Tahiaos: How to extend the Convention of Attiki Road – New Arrangements for Standards Are Coming to Parliament

In its transitional phase of operation until the beginning of the new concession, but without giving a concrete picture of the solution chosen, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, spoke at the 7th Conference of Infrastructure and Transport – ITC 2024, held from yesterday (17.9.2024) to today (18.9.2024) at the Athens Concert Hall – International Conference Center. As Nikos Tahiaos explained, the final decision has not been taken, but the solution to the amendment of the existing concession agreement is also under discussion, based on the recent opinion of the Legal Council of the State. According to this, it is possible to extend the concession of the Attica Road, but it is a matter of negotiation with the person concerned. “The operation of the Attica Road as we know it, i.e. by road, beyond revenue, regulates the demand for travel within the city, so that it is sustainable. This means that we cannot leave the Attic Road without operation after 5 October, when the existing contract expires,” explained Mr. Tachias, rendering the lack of timing to the difficulty of the simultaneous transition from the departing concessionaire to the State, from the State to the TAIPEDE and from the latter to the new concession holder. He made it clear that the new concession should be definitively paid by 12/02/2025, when the five-month adjustment provided for conventionally is completed, both for the transition and the payment of the price. “Obviously the upcoming concessionaire knows that in the five-month period for which he committed himself, he will complete it, as he has experience of his participation in other concessions,” commented Mr. Tachiaos. “Progress depends not only on the State, but also on the outgoing and new concessionaire. We have two adults in the room,” he pointed out insinuatingly, showing the representatives of “Attiki Street SA” and “New Attica Street SA”, who participated in the same panel as him. Moving on to a broader commentary on what had been heard earlier in the conference area, Mr.Tahiaos stressed that the works are not an end in themselves but reflect on the citizens and focus on them the planning of the government. Moreover, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure announced that within the next month the new arrangements will go to Parliament that will pave the way for the model proposals, for which he pointed out features that “they are not totems”. He noted that the changes would solve issues such as compatibility with Community law, which was not tested when they were introduced into Greek reality. Mr. Tahiakos made it clear that national participation in new concession projects is very difficult, given the country’s budgetary objectives. “That doesn’t mean we don’t discuss them. But we cannot forget that concession projects transfer to the user a – often large – part of the cost. We must first look at the model proposals and then discuss whether, when and on what terms public participation will be paid,” he said. But he put in the equation the issue of user education that some things must be paid for, but stressing that this also wants discussion. He reiterated that the PPP tool has also been ‘tampled’, as well as availability payments have a limit as a percentage of GDP, which is not infinite. “Works that carry weight to future generations that we are not sure that they can lift are not accepted in the first place,” he added, concluding that “we must be honest and the real reform in Greece is to look the Greek in the eyes and tell him the truth.”