Perdikaris (TERNA): A twenty -year plan is required for infrastructure

Immediate actions on the part of the Greek state are needed, in order not to create an investment gap after completion – in the summer of 2026 – of the recovery and resilience fund, as its president said. TERNAGeorge Perdikaris, at the 8th Congress of Infrastructure and Transport (ITC 2025), speaking to the “Bank of Construction”.

Specifically, TERNA President George Perdikaris noted that “we believe in a balanced development between public and private sectors. After all, 50% of our turnover comes from the same investment, 30% from the private sector and only 20% from public projects. We believe that the existence of a mix of projects offers more security to the investor. “

More specifically, George Perdikaris emphasized that, although the existing 12 billion euros for the large investment and construction groups is sufficient for another three years, there is no room for complacency.

In this context:

• It is expected to show how the three funding tools of 8 billion euros will be used, which has been announced by the ministry of development for 2026.
• Critical is the activation of the standard proposals, an institutionalized tool that can fill the financial gap of the State. For example, as he said, in the Attica Road expansion projects, if the standard proposals were implemented, the financial contribution of the State would start from 2037 onwards.
• The redistribution of the NSRF and its direction could be evaluated in high value added projects. That is why, as TERNA President George Perdikaris said, a national infrastructure program is needed at least twenty years, in which-with cost-benefit studies, environmental impacts and value added-the most useful projects for the country will be selected to achieve the maximum efficiency.

Priority areas

George Perdikaris stressed that, “the next day”, the areas that need to be made in absolute priority include:

• Water supply and rational water management. Water supply needs in Greece from 2001 to 2025 have increased by 140%, while water reserves have been reduced – already in Yliki and Mornos, they are 400 million cubic feet, as is the annual consumption of Athens. The total use of water in the country reaches 1 billion cubic cubic per year.
• Waste management. “They have been done in the last five years that had not been done in the past 50 years, but it seems that a fatigue has occurred. In Athens and Thessaloniki, where 50% of the country’s waste is produced, the projects are “frozen” and has not even upgraded the waste processing plants (ACE) to recycling units (MAA), to achieve a burial target of only 10% of the waste by 2030.
• Adoption of an infrastructure adjustment plan to climate change.
• Strengthening productivity of construction companies. Productivity has declined significantly due to the period of disinvestment that followed the crisis. From 2007 to 2021, investment in mechanical equipment was left behind.
• Digitization of technical companies with the aim of increasing productivity.