By T. Igoumenidi
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The mayor of a southern coastal Athens municipality, who filed a lawsuit last week with the Council of State (Cos) to block the establishment of a state-run management entity overseeing the Helleniko site, this week told “N” that his administration’s legal action “will not impede the investment”.
The Helleniko land development project is a landmark privatization in the post-bailout country and among the biggest real estate deals in Europe. However, the roughly eight-billion-euro investment has faced repeated obstacles over the years, including legal challenges and “layers” of ubiquitous modern Greek “red tape”.
In response to caustic reactions over the latest legal challenge, Alimos mayor Andreas Kondylis underlined that his municipality, under his administration, has repeatedly come out in favor of the project, while merely adding:
“…we tabled certain self-evident issues that should have been resolved,” he said, ticking off “job spots for Alimos residents and other neighboring municipalities”, a rubbish recollection center “inside the park” and other requests.
He said the lawsuit aimed to improve the instructional framework for the new entity, whose primary responsibility will be to collect and manage concession fees from the private investor that is developing the Hellenic site.
