"Archipelago": €52 million in fishing subsidies went to villas, swimming pools and theme parks
The Archipelago Institute filed a complaint with the European Public Prosecutor's Office over misuse of €52 million from EU fishing funds.
Complaint to EPPO: fishing funds for hair salons, veterinary clinics and tourist villas
European funds worth tens of millions of euros that were intended to support Greek fishing ended up in luxury tourist accommodation with swimming pools, speedboat rental companies, foreign language centres, physiotherapy clinics, veterinary surgeries, butcher shops, vehicle inspection centres, bakeries, supermarkets, hair salons, car washes and even theme parks. This emerges from a complaint filed with the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) by the Marine Protection Institute "Archipelago", as reported by In.gr.
All the above cases concern subsidies granted through the Operational Programme for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs (EPAMTHA) 2014-2020, with subsequent amending decisions covering the period 2021-2026. The programme is managed by the Ministry of Rural Development, with funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and national resources.
€52 million in 35 cases — and this is only the beginning
The Institute's legal team, which specialises in environmental law, collected the evidence one by one from published decisions by the Ministry of Rural Development and local development companies. The summary of the complaint, which Archipelago presented to In.gr, includes a list of 35 projects across the country, from Crete to Evros.
The total amount of identified subsidies for activities unrelated to fishing amounts to €52 million. According to the report, this represents the minimum amount requiring investigation. "The actual scale of potential diversion may be larger, as the lack of transparency and publicly accessible data substantially limited the investigation", the document states characteristically.
Funding per project ranges from €21,000 — for the creation of a butcher shop — to approximately €200,000 for the construction of two-storey tourist residences with swimming pools. The most generous subsidies, amounting to €180,000 and above, concern tourist and real estate activities: at least eight villas with swimming pools in three different complexes in Chania prefecture, through the Leader programme "Fisheries and Maritime Affairs" implemented by Crete Development Organisation SA (OAKAE). Most subsidies range around €100,000 and concern mainly extensions and upgrades of existing businesses.
What Archipelago is asking from EPPO
The complaint calls on the European Public Prosecutor's Office to investigate whether EU rules were followed in the selection, control and implementation of projects, and whether false declarations, conflicts of interest, misuse of resources or political intervention led to unlawful disbursements. "The scale and repetition of these subsidies raise serious questions about whether 'diversification' and 'development of coastal areas' were used as a pretext for bypassing eligibility criteria", the report states.
The Institute explicitly clarifies that the report does not automatically attribute fraud to beneficiaries nor does it automatically consider ineligible any project without direct connection to fishing. It seeks a full investigation into the disposition of resources and any irregularities. Cases are also recorded of funding that may conflict with EU green policies, such as the upgrade of a fuel station and a plastics factory.
The ministry denies knowledge of complaints
According to Sky reporting, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food stated that it has not received any complaints about irregularities or mismanagement. The ministry also clarified that "it is misinformation to say that because a restaurant or tourist accommodation was funded, it is illegal or irregular".
Amending decisions in the fishing programme have, over time, significantly broadened eligible sectors, with the result that activities with no apparent connection to the sea are encompassed under the heading "support for fishing communities".
What the programme provides for Greek fishing
The official summary of the programme for Greece, totalling €514.86 million, does not explicitly include restaurants and tourist accommodation as eligible activities. Instead, it stipulates that 34.2% of funds — an amount of €175.8 million — must be allocated "for the sustainability and sustainable development of the Greek fishing sector and the protection of marine and fishing resources". Additionally, 16.1% (€83.1 million) is intended for "environmentally sustainable fish farming" and 17.9% (€92 million) for "economic and social sustainability of fishing areas", with actions including the creation of jobs within or outside the fishing sector.
The data that has been made public and official sources available to In.gr raise, according to the reporting, serious indications of potential misuse of European funds and diversion of resources from their intended purpose.
Source: In.gr