The announcement of tenders for the utilization of public properties in “packages” and not for each property separately, in order for the process to proceed more quickly and efficiently, announced the Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, announcing today the launch of Hellenic Public Property Conference.

At the same time, he announced the creation of a digital platform for the concession of the State’s occupied properties – on the model of the platform that already operates for the concession of seafront and beach – and the preparation of a State Real Estate Register.

The minister emphasized that Public Property has great potential to contribute to investment and development, however, it is an area in which we do not have the results we would like as efforts made in the past were not always followed up. And he presented the six axes of action implemented by the government in this direction, which include:

1. Privatizations: As Mr. Hatzidakis noted, in the 10 months since the last elections, 10 privatizations took place, an unprecedented achievement for the post-colonial period. These include the disinvestment of the HFSF by the banks (Eurobank, Alpha Bank, National Bank and Piraeus Bank), the disposal of shares in Helleniq Energy, the regional port concession contracts (Igoumenitsa, Kavala, Heraklion), the introduction of the El. Venizelos in the Stock Exchange and the Attica Road concession contract. “These privatizations brought 7.1 billion euros to the state coffers. But mainly they send the message that the country is overcoming any Soviet temptations it had in the past and is becoming a normal European country that will support development by attracting private investments”, emphasized Mr. Hatzidakis.

2. Superfund: The concession of small regional airports is being promoted in the model of the successful concession of the 14 regional airports that preceded it, as well as a separate effort for Kalamata airport. At the same time, the reconstruction of the TIF is progressing with a partnership between the public and private sectors and logistics infrastructures, such as the Gonou camp in Thessaloniki, for which the maturation study has progressed and will be announced by TAIPED in 2024.

3. Actions of the General Secretariat of Public Property Management which include:

– Effective management and supervision of the capital of charitable institutions and endowments supervised by the Ministry, which amounts to approximately 1 billion 120 million euros. A special law-making committee is already working which is working on amendments to the law on public utility properties, with the aim of modernizing it and introducing innovative practices.

– Amendments to the legislation on occupied properties (under consultation), so that it is more effectively implemented. “At the same time, we are waiting for the creation of a relevant digital platform by the Ministry of Digital Governance for the concession process of the occupied properties, the operation of which will start in the summer”, said Mr. Hatzidakis.

– Preparation of the Real Estate Register, in which all public bodies are required to register their properties. “We restarted the whole project last October and instituted scheduled monthly conferences with representatives of all agencies. So the process progresses more smoothly and faster.”

4. The recent law on “Utilization of public property in coastal areas”, with electronic auctions, which from this year are held centrally and not by the Municipalities. And with the possibility for citizens to have access through a special application to the coordinates and to make complaints when they find arbitrary occupations and violation of contracts, as well as with the possibility of control by drones. “We are interested in the State collecting the rents and also in upgrading the tourist product. That’s why we provided mandatory lifeguards and disabled access infrastructure to the beaches with concessions, while we established the cheated beaches in areas of special natural beauty that will be out of transaction and umbrella seats will not be allowed,” he said.

5. State Real Estate Company (ETAD): ETAD has fallen behind and must move very quickly, the minister emphasized and added: “Tenders are underway in collaboration with the Superfund for the mapping of 36,000 properties that are in ETAD’s portfolio. Based on this competition, it is expected that 6,000 properties will be valued, while at the end 1,000 of them will enter the immediate maturation and utilization plan. There won’t be 1000 different contests. Different “packages” will come out with possibly different companies for each of them in order to make the process go faster.” Mr. Hatzidakis also mentioned that after the declaration of the tender for the property of Tae-Kvo-Do in Faliro as barren, ETAD in cooperation with TAIPED will proceed with a joint market research in order to announce a new tender.
6. Utilization of State property for the implementation of housing policy. “An action that has matured is DYPA for social housing to move from the model of workers’ housing – which contributed to critical times for the country – to another policy. With public and private sector partnerships, as is done in Great Britain, Austria, and Spain, which combine the residence with other uses so that the individual can cover his expenses and there is high-level social housing,” the minister pointed out.

“We will continue the difficult path, without having any illusions about the degree of difficulties and the reactions that will exist”, underlined Mr. Hatzidakis and concluded: “We do it with the conviction that we are doing the right thing. We don’t have magic recipes, we see what is being done in other advanced European countries and follow a path of common sense.”