At 1.2 billion euros the absorption of funds from the Recovery Fund

By Tasos Dasopoulos

The absorption of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Fund reached 1.2 billion euros at the end of June, essentially completing 8 months of operation from November 2021, when the operational agreement for the milestones of the Greece 2.0 national program was signed.

Although Greece had pre-registered more projects, it proceeded to implement only those that were fully compatible with the regulation, avoiding the risk of subsequent corrections. After the official activation of the program, the absorption of community funds is expected to increase exponentially since 230 investments and reforms with a total budget of 10.3 billion euros have now been included for financing.

At an information day held in Samos by the Greek Chamber of Commerce (CFC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Special Coordination Service of the Recovery Fund (EFSTA), the Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Thodoros Skylakakis analyzed the data as well as the opportunities of program to an audience of economists, accountants – tax technicians and businesses in the region.

Referring to the absorption of “Greece 2.0” resources, Mr. Skylakakis emphasized that it already exceeds 1.2 billion euros. “For 2022, until the end of June the payments approached 900 million euros”, against 646 million euros, which the budget provided for. In addition, payments in 2021 amounted to €306.54 million,” it said.

Then, he cited indicative examples from the projects, with a total budget of more than 11 billion euros, which have, for now, been included in “Greece 2.0”. He talked about those that “ran” (e.g. Save at home, Digital Care), those that have recently opened for applications (e.g. Digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, Innovation and Green Transition to Processing of Agricultural Products), but also for a series of upcoming calls (e.g. processing, agri-food, tourism programs, the new industrial parks, etc.).

The Deputy Minister of Finance pointed out that “Greece 2.0” emphasizes small and medium-sized enterprises, as a high amount of the subsidies of the Recovery Fund concerns them exclusively. At the same time, important reforms, such as tax incentives for mergers and acquisitions, are primarily aimed at companies of these sizes.

In addition, Mr. Skylakakis referred to the high interest recorded in the “Greece 2.0” loan program, clarifying that it concerns businesses that have a banking profile or can acquire one in the coming years and that those investors who act quickly will receive a loan with a favorable interest rate , at the levels of 0.35%.

Mr. Skylakakis spoke about the investment projects that have received pre-approval from the banks for granting loans from the Recovery Fund on favorable terms, as well as about the loan contracts that have already been signed. The first category includes 54 designs and the second 3 designs, respectively.

The 57 investments, with a total budget of 2.64 billion euros, concern 30 different branches of economic activity. Of this amount, 1.23 billion euros are loans from the Recovery Fund (890.33 million euros relate to green transition, 215.51 million euros to digital transformation, 41.18 million euros to innovation – research – growth and 87.31 million euros in extroversion). In addition, 614.96 million euros are the equity capital of the investors, while 796.64 million euros is the participation of the banks.

At the same time, approximately 700 projects are in the processing stage and the finalization of the applications from the interested investors is expected.