Regarding the consistency of pre-election speeches and post-election projects to the Greek citizens and in particular the citizens of Thrace and the society of the Rhodopes, spoke the Minister of Finance, Christos Staikouras, during a press conference he granted this afternoon in Komotini.
Mr. Staikouras, head of a government echelon, consisting of the Deputy Minister of Culture, Nikolas Giatromanolakis and the Secretary General of Primary Care, Marios Themistokleous, visited the Rhodope Regional Unit and toured businesses, while he had a series of meetings with local development and production agencies, as well as with representatives of local and regional self-government.
The Minister of Finance underlined that he himself chose to come to Rodopi wanting, as he said, to be accountable to the citizens for what has been achieved by the government in these three years, noting that through communication with the local community and cooperation with the local bodies can solve problems. He emphasized that the government implemented a large part of the pre-election promises it made aiming at the relief of citizens and the strengthening of income.
“We promised to reduce taxes and social security contributions”, noted Mr. Staikouras, “and we implemented it, we reduced a number of direct and indirect taxes to businesses from 29 to 22%. In fact, many of the businesses that I had the opportunity to visit today expressed their satisfaction. This reduction has led to the creation of new jobs. Young people can find work more easily when business is supported.”
The minister made a special reference to the reduction of the ENFIA in the region of Thrace, which reached approximately 36,000,000 euros, which, as he said, “resulted in substantial assistance to the disposable income of the citizen”. He also noted that after the Prime Minister’s announcement today, “the government is one more step closer to abolishing the solidarity levy by offering substantial and practical income support”.
“The country experienced an unprecedented health crisis, but society together with the state managed to function collectively and coherently. There were many concerns and fears from many of my colleagues as well as many agencies. But we succeeded and instead of a lockout we had a significant reduction in unemployment. Only 96,000,000 euros were allocated to the Rhodope region and the money was given by the state when businesses and society needed it”.
The Minister of Finance made a special reference to the refundable advance of businesses, stressing that 41,000,0000 euros were distributed to a total of 6,344 businesses of the Rhodopes “and now they are called with the convenience of time to proceed with the return of part of the refund, that is, a smaller part of the money than what was lent by the state. The state lent businesses a total of around 8.3 billion euros and now the businesses are required to pay back just under 3 billion euros, that is, there was a haircut of around 5 billion from the total debt.”
The energy crisis and household problems were also at the center of the minister’s statements, pointing out, among other things, that “8.5 billion were the government’s interventions to support households and businesses. Of this money, 6 billion concern electricity and gas, while 600 million concerns fuel”.
Mr. Staikouras also referred to his 12% subsidy to businesses in Thrace, noting that this has finally become possible after ten years and adding that many businesses have already received a significant injection of liquidity to be able to stand on their feet in a hard time”.
Komotini is getting a hospital of high environmental standards
The general secretary of Primary Care, Marios Themistokleous, in his own intervention, during the press conference, referred to the construction of the new hospital being built in Komotini with the assistance of the “Stavros Niarchos” foundation, noting with emphasis that it will be ready at the end of 2025 and will start operating early next year.
“The timetables are being followed perfectly”, noted Mr. Themistokleous, “and in some cases we are even ahead. The state’s commitment and obligation is the staffing of the new nursing institution. This means around 300 new hires. The new city hospital will it is state-of-the-art, will have high environmental standards, and will be a real jewel for Greece, while it will be one of the best in terms of infrastructure and equipment at an international level.”
Culture as a pillar of development
The Deputy Minister of Culture, Nikolas Giatromanolakis, referred to the implementation of regional programs and actions aimed at the cultural development of Thrace. He noted, in fact, that the implementation of these actions will bring a new innovative development model to areas with high unemployment.
Mr. Giatromanolakis pointed out that Culture can be an important pillar of the country’s development, noting that “the Prime Minister himself included the Ministry of Education in the development elements of the country, highlighting the development perspective of Culture. During the difficult period of the pandemic, the state invested around 450 million euros to practically support the cultural sector, while he included many important development actions in the Development Fund”.
SOURCE: APE-ME
Source: Capital
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