Public works in the days of Mr.

Souflias (Part III)

The debris left after the end of the tenure of ex-Minister of Environent and Public
!orks has been described in detail in our "revious two articles (I and II "ublished in
#$T%IME&I'I on ().((.*))+ and ),.(*.*))+ res"ectively). In fact- notwithstandin.
what he is accused of- in his article- "ublished in a Sunday news"a"er (T/ 0IM$-
*1.)(.*)()) and in the li.ht of the .overnent2s announceent for the reduction of
the toll char.es on the followin. a3or otorway axes-
4orinth-Tri"oli-#alaata-S"arta
4orinth-Patras-Pyr.os-Tsakona
Maliakos-#leidi
5aia-#arditsa-#ala"aka-Pana.hia E.natia (E67)
Ionian &oad
the ex-Minister lectures on trans"arency- healthy co"etitiveness and "rotection of
the "ublic interest in the above works.
In three "oints in his article- he writes the followin.8
The concession contracts have been .ranted followin. the subission of
trans"arent tenders 9 the tenders were opened before all parties concerned
9 they have been checked by the Euro"ean 4oission.
The results of the subitted tenders- .iven the conditions of fierce
competition, were indeed very .ood for the State.
:ollowin. the submission of strictly transparent tenders and after the
necessary technical- .eolo.ical and environental studies were carried out-
the construction works started in *));-*)), with the ethod of concession
contracts.
The "ublic works in <uestion with a bud.et of a""roxiately E=& ,.7 billion ay be
under construction usin. the ethod of concession contracts to.ether with a *7>
"artici"ation of the ?reek State throu.h the Public Investent Pro.rae (PIP 9
(*.7> Euro"ean =nion funds @ (*.7> 'ational funds)- however- any excesses in the
cost of the construction "ro3ects burden- directly and entirely- only the national funds
of the of Public Investent Pro.rae (PIP) instead of increasin. the concession
tie of the tenderer so that any additional cost incurred could be "aid off with the
collection of future "roceeds occurrin. fro the extension of the concession tie.
Therefore- the additional cost of the construction "ro3ects burdens entirely the
tax"ayers.
!%A does the ex-Minister feel the need to re"ort the self-evident facts- like- for
exa"le- Bthe tenders were opened before all parties concernedCD Is there a "ublic
co"etition of bids where the bids are not Bo"ened before all "arties concernedCD /r
does the ex-inister want to reain in the shadow of the backsta.e of these deals-
.ivin. his answer in this way to a relevant article about chan.es in the financial
tender- followin. the a.reeent between the two o""osin. .rou"s of contractors in
the "ublic work "ro3ects entioned aboveD
%/! 4/ME the contractors of the Bfiercely co"etin.C consortius for the
assu"tion of such "ublic works- end u" workin. to.ether on the construction of the
sae "ublic "ro3ects (after they have been divided aon. the into .eo.ra"hical
sections)D In other words- what kind of co"etition is that whereby all the contractors
who have subitted tenders for a s"ecific "ublic "ro3ect end u" workin. in the
construction of the said "ro3ectD 4ould it be that "erha"s- in this s"ecific case- the ex-
inister (who is known for his love for tradition) has used the followin. version of a
traditional son. for Public !orks8
!eddin. 0ersion !eddin. in the !orks 0ersion
I was invited to their 3oy I was invited to their 3oy
To reaffir the s"onsorshi" To reaffir the s"onsorshi"
$nd to unite two bodies $nd to unite two groups
(Traditional son. of E"irus) (Traditional son. of (,* Trikou"i Str.)
%/! 4/ME Bfollowin. the submission of strictly transparent tenders and after
the necessary technical- .eolo.ical and environental studies were carried outC there
is a s"ate of deands for co"leentary contracts- which are worth hundreds of
illions of EurosD Such additional contracts burden only the national funds of the
Public Investent Pro.rae (PIP)- absorbin. valuable funds of the PIP and as a
conse<uence de"rive the financin. of other "ublic "ro3ects. $s a result- construction
work has been disru"ted in any "ro3ects (e... the hos"itals in $.rinion- 4halkis-
Patras- #avala- Eakynthos- #aterini- #orfu- #ythera- Syros- 'axos- Ioannina-
#y"arissia- etc)- while causin. at the sae tie a BderailentC in "ublic financesD
%/! IS IT that Bthe results of the subitted tenders- .iven the conditions of fierce
competition, were indeed very good for the StateC when in fact there are re"orts that
the works her in ?reece actually cost seven ties as uch as in S"ainD
/f course- we do not entirely ado"t the above view re.ardin. the co"arative costs
for the construction of otorways. %owever- could those who es"ouse the views of
the ex-Minister and aintain that8 Bthe avera.e cost of constructin. otorways with
Euro"ean standards in western Euro"e is undoubtedly hi.her than in ?reece by even
FF>C .ive an answer to the followin. <uestions8
%/! IS IT that so any construction co"anies fro western Euro"e- where the
construction cost in their country is hi.her by as uch as FF> than the cost in ?reece
are at "resent constructin.- (after they have divided aon. the the construction
"ro3ects into .eo.ra"hical sections) (-))) kiloetres of otorways in ?reek territory
at a lower cost that has been dictated by the fierce co"etition- as the ex-Minister
claisD
The "ie of the above construction works was divided durin. the tenure of the ex-
Minister with <uasi-le.al "rocedures- as was written in the news"a"ers and has been
ruoured in the contractors2 circles. The criteria for assi.nin. the construction of
these "ro3ects are ainly based on Bwho the contractors areC with the known
re"ercussions on the "olitical syste and all the "arties concerned (the Media- etc)- as
well as the conse<uences on the "ublic finances. !hile the country is bein. "la.ued
with the BderailentC of "ublic finances- the "olitical syste has identified the
cul"rits only among the "ensioners- the e"loyees and the "ublic servants.
The country2s bankru"tcy is not only fiscalG it is "riarily a bankru"tcy of the
"olitical syste and the echaniss of adinistration of "ower that su""ort it. The
sall inority of the society- which re"resents the constitutional- the social and the
"olitical order- on which the socio-"olitical relations and "ractices in ?reece were
constructed- have led the country to the "resent cul-de-sac- brin.in. it back to the era
of the (+7)s.
4/=5H IT be that the ex-Minister Iohn Palaiokrassas2 article "ublished in
#$T%IME&I'I on F(.)(.*)()- in which we read8 BWe should get rid of the
multifaceted mafia that robs public works and the contracts for the procurement
of supplies for Public Utilities CompaniesC- refers to the tenure of Mr. Souflias at
the Ministry of Environent and Public !orksD
Instead of .ivin. lectures in the Press on trans"arency- healthy co"etitiveness and
"rotection of the "ublic interest- the ex-Minister should be .oin. round the offices of
the relevant .overnental authorities offerin. ex"lanations for his acts and deeds
durin. his tenure in the Ministry of Environent and Public !orks
$. #. Si"sas