“He pointed out that OPEKEPE’s relationship with the technical consultant was not a cooperative relationship as it should be”
“In today’s testimony, the former Minister of Rural Development, Mr. Spilios Livanos, was revealing” his sources note PASOK, according to which (Mr. Livanos) “underlined that he was the first minister to highlight the pathogenicity that existed in OPEKEPE. In fact, he stated that when he received the data from the Organization regarding the increase in the national stock in 2019-2021, he was “stunned”, a reaction completely different from that of his predecessor M. Voridis, who a few days ago during his testimony to the Commission had a completely different approach and himself refrained from consolidation interventions. Mr. Livanos pointed out that for his actions, he was slandered, he and his family were threatened and in the end he was voted against. He meaningfully pointed out that many of those who fought him were producers, “whose names are known to the Commission, as they are heard all the time. With his testimony, the former Minister essentially confirmed what all Greeks now know, the operation of a circuit inside and outside OPEKEPE, to the detriment of honest farmers, which would never have been revealed if the European Public Prosecutor’s Office had not intervened. In fact, to a question from PASOK regarding these threats, Mr. Livanos replied: “In hindsight I realized that I was not liked by some OPEKEPE executives”, raising questions about where these OPEKEPE executives derived this power from.
According to the official opposition party sources, “The former minister testified that his political strategy was multi-layered and required radical changes, which did not proceed. The big problem concerned the technical solution and the management of the problem would be given through the preparation of Grazing Management Plans. It was an EU obligation from 2015, which was constantly postponed. He pointed out that for pastures without animals, he was confronted by vigilantes who undermined the clean-up effort.
He then testified that the strategy for the tender done for the Technical Consultants was to advertise for two years, while at the same time, as time permitted, a new tender would be held for the next five years. He pointed out that the relationship of OPEKEPE with the technical consultant was not a relationship of cooperation as it should be, but a relationship of dependence, a negative element for the operation of the organization, which should have acquired its independence. This position of his comes to be added to a series of positions from witnesses of the committee that have highlighted the dependence and hostage of the organization on the technical consultant.
The former Minister testified that Mr. Xylouris had repeatedly sought to meet and was particularly persistent in using market language, even in the offices of his colleagues, where he insulted him. However, there was never any personal contact with him, following the decision of Mr. Livanos.. ” state PASOK sources, pointing out that “These unlike other Ministers, but also officials of the Ministry and OPEKEPE, who as it appears from the attachments had privileged relations with Mr. Xylouris and facilitated the serving of his interests with illegal methods”.
The sources of PASOK say that “Regarding the payments of the blocked VAT – which concerned pastures without animals – which were paid during the term of office of L. Avgenakis and had previously been blocked under Mr. Georgantas, from the national reserve, Mr. Livanos testified that Mr. Georgantas acted correctly, without making any further comment. Finally, he defended the ASEP process for the selection of management at OPEKEPE, explicitly differentiating himself from Mr. Avgenakis and admitted that if he knew the content of the attachments it would have troubled him in order to cooperate with Mr. Stratako and Mela”.
According to PASOK sources, “Mr. Livanos’ answers showed that during his tenure at the Ministry of Rural Development, problems were identified in the operation of OPEKEPE and measures were taken to restore its proper operation and prevent irregularities. His answers consequently raise reasonable questions as to why these decisions had not been taken earlier by his predecessor, Mr. Voridis, in order to ensure the proper functioning of OPEKEPE and to avoid the scandal.
With his testimony today, Mr. Livanos made it absolutely clear that the inaction of his predecessor was absolutely decisive for the destruction of the national reserve which is the heart of the OPEKEPE scandal”, PASOK sources conclude.