39781 - The unacceptable delay regarding the marine region Ionion

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Athina Kehagias

With all the problems the government is facing due to the consequences of the Skopian issue and of the tragic conflagrations, instead of moving ahead with the Greek EEZ issues , it’s delaying them. As a result, although we had developments in regards to the marine regions of West of Crete and South West of Crete, where the ExxonMobil, Total and Hellenic Petroleum consortium will be activated, thanks to the signature of the responsible minister, we have no other new feedback regarding the region Ionion, where the Repsol-Greek petroleum consortium will function. This delay is unacceptable, as it concerns two licensing rounds which have taken place simultaneously, and at a European level at that. The bare fact is that in general, the government is not interested in the EEZ issue, unless it finds it necessary in order to come into confrontation, and that within Greece. However, the ridiculous of the case is, that even though we are supposedly at a phase during which we are looking for means of escape from our financial problems, and although we have high profile investors who are interested, we are in a state of anticipation regarding the EEZ, because the government has other priorities which emerged by it itself.