Subsidies and the OPEKEPE scandal
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Greek Left Alliance (ELAS) and a former prime minister, spoke in Palamas in Karditsa and in Agia in Larissa during his tour of Thessaly. He accused Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Avgenakis of building a clientelist system that buys consciences and misuses European subsidies, which he described as public wealth. In his account, the government avoided vaccinating livestock against sheep pox because vaccination would have forced a full count of the animals. He said such a count would show that Greece does not have 82,000 livestock producers, since only 40,000 can prove they produce meat and milk. He also said that the 15 to 17 million sheep and goats declared for subsidies are not there, with only about half actually existing.
He tied this directly to the subsidy scandal in these words:
“If we went ahead with vaccination, we would be forced to record the livestock we have right now in Thessaly and across Greece.”
Tsipras added that eight million sheep and goats said to be in Crete could not exist, since the animals would be impossible to move around without tripping over them.
- Producers cited by Tsipras
- 82000 producers
- Able to prove meat or milk output
- 40000 producers
Data from the article text
Sheep pox and the culling of herds
Tsipras visited a livestock unit with about 600 sheep, whose owner was forced 13 months earlier to have every animal culled one by one. He argued that authorities chose culling over vaccination, which he said would have protected herders, and that culling reached animals that may only have carried antibodies. He said this approach has led to the depletion of a very large part of the country's livestock production. He demanded that herds be rebuilt immediately with 100% compensation from European funds, and that stored feed that cannot be used because of disease risk also be recorded so farmers are paid for those losses. He framed the choice facing the country as "Produce or a clientelist network of blue locusts?" and said citizens seeking compensation for flood damage, already delayed, must first visit the offices of "blue" MPs.
Tempi, the justice minister and the tax plan
On the Tempi rail disaster, Tsipras said Justice Minister G. Floridis should have gone home after describing the matter as rubble. He added: "It is a state crime. It is not a private one." He said ELAS would make the richest 1% pay a levy to fund schools, public hospitals, the social state and pensions. Tsipras argued that the government's direct awards and closed tenders, which he put at 20 billion, would end under his party, and that consultancy firms had gone from 20 million to 600 million a year. Asked where the money would come from, he replied:
“We will find the money in our honesty.”
Wages, deficit and the convergence fund
In Agia, Tsipras said that in 2019 the average wage in Greece was 78% higher than in Bulgaria, and that Bulgaria has now caught up, with its wage only 17% lower. He said the current account deficit stood at 2 billion euros in 2019 and has since reached 9.5 billion euros, which he linked to the country not producing enough. He blamed missed chances to back production and build infrastructure. He promised a National Convergence Fund (Εθνικό Ταμείο Σύγκλισης) to converge with Europe rather than with the Balkans, "where the Mitsotakis government is leading us".
- 2019
- 2 billion euros
- Latest figure cited by Tsipras
- 9.5 billion euros
Data from the article text