Business on fire recently Forestbut also in the wider 3,782-acre woodland, attempts are being made to establish various stakeholders in Argolisin one of the last virgin lands, namely Korakia Kranidi.

According to market sources, real estate agencies are listing this particular area to potential buyers as private property worth around 100 million euros. An amount that clearly implies that capital gains occur when it is developed as an investment property.

However, the area is clearly forested (there are both in forest maps and in court decisions, while the seller also recognizes this) and really public, say the same sources, most of which, in fact, were set on fire six years ago and are therefore combustible.

The land appears to have been in the portfolio of a building cooperative since 1970 (“Construction Cooperative of Permanent Naval Officers – OSMAN, syn. PE”), when it was made available for the construction of holiday homes. But, of course, this was never possible, precisely because of the forested nature of the area and the unconstitutionality of such development, confirmed by the 1975 Constitution. Thus, it has remained forested since 1979 and after the corresponding “freeze” program of the Cooperative.

Thus, it becomes obvious that it is impossible to legally develop the territory, and since most of it has been burned, it is impossible to do so, legal sources say, even through its possible inclusion in the provisions of the strategic investment framework. Context, the abuse of which has caused and continues to cause a lot of reactions in recent years, as it is used as a “window” by all sorts of interests that show plans for the construction and sale of private villas as plans for the development of integrated tourist complexes of national importance.

In fact, the land cannot even be sold, since the transfer of land with such characteristics requires an “acacia passport”, which, for obvious reasons, cannot be issued after the fires of 2016.

These developments raised concerns in the wider Argolis area, as well as on opposite islands such as Spetses, that “some interests are trying, despite the fact that the area is undoubtedly forested and largely restored to sell the area, perhaps , promising its urban development through an investment plan that will be included in strategic investments,” well-informed Kranidi sources say.

Goal “Strategic investments”

The wider area of ​​Argolis belatedly became the center of buying interest, but since the areas and plots offered under the plan are extremely limited, such phenomena appear. After all, the difficulty of developing any project on forest land is evident in TAIPED’s efforts to exploit the 624 acres in the Ververont area.

The corresponding tender has been “frozen” twice in the last 10 years, since very few of them can be built. Another case in the area that has raised a number of questions is the Alexios estate, about 300 acres, which came under the control of a foreign businessman in early 2022 for a sum of $50 million. However, although by law in this area, the vast majority of which is covered with forest, he can only build 200 to 300 sq. m. recognizable international brand.

History of the forest in Korakia

The forest, which is now for sale, has remained under this name for 70 years, and it is impossible to build on it. The first to know about it cooperative to which it was granted during the dictatorship and which now acts as a seller.

According to what is reported on the official website of the Construction Cooperative of Permanent Naval Officers (OSMAN): “The first project was the Korakia Kranidi area project, which was the result of a concession by the state of OSMAN in 1970. Total area granted 4,346 acres of wooded and arable flat land, small lots which, under the legal regime at the time, could have been developed over 20% of the total area prior to the revision of the 1975 Constitution (s. 24), but may no longer serve their purpose , according to the revision of the Constitution in 1975 and in accordance with the Law 998/1979 on the protection of forests. Therefore, the cooperative itself clearly states that nothing can be built on a particular site. To confirm this, this particular program, which has gradually added 1,054 participants, has entered into “the process of liquidating the participant registry as the program is no longer operational.”

In fact, by decision of the Board of Directors of the Cooperative (Board of Directors 25/02-2-2021), it was decided by a majority vote that it could no longer be classified as a program, since it has not been operating since 1979.

Real estate agents are selling the area to selected potential buyers as a private forest for sale.. However, it is also not a private forest, since, as mentioned above, it was granted in 1970, and the relevant legislation to characterize a forest as a private forest is clear and provides for its recognition as such at least 30 years before the adoption of the relevant regulation. GK 1910. that is, someone had to prove that the forest has been private since at least 1880 …