Piraeus Bank continues to support projects that contribute to the restoration of the country’s natural environment from the effects of climate change, undertaking, after Parnitha and Thessaly, the financing and implementation of anti-corrosion projects, with a budget of 2 million euros, in the Penteli region.

This action, as stated in a relevant announcement, is part of the corporate responsibility actions of Piraeus and serves its strategy to have a leading role in the sustainable development of the country and at the same time to return to society part of the value it creates.

The project is carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Energy, which appointed Piraeus as the Rehabilitation Contractor for Penteli. The Bank undertakes the study and implementation of the works within a period of four months.

The area where the project will be implemented was visited on Friday, November 15, 2024, by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thodoros Skylakakis and the Managing Director of Piraeus, Mr. Christos Megalou.

Mr. Skylakakis said: “We were on the hill of small Kallithea, in the wider area of ​​the Observatory and Penteli Monastery, where we are carrying out an important anti-corrosion project, with the donation of Piraeus Bank, for the restoration of the environment, which was affected by last summer’s fire. The logs and trellises will hold the soil this year and in the following years and will allow the natural regeneration of the forest in this area, but also in the wider area, as with the help of Piraeus Bank we are implementing interventions in 26,000 acres. We put about 300 km. logs and we are taking many more important initiatives. In fact, our effort is not limited to anti-corrosion projects, it will continue with mountain hydrology projects – which have not been done for several decades throughout Greece, but also with the major forest reform, which is ongoing and concerns the effective management of forests us. With these very important initiatives, we will allow the natural beauty of this country to withstand much better the onslaught of the climate crisis, which is here and will continue to be here for decades to come.”

Mr. Megalou pointed out that “Piraeus, as part of the corporate responsibility program, is actively participating in the restoration of the fire-damaged areas, and important anti-corrosion and anti-flood projects have already been completed in Parnitha. Today, we are on Mount Pentelikos, in an area that a few months ago suffered incalculable destruction from fires. Together with the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Skylakakis, we are inaugurating the start of a new, critical anti-flood – anti-corrosion restoration project of Mount Pentelikos. This project, with the cooperation of the Forestry Cooperatives of Central Greece and Thessaly, contributes to the protection of the soil, the minimization of flooding phenomena and the regeneration of the natural environment. With the allocation of 2 million euros, Piraeus intervenes in the protection of the environment, implementing anti-flood – anti-corrosion projects. I thank the Minister, Mr. Skylakakis and all our partners for their commitment. This collective effort proves that cooperation between the public and private sectors can yield substantial results. Together, we are laying the foundations for a sustainable future.”

The anti-erosion project will be implemented on Mount Pentel and includes the addition of natural material dams in selected locations, on stream beds, sloping surfaces and the placement of burnt tree trunks, wooden walls on the sloping surface of the ground. The specific projects are of particular importance, as they contribute to the reduction and prevention of flooding phenomena, as well as to the retention of surface soil and plant reproductive material.

In 2023, the Bank financed corresponding projects for the restoration of Parnitha, with a total budget of 3 million euros, which were completed in May of this year.