Nikos Androulakis, president of PASOK – Movement for Change, spoke in the afternoon at the European conference on “The challenges of small businesses in a changing economic environment”, co-organized by the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen, Merchants of Greece and the Athens Chamber of Commerce, he emphasized others that “for PASOK-KINAL, a national goal is the immediate creation of a National Strategic Development Plan “Made in Greece”, utilizing the comparative advantages we have and promoting them, through national and European funding”.

He expressed his surprise when he heard the prime minister from the TIF, not to mention anything substantial about the support of small and medium entrepreneurship and added that for New Democracy, the development vision of the country is identified with the development plan of 5-10 large companies. “Today, the cost of money – for small and medium enterprises in particular – reaches 8% to 8.50%. At the same time, of course, 178 basically large companies have been financed with 2.72 billion euros in loans from the Recovery Fund, which have an average interest rate of 2% and an average repayment period of 13 years”, underlined the president of PASOK-KINAL.

He argued that maintaining the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in a highly changing environment is a demanding task and needs a comprehensive plan. According to Mr. Androulakis, in other countries with similar problems to Greece, such as Portugal, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are already overburdened by the years of the financial crisis with market criteria, have been financed as a priority, through another financial institution and not only through the banks. “Why can they there, but not here? There is no “they can’t”, there is “they don’t want to”, he said and added that in essence the prioritization of the Recovery Fund means “a little for the many and a lot for the few and the likes”

He mentioned how another important problem for small and medium-sized enterprises lies in the difficulty of finding staff with the right skills and how our country occupies the worst positions in Europe in all individual indicators of labor quality, which partly explains the low participation in the labor market .

“With the government’s new labor law, the position of workers in our country is further degraded. For us, strong small and medium entrepreneurship goes hand in hand with many and quality jobs”, he emphasized and suggested:

1. Three-year exemption from the tax on realized profits, as an incentive for the creation of new business models (with collaborations and networking of small and medium enterprises) and the development of value chains. So that they can proceed more easily in specialization, technological transformation and look for new markets, have improved access to financial sources.

2. Special financing lines from the Recovery Fund, for small and medium-sized investments in innovation, energy adaptation, digital transformation. Focus of the Development Bank on the financing of investments of small and medium enterprises.

Funding from the NSRF for the relocation of small and medium enterprises to industrial parks, etc.

3. For the accumulated debts to taxes and insurance funds, we propose real arrangements in 120 installments, with a 30% haircut for those who are consistent. Implementation of the European directive to create an early warning mechanism for possible insolvency and highlight the need for an immediate reaction through the Chambers.

4. Second chance for dignity. In this context, we propose the reinstatement of the PASOK law of 2010 with updated criteria and rules for the operation of the funds, in order to put an end to extortion practices.

5. Incentives for new full-time hires, with a subsidy for four years of employer social security contributions.

6.Establishment of an unrestricted account for businesses, so that they can respond in the short term to liquidity problems. Abolish the pretense fee.

7. To put pressure on the banks to reduce their commissions in electronic transactions, charges, expenses in e-banking and other such charges, in order to reduce the costs for small and medium enterprises.

8. To provide incentives for the installation of photovoltaic panels to small businesses, in order to ensure the green transition and the reduction of production costs.

9. Close cooperation between European institutions, employers, and workers’ organizations, to take advantage of skills upgrading programs co-financed by the EU for example by the European Social Fund and other EU policy initiatives regarding skills.

“We have another plan and the only way to achieve it is for the backbone of the Greek economy, the small and medium entrepreneurship, to stand up,” he concluded.