In a significant blow to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government, several high-ranking officials have resigned amidst mounting revelations concerning their alleged involvement in a widespread farm subsidies scandal that is currently rocking the political system of Greece.
On Friday, Minister of Immigration Makis Voridis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tasos Hadjivassiliou, Deputy Minister of Rural Development Dionysis Stamenitis, and Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Christos Boukoros tendered their resignations, all of which were accepted by Prime Minister Mitsotakis.
The officials have stressed they had no involvement in the scandal, which centers on OPEKEPE, the agency responsible for administering European Union agricultural subsidies to Greek farmers.
Last month, the government announced its intention to shut down OPEKEPE’s operations following initial revelations of fraud pertaining to the distribution of EU farm subsidies.
The scandal intensified last week when the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) disclosed that it had submitted evidence to the Greek Parliament regarding the alleged misappropriation of European Union funds by two former ministers of agriculture, facilitated through OPEKEPE.
“The EPPO has an ongoing investigation into an alleged organized fraud scheme involving agricultural funds and corruption [pertaining to] public officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE),” the European prosecutor announced in a statement.
“During this investigation, information emerged concerning the possible involvement of two former ministers in aiding and instigating the misappropriation (breach of trust) of EU agricultural funds during the exercise of their official duties,” the prosecutor added.
Greece fined €400 million for farm subsidies scandal
The European Commission announced it will withhold €392.2 million in EU farm subsidies to Greece following the scandal. OPEKEPE is being accused of distributing subsidies to individuals who were either not farmers or received disproportionate payments for their livestock.
Greece was found to have made disbursements without adequate eligibility checks or necessary on-site inspections, establishing a pattern of non-compliance that prompted Brussels’ intervention in a farm subsidy scandal in Greece. The withheld funds correspond to ineligible or poorly controlled expenses, particularly within Greece’s implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Beyond lax oversight, issues included delays in recovering incorrect payments and instances of artificially created subsidy conditions. Consequently, a blanket five percent correction was applied to all Greek direct subsidies, increasing to 10 percent for young farmer schemes (2018-2020), with significant penalties targeting 2021 (€79 million) and 2022 (€76 million) area-based payments.
Greece was expected to receive approximately 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in direct EU subsidies in 2026, but this will be cut by 25 percent to account for the 392.2 million euro fine for payments made in breach of rules and legislation.
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