what the Law provides, that is, two million of the 40,439,346 euros they will get with this agreement”.

He pointed out that “there is no other plan” noting that SYRIZA “knows this too because it also looked for an investor and found none other than ONEX. And this is ONEX’s proposal that SYRIZA also chose and this is where it ended up after the negotiation”.

To the reactions of the MPs of the official opposition who described the position of the Minister as “blackmail” on the parties, he replied that “there is no blackmail. For this plan to have the full chance of success, a crucial parameter is its broad policy support. If the honorable opposition parties judge that this plan is not good, I will agree with their opinion and will not implement it.” He remarked that it is “the first time I have heard that a Minister who says that he will not be fortified behind the majority, but will accept the opinion of the minority, is said to be a blackmailer”. They need, said Mr. Georgiadis, “to have clear conversations, so that the investor knows that he is starting and taking on a very big business risk, without having to face tomorrow various saboteurs of the project, who will blow it up”, if tomorrow the Greek people decide to change the majority.

The minister described this plan as “very important”, as the shipyards currently have debts of 447 million euros and the sale value of their assets, today, is 28 million euros. If this plan doesn’t go ahead and we say “fine, he’s closing the yard” and he goes bankrupt, his real estate and chattels will be auctioned off. The first creditors will be EFKA and the public.

In EFKA, today there is a total of debts of 80,951,945 euros. With this plan he will get 5,760. 938 euros, while in a violent liquidation he will get 4,039,604 euros. In other words, EFKA receives approximately 1,750,000 euros more.

The Greek government has a total of debts of 27,411,808 euros. With the consolidation plan, he will get 1,894,673 euros. With the forced liquidation, he will get 1,367,883 euros. That is, the government will get 500 thousand more.

The employees have claims, until September 2021, amounting to 40,439,346 euros. With the consolidation plan, they will get 40,439,346 euros. In the case of forced liquidation, they will get 2,015,531 euros.

The Navy, today, has total claims of 142,337,077 euros. If there are defense programs in 30 years, the company in present value will pay all 142,337,077 euros. If we go to a violent liquidation, PN will get 1,579,517 euros. That is, the violent liquidation in the Navy gives us one and a half million. The consolidation plan with zero defense programs gives 20 million and the consolidation plan with defense programs the entire debt.

In other insurance institutions, there are debts of 4,595,264 euros. With the plan they will receive 327,000 euros and in a forced liquidation they will receive only 218,000 euros.

Answering the question of whether there is “DIGICOM” approval for the reorganization plan, he said that “the concept of state aid is involved only in the case that you are going to establish some kind of exception. However, here we have the application of the law that is universal for all companies” . However, since we are bringing this plan to the Parliament, we asked her and got her permission, as they understood that we apply the common bankruptcy law. However, when the project is completed, because the amounts are very large, we will also get the final approval of “DIGICOM”. In fact, he stated that “the present plan for the consolidation of the bill has been written by the same law office that has written the Bankruptcy Law, to be sure that we have not escaped the Bankruptcy Law even by a single point”.

Mr. Georgiadis explained that there are two reasons why this draft law is brought to the Parliament and does not proceed with his decision to appeal to the Court.

The first, because the amounts are “monstrously large and it was set up by many official factors, mainly from the Ministry of Defense, tomorrow someone will file a lawsuit for infidelity”.

The second, because in fact it is an intergovernmental agreement, as the financier of the clean-up plan is the American Government”.

To the objections of the opposition, that the payments to the workers are planned to be made in parts, he replied that this was also done in the plan of the Syros Shipyards of SYRIZA. This is what we do in Elefsina, but here the numbers change because they are very large. Regarding the draft of the agreement between the workers and the investor, he emphasized that it is an agreement made by these two parties and no third party is involved and it has already been submitted to the Ministry of Labor regarding its legal form only.

The positions of the Opposition

SYRIZA’s rapporteur Haris Mamoulakis said that the “more times we read the bill, the more questions arise. And while we expected the answers to these questions to be found at least in the accompanying reports, we don’t see any answers, anywhere! You are asking us to back down , but you stubbornly refuse to reveal to us what we will be backing!”.

