What changes with the “small PPC” law and the National Investment Fund 2024-08-05 20:49:58

This is a law that is coming to become an ally in the daily lives of millions of citizens and to deal with the root of the suffering they experience every time they use the services of these organizations: From the dozens of buses and trolleys that are immobilized due to a lack of spare parts and drivers, to the ELTA which are often unable to meet the delivery times of their shipments, etc. There are many examples of these pathologies and they always have the defenseless citizen as the final recipient. That citizen who cannot go to work on time because the bus or electric train was late, or who is forced to pay for a taxi to be able to be on time for an obligation. A suffering that stems mainly from the serious dysfunctions of these organizations and their inability to function in terms of 21^u century. This law comes to remove the rigidities in recruitment and procurement and to immediately strengthen the organizations with the technical and human means they need to serve and not torture the citizen. And it allows them to immediately hire competent executives from the private sector in order to transform into “small PPCs”.

In addition, the new law provides that the HFSF and TAIPED close their cycle and are absorbed by the Superfund, thus completing a multi-year and arduous chapter with the lenders. At the same time, development actions are included, such as the reinvestment of funds to upgrade the ports as well as the establishment of the National Investment Fund, with a permanent imprint on the Greek economy, thus investing in sectors that Greece needs.

The Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis stated: “The commitment to the “holy” State may have benefited some, but certainly not the many defenseless citizens! Our intervention for the modernization of the Superfund and its subsidiaries has a strong reformist color and responds to the needs of millions of citizens who are tormented every day by problematic public transport and services. No citizen wishes the continuation of his torture! This is why we are proceeding with the transformation of the Superfund’s subsidiary companies into “small PPCs”, with flexibility in recruitment and procurement and with trade unionists outside the disciplinary councils! With this reform, we are leaving behind the defenders of the suffering of the many and moving swiftly to a new beginning using recipes that have worked. Whereas, with the establishment of the new National Investment Fund, following the standards of many other EU countries, we are giving additional incentives for development initiatives in sectors with added value for our economy”.

In detail, the changes brought by the new law are based on the following 4 interventions:

Intervention 1^the: 8 new “small PPC” are created to serve the citizen

The 8 organizations being transformed are as follows:

• Hellenic Post (and their 100% subsidiary: ELTA Courier).
• ΔΕΘ-Helexpo.
• Organization of Central Markets and Fisheries (OKAA).
• Central Market of Thessaloniki (KATH).
• HELLO.
• Hellenic Salts.
• Corinth Canal Company Anonymous (AEDIK).
• OASA Athens Transport Group (OASA and its 100% subsidiaries: Road Transport – OSY and Fixed Transport – STASY).

These organizations today cannot meet the level of service that citizens demand. For example, there are serious malfunctions and long delays in the supply of spare parts in public transport (buses, fixed-track vehicles, etc.), which has a direct impact on the daily life of the citizen as vehicles are immobilized and routes become less frequent. In addition, recruitment processes today are extremely time-consuming resulting in a shortage of drivers and technicians necessary for the smooth operation of public transport. Corresponding problems are also observed in the Greek Post Office, which largely justifies the queues that form in many of their stores.

The aim is to give these companies a new start and turn them into “small PPCs”. The case of PPC, where from the brink of disaster in 2019 it managed to star today in the energy sector with over 50% of the market share, is a “pilot” for the interventions that will be made.

In this direction, the new law provides 4 major changes:

