The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, spoke at the 28th Annual Economist Government Roundtable on resilient infrastructure and sustainable transport.

As Mr. Staikouras mentioned, sufficient European resources are required for the rapid green transition as well as the effects of climate change.

As he mentioned, the problem in transportation is that the 40% of emissions will come from this sector, until 2030.

According to Mr. Staikouras, the priority for the ministry are the large public projects, such as Aktio – Amvrakia, E 65, Patra – Pyrgos, the Thessaloniki Metro and the extension to Kalamaria, Bralos – Amfissa, the airport in Castelli, O BOAK.

The second pillar concerns hundreds of smaller projects with huge returns in the fields of justice, education and security.

The third pillar concerns interventions in the field of land improvement, anti-flooding and water supply projects.

Fourth pillar, the projects to deal with natural disasters. Regarding the restoration of damage caused by the natural disaster DanielMr. Staikouras stated that the tenders for the contracts of the projects will be completed within the summer, costing 900 million euros, with interventions in 1,000 points, in order to be completed by next year.

The damage to the railway network amounts to around 400 million, while projects worth 35 million euros are already being carried out in the schools of the area.

The fifth pillar is the assessment of the durability of the existing infrastructure, since, as he pointed out, in Greece we are talking about new projects without assessing the durability of the existing infrastructure.

Regarding transport, Mr. Staikouras he mentioned that we are strengthening electrification, with the significant increase in the fleet of electric buses, while he pointed out that today he visited the OSY depot with the prime minister, in order to inspect the fleet.

We pledge that 900 new buses will be on the streets of Athens by the end of 2025, fully accessible to people with disabilities.

He also said that the aim is to further strengthen transport security, in railways, in aviation, and with one new KOK which will be presented in the near future.

Mr. Staikouras referred to the strengthening of the public investment program, with the creation of a new generation of projects, mainly in Attica, while additional European resources, loans from the EIB are being promoted.

He spoke about the reform of the Greek railway, with the homogenization of the bodies, in order to have a single organization, while seeking new funding for railway infrastructure, taking into account the two new corridors, 3 Seas, and the Western Balkans – Central Europe corridor, “in order to make investments at the central level“, as he said. We are optimistic that in the coming weeks, a significant part of the new funding will be covered by European funds, he said.

The deputy minister for his part referred to the regional development plans to Prime Minister Thanasis Kontogiorgis, which, as he explained, range from flood control projects to waste management projects.

For the first time in the country we have a dense and detailed record of the projects being implemented in the country, and this gives us the possibility to intervene, in order to move the projects forward more quickly, said Mr. Kontogiorgis.

As he pointed out, we have a great opportunity to direct resources to critical infrastructures, and he referred to the erga.gov.gr application.

He expressed the need to have a close collaboration for the implementation of the projects in conjunction with other infrastructures, such as urban renewals.

“We are moving in this direction and that is why regional development is a top priority for the government“, he said characteristically, and added that the large cost concerns the anti-flood projects and the water management projects, as well as the durability of the infrastructure.

Finally, as mentioned by Stefanos Agiasoglou, its managing director OSY SA2024 is a milestone year for urban transport in Athens and Thessaloniki, because the renewal of the fleet began after 2009, making a big step in mobility technology.