He described the position of the minister as extremely “anti-parliamentary” and “blackmailing” that if the opposition does not vote for the bill, then it will not proceed with the consolidation plan.

Focus on four points:

Firstly, that it is not clear whether approval has been requested or required from the national or EU authority for the protection of free competition, as to whether or not there is a question of state aid with what is regulated by the draft law, with the consequence that the national delegation does not have a single presumption that the current plan does not constitute illegal state aid.

Secondly, that the investor’s business plan, which he must adhere to as long as the resolution agreement is in force, is not known, nor even whether the required capital adequacy checks have been carried out.

Thirdly, the current financial situation of the Elefsina Shipyards is not known, just as the financial data on the basis of which it is judged that the consolidation is feasible are not listed.

Fourth, it is not known whether the employees agree to the termination and termination of the employment relationship, as well as whether they agree to the condition that the new companies do not constitute a successor employer.

The rapporteur of the official opposition underlined that the text does not mention the safeguarding of jobs and their requirements. He said that SYRIZA “would propose and ensure that the investment had a strong developmental character, would share the needs and demands of the workers and would not operate in secret, but would provide all the evidence that would substantiate any decision it had taken.” but you, said the deputy, “are asking for a blank check to sign and negotiate all the terms and all the issues of the consolidation of the Elefsina Shipyards”.

PASOK – KINAL special buyer Apostolos Panas, emphasized that the central position of his party “is the need for the full re-operation of the Shipyard in terms of sustainability. This, therefore, is necessary both for the stimulation of the national economy and national security, as well as for the strengthening of the local and national economy and employment” He pointed out that the Navy, which is one of the creditors of the shipyards, reserves the right to underwrite the impairment of its claims and for this reason the responsibility is assumed by the Ministry of Development and Investments. The restructuring plan, he said, “should be sustainable, serve the public interest, ensure the payment of accrued and compensation benefits to employees in a reasonable time, and secure jobs and the collective labor agreement.” He noticed that in the bill there are indicative terms of the consolidation agreement. Repayment of employee accruals is at an indefinite point in time and is at the discretion of the new companies. The bilateral agreement between workers and ONEX has not been filed. The bill gives a blank check to each Minister to sign every possible condition. We, he said, “ask for clear terms of any agreement made”.

The special buyer of the KKE, Christos Katsotis, characterized the bill as an “anti-labor extravaganza” and a “pilot for other cases” with “monstrous exceptions, even from this cut-throat labor legislation”. It foresees the dismissal of all workers, while “there is no commitment to re-employment with the same employment rights, payment of all employee accruals and claims”.

The KKE said it would vote against the bill and called on the workers to strengthen their struggle, not to accept extortion, to claim their rights and jobs, focusing on the issue and the conditions for the operation of the shipyards based on the popular needs and not investors’ profits.

The special buyer of the Hellenic Solution Vassilis Viliardos, although he reserved his party to be placed in the Plenary, said that this “is a very bad contract for the workers, but also for the public which does not collect its claims”. Even “if we accept that all this can be ignored in the name of the operation of the shipyards and that the European Union does not object to this plan, we are ultimately not at all sure that the shipyards will operate and the obligations to the insurance funds will be collected and the workers”. Among other things, he noticed that “the General Accounting Office of the State has not calculated the cost of the contract from the cancellation of debts and fines and the concession of the beach and facilities”.

The special buyer of MeRA25 Kriton Arsenis said that “we will definitely vote against the bill”, as it brings dismissals of workers, abolition of collective labor agreements. There is no commitment to repay the liabilities to the employees. We have no commitment from ONEX on the amount the shipyard will invest and whether this investment is independent of the Navy’s assignments. This is a leonine contract purely against the public interest and that is why it is coming to the Parliament with a law, so that the Mitsotakis government can renounce future responsibilities.

Tomorrow at noon, there will be a hearing of bodies and then a discussion on the articles. The second reading of the draft law was set to take place on Tuesday, August 30, after Parliament’s summer recess, so that it could then be introduced for discussion and voting in the Plenary.

Source: AMPE