“I never denied the authorship of reforms even if they were difficult. Such as Olympiaki, PPC, the taxation of freelancers, the interconnection of POS with cash registers. All this I came out publicly and supported. The case of ELTA is not like that, but for some media, anything that has a social reaction is attempted to be associated with me.”

This was pointed out by the Deputy Prime Minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, in an interview today with Action24 on the occasion of the announcements by the ELTA administration to close stores and the reactions that followed.

“Indeed there is a very big problem with the post office, as it is happening all over Europe as the market is changing dramatically and letters have been replaced by e-mail. Successive interventions were made on both SYRIZA and New Democracy – the last one was in 2023 – with shop closures. And today ELTA is clearly in need of interventions because otherwise they will close and this would benefit their competitors. They have a liquidity problem which will not allow them to pay salaries in a short time”, emphasized Mr. Hatzidakis.

He added that ELTA has a very good administration, with a manager, which, however, in the communication sector regarding this issue could do other things. “The government had been informed, in the presence of all the co-competent ministers, and the direction from the government was to explain the problem. Both citizens and MPs were unaware of the severity of the problem and it was suddenly announced that the shops were closing. The management’s intention was not negative, nor is it analgesia in nature. He tries to achieve that ELTA operates without problems in the context of competition, that they do not have issues of deficits and liquidity in daily management. I don’t want to point the finger at anyone who criticizes, especially since there was no update,” the deputy prime minister said.

In relation to OPEKEPE, he expressed the belief that, despite the difficulties, things will proceed smoothly in terms of discussions with the EU. This year’s declarations will be checked with a transitional system that will be based on the so-called ATAK for the fields, and for livestock on the invoices for the sale of milk and meat and the purchase of animal feed. And the money that will be left over from those who made false statements in previous years, will be distributed to the real farmers and breeders.”

Also, he continued, “there is an action plan with 54 points, the European Commission wants all 54 to be done. And now we are at a critical stage regarding the IACS, that is the information system. There are 3 parameters there: the geospatial data for the fields, the animal registration system and the ways of conducting the controls. This is particularly important and must be closed by November 4, to pass a key hurdle for the payment of subsidies. And from 2026 we will go to a modern, transparent system in accordance with European standards. With certified professionals for the reception of the declarations, our intention is that the knife will go deep”, he explained.

Regarding interventions in everyday life, K. Hatzidakis said that two initiatives are being promoted: The first aims to stop the stories of “daily madness”. Such as, for example, information that the public administration knows and asks again from the citizens, to stop the state from claiming private properties with Ottoman firmans, to simplify the procedures for the transfer of real estate. And also “we have the MITOS electronic platform where 4,050 procedures have been recorded which we are going to simplify or abolish”.

Regarding foreign policy, he recalled that the criticism of the government’s alleged complacency turned out to be a myth. “Marine spatial planning and ecological parks went ahead despite Turkey’s reaction. We have the agreement with Chevron that cancels the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum. There has been the theory in recent months that the government has nothing to do with the Trump administration. Next week, the ministers of the interior and energy of the United States are coming to “isolated” Greece. We enter the energy map of Europe and the priorities of the United States much more distinctly and clearly, and this is a very important step in terms of energy and foreign policy.”

Finally, “we have a constant effort to move things forward, for a more citizen-friendly state”, concluded Mr. Hatzidakis. “We have OPEKEPE, the intervention in urban planning next month, the reform for a new model in the Armed Forces. We have the Thessaloniki measures which will pass the Parliament. We have the bill for everyday life. This is the comparative advantage of this government. What is certain is that the ND is the only political force at this time that can coordinately do things for the country”.