Greece Sumbits Request for €2.1bln Grants to EC

Greece has submitted a formal request to the European Commission for the disbursement of a sixth package from the EU Recovery Fund, amounting to €2.1 billion.

The sixth request brings the overall EU payments to Greece to €23.4 billion, representing 65% of the total allocated for the country, with disbursements from grants alone expected to amount to €12.04 billion, or 66% of the available resources. The request for the loan tranche, amounting to €1.8 billion, is expected to be submitted in September.

The successful 6th request in the framework of the EU recovery fund is a testament to the progress of various projects and reforms focusing on critical fields like improving citizens’ daily life, public education and health, social welfare, and cutting energy costs.

Some of the indicative projects targeted are

• The completion and operation of the first phase of the Electronic Health Record.
• The improvement of the regulatory framework for the personal doctor system.
• The launch of social benefit payments to nearly 1.3 million eligible citizens via prepaid cards.
• Contracts for the installation of smart LED lighting systems on road networks, as well as for a series of road safety improvement projects at 7,780 high-risk locations on regional and local roads. These involve more than 150 projects funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility for the country’s regions and municipalities.
• The installation of 11,580 photovoltaic systems, subsidized for private citizens and farmers through the “Photovoltaics on Rooftops” and “Photovoltaics in Fields” programs.

The near completion (95%) of the national land registry and the establishment of its new organizational structure are contributing to the state’s core goal of overhauling public administration. In parallel, tax administration is being improved through key milestones, including the integration of 400,000 cash registers and POS systems with the MyData platform, as well as broader reforms aimed at codifying tax legislation and combating tax evasion.

Source: Tovima.com