G. Karagiannis: Rich account of projects in Thessaloniki after a three-year government

The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Giorgos Karagiannis, spoke at length at an event organized by DEEP A’ Thessaloniki.

The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure spoke of a “cosmogony of projects” as “within 3 years we managed to go from wishes, plans on paper and tarpaulins, to having studies, tenders, contractors and construction sites. It is now clearer than ever, that development, progress and improvement of everyday life cannot exist without investment in infrastructure”.

“However, Thessaloniki was at the center of our efforts from the beginning and today, 3 years after taking over the government, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, with Kostas Karamanlis, already has in front of it a rich report of projects for the city” said the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure.

Enumerating the projects implemented with a focus on Thessaloniki, he noted:

“We now have a state-of-the-art and operational high-capacity airport in operation. We immediately promoted the rail link of the 6th pier with the aim of turning the port into a freight transport and logistics hub in Northern Greece, which will have an immediate positive impact and penetration into the Balkan and European markets. At the same time, we also started the road connection of the 6th problems of the Port of Thessaloniki with PATHE and Egnatia Road. A project that was literally in the “air” since 2000, is now becoming a reality,” he emphasized.

Mr. Karagiannis made special mention of the two emblematic projects that “will give new possibilities to the city’s transportation system”, the Metro and the FlyOver.

“With speed and determination, we solved two Gordian bonds. On the one hand, the Metro was untangled and is progressing rapidly to be completed at the end of next year, and on the other hand, we designed, tendered and already have a temporary contractor for the big project of the new Regional, the Flyover. A project that will relieve the transportation function of the city and whose contract is expected to be signed in the fall with a 4-year construction horizon” as he underlined.

In fact, he criticized the handling of the past, referring to the Metro as a “political fraud”, noting that it “allegedly operated 3.5 years ago, without Venizelos and Agia Sofia stations, without tracks, trains, power supply and without an operator”.

He added that “we have finally commissioned the Thessaloniki Metro Development Study, a complete mapping of the city’s transport needs, the first since 2006, so that subsequent expansions after 2024 can also be prioritized” and emphasized “this is what the serious states do and this is what we do as well us. Finally.”

In the fall, the temporary contractor for the 17 school units

Mr. Karagiannis then referred to the projects that are progressing through PPP and made it known that “we asked for binding offers and in the fall we will have a temporary contractor for the large construction program of 17 school units with a budget of 129 million euros. A large investment mainly for Western Thessaloniki who was in great need of her”.

Also, the tenders for the “Thessaloniki – Edessa” and “Drama – Amfipoli” road projects were approved by the Interministerial PPP Committee and will proceed immediately, as well as for the Thessaloniki Metro Operator.

“We have even moved forward with anti-flooding projects, with tenders that will be contracted in the next period in Lachanagora and Kalamaria, while at the same time we completed the Master Plan for the entire prefecture and are preparing to auction the project in Oreokastro” he noted.

At the same time, “the tender for the new courthouses of Serres, Edessa and Kilkis and the reconstruction of the Thessaloniki courthouse with a total budget of 120 million euros, will enter the second phase of the tender within a month” as he explained.

“To shape, through consensus and discussion, a vision for Thessaloniki of the 21st century”

The set of interventions implemented show, as Mr. Karagiannis said, that “Thessaloniki was from the first moment at the center of interest of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. For the first time after many years, we have proven it in practice”.

And he continued: “The city had been left behind due to age-old mistakes and omissions that cost it. We must shape, with consensus and discussion, a vision for Thessaloniki of the 21st century, as the center of Northern Greece and the Balkans.”

Referring to the work being carried out in the country, he emphasized that “the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the one that is taking the big steps forward. It is this government that is laying the foundations for the return of citizens’ trust in politics and politicians, implementing the big projects that he announced, delivering to the world works of substance and new life in a new, dynamic environment. In a country now breaking records in tourism, exports, growing dynamically despite unimaginable international turmoil, it is not convenient. A Greece that arms itself, that declares an EEZ with its neighboring countries, which is becoming an energy hub, is not the weak Greece they dreamed of. Our government ensures at all levels that historical revisionism will remain in the history closets in the Mediterranean. Greece now guarantees stability and peace in the whole region of the south-eastern Mediterranean”.

In closing, Mr. Karagiannis underlined that “with an open eye to the future, we work every day to transform the city into a modern transport, energy and economic hub for the entire Southern Balkans. This is what we envision and implement every day with persistence and plan. Why this the Northern Helladians deserve, this is what the Thessalonians deserve and this is what we do”.