Toronto Economic Forum: Greece managed to reduce its energy dependence on Russia

In a world of global demand for affordable and sustainable energy solutions, bilateral partnerships are crucial to achieving optimal results, development as well as solving energy shortages. With Greece and Canada having a tradition in the energy and minerals sectors, the possibilities for cooperation were discussed at the economic forum in Toronto held on October 17 and 18 by the Delphi Economic Forum, in the presence of leaders from the fields of politics , diplomacy and economy from Greece and Canada and government officials of the two countries.

As the General Secretary of Energy and Mineral Raw Materials, Alexandra Sdoukou, pointed out, it is a goal for Greece to become energy hub and an important “player” in the field of energy as it has the potential and is in an excellent geostrategic position and as a crossroads of four continents. “The vision for the green transition remained active, and as we did not deviate from our policies, today the results speak for themselves” noted Mrs. Sdoukou.

As he pointed out, “while the war in Ukraine made the situation difficult, Greece managed to reduce its dependence on Russia. At the same time, he pointed out that in 2019 Greece adopted an ambitious energy transition agenda, which, however, requires the integration and utilization of new technologies.

Mrs. Sdoukou noted that the coming winter is difficult, but Europe has taken measures. However, this crisis and the geopolitical developments acted as a wake-up call, while as he pointed out, the policies for the green transition, not only were not negatively affected, but on the contrary were accelerated. However, the goal of energy autonomy cannot be achieved immediately, but the need for a green energy transition has become even more imperative, as has the use of renewable energy sources to make the country independent.

For his part, Konstantinos Karagianopoulos, CEO of Neo Performance Materials, emphasized that the energy transition has two sides: on the one hand, the creation of energy, and on the other hand, that its use must be more intelligent and active, something to which new technologies will contribute. He also emphasized that in Greece there are young people with strong minds and education and importance should be given to how foreign companies, and Canadian companies in this case, will also invest in the country’s human resources. He also added that the energy transition is a huge opportunity and creates very important possibilities for investments in Europe as well as in Greece.

As Katrin Faris, founder and CEO of Vital Energy Inc, pointed out, Greece has incredible potential and has developed the infrastructure in the energy sector to a very large extent. He also emphasized the need for waste utilization in the context of the circular economy and management.

The discussion was moderated by Katerina Sokou, Washington DC correspondent and member of the Council of The Hellenic Initiative-Canada.

Then Konstantinos Tzebelikos Managing Partner, Elysian Project and Nikos Stamou, Director of Investment Attraction of Enterprise Greece spoke about the investment opportunities that exist in Greece, which has a geostrategic position and is gateway to emerging markets while modernizing its legal and administrative framework to facilitate Foreign Direct Investments.

As Mr. Tzebelikos said in the past, when he too tried to invest in Greece, the environment was disappointing, while today he maintains 8 companies in sectors related to real estate, innovation, transport, etc.

For his part, Nikos Stamou emphasized that now the environment in Greece has changed and has become very friendly to investors, helping the development of the Greek economy.

The debate was moderated by Dionysis Protopapas, Economic and Commercial Affairs advisor of the Consulate General of Greece in Toronto.
It is noted that the sponsors of the event are the Hellinikos Chrysos and Eldorado Gold companies, and the supporters are Eurobank and the Hellenic Development Bank and the Athens International Airport.

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