On strategies with poor publications to spread responsibility, misinformation and lies, either unknowingly or for other purposes, he turned to Committee of Parliamentary Institutionsformer Minister of Transport Infrastructure and Networks and MP for SYRIZA, Christos Spirtzesin which all former and current competent ministers were invited to inform about the progress and development of work under the contract 717.

“We are not all the same and we are not all responsible,” Mr. Spirtzis said and stressed that “there are responsibilities and they are personal, which has led to the discrediting of the railway,” he said. Mr. Spircis described it as very poor, imperfect and incompatible with the new technology, which led to the need for an additional contract, while he claimed that the SYRIZA government supplied the installed gsmr system.

“Clearly, there was a plan to spread guilt the day after the accident even before the 57 children were buried. There was an effort with lousy publications and a flurry of ads. Today’s meeting with the only discussion of convention 717 under the responsibility of ND makes Parliament an injustice. We are not all the same, and we are not all responsible. The logic that we are all the same and that we are all responsible leads to the fact that no one has responsibility. And there is political responsibility, and it is conservative politics throughout Europe that have led to pathologies. A lot is heard that misinforms, rather than highlights the case, and lies are told either out of ignorance, or purposefully, and even from official lips,” Mr. Spircis stressed.

According to him, “the gsmr system was delivered in July 2019 and installed, and all tests and training of all employees were carried out, and only certification remained, but until today, unfortunately, it has not been put into operation.”

“The document of the Consortium of Contractors asking for their guarantees to be reduced to 72% proves that we could not fail to implement the project. In the rules of public money, this cannot be done. If any agency does this, they should go to jail. If they reduce the guarantee by more than the percentage of the completed project, they will go to jail. If anyone has done this, we are here to send them to jail. Also, the protocol of 09/10/2020 states that the degree of project implementation is at the level of 74%. In the additional contract signed in 2023, 17% was completed, while 14 months remained to complete it,” he noted and continued: “The Boeing 717 was a bad contract with incomplete studies, with a budget of questionable accuracy, and this is confirmed , not SYRIZA and Spirzi, but EDL and the Accounts Chamber. The EDL’s opinion mentions unbelievable loopholes in the contract, and for that reason it was judged by a review board. The reasons for the delay, detailed in a series of recommendations from service to board, are that the research that should have been done is not true, that the existing electronic equipment is outdated and not supported by the manufacturers. That is, there were materials that were no longer produced and the contractor had to take them and replace them. Inability to pair new existing electronic equipment. I have heard that those not set to 717 cannot work together. No, the pre-installed ones couldn’t work with the new systems. There was an incompatibility between analog and digital. The Audit Conference notes that “consequently, it follows from the above documents that the additional works of the first contract for additional works being checked are not included in the original contract and are necessary for its execution. Contrary to the information contained in the file, it appears that the study on the basis of which the technical scope of the project was determined and the solutions chosen was erroneous.

He also stated that “no element of the file indicates that this group had any contact with ERGOSE supplier companies. that is, they didn’t even contact the system vendors if the materials existed.” “12/29/2017 The regulator, after long negotiations, replied that it does not allow the work to be carried out and is waiting for ERGOSE to be able to sign an additional contract and review the table in order to have a decision of the revision conference. The Audit Conference makes 3 decisions, the first two being negative, and the third is approved for a different reason and gives a positive answer on 01/08/2018. The EDL’s opinion says exactly the same and worse,” he noted and added: “When we have a co-financed project and we have an additional contract to receive funding from European funds with the issuance of management approval, the EDL regularly checks not only the original contract , but also an additional and recapitalization table”.

Mr. Spircis continued: “From October 10, 2018 to November 8, 2018, the EDL conducts a thorough audit not only regarding finances and good governance, but also on the project site, and its final results are submitted to ERGOSE. February 8, 2018 But the consortium says it cannot comply with the EDL’s instructions to jointly sign studies. “EDEL imposed a fine of 2.5 million euros on ERGOSE due to an unprofitable contract.”

At the same time, he stated that “ERGOSE couldn’t do anything but fulfill the contract it had and fight for the legal acceptance of the additional contract, because if it completed contract 717 without an additional contract, we would have a project that could not be done, another competition had to be held, the country would lose money because the project would not work and what had been done in the past would continue, that is, competitions that would not have been implemented.”

He also said that “any equipment that was introduced has been in the hands of the consortium since 2019, since since the time the consortium has been doing research, it has been fully responsible for any changes, signed or not.” As he pointed out, “in October 2019, when the management changed, there was one contract, the first and main one, which was completed by 72%, and there was also an additional contract that passed all the checks provided for co-financed projects and the audit conference , and the implementation time was 14 months.

Replying to State Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis regarding the percentage of completion of the project, Mr. Spircis countered that “the disbursement of money is always equal to or less than the implemented project, and in accordance with the completed contract, the measurements were made. made by the service, tasks of invisible protocols”.

“According to the takeover protocols for 717 were there? In 2014 – zero, in 2015 – 9.73%, in 2016 – 11.56%, in 2017 – 2.16%, in 2018 – 5.54%, which proves that the project never stopped. The project was stopped by the contractor after February 2019 and could start after the delivery of the studies and their approval by ERGOSE,” he emphasized and added: “I also submit a document indicating that after February 14, 2023, the percentage of completion was 77%, and while it was signed, in the end I don’t know why it was delayed. I think that an additional contract can be signed from May 2021. But even in May there were 14 months of implementation. On February 23, the surcharge was realized in the amount of only 17%.

He also noted that “in December 2019, the Administrative body rings the bell with its document that the additional contract has not been signed.” “ERGOSE management at some stage sent an additional final contract, because the contractors asked for changes to 717 at the audit conference, and their answer is a hoax,” he stressed.

“I filed all the paperwork on what exactly we did for the 2014 717, which unfortunately was a bad and bad contract and I think the country is suffering for its sins until 2014. I don’t blame Mr. Chrysochides for this. The tender was not even a service of the ministry and I think you should respond to our request to come to the Commission on 717 and everything else, all administrations of the ERGSE. Bowing and with absolute respect to the 57 families who are going through their drama, I end with the wish that you call us again so that we can tell all aspects of the Tempe accident, tell the truth with real facts and not with a message. like logic or party politics or personal expediency,” concluded Mr. Spircis.

Source: RES-IPE