“Unfortunately, the climate crisis is close to us and therefore natural disasters are a given that we will see more and more often, with ever greater intensity. That is why the government has already taken measures with incentives for citizens to insure their homes and with the obligation of small and medium-sized businesses to be insured so that they can face these crises,” said the Deputy Minister of Finance, responsible for taxation policy, Haris Theocharis, in the context of the 5th National Conference of Elected Insurance Mediators at the Chambers, which took place today in a central hotel in Thessaloniki.

Speaking at the conference whose main topics were natural disasters, the contribution of private insurance as well as issues of unfair competition and taxation, the deputy minister pledged that “the government will see what else it can do so that all of us can face this very big threat to our country”.

Mr. Theoharis added that from the next period everything announced by the government will be voted on and put into practice, emphasizing that “the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the first to see insurance as a lever for the country’s progress”. According to the deputy minister, after the catastrophic damage caused by flooding in Thessaly, “we have to move faster than we were moving before”.

N. Tachiaos: It is impossible for the state to cover all compensations from natural disasters

“The relationship between public and private infrastructures is a complementary relationship. That is, it is possible that natural disasters in a public infrastructure bring a chain of disasters and affect private properties. Let’s make it clear that it is impossible for the state to cover all the compensations, which are required for anyone to face the consequences of a natural disaster”, emphasized the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Nikos Tachiaos.

He underlined that “therefore, private insurance is something we should keep in mind and the state should give incentives to private individuals to protect their assets and businesses”.

The insurers, during the conference, focused on the data concerning private insurances. As said, Greece is the last country in the world possessing only 3% in protection for natural disasters.

It was said that the insurance part in our country has not been won and the government was asked to consider further tax incentives, such as for example the measure for ENFIA to be increased from 10% to 30% as it will enable more houses to be insured them and in an eventual damage the private insurance will be able to intervene in favor of the state and the consumers.

Greetings at the opening of the event were addressed by the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, Ioannis Hatjitheodosiou, the president of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce, Ioannis Voutsinas, the representative of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce, Kyriakos Merelis, representing the president Michalis Zorpidis, the MP of SYRIZA – PS, Katerina Notopoulou, the director of the political office of the president of PASOK-KINAL in Thessaloniki, Dimitris Sarigiannis, the newly elected mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, the president of the regional council of Central Macedonia, Theodoros Mitrakas, the president of GSEVEE, Giorgos Kavvathas and the general director of Union of Insurance Companies of Greece, Elina Papaspyropoulou.

The annual nationwide meeting of insurance mediators started at the initiative of the Athens Chamber of Commerce in 2019 and is held every year based on the planning that provides for the rotation of the organization between the three Chambers of Commerce, Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki.