Athens is proceeding with the submission of the revised Recovery Plan “Greece 2.0” after having replaced projects that will not be completed by August 2026 and integrating others in their place, with an emphasis on digitalization and transition actions.
Addressing the 13th Regional Development Conference, Orestis Kavalakis, Governor of the Recovery and Resilience Facility Coordination Agency, said that Greece has completed 113 milestones and targets, over 100 projects have been approved, with a total value of 21.1 billion euros, and payments have reached almost 10 billion euros.
“The target for 2024 has been achieved, while the disbursement of 4.9 billion euros has been planned for 2025”, he said adding that the goal is ambitious, but an acceleration of expenses is expected, with 35 loan contracts for projects worth 35 billion euros, while 15.6 billion euros have already found a place in the real economy.
Next steps
Once the revised plan is approved in June, Greece plans to submit to the Commission the 6th request for the disbursement of a total tranche of 3.9 billion euros. The next ‘step’ will be in November, when the 7th request for the disbursement of a tranche of 3.5 billion euros is planned to be submitted.
“Greece among the 10 countries with the highest disbursements”
According to the Director of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) of the European Commission, Luc Tholoniat (speaking at the same conference), Greece is among the 10 countries with the highest disbursements. He also referred to some of the future challenges for European countries, including the need to overcome bureaucratic obstacles, strengthen the institutional framework, continue reforms and investments.
The revision of “Greece 2.0” was deemed necessary in order not to lose a single euro of the 9.6 billion euros that our country is entitled to receive from the subsidy part of the Recovery Fund until its completion in the summer of 2026.
The list of projects that are left out has been “closed.” Some flood control projects that would not be completed by August 2026 were “transferred” to the NSRF. On the other hand, “Greece 2.0” included reforms that place particular emphasis on the digital transition. A typical case is the inclusion of the project for a satellite system for monitoring unauthorized construction. A project that foresees the use of satellites and drones for the continuous recording of the development of construction activity throughout the territory. Through a special digital platform, unauthorized buildings will be identified with the help of Artificial Intelligence systems.
