The vision, the basic principles and the metropolitan goals of the administration for the next 12 months were presented by the Regional Governor of Attica, Nikos Hardalias, during yesterday’s meeting of the Regional Council, which approved by a majority the budget for the financial year 2025 as well as the Executive Program Projects.

“We are tabling a budget that reflects the financial housekeeping and revenue re-engineering currently taking place in the District. At the same time, however, we are putting before the citizens of the Basin a coherent, clear program of 280 projects that will change Attica in the coming years. The emphasis will be primarily on flood protection as 54 related projects will be tendered in the first half of 2025 and will be completed by the end of 2028. Protecting the Basin from extreme weather is my personal bet, but it should also be the big bet of all of us. Together we will win it” emphasized Mr. Hardalias.

The Regional Governor also underlined that all 280 total projects cover a series of specific and strict criteria, as they have:

  • secured funding: “I chose not to include any project that I could not secure 100% funding for” as he said.
  • commitment to completion within four years as “I didn’t put in any work that I couldn’t commit to finishing within our term”.
  • realistic planning, since “we did not include any project that could easily be left on the calendar”.

These projects, which are spread over all 66 Municipalities of Attica, with several of them having a metropolitan character, including critical infrastructures and interventions that respond to the immediate needs of society.

“The bar has been set highbecause we gave the opposition, the factions, the society and the municipal authorities all the data they need to judge us on a real program. We did not hide behind the problems, we did not retreat from the difficulties and I call on all parties to make this effort their property. There can be no dividing lines in these works. We all have different ideological starting points, but we all preach the need for synergies and collaborations. These projects belong to the neighborhoods and the citizens, not factions or parties” noted the Regional Governor in his introductory speech, sending a strong message of unity and cooperation.

Emphasis on social programs and the operation of new support structures

Special mention was made of the fact that during the next four years emphasis will also be placed on social programs that concern the everyday life of citizens. “Currently the Attica Region has 19 different financial instruments. No other institution of the second level of Self-Government nationwide has managed to have such a wide range of funding sources. One of them is the “Attica” Regional Program from which a total of 409,000,000 euros will be utilized. With these, we seek, among other things, to create ten structures (hostels, counseling centers, support for women – victims of violence, etc.) in the amount of 5,500,000 euros, eight structures of day care centers for the elderly in the amount of 2,500,000 euros and twenty-two structures of centers of 22,000,000 euros” said Mr. Hardalias.

And he added: “Through the Local Government Organisations, non-profit associations and Legal Entities are also financed. Included in the planning are ten homeless structures worth 7,800,000 euros, fifty-eight structures of Community Centers with annexes for Roma and immigrants worth 27,000,000 euros, sixty-eight structures providing basic goods (grocery stores, snack bars, pharmacies, etc.), twelve structures Housing supported living in the amount of 5,000,000 euros, while 9,000 beneficiaries receive, through vouchers, support for the pre-school integration of children, amounting to 167,000,000 euros. We have a Region that highlights the issue of social responsibility, care and solidarity as primary.”

High priority is culture and tourism

During the introductory speech, it was also mentioned that the first half of 2025 will focus on culture, with the ultimate goal of creating a large International Festival, which is planned to start in June 2026, joining the strategic planning that also concerns tourism development of the Basin.

As part of the reform of the Region’s programming, 371 projects with a total budget of more than half a billion were included. euro. These projects, as the Regional Governor pointed out, “they were overwhelmingly swampy. We have taken the responsibility to speak the language of truth. Many of them lacked mature studies, programming contracts or guaranteed income. For whatever sources of funding are found and deemed necessary, they will obviously be rejoined.”

He also emphasized that “the Region will use revenues from project discounts, renegotiations of the 2026-2030 public investment program, but also additional sources of funding, such as revenues from traffic violation cameras, calls and other sources that are already under negotiation”.

The Region of Attica, with the 2025 Budget and Program of Executable Projects, paves the way for a new era of substantial upgrading of citizens’ everyday life. “We are here, in front of you, to work with transparency, consistency and determination. The people of Attica will judge the result, and we are ready to meet their demands”, concluded the Regional Governor Nikos Hardalias.