Politico: scandal with missing 2.5 billion euros of the Recovery Fund

Politico published a “sensational” article in which it accused the Mitsotakis government of squandering the Recovery Fund, since, according to its data, it was a fraud amounting to 2.5 billion euros.

According to Politico articlein addition to the Greek Competition Commission's raid on three major telecoms and IT groups, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is also investigating.

Now it’s clear why the European prosecutor Laura Kovesi yesterday launched a furious attack on the government, accusing it of corruption. It appears that, despite his loyalty to Brussels, the leadership EU Discontent is brewing regarding his manipulation of European money.

The European prosecutor said yesterday that “a culture of impunity is being created”

According to Politico, inspections by the Greek agency were carried out in the companies Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova, IT companies Byte, Uni Systems, Netcompany-Intrasoft, Space Hellas, Cosmos Business Systems and consulting companies Toolbox and Active.

“The investigation,” writes Politico, “is the latest blow to confidence in the post-pandemic EU Recovery Fund, which provides loans and grants to the bloc’s 27 countries totaling 723 billion euros. Last week, police arrested more than 20 suspects in Italy, Austria, Romania and Slovakia in connection with an alleged €600 million fund fraud scheme in Italy.”

The Greek part of the investigation focuses on government tender procedures in which companies allegedly colluded to avoid competing for the same contract. It is also reported that to date, according to the Central Electronic Register of Public Procurement, about 600 digital projects worth more than 2.5 billion euros have been put up for tender, and contracts have been concluded. The European Public Prosecutor's Office and the Greek Competition Commission are investigating how these projects were “won”.

In a statement, the Greek Competition Commission said it was investigating whether the EU treaty had been violated. “prohibits anticompetitive agreements and decisions by business associations that discourage, restrict or distort competition, a one-sided practice that constitutes an invitation to collusive behavior.”

The investigation comes after European Dynamics, a Greek software and IT services company, filed a complaint in November 2023 with the European Commission, which oversees the management of the RRF, alleging that a public tender was discriminatory in favor of certain companies.

According to the report European Court of Auditors in 2021, about 42.4 percent of public contracts in Greece were awarded where there was only one offer. In 2011, 15 percent of contracts received only one offer.

Share flat rate tenders in countries with similar populations such as Portugal, Belgium and the Czech Republic were 31.6 percent, 27.1 percent and 47.8 percent respectively.

SYRIZA: Absolute exposure of the government

“The Greek government now looks completely exposed in the issue of project financing from the Recovery Fund,” – says the SYRIZA PS party in a statement.

In particular, it states that “Today’s revelations on the front page of the European news site Politico about the investigation into possible fraud in the allocation of 2.5 billion euros from the Recovery Fund to just 10 companies in Greece confirm all the objections that PS SYRIZA has raised so far regarding the selective distribution of European funds.”

SYRIZA adds, more specifically: “According to the publication, the investigation into possible fraud has been confirmed by the European Prosecutor's Office, and the Greek Competition Commission has already carried out inspections at the offices of three large mobile phone companies, five IT companies and two consulting firms.

The investigation in our country is focused on government tender procedures, as companies involved in them are accused of merging to avoid competing for the same contract, thereby limiting the number of companies that benefit.”

After this he notes that “It is clear that following Politico's revelations, both the Prime Minister's Office and the Department of Development must immediately provide answers, as well as a list of all companies that have so far been funded by the Recovery Fund.”

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