The geopolitical developments at the center of the extraordinary meeting of the Board. of EVEA

The current geopolitical developments and their economic consequences were the subject of yesterday’s extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors of EVEA, with guest speakers Dr. Angelos Syrigos, Deputy Minister of Education and Religions, Associate Professor of International Law and Foreign Policy at Panteion University and Dr. Konstantinos Filis, Executive Director of the Institute of International Relations of Panteion University and Professor of International Relations at the American College of Greece. The Chair of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Board of Directors was Mrs. Sofia Efraimoglou – Kounenaki, First Vice President of EVEA.

Starting the discussion, Dr. Angelos Syrigos, stressed the importance of the event, as, as he stressed, the business world of the country is the first to accept the consequences of those who are currently playing. “What we have at the moment is an economic war of the West against Russia. It is devastating, to such an extent that you are concerned about its long-term consequences,” said Mr. Syrigos, adding that “In Greece we are going through a period in which the demand will This means that we will focus on research into Greek hydrocarbons, on grids that will carry electricity from Africa to Europe via Greece, and on renewable energy sources. floating wind turbines “.

Regarding the business opportunities, Mr. Syrigos estimated that they are located in three places. “First, Europe will turn to renewable energy sources and other grids, including electricity grids, which will not only carry electricity from Africa to Greece, but will also carry electricity generated by nuclear power plants. from Bulgaria to Greece, which was banned as a matter of course two and a half to three months ago. , Europe in the next period will turn to raw materials, accurate, which will reduce its dependence on countries in the Far East, ie the phenomenon of globalization, where we seek to find who has the cheapest raw material or the cheapest material, will be limited in the next period of time “said among others Mr. Syrigos.

For his part, Dr. Konstantinos Filis referred to the time uncertainty of the war and its political dimensions. “Right now we have a war raging since February 24 and, while all parties under normal circumstances should want it to end as soon as possible, we see that on the contrary, it pulls a lot and possibly lasts for a period of time that no one can “But if it continues for a long time, I’m sure we will start to see even bigger cracks in the western camp than we have seen so far. Because the leadership will be pushed from the bottom up.”

Regarding the energy issue and the economic consequences of the war, Mr. Filis stressed that “Greece has opportunities and can become a transport hub. But the goal is to become a distribution hub. We have vertical axes from the pipeline that connects us with Bulgaria, a pipeline that will connect us with Northern Macedonia in the future, we have the pipeline to Albania, the TAP, which can reach the more mature markets of Central Europe, or even Eastern Europe and vice versa. to have a guarantee of our energy adequacy, but here the key word is “liquidity”. In other words, we must be able to collect quantities of either natural gas, liquefied natural gas, electricity, or even renewable sources, and be able to dispose of all this. An ambitious plan, but I believe that it should be one of the priorities of Greece “, concluded Mr. Filis in his position, emphasizing that” apart from the risks and the problems that arise, the part of energy is something that offers opportunities for the future for our country “.

In his statement during the discussion, the President of EVEA, Mr. Giannis Bratakos, stated, among other things, that “Greece must and can shield its position, in the context of a strong united Europe. This will be done through decisions responsive to the challenges, but also to the opportunities of the new geopolitical environment In the face of a new crisis, the expectations of the business world from the government – but also from all political forces – are high “We are proud because Greece has once again chosen to be on the right side of history. To clearly defend the right of peoples to freedom, independence and democracy. But we expect,” said Mr. Bratakos. , and those moves that will help the country effectively manage the challenges that will reduce its weaknesses and reap the benefits and its capabilities “.