In an empty system that existed, which the shrewd took advantage of with the tolerance or indifference of the authorities, Ioannis Katris, vice-president and legal representative of Cognitera (company technical consultant), attributed the distortions to agricultural payments, testifying to the Commission of Inquiry investigating the OPEKEPE case. At the same time, Mr. Katris left cutting edges for the operation of OPEKEPE, stressing that the Agency had full knowledge of the data, there was full traceability and access to the data to cross-check the animal population, as long as he wanted to and had the initiative to move.
“And if they were fighting with a slingshot, someone would succeed, someone would be found”, said Mr. Katris characteristically for OPEKEPE, clarifying that this phenomenon was not organized by governing parties. “The case of OPEKEPE which the Commission of Inquiry is investigating concerns only the current period or does it also have long-term pathologies?”, was asked by the ND rapporteur Makarios Lazaridis “This phenomenon was not organized by ruling parties, because the system had penetrated everywhere.
There was a loophole in the system, this gap was cleverly exploited with the tolerance or indifference of authorities”, emphasized Mr. Katris. This loophole, he said, had two methods, one involving the “lamb production industry” and the other “declaring public pastures as private, with fake virtual documents”.
“But he who he had full knowledge of the animal population and he could tell by simple cross-checking, it was OPEKEPE. Where was the agency’s heavy artillery to control the animals? Where were the anti-fraud systems built by the consultants, and maintained by the Agency. And if they fought with a slingshot, they would succeed, someone they would find”, pointed out Mr. Katris.
To another question from Mr. Lazaridis, regarding Moschos Korassidis (OPEKEPE employee until 2012 and general director of ETHEAS from September 2022) and his involvement in a 2011 case that damaged the Greek public, Mr. Katris stated that “the producers have an excellent image of him, he was useful, he solved our problems”.