Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed the progress of the reform of the OPEKEPE agricultural payments agency during a Cabinet meeting, focusing on farm subsidy payments and ongoing investigations into illegal subsidies. The Prime Minister argued that the agency’s transition to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) has already begun to yield results, presenting figures on payments to farmers, prosecutions, and cases currently under investigation.
Mitsotakis congratulated the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Rural Development, and the AADE Governor, stressing that the government had honoured its commitments regarding subsidy payments.
“I want to sincerely congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Rural Development, and the Governor of AADE, for the fact that we were fully consistent with the commitments we undertook. Yesterday, payments of €617 million were made to 530,000 farmers — exceeding the original target. We also expect payments of approximately €60 million today for Pillar II.”
He noted that these payments serve — in his view — as proof that the transfer of OPEKEPE to AADE has functioned effectively, and stressed that it is now possible to redirect resources toward those who are genuinely entitled to them.
“And I believe that these payments, which were recognised as reliable — perhaps the most reliable and highest-quality payments ever, according to the farmers themselves — are the best proof that the landmark reform of transferring OPEKEPE to AADE has succeeded and is delivering results. It was a reform that had to happen. We knew the difficulties involved. A titanic effort was made to ensure that payments were made on time.”
He also noted that more than €1 billion has already been disbursed since the beginning of the year, and announced a new round of payments for the coming autumn.
OPEKEPE: 2,900 cases under investigation, 1,151 prosecutions, and five criminal organisations dismantled
The Prime Minister made special reference to the cases being investigated by competent authorities in connection with illegal subsidies, emphasising that the justice system has already moved against those who acted unlawfully.
“I also want to stress that those who broke the law are being held accountable before the justice system, on the initiative of this government and the national authorities. At present — and I want to emphasise this again — 2,900 cases are being investigated by national authorities. A total of 1,151 prosecutions have been filed. Five criminal organisations have been dismantled, with fraudsters now repaying the unlawfully received subsidies.”
Mitsotakis argued that this track record is the best response to those who questioned the reform, pointing out that only New Democracy had voted in favour of the relevant legislation.
He also expressed confidence that within the next year, with the completion of new digital applications and electronic livestock tracking technology, Greece will have one of the most modern agricultural subsidy payment systems in Europe.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that the OPEKEPE case still requires significant work, noting that the goal is to launch the new Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) as soon as possible. He argued that the reform addresses a long-standing structural problem of the state, which — in his view — had been politically inflated without ultimately producing the catastrophic consequences some had predicted.
“This issue has caused us a great deal of trouble. It still does. But today, the vast majority of honest farmers and livestock breeders have every reason to be satisfied with how things have developed. Obviously, there is still a lot to be done. We need to launch the new IACS as quickly as possible. But I think the conclusion is clear: an issue that was politically inflated, creating many impressions, is now being seen for what it truly is — above all, a long-standing, cross-party disease of the ‘deep state’ that is finding its solution in motion, without the catastrophic consequences that some had predicted.”
Closing his remarks on the agricultural sector, Mitsotakis argued that the OPEKEPE reform cuts — as he put it — “a Gordian knot of decades,” paving the way for greater transparency and accountability in the management of agricultural subsidies.
