Recovery Fund and Superfund, with its new nature as an Investment Fund, give impetus to large investments and projects in Greece, as pointed out by the participants in the meeting on the financing of projects in our country, in the context of the 7th Infrastructure and Transport Conference – ITC 2024, which takes place today 17 and tomorrow 18 September at the Athens Concert Hall – International Convention Center.

G. Dimitriadis (Superfund – Growthfund): Within 2025 the first investments of the new Investment Fund

The public companies in the Hyperfund’s portfolio have entered a stabilization phase, according to the Hyperfund’s managing director Grigoris Dimitriadis. “Our priority remains, beyond our new investment arm, the transformation of public companies, with a long-term horizon, so that they provide better services to citizens and the greatest possible value for the economy and the next generations,” he emphasized.

“We are now a Growthfund under the new law, which enables us to overcome many of the bureaucratic difficulties of the public sector so that we can turn these companies around,” said Mr Dimitriadis.

As an example of the philosophy that governs this effort, he brought the regeneration of TIF, which aims to create a large metropolitan park, which at the same time will have the capabilities of modern infrastructure, which will upgrade the exhibition itself.

Referring to the project of utilizing the smaller regional airports, he pointed out that the offers for the Kalamata airport are expected within October. Regarding the real estate of the State, he spoke of a great effort to clarify in the best way the properties of ETAD, to which the TEE and TMEDE are expected to contribute.

Mr. Dimitriadis set the goal of the new Investment Fund to make the first investments within 2025, as a study is currently underway to set up the internal mechanism properly. “We are starting on the part of the new Investment Fund with 300 million euros – an amount that will obviously increase – but, since the first impression counts, it must be clear to the international investment community that this works with transparency and good corporate governance “, he pointed out, identifying as a bet for success the attraction of co-investors since the Superfund will be a minority investor.

K. Makedos (TMEDE): To offer a “breath” of liquidity to the companies for the faster implementation of the projects

The bet for construction companies is to grow and develop sustainably, so that the projects are implemented on time and within budget, emphasized the president of TMEDE, Konstantinos Makedos.

According to Mr. Makedos, TMEDE, in addition to its guarantor role, has strategically decided to serve the part of credit as well. As he said, “we have progressed together with the ETA in the first partnership between the public and private sector, giving working loans of up to 400,000 euros guaranteed through 8 cooperating banks. At the same time, we created Micro Finance, the first company of an institutional body, which grants investment working capital up to 25,000 euros”.

At the same time, the president of TMEDE pointed out that: “Our bet is for construction companies not only to grow but also to develop sustainably and this will be achieved through bank lending and the creation of the 5th Banking Pillar. The goal is for the companies in the sector to believe in their growth and sustainable development, while at the same time young scientists and start-up companies enter the labor market and get financed”.

Concluding, Mr. Makedos stated that the main requirement in the financial tools offered to companies in the sector is “to see what investment, what process they need through consulting from the tools that already exist and which will be able to provide longevity through low-interest loans, that exceed 10 years, and to be amortized.

All this development is required to scale up sustainably, for companies to become extroverted, adopt new technologies, join PPP projects and gain longevity.”

P. Stampoulidis (TAIPED): Competitions with the unique feature of the public interest and the quality of the projects

“The market is often insatiable” said Panagiotis Stamboulidis, authorized advisor of TAIPED, describing the imprint left by the operation of TAIPED’s Independent Contracts Unit of Strategic Importance.

“There are problems in the maturation of projects, problems that are often created by the market, which is insatiable. I refer to appeals and other proceedings. They think that in this way TAIPED will retreat.

We will issue tenders with only the public interest and the quality of the projects as a sign and in the end we will win, as we do in all procedures. So far, no one has been able to stop a project,” he stressed, announcing important institutional intervention to prevent delays in the implementation of projects.

As P. Stamboulidis described, of the first 3.5 billion euros assigned to TAIPED, 90% has been contracted within a year and a half. These are mainly infrastructure and service projects.

Of these, three actions stand out:

– the first concerns hospitals and health centers: at the end of 2025, 156 health centers and 92 hospitals will be delivered, with a total cost of 900 million euros.

– the Aegis program, where all competitions have been completed. At the beginning of 2026, Greece is expected to acquire for the first time a mechanism to deal with severe weather phenomena.

– the third action concerns the protection of the forest ecosystem. The AntiNERO program has absorbed 500 million euros from the Recovery Fund in two years with the involvement of over 100 companies and has developed a new economic activity around forest protection.

Also, P. Stampolidis announced that projects totaling 4 billion euros will be announced as part of the decarbonization and modernization programs of the Ministry of the Environment, for infrastructure projects in the Aegean islands, in Crete, Evia and Central Greece, for the better management of natural resources. In the next period, the first private company will take over the management of the forest system, while TAIPED is preparing an action of extroversion, as it will participate in foreign tenders for the undertaking of projects in third countries.

D. Samaras: The Recovery Fund is a unique opportunity for Greece

The benefits of the Recovery Fund were discussed by Dimitris Samaras, the president of the “Samaras & Associates” Group, among others, at the ITC 2024 – 7th Infrastructure & Transport Conference.

As he said, “I personally believe that the Recovery Fund is a unique opportunity for the country. Not only because it is an additional financial tool – beyond the NSRF – amounting to approximately 30 billion euros, which finances public and private investments in critical infrastructures of the country, but because if we also look at the project selection criteria, which were sustainability criteria, in relation to cost-benefit, they satisfied real needs and long-term goals”.

Referring to the big challenge, he said that “it is the very compressed timetables, as they may have an end date of 2026, but not only that, we also have the intermediate milestones which are criteria whether or not the projects that have selected”.

In fact, as he explained, “the very tight schedules brought to the surface many pathologies of the Greek bureaucracy, mainly regarding the issues of project maturation, approvals and licensing, coke tender procedures”.

At the same time, he pointed out that “Samaras & Associates” participated in many projects, among them the health sector “which is not easy 92 hospitals throughout the country, 156 health centers and everything that means, to implement”.

Regarding whether Greece will achieve the goal, he said that a lot needs to be done. “First of all, there must be a good cooperation of the entire value chain that participates in the maturation and implementation of these projects, we must all work together and understand that we must win this national goal which is the absorption of the funds. But this alone is not enough. Based on the pathologies that emerged, we should further simplify the institutional framework so as to reduce the bureaucracy that is bothering us,” he explained.