In a complaint that in the last few days, the Athens Chamber of Commerce has been receiving complaints from professionals who are suddenly burdened with large amounts of electricity that they had consumed in the period 2022-2023, the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, Yiannis Hatjitheodosiou, proceeded
In fact, he talks about “cases of members who are asked to pay hundreds of euros to providers and in fact within a few days”.

According to Mr. Hatzitheodosiou, these are amounts that were registered at that time as a state subsidy. Except that in the end their payment was never approved by the European Union. And now the companies have started the process of collecting these amounts.

For their part, competent sources clarify that these are subsidies that were given to companies that ultimately were not entitled to them as they had exceeded the upper limit of state aid in accordance with European rules.

According to information, the total amount that thousands of companies are asked to return amounts to 2 million euros out of a total of 800 million euros that were paid to subsidize electricity bills.

The statement of Yiannis Chatzitheodosiou in detail

In the last few days, complaints from professionals who are suddenly burdened with large amounts of electricity that they had consumed in the 2022-2023 period have been continuously arriving at the Athens Chamber of Commerce.
There are cases of our members who are asked to pay hundreds of euros to providers and even within a few days.

As we learned, these are amounts that were registered at that time as a state subsidy. Except that in the end their payment was never approved by the European Union. And now, following a recent ministerial decision, the companies have started the process of collecting these amounts.

We consider everything that is being done to be impermissible and call on the relevant ministries to answer some reasonable questions:

– Have all these current debtors been informed as clearly as possible that these amounts will become due?
– Didn’t the state itself take care of reducing electricity bills through a subsidy?
– How ethical is it to ask a professional to pay out within a few days – there are relevant accounts at the disposal of the E.E.A. – a not inconsiderable amount? Has anyone wondered if this man, in today’s market conditions with such precision and high operating costs, can have the ability to pay any amount on time?
– Since the government at some point learned that there was no approval from the European authorities, why did it not inform the debtors in time?

As a Chamber we ask for clear answers in a simple and comprehensible manner from someone responsible and not a reference to a gazette or past ministerial decisions. Citizens have the right to know every detail related to such issues as their family and professional budget is determined by their development.