Investigation into cancelled Thessaloniki underwater road tunnel project

A Greek prosecutor ordered an investigation into the canceled Thessaloniki underwater road tunnel project which has for years now been plagued by litigation issues, including a court ruling calling on the Greek state to pay the concessionaire 73 million euros as compensation. The 6.5-km tunnel in the gulf off of Thessaloniki is designed to reduce the northern city's huge traffic problem by providing motorists with a link from the western part of Thessaloniki with the southeast limits of the city proper. It was a project that was announced during Costas Karamanlis' rule (2004-2009) and a tender that followed awarded the project to the Thermaiki Odos consortium which is comprised of Aktor, Boscalis and Archirodon Group and in February 2007 the Greek Parliament ratified the contract.

Litigation over delays in the project by the state began in 2009, or when George Papandreou's PASOK party once again came to power,  and unfortunately the project was put on hold while the litigation issues continue to the present day.

With this in mind, and with the obvious question as to why, anti-corruption prosecutor Argiris Dimopoulos ordered the finance ministry's financial crime unit SDOE to carry out a preliminary investigation into the likelihood of a criminal liability for this particular project's cancellation as well as to decide whether or not felony charges should be filed (allegedly against state officials), for breach of faith against the state.

Dimopoulos intervened in response to a news report which was recently published in the Thessaloniki-based "Macedonia" newspaper last weekend based on which the first installment of the compensation, estimated at roughly 3.7 million euros, would soon be paid by the Greek state and the rest would follow.