Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis left hopes for the high-tech park of the Region of Epirus on the condition that its budget is rationalized to the Deputy Minister of Social Cohesion and Family and Member of Parliament for Ioannina, ND, Maria Kefala.
As the Deputy Minister emphasizes in her announcement, Mr. Papathanasis said that the Government and the Ministry of National Economy and Finance understand the importance of the project in question and the multiple, combined benefits for the local and more generally for the national economy. In this context, the Ministry is considering the possibility of securing 50% of the funding with the necessary condition of streamlining the project budget.
Ms. Kefala insisted on the necessity of implementing the project, which will contribute manifold to the development perspective of Epirus, creating new jobs and strengthening the local economy, also helping in its transformation and transition to the digital age. For this reason he asked Assoc. Minister Mr. Papathanasis to exhaust every possibility to find another financial tool, so that the project can be implemented with secured funding, in parallel with the actions that must be taken by the Region of Epirus to secure private funds.
“The communication channels of the Government and the Ministry of National Economy and Finance were and remain open with the Region of Epirus both on this specific issue and on other issues of common and more general interest. The political will of the Government exists for the implementation of this project, which is estimated to bring significant, multiplying benefits to the local economy. I am sure that the best possible solution will be found and that the project will proceed, without any further delay”, said Ms. Kefala after the meeting, expressing warm thanks to Mr. Papathanasis for the constructive discussion.
Intervention Kalogiannis
In the meantime, with shots against the Kahrimani Regional Authority speaking of… “myths and reality”, the former member of parliament of Ioannina and former Minister Stavros Kalogiannis returns to his proposal for the establishment of Technopolis in Ioannina, after the negative development of the exclusion of the High Technology Park and Research from the Recovery Fund.
The former member of parliament has been supporting for years the plan to create a Technopolis in the area of the Municipal Unit of Byzantium and in a spot designated for this purpose by the Regulatory Plan of the Ioannina Basin. Against the proposal of Mr. Kalogiannis, which was favored by recent legislation of the first Mitsotakis government for the establishment of Technopolises with guaranteed financing from the Recovery Fund, came the vague plan of Al. Kahrimani for a Technology and Research Park that would house the IT companies that have settled in Ioannina in recent years.
Despite all this, the former Minister did not stop supporting the rightness of his proposal and today he may feel justified for the development at the expense of the plans of the Region of Epirus, since as he characteristically says in his article, clearly opposing the Regional Authority, the Kahrimani’s proposal did not meet the requirements of the legislation, since the “Park” is not provided for by any Spatial Planning and its Development Company was not created with sufficient funds, and finally, the necessary area was not organized, nor was the area developed, so that any interested high-tech company, as potential investor, to establish and develop at its own expense.
“The lack of planning for the “Park” on the part of the Region of Epirus was unprecedented” clearly emphasizes Mr. Kalogiannis, leaving spikes also for the unjustified jump in the construction costs of the specific project which started from 2-3 million euros to reach 50 million! “Consequently, the recent withdrawal of the so-called “Park” from the Recovery Fund was expected. A four-year period and a unique opportunity to rationally utilize the funds of the Recovery Fund for the modernization of Epirus” characteristically emphasizes Mr. Kalogiannis.
