N. Iliopoulos: Devaluation, looting and privatization is the government’s strategy for the public sector

“Devaluation, looting and privatization is ND’s strategy for the public sector and that is exactly what it is doing now with the golden boys in EFKA”, stressed the spokesperson of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, Nassos Iliopoulos.

“The SYRIZA government received about 400,000 outstanding pensions. According to official data, it handed over 107,000 outstanding pensions. Today they exceed 350,000 again”, Nassos Iliopoulos underlined (“Sto Kokkino 105.5 FM”), speaking “about its administrative failure” of the Mitsotakis government “. “This is directly related to the fact that two and a half years ago, it has allowed EFKA to collapse,” he added, explaining: scientists, of whom about 700 worked at EFKA to earn pensions “. “The ND government could have renewed the specific program, but it did not do so and fired these 700 people”, pointed out Nassos Iliopoulos.

Referring to the government bill for EFKA, he noted: “following the classic neoliberal recipe, ND is now in the stage of looting and privatization.” “They bypass any process of meritocracy and ASEP, they appoint whoever they want, where they want”, he stated characteristically and continued: “they put 256 general managers and directors, with salaries that can exceed 8,000 euros!”. “Obviously the issue is not only the salary, but it is also this, when at the same time the government says that it does not have the money to take measures to support society,” commented Nasos Iliopoulos. “The goal of the people who will be hired there, is to privatize the large real estate of EFKA – property that exceeds 1 billion euros – and to proceed with the overall privatization of social security,” said Nassos Iliopoulos.

“We paid this model to PPC”, he added and explained: “they took 7 general managers and made them 15, 27 directors made them 105, 60 assistant directors made them 250, while they gave the managing director a salary of 360,000 euros a year and put the HEDNO executives to give a bonus to themselves “. “At the moment we have a government that operates like a swarm of locusts and plunders public money without tomorrow,” said Nassos Iliopoulos.

He also stressed that “the left response to the looting of the state is to break the centers of power, to create mechanisms that work and are accountable to the citizens, to have democracy and rules.” “When we ruled, we respected the people of the public administration, at the same time we did not respect the hotbeds of mismanagement. “”, Underlined Nassos Iliopoulos and added: “we strengthened social sectors such as hospitals, while we put the control mechanisms to work”. He recalled the fine of 1.6 million euros paid – on SYRIZA – by Piraeus Bank for unpaid overtime.

Asked to comment on the new data that rank Greece again first in Europe, in the wholesale price of electricity, he said: “We all remember the competent minister, Mr. Skrekas, to state at the end of September that the increases in electricity will be 2 with 3 euros “. “This is not the first time that the government has fallen short of its forecasts in such an extreme way,” Nassos Iliopoulos said, adding that “the ND government underestimated accuracy, in the same way it underestimated the pandemic.” “The root of the problem is that we have a government that does not believe in public tools. In the midst of an energy crisis, it privatized PPC, HEDNO networks, gas networks and today we are living the results of this policy,” he said.

Reiterating the proposals of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance to deal with accuracy, he stressed: “here and now increase the minimum wage to 800 euros, which will strengthen employees and small and medium enterprises because it will stimulate consumption.” “There is a need to reduce the VAT on fuel, to the minimum limits allowed by the EU – 18 EU countries have already done so”, noted Nasos Iliopoulos and added: “it is also necessary to intervene in PPC’s pricing policy and to reduce VAT on basic foodstuffs “.