Photo source: Athens Traders Association (ESA)
Greek Development & Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis announced on Tuesday that fresh EU funding for a wide range of businesses including tourism enterprises would be announced in the coming days.
Known as ESPA funds, the support comes from the National Strategic Reference Framework and a large part will be channeled into Greek regions, said Georgiadis, offering “more flexibility to be able to use these resources for local needs”.
The minister pledged support for ailing businesses which have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, underlining that support will be provided so that companies can recover and return to normal operations.
He added that things will “go well in 2021, which will be a better financial year than 2020”, and that 2022 will be a “much better year”.
“A part of new NSRF resources will be used to address the consequences of the pandemic. And perhaps in the coming days we will have announcements for other sectors of the economy for which as far as possible we hope to address the damages they have suffered,” he said.
On a positive note, Georgiadis referred to the good reputation Greece has gained during the pandemic, as well as managing to attract increased investor interest. He also cited a series of ambitious privatization projects expected to take Greece into the new era.
Lastly, the minister said all bets were now on tourism and the upcoming season, which he said will be better than last year.
“Closer to summer, with the progress of vaccinations and the rising temperatures, we will be able to have a better tourist year this year than last,” he said.
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Greek businesses have not yet received notification of whether or not their applications were successful nor seen any funds. Many businesses will have gone bankrupt before they do!!