• First, it is possible to attract executives from the private sector with a simple procedure, with a simple procedure and for a specific term of office (4 years with the possibility of renewal once), based on the decisions of the managing director of each company. The process in place today is time-consuming, highly bureaucratic and a deterrent to anyone seriously interested in running for an executive position in one of the Superfund’s subsidiaries. The example of PPC and attracting competent executives from the private sector is the most characteristic that proves how an organization can “surge” with the right management for the benefit of society as a whole.
• Secondly, their personnel recruitment processes become more flexible, with a limited but essential role of ASEP: Check the legality of the notice within 10 days and participation of its member in the examination of objections during the recruitment process. Also provided flexibility in the salaries of ELTA executives and the rest of the entities outside the General Government, while, in the subsidiaries within the General Government (public transport and GAIAOSE) the fees will be in accordance with the standard of the EFKA.
• Third, their daily operations become more efficient improving and making the procurement system more flexible. It is emphasized that what is actually followed in the procurement system is the “PPC model”always in accordance with EU law, and with the administrative courts continuing to have the final say.
• Fourth, the trade unionists come out of the disciplinary councils! The independent disciplinary boards are quasi-courts and trade unionists are not judges to judge. They will continue to have participation only in the Boards of Directors.

Intervention 2^the: The operation of the Superfund is being modernized – The cycle of the HFSF and TAIPED is closing

First of all, the Superfund is organizationally strengthened through the absorption of TAIPED and the HFSF. The mission of both the TAIPED and the HFSF has been largely completed. After all, based on its constitutive law, the HFSF has a duration until December 31, 2025. That is why the merger was voted through the absorption of these two organizations into the Superfund, which will significantly reduce administrative costs and give greater organizational flexibility to the Superfund in order to meet its mission.

Finally, this move also has a symbolic character as both the HFSF and TAIPED were organizations that were created during the crisis. With the new Superfund and the absorption of their two organizations by it, it definitively closes a painful chapter for the Greek economy and opens a new one where the utilization of public property acquires exclusively national characteristics.

Furthermore, the governance model of the Superfund itself is modernized and the veto of the lenders and the State is abolished in the definition of the members of the Supervisory Board, which becomes more flexible and able to make faster decisions. The Supervisory Council is renamed the Corporate Governance Council (CGC) and will henceforth function as a supervisory body of the Superfund and not as a day-to-day management body.

Intervention 3^the: TAIPED revenues from the ports are reinvested for their upgrading

The new law provides for the upgrading of our country’s ports, something that will contribute to the further upgrading of our tourist product as well as the daily life of millions of citizens. It is foreseen that 50% of the revenue collected from contracts for the utilization of ports and port infrastructures will be directed to the servicing of the Public Debt, while the remaining 50% can be allocated to the implementation of the projects included in the Master Plan of each Port Organization and included in the operational program of utilization of the Fund. It is recalled that with the current framework, 100% of the revenue is allocated to servicing the public debt.

This is another important development that comes as a result of an agreement with the lenders and underlines the transition to a new era of the country’s relationship with its lenders as well as the change in the image of the Superfund.

Intervention 4^the: The new National Investment Fund is created

The new National Investment Fund will be a powerful investment tool for our country, equivalent to those operating in most EU countries. and which will provide incentives for development initiatives especially in sectors that are not sufficiently covered by current investors but have added value for the economy. This new Fund will also be able to function as a co-investor with other Funds and entities mainly with minority stakes in investments or with hybrid instruments. In this direction, contacts are made with the European Investment Bank and investment funds from abroad, especially from the Arab world in order for them to contribute to the new Fund. The aim is to fill the investment gap in specific market sectors, despite the improvement observed in recent years, and not for the Fund to compete with existing funds or to replace large foreign investors or venture capital funds.

For the creation of the Fund, the Superfund will allocate 300 million eurosi.e. half of the amount that will be collected from the re-transfer of the shares of EYDAP and EYATH to the State.

Indicatively, these sectors are, for example, investments in the green transition, circular economy, blue economy and technological and digital transformation, as well as in strategic and critical mineral raw materials, in energy investments and in the corresponding infrastructures and networks, in transport and related infrastructure sectors, in technological sectors and in investments in distributed ledger technologies (blockchain) and artificial intelligence, etc.

All the above interventions reflect the Government’s intention to activate a significant number of public organizations to further contribute to the strengthening of the Greek economy and the improvement of citizen service. They are interventions with a strong social character as they improve people’s lives. And at the same time, they have a strong development character that can further strengthen the Greek economy in areas where it can play a leading role.