OUR Hellas not only provided the largest amount of funds among the EU countries. from Recovery Fund as a percentage of its GDP, 30.5 billion euros or 16.7% of GDP, but so far it has absorbed the most, 11.1 billion euros or 6.1% of its GDP, according to the corresponding table of results of the Commission.

In a recent text European Commission recommendations Member States, published in the context of the European Semester, comments on the activities of Member States in the use of the Recovery Fund also reflected a qualitative picture. So, while Germany, for example, which has not yet applied for installments, is reprimanded for “significant delays” and asks for “significant acceleration”, Greece, which has submitted three applications for payment, is considered to be “well moving forward”. ” and is intended to “keep the momentum of the application in the future”.

Greece, as noted in the text, has confidently begun to implement its plan and has established a command and control system to monitor and coordinate the timely completion of reforms and investments. It is important to support and strengthen these efforts in the future.

On the contrary, in relation to Germany, it is noted that she allocated minimal resources to the implementation of the plan and did not give it priority.

According to the Commission, this amount is 11.1 billion euros or 6.1% of GDP.

The difference is to some extent explained by the relative importance of the program for each country. If for Greece the resources of the Fund correspond to 6.1% of its GDP, then for Germany, which received 26.4 billion euros, they correspond to only 0.7% of its GDP. In addition, Greece needs to cover an investment gap of 100 billion euros, which is a “legacy” of the memorandums.

However, the Commission also issues an important warning for Greece: the plan, it notes, is approaching a point where it will be more and more dependent on regional and local authorities, which have administrative and implementation shortcomings. Therefore, the coordination and assistance of these bodies will be required to implement the plan, which includes a series of open tenders.

Thus, the funds of the Recovery Fund were treated as “manna from heaven.” Under the responsibility of the former Deputy Minister of Finance Theodor SkylakakisThe authorities have been mobilized, a Special Coordinating Service of the Recovery Fund has been created, headed by Niko Manzufauntil then the secretary general of Private Investment and PPP to “start” the projects, and since then the race has begun to meet the prerequisites and not lose the resources that our country is entitled to and will be available until August 2026. In essence, Greece – the only country that has established a dedicated management and control system for the Recovery Fund.

In addition, competent sources note that Greece was helped not only by its experience with the NSRF, but also by memorandums, with which the Recovery Fund has a lot in common. To collect a tranche, a country must meet certain prerequisites, so-called milestones, which include the adoption of reforms and the implementation of investments. “This is a difficult program,” the responsible persons of the Ministry of Finance comment. So far, Greece has met 85 conditions, Germany apparently none. At the moment, in addition to Greece, Spain and Italy have applied for the third batch, which are generally in the lead in terms of indicators.