A political firestorm has reignited following revelations that the former president of OPKEPE, Evangelos Simandrakos, had informed the Maximos Mansion about a scandal involving illegal subsidies by the organization. SKAI TV’s main news broadcast brought these letters to light—letters sent by the former OPKEPE head to the Prime Minister’s Office detailing problems within the organization and his tense relationship with Minister Lefteris Avgenas.
This week, Mr. Simandrakos also shared copies of these letters via email with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. The first letter, dated November 4, 2023, was addressed to Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Giannis Bratakis. In it, he explained how OPKEPE successfully paid out advance basic subsidies to 538,000 beneficiaries on October 27, 2023, earning praise from senior officials.
He further clarified that out of 9,300 VAT numbers excluded due to non-compliance, 5,500 were from Crete. He added that on October 30, General Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, George Stratatos, contacted him again on behalf of Minister Avgenas requesting his resignation. As a result, Simandrakos requested a meeting with Bratakis to provide a detailed account of the internal issues at OPKEPE.
In a second letter dated December 8, 2023, also addressed to Bratakis, Simandrakos described an audit conducted by European inspectors to assess whether OPKEPE should maintain its accreditation. He criticized the minister for giving an interview to a Cretan newspaper suggesting the need to create a new OPKEPE free from current ‘entanglements and rot’ in terms of leadership and central management.
Just weeks later, by the end of December, Simandrakos claims he was forced to resign—and many of the previously blocked VAT numbers were suddenly paid out.