Parliament: N / S for Scaramanga Shipyards and Elliniko Casino voted in favor by the Committee

The drafting of the bill of the Ministry of Finance, which provides for the modernization and reopening of the Skaramaga Shipyards and the creation of a Casino in Elliniko, has been completed in the competent Committee of the Parliament.

Next Tuesday, June 28, it is scheduled to be debated and voted by the Plenary, while it will be preceded the day before by a second reading.

The bill was approved by a majority. ND was in favor of its principle while SYRIZA, PASOK-KINAL and Elliniki Lysi were reserved for the Plenary while KKE and MeRA25, voted against.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, in charge of tax policy, Apostolos Vesyropolos, claimed, among other things, that “the bill gives a substantial perspective of the country’s development both with the modernization and reopening of the Scaramanga shipyards and with the creation of a Casino in Elliniko.”

“The government’s national strategic goal is better and more jobs by attracting investment,” he said.

At the same time, he attacked SYRIZA, emphasizing that he does not realize “his zero-sum perception when he himself as a government in the perspective of the country’s development did not present any credible and realistic solution”.

Mr. Vesyropoulos emphasized the tax provisions of the bill, pointing out that they have a social sign and provide for effective support measures for the citizens who are being tested by the energy crisis.

The Undersecretary of Finance also noted the positive assessment made in the bill by the extra-parliamentary bodies that preceded the Finance Committee.

For their part, the extra-parliamentary bodies invited to the Commission focused mainly on their observations, on securing the jobs of all employees and the payment of their accruals, as well as on forced expropriations from one individual to another.

“The goal should not be how the public will receive but how the heavy industry of the country will develop” stressed the president of SENAV Vassilis Kanakakis, while he pointed out that “no guarantee provides the bill so for the continuation the activity of the shipyards, which is mainly the construction and maintenance of ships, as well as the jobs of all employees, as well as the payment of their accruals “.

“For us, it does not matter whether or not the Shipyards will be handed over to a private company, but what growth and employment prospects open up. The Shipyards must continue to operate, with all employees, and we must avoid any mistake that would lead to sanctions from European institutions “, added Mr. Kanakakis.

The legal advisor of the State, Stavros Spyropoulos, spoke about “a bill that correctly makes the necessary legislative improvements, corrects and clarifies ambiguities, aiming at the correct and better operation of the new Organization”.

He noted, however, that there should be no reason for the candidates to be hindered either at the stage of the competition or at the stage of their appointment, characterizing the failure.

The president of the Legal Council of the State, Emmanuela Panopoulou, also spoke about a bill that improves failures and corrects mistakes of the existing operating framework of the NSC.

Fotis Iasonidis, deputy mayor of the Municipality of Elliniko, referring to the creation of a Casino in Elliniko, noted that “no investment is acceptable that does not respect the residents of the area”.

“We are the guarantee that the project will be completed according to European standards. We have given a lot of land to the municipality for investment and the government must ensure that the plots will be returned, because we need them to build our own facilities,” he said. .

“We can not but welcome an investment that will create many new jobs. However, our concern is because there is no provision in the bill for a minimum recruitment of employees in the licensed operations of casinos and a guarantee for the payment of their accruals. There must be an obligation of the investor for a minimum number of employees and their work throughout the operation of the casino “, underlined Giannis Logothetis, president of the Federation of Gaming Employees Associations.

He also spoke “about the tragic situation of the employees in the casinos of Rio, Corfu and Alexandroupolis”, to whom, as he said, they owe salaries of many months.

“Not only should it be put to the investor but it is required to enter into a consolidation regime to pay the debts of the employees and not to hold 500 families hostage. It does not get another postponement. companies with new investors “, added Mr. Logothetis.

“EVEP says yes to the modernization of the Scaramanga Shipyards, but not to the expropriations. We are strong supporters of their reopening because we know what benefits it will give not only to the region but also to the security and defense of the country, “, stressed from his side, the president of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vassilis Korkidis.

“The bill needs to be amended and the process of forced expropriation ruled out in the case of the Scaramanga shipyards. The investor should be supported but the smaller investors should not be wronged anymore. Mr. Korkidis and concluded:

“We want to make it easier for them to operate in the best possible way. But the issue of expropriations from individual to private is against the constitution, and is not justified.”

The president of the Scaramanga Shipyard Workers’ Union, Evangelos Balogianis, also focused on securing the rights of the workers and the payment of all their accruals.

“The government must respect the workers who have been working hard for years for the shipyards to be operational and ensure that all accrued and compensated debts due to them and that have been awarded with final court decisions will be paid,” he stressed and added:

“Shipyard workers, without pay, go daily and maintain the shipyards’ infrastructure, keep the facilities and the submarines in operation. We ask for an addition to the bill that will ensure the maintenance of all jobs, the operation of the Shipyards all year round and the payment of all their accruals together with the compensations.

The debts to the employees reach 35 million euros and their payment can be made in the same way as it was done for Larko’s employees “.

The rapporteur of ND, George Amanatidis, stated that the jobs will be defined in the business plan that will be submitted by the investor, while he noted that “we must stand on the big picture and it is the development perspective that the investment gives not only for the region and Greece economy but also for the defense and security of the country “.

The general rapporteur of SRIZA, Sultana Eleftheriadou, strongly criticized the unconstitutional, as she characterized it, provision of expropriations from individual to private, while accusing the government of ensuring only the interests of the investor and no rights of the employees.

The PASOK-KINAL special spokeswoman, Tonia Antoniou, asked the leadership of the Ministry of Finance for explanations for the non-securing of jobs and the payment of debts to employees.

“Conditional shipyards can be of strategic importance and ensure the national goals of development but also the defense and security of the country,” he said, adding:

“We are in favor of the big project at Elliniko and the reopening of the Shipyards, but not indiscriminately. Serious issues arise, such as the observance of environmental conditions and the safeguarding of jobs.

The special spokesman of the KKE, Christos Katsotis, called on the government to withdraw the anti-popular bill, while stressing that “the cries of agony of the workers are in the ears of the deaf”.

“The casino is a development that confronts the many to serve the interests of the few,” he said, adding that all bourgeois governments were responsible for degrading and dismantling shipyards. “The development of the government has the many against it and serves the few,” he noted.

The special spokesman of EL.LY, Vassilis Viliardos, characterized the provision for forced expropriations as unacceptable and unconstitutional and demanded its withdrawal. At the same time, he criticized the government for rushing to meet all the demands of investors without any provision for jobs and the real development perspective of local communities.

MeRA25 spokesman Kriton Arsenis spoke of “a bill that throws shipyard workers in Kaiadas while providing for a very small green ratio and high nuisance. He also stressed that his party is against casinos, noting that in 2020 11 billion were gambled. . euro.

Source: AMPE