By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

A frequent criticism of the world and a permanent refrain of the opposition when the discussion comes to the utilization of community resources is that the money given goes to the few and powerful. In a word, money goes to money.

From the presentation made by the Deputy Minister of Finance Nikos Papathanasis regarding the course of implementation of both the National Investment Program and Recovery Fund it turns out that this is probably a misunderstanding. Reasonable to an extent, and the government has a share of responsibility for causing it, but a misconception.

The data shows that the currently open loan and subsidy programs aimed at small and medium enterprises exceed €5.4 billion

Through the Recovery Fund, 351 loans have been contracted so far, of which 183 (52%) to SMEs. In total, €4.9 billion have been channeled into the market and €2.1 billion (43%) have ended up in medium-sized companies – with up to 250 employees and a turnover of up to €50m – and small – with up to 10 employees and a turnover of up to €10m which are active in Manufacturing, Tourism, Power Generation and Trade.

359,000 SMEs have already been subsidized with €1.4 billion:
Digital transformation 339,821
Energy Saving 3.031
Agricultural sector 3,550
Processing 132
Employment of the unemployed 12,804
Research and Innovation 64

€1.6 billion have been approved for 12,576 SMEs under the NSRF “Competitiveness” program:
€71.2m for Digital Transformation
€710 million for Green investments
€850 million in loans and guarantees through TEPIX

The funds will increase as approximately 10,000 applications for the establishment and support of SMEs are under evaluation, 7,000 of them concern tourism businesses.

By the end of the year, the applications for the 3 actions of the NSRF – Just Transition Program aimed at SMEs and concerning their establishment or reinforcement in the ESSDIM areas of the West region will have been evaluated. Macedonia (energy, agri-food), Megalopolis (pharmaceutical) and Aegean – Crete (RES). The budget of the three actions reaches €180 million
An additional €70 million comes from the Loan Fund of the just transition program which is given as working capital but also for investment purposes in SMEs.
€50 million is directed to SMEs in island regions with a population of less than 3,100 inhabitants with the “Epihiro Prasina” program.

€5.4 billion small and medium enterprises so far, but the picture is not complete if the programs aimed at households or energy upgrading are not also added:
€2.4 billion are directed to the housing policy
€180m for the energy efficiency of tertiary sector businesses
€105 million for the “Change device” of businesses
€100m for the installation of fiber optic network in buildings

Also expected are programs for the photovoltaics of businesses, new programs to save and even without income criteria, new training programs for at least 10,000 unemployed and beneficiaries of a minimum guaranteed income.

At the same time there are a number of programs for which it would be trivial to list their budget when their benefits are really enormous since they contribute to saving human lives. Like the PROLAMPANO program with preventive tests for breast, colon and cervical cancer, while tests for cardiovascular diseases are also expected to be added.