With a positive vote, the RD was adopted and in the second reading in the Production and Trade Committee, the draft law of the Ministry of Development and Investments “On the sanitation of the Elefsina shipyards and other developmental provisions” is submitted tomorrow to the plenary session for discussion and voting.

SYRIZA, PASOK-KINAL and Hellenic Solution reserved, as in the previous three meetings of the Committee, the submission to the plenary, while KKE and MeRA 25 insisted on a vote against.

Minister of Development and Investment Adonis Georgiadis, having completed work on the draft law in the committee and responding to the comments of opposition deputies, clarified that with this legislative initiative, “white powers are not granted to the minister according to the resolution plan.” provided by the investor. What is envisaged by this bill is the consent of Parliament, as it is heavily indebted to the state, to authorize the relevant Minister of Development and Investment to represent the public at large in the claims that exist in the court, which will ultimately decide on the appropriateness of the Elefsina shipyard consolidation plan presented by the investor. .

He pointed out that in the bankruptcy law process, which is followed literally, the workers, as the main creditors of their claims, must go and sign their agreement to this plan, otherwise the process cannot continue. The consent of the workers proves that this reorganization plan is in their interest, otherwise they will not agree in court. Also in the case, which the investor will bring to court, there is a letter about the initial 102 million euros of financial support for the investment from the American development bank DFC. In the absence of secured funding, the court cannot approve the reorganization plan, this is required by law.

Mr. Georgiadis stated that he had no objection and was politically bound that when the Elefsina shipyard rehabilitation plan was completed and before going to court, he would inform the Committee so that Parliament would be aware. He reiterated that the bill could not include any other additional elements relating to the investor’s recovery plan, as this would slow down the bankruptcy law process launched and received the first positive opinion by DIGICOM.

He emphasized that the plan that the government was working on was to ensure that the sustainability and development of the shipyard did not rely solely on the programs of the Navy, as was done in similar cases in the past, and this caused great damage to both PN and the Navy shipyard itself, but to become in principle a competitive shipyard that will claim a share of the international commercial shipping market. The example of the Syros shipyard, Mr. Georgiadis noted, showed that Greek shipyards can be competitive on an international commercial level, with a turnover of 34 million euros last year, which is a lot compared to its size.

When asked about Mr. Spanopoulos’ recent interest in the Elefsina shipyard, he replied that it “came very late, although he had endless possibilities, out of process and, above all, without a plan.” He noted that the investor search process was initiated by the SYRIZA government, and from then until the completion of public consultations on the ONYX consolidation plan, he showed no interest at any of these stages. He noticed that in the letter that Mr. Spanopoulos sent him, it says that a tender should be held, but this cannot be done, because Elefsina Shipyards is a private company, so we are going with bankruptcy law procedures. In order for the tender to take place, the Shipyard will have to be closed, debts to be written off, and hence debts to employees, and we will have to go to tenders with an unknown fate.

The minister also mentioned that Mr. Spanopoulos had asked him to provide him with the financial data and the consolidation plan that ONYX had paid and drafted, which he does not have and is not the property of the ministry, but of an investor. Mr. Georgiadis announced that in a letter he sent yesterday to Mr. Spanopoulos, he states that “if you really want to do business with Elefsina, you should go now and gather her financial information to make us an offer.”

The minister noted that fruitful parliamentary debates took place in the committee and accepted many of the proposals of the opposition, noting that if a broader vote on the draft law is held tomorrow at the plenary session, this will be a strong signal that there is a constructive climate in our country “investment security”.

SYRIZA rapporteur Haris Mamulakis stated that we had raised six questions regarding the Elefsin Shipyards Revitalization Bill, receiving some responses, some of which were persuasive and others less persuasive. However, the three points that are still not convincing enough are labor issues where there is no commitment to a stable full-time job. That the company’s business plan does not contain an indicative list of investments that the investor intends to make. And that this is a sui generis legislative initiative, which, in our opinion, has many vulnerable and shaky moments, since it does not reflect the content, the central core of the final creditor agreement and does not provide the necessary legal certainty.

PASOK-KINAL’s special buyer, Apostolos Panas, said “we say YES to shipyard refurbishment and reuse, which is absolutely necessary and central to our policy. However, the settlement plan must meet certain conditions, and we will not deviate from this. That is, be sustainable, serve the public interest, ensure the payment of accruals and compensation to workers within a reasonable time frame, and preserve jobs and the collective bargaining agreement. That is why we insisted that our proposals be included in the schedule of payment of accruals agreed in a bilateral labor agreement. Reaffirm the commitment of the potential new employer that it will re-employ workers in the event of the re-opening of the shipyards, with direct reference to encouraging and initiating collective bargaining with a view to concluding a collective agreement, and also provide that, in addition to the Indicative schedule for the payment of contributions of 142 million euros, the Ministry Defense fully reserves the right to seek its improvement in the interests of the state in the process of transferring large equipment programs to new companies.

KNG Special Buyer Diamanto Manolacos expressed her opposition to the bill, arguing that the shipyard’s proposed reorganization plan is stripped down and tailor-made for the investor, with complex incentives and debt relief mechanisms. to the state and funds, which receive almost 100%. This is a project that will serve NATO’s shipbuilding and repair needs at the expense of the Greek people. He stressed that there is no obligation to re-hire workers with their current rights.

The special buyer of Hellenic Solution, Vassilis Villardos, argued that with this bill, the minister asks Parliament to issue carte blanche and not pursue the issue of public money, that is, the abolition of a significant part of the Navy’s tax liability and other debts of the shipyard to the state. Here, the deputy said, we do not have the consent of the Ministry of Defense regarding the cancellation of the shipyard’s debts to the PN. We also do not even have verbal commitments for the 102 million euros that, according to the investor, DFC is investing. He asked for the minutes of the consultation with employees in September 2021, as well as a strategic business plan, where you can see the investor’s investment plan, as well as the budget for future income, expenses and investments.

MeRA 25 special buyer Criton Arsenis voted against the bill, saying it was an investment against the public interest from all points of view. It is tailored and tailored to fit the new owner, who completely pampers the workers. The consent of the workers was usurped by pressure exerted on them. With such an agreement, Defense Ministry officials fear they will be prosecuted for disloyalty. The debts of the Greek state have been written off, i.e. we have a complete plunder of state property.

Source: RES-IPE