Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis, the Minister of Economy and Finance, announced the creation of holding companies for the quicker development of up to 1000 public properties.

Speaking at the 25th Prodexpo discussion, Mr. Kostis Hatzidakis made special reference to the modern investment initiatives of the private sector, which have made faster progress compared to the public sector in recent years.

However, "this is expected to change, as concerted actions are now being taken for a more rapid exploitation of public real estate, such as the establishment of holding companies for the more bundled exploitation of at least 1,000 of the 36,000 properties in the portfolio of the Public Real Estate Company (RTD).".

According to the Minister, "The tender for the coordination of the mapping project of 36,000 properties of the EBRD has been completed, and gradually up to 1,000 of them will be put into the immediate maturation plan. But we will change the process; we will not have 1,000 tenders; we will have holding companies after relevant studies are done. Many of these properties will be grouped together; the state will keep a minority stake, and private parties, after winning the tenders, will take over their development. This is a big gamble. This way it will be quicker than trying to develop them one by one."

In this context. In this context, Hatzidakis referred to the real estate projects that are currently being "run" by entities such as the EBRD and the Yperta Fund, such as the tenders for the 22 regional airports, the redevelopment of the TIF, an important project, with a partnership between the public and private sector, the conversion of the Gonou Camp in Thessaloniki into a business park, the final stage of contracting 10 projects, starting with the Xenia hotels, the development of Achilleio in Corfu, the Caves of Diros, the development of the Tae Kwon Do stadium in South Athens as an important conference centre, and the further development of the Vouliagmeni Coast and the Parnassos Ski Centre.

According to the Minister, there is also a general increase in investment activity, but also in the development of construction in both 2023 and 2024. According to him, Bank of Greece data reveal net receipts for the purchase of real estate from abroad of over 2 billion euros in 2023, while, as revealed by ELSTAT data, in the first half of 2024, there is a significant increase in total construction activity by 21.4% in terms of building permits, 23.6% in terms of surface area, and 16.9% in terms of volume.

In addition, Hatzidakis referred to the social policy programs that the government has developed, such as the construction of apartments in buildings such as the former CHROPEI in Piraeus and the Anatolia building in Nea Ionia, while the launch of the "My House 2" program, financed by the Recovery Fund with low-interest loans, is imminent, and the program for the energy upgrade of houses was recently announced.

He concluded his presentation at the 25th Prodexpo conference by pointing out that over 60 property-related taxes have been reduced in the last five years, adding that "we believe in lower taxes to move the economy forward faster."