According to an article in Eleftherotypia, the money represents the total cash reserves of the cadastre agency and came from the 35 application Euro fee that property owners paid to register their properties in urban centres since 2008. By law, this money was exclusively for the purpose of expanding and completing the creation of the land registry.
It should be noted, that Greece and Albania are the only European countries without a complete land registry. After failed attempts in the 1990s -by the PASOK government- to create one, the effort was renewed in 2008 under the government of Costas Karamanlis. Although 1 billion Euros has been spent over 20 years on the cadastre – much of it EU funds – only about a fifth of the project has actually been completed.
The report in Eleftherotypia, which bases its information on testimonials from engineers and lawyers involved in the cadastre project, said that the agency has already started closing down some of its offices, and at the same time it has halted payments to its suppliers, clients and, even suspended its activities. All of the above plunged the process of creating property and forestry registries into uncertainty.
In fact, adds the article, the board of the agency has not met since April.
Engineers and lawyers involved with this project are demanding why the project is being delayed, since the agency apparently has the reserves to continue the project.
The report further suggests that some 250 million Euros was used by the finance ministry to boost the much-heralded primary surplus and at the same time it raises the prospect that the completion of the project may be sold off to private investors - via the state privatisation agency. Eleftherotypia -which is pro-SYRIZA or pro-public sector-, believes that the government is moving towards this direction.
The report also notes that earlier this year in March, the government shut down the exiting Greek Land Registry and Mapping Agency and transferred its responsibilities to a new company titled the National Cadastre and Mapping Agency (or simply Ktimatologio). The government said the change was part of its attempt to “rationalise public sector agencies and save money on wages and operating costs”.
(This could be true, but then again we here at HellasFrappe would consume this last bit of information with a grain of salt because it could just be more pro-public sector propaganda).
In statements issued after the publication of the report, the Ktimatologio agency said it had been given approval to use a portion of its reserves after a meeting between Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and the agency’s chief, Ilias Liakopoulos. It noted that the meeting had been scheduled before the publication of the reports. While it acknowledged that it had experienced payment difficulties, these had been overcome. It also dismissed claims that it had closed offices or had halted operations.
Source - Eleftherotypia
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