A fresh flare-up surrounding the Novartis case has placed Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis in direct confrontation with former New Democracy MP Mario Salmas. Georgiadis dismissed Salmas’ latest allegations as a rehash of information already known to judicial authorities and previously assessed in court. “This is not new evidence,” he stated categorically, even as opposition parties escalate pressure and demand his resignation.
“Already in the File”
Speaking on ERTnews Radio 105.8 on Thursday, 23 July 2026, Georgiadis accused Salmas of attempting to reopen the Novartis investigation through the back door. He stressed that the contested message sent to Konstantinos Frouzis — then head of Novartis Hellas — had long been part of the official investigative file and formally archived by prosecutors.
Clarifying the Content of the Message
The minister explained that the message concerned a request for a promotional banner on a website related to motherhood — not personal gain. “This message was found on my mobile phone by Prosecutor Toulopaki in 2014. It was reviewed by judicial authorities and subsequently archived,” he said.
Describing the incident, Georgiadis said he had relayed a third-party request to Novartis for a digital advertisement. “A woman who had created a website about motherhood asked me, knowing I knew Mr. Frouzis, whether Novartis could place a banner on her site. I passed along the request — and they did, for €2,000,” he added.
When questioned about ethical concerns, he responded: “If I can help someone, I do — no problem. Did I receive anything in return? No.”
Salmas and the Courts
On Salmas specifically, Georgiadis remarked: “He’s free to say whatever he wants — but this matter will be decided in court. As for whether it’s new evidence, I’ve already answered: it’s included in the Novartis file, evaluated by judicial authorities, and archived.”
Sharp Criticism of PASOK
Georgiadis also launched a sharp critique against PASOK, following calls from its leader, Nikos Androulakis, for his resignation. He argued that the party’s current stance contradicts years of public statements branding the Novartis probe a “frame-up.”
“For eight years, PASOK spoke of a conspiracy — and now it embraces Salmas’ claims that Novartis wasn’t a frame-up at all, but a real scandal,” he said. He cited past cases involving PASOK figures like Evangelos Venizelos, Yiannis Stournaras, Andreas Loverdos, and Giorgos Koutromanos, noting the party’s earlier defense of them under the same ‘frame-up’ narrative. “PASOK, which defended Venizelos by calling Novartis a fabrication, now says — overnight — that it was a genuine scandal. In other words, PASOK is opposing itself,” he remarked.
He further characterized Androulakis’ position as a political retreat — though the sentence cuts off mid-thought in the original text.