By Natassa Stasinou

 

 

Greece plans to submit two requests with the aim of disbursing a total amount of 6.9 billion euros from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, both in grants and loans, within the year.

 

Based on the timetable set by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, Greece will submit the fourth request to the Commission for the disbursement of 2.3 billion euros in grants and 1 billion euros in loans by April.

 

The milestones

 

In order for the process to advance, especially in the section of the grants, Athens will have to complete 20 milestones. Of these, according to the chief of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Orestis Kavalakis, 12 have already been completed and there are still 8 remaining, which are in the implementation phase. As for loans, they proceed with high speed.

 

"Submitting requests is a constant struggle. There is coordination with the ministries to meet the milestones. Our goal is to submit a request in April. We believe that we will have met all the milestones, but there is the possibility to delay a little, or to submit a modified request depending on the pending milestones," Alternate National Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Papathanasis explained.

 

The 3.6-billion-euro request in September

 

Regarding the fifth request, it is planned to be submitted in September and will concern the disbursement of a total amount of 3.6 billion euros, of which 2.3 billion euros will concern the loan section and another 1.3 billion euros the grants section.

 

It is recalled that at the end of the previous year, the country's revised Recovery and Resilience Facility was approved, which, in addition to changes in reforms and investments included in it, also incorporated RepowerEU. At the same time, on December 28, 2023, an installment of 3.64 billion euros was disbursed; 1.69 billion euros in grants and 1.95 billion euros in loans.

 

Greece received the 1.69 billion euro tranche after it successfully completed 42 milestones and goals that related, among other things, to projects, such as the digitization of State archives, the new system of public contracts, the preparation of urban plans, etc.

 

Loans through banks

 

Loans granted through banks proceed faster than the initial planning. By January 8, 269 loans had been contracted, of which 128 were for small and medium-sized (SMEs) enterprises. Their total amount amounts to 10.26 billion euros. These are loans to finance private investments related to the green transition, digitization, increased export capacity, economies of scale and innovation. These requests concern investments in the fields of electrification and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, the launch of projects linked to renovations to improve the energy efficiency of residential buildings, the digitization of public administration and the use of fiber optic infrastructure in buildings.

 

It is recalled that the European Commission has already adjusted the amounts based on the revision of the National Recovery and Resilience Facility "Greece 2.0", which included the reduction of the amount of subsidies due to an increase in Greek GDP to 17.4 billion euros and the request for additional loans of 5 billion euro through REpowerEU.

 

Through REpowerEU, Greece will receive loans of 5 billion euros and subsidies of 795 million euros. Part of the additional loans will be used for digital investments in very high-capacity broadband networks, digitization of SMEs and large enterprises, development and deployment of cyber security technologies, advanced digital technologies and other types of infrastructure, in light of the commitment of financial institutions to invest at least 20.8% of funds in such interventions.