“An important project for Western Attica, which will be announced in the next few days with funding from the Recovery Fund”, said the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for infrastructure, Giorgos Karagiannis
Regarding the bill regarding the amendments to the concession agreement of the project “Development of the Thriasian field commercial center”, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for infrastructure, Giorgos Karagiannis, informed the permanent committee of Production and Trade of the Parliament, pointing out that “all the changes it is for the benefit of the state”.
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure described the investment in Thriasio Pedio as crucial for the future of the freight railway and underlined that “the country should finally succeed in becoming a major transport and freight hub for the whole of Southeast Europe, taking advantage of its strategic position, creating conditions strength and development”.
According to Mr. Karagiannis, “the project has really gone through 40 waves”, while “the risk we had due to long delays in the Thriasios case more broadly, was to suffer as a country a budgetary correction of 100 million euros”.
For this reason, as he explained, “the concessionaire accepted all the proposed amendments and thus the agreement we are bringing today has major changes, all for the benefit of the state”.
Presenting the changes to the concession agreement, Mr. Karagiannis stated that:
First, the one-off consideration is doubled from 10 to 20 million euros.
Secondly, the annual payment to the public increases from 2.51% to 5.00%, while the minimum payment to the public increases from 350,000 euros to 700,000 euros per year.
Thirdly, the concession period is reduced from 60 to 37 years and under conditions it can be extended for another 3 years, while at the same time the Concessionaire is given the opportunity to negotiate the extension of the concession for an additional 23 years at market prices.
Fourth, a 50-50 profit sharing mechanism is introduced for all concession profits when the financial IRR exceeds 9.09%.
“These amendments ensure, on the one hand, the start of the concession in accordance with the requirements of European Law, and on the other hand, the public interest is completely guaranteed,” the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure said, noting that “the nature of the contract signed by the previous government is changing drastically.”
Multiple benefits for the economy and development
Underlining the importance of the project, Mr. Karagiannis stated that “the total investment amounts to 158.4 million euros, with the construction cost being placed close to 110 million euros and will create 3,000 new jobs, being the largest and most modern logistics center in the country”. Of extreme importance are “the modern railway infrastructures that the concessionaire will also build, so as to connect the Center with the national railway infrastructure”.
“Therefore, the development impetus of this project is perceived, but also at the same time how much it contributes to the upgrading of Western Attica – together of course with a series of new projects, the main one being the construction of the new branch of the suburban railway that will start from Above Liosia, it will serve a number of urban areas such as Aspropyrgos and Elefsina and will end in Megara. An important project for Western Attica, which will be announced in the coming days with funding from the Recovery Fund” added the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure.
In fact, as he pointed out, “along with the utilization of the former Gonou camp in Thessaloniki as a logistics center as well, a strong bipolar inflow of goods is created in the country, with multiple benefits for the economy and employment”.
“This government had made growth and job creation a priority. Today, 3.5 years after the government of New Democracy and Kyriakos Mitsotakis took over, another success is added for the economic development of the country” the Deputy Minister pointed out.
In closing, Mr. Karagiannis underlined that “new investments start every day, multinational companies choose our country to expand their activities and new infrastructure projects start at the pace of other times. We are not blessing our beards, we are simply pointing out that this government is needed by the country.”
“Major infrastructure projects have no color – and Thriasio is a very big investment that our country needs” concluded the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure
RES-EMP
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