The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, met with the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Nadia Calvinios today at noon in the context of the official visit made by Mrs. Calvino in our country.

Ms. Calvino visited the Unified Operations and Crisis Management Coordination Center (ESKEDIK), accompanied by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, who informed her about the decisive role that new technologies have in the management of natural disasters. At the heart of the discussion was the utilization of the resources available to the European Investment Bank in the context of the implementation of the AEGIS program for the upgrading of civil protection in Greece.

As stated in the relevant announcement the financing from the EIB amounts to 595 million euro and includes, among others, the procurement of aircraft, helicopters, firefighting vehicles and watercraft, as well as the purchase/upgrade of ESKEDIK information systems (ENGAGE, 112 software/hardware, prevention, risk management and early warning systems, etc.).

“Greece is truly at the forefront of technology, through which it tries to prevent and reduce the negative impact of climate change“, the president of the EIB stated, among other things, stating that she was “extremely satisfied and proud” to see that the European Investment Bank financed “this state-of-the-art emergency management center (s.s EDKEDIK)”.

As he said, the costs of climate change are constantly increasing, as is the frequency of extreme weather events, and investing in prevention and resilience is not only the right thing to do, but the right thing to do. “Every euro we invest in prevention and resilience saves 5 to 7 euros in repairs and compensation. Of course, some things cannot be replaced, such as the loss of human lives”, noted Mrs. Calvino.

“I am therefore happy that the cooperation between the Greek authorities and the European Union translates into the creation of these leading centers, which aim to improve the way we deal with and adapt to climate change”, underlined the EIB president.

The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, B. Kikilias, for his part, thanked the president of the EIB for the cooperation and investment in infrastructure, which can save lives.

“Madam President, it is a great honor to have you here, you and your team. Thank you very much for your cooperation and investment in infrastructure, which can save lives. It is very important. We are, unfortunately, in the age of climate crisis. My sincere condolences for the loss of life in Spain. We are deeply saddened by this. Of course, rescEU and solidarity between states multiply the chances, by helping each other, to reduce the consequences of the climate crisis. The Business Center (s.s. ESKEDIK) is state-of-the-art and the European Investment Bank’s investment in such infrastructure is really worth it,” said the minister.

For his part, the vice-president of the EIB, Ioannis Tsakiris pointed out that “one of the main challenges we have to face is strengthening the resilience of our country against the effects of climate change” while adding that “unfortunately we have experienced the effects of extreme weather phenomena”.

“To the European Investment Bank, through the “Aegis” program, amounting to 590 million euros, we support Greece to shield itself from natural phenomena by co-financing not only the acquisition of new firefighting aircraft and drones, but also the upgrading of disaster management control centers. Today we had the pleasure together with the president of the EIB, to be given a tour by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in the state-of-the-art business management center in Athens, which was financed by the EIB.

As a Greek, I assure you that the Greek people can count on the support of the EIB, through the necessary investments in all the necessary sectors”, he noted.