The significant economic benefits that Greece could gain from hydrocarbon exploitation, following agreements with Chevron, were highlighted by former Environment and Energy Minister and current MEP with PASOK, Yannis Maniatis, in an interview with parapolitika.gr. Specifically, the MEP emphasized that our country’s profits from hydrocarbons could reach up to €70 billion and could be allocated toward strengthening the pension system. He also focused, among other issues, on the delays regarding the Greece-Cyprus electrical interconnection project and Greece’s energy position in general.
“12 years have passed since the beginning of the Greece-Cyprus electrical interconnection cable project,” noted Mr. Maniatis regarding the cable, adding: “The Greek government shows inability to resolve the cable issue.” In another part of his interview, he proposed “a coordinator for the interconnection project from Europe” which would “facilitate the resolution.” Regarding the US position, he said “the American leadership seeks calm waters in the region,” while expressing his position on defense matters, he emphasized “we will oppose the government if it transfers funds to Defense.”
Yannis Maniatis: Europe must redesign the energy “stock market”
“I want us to support Greek-made solar water heaters in the European future of energy upgrading,” he added.
Regarding energy costs that concern households, he pointed out the following: “At this moment, approximately 50% of Europe’s electricity is green and zero-cost – meaning it’s produced from photovoltaic and wind systems – as is the case in Greece. However, these prices of very cheap, green electricity have not been passed on to people’s bills, due to the systems created by the Commission and governments, including Mr. Mitsotakis’ government which has signed off on these and agreed to how this particular energy stock market operates. So they need to redesign it and see how the new electricity and natural gas system can work to benefit both the national economy and our households.”
Regarding the new EU budget for 2028-2034, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is preparing, Mr. Maniatis emphasized “it’s a budget that if implemented as is, will destroy many of the achievements of a Europe of citizens. In Greece, there’s an assessment that the new budget will bring cuts to specific funds of around 23%. We, as the Party of European Socialists and Democrats, have made it clear that if this logic continues, we will vote against the budget. Major projects need years to deliver political benefits, and unfortunately, Greek governments often work for today and tomorrow, for polls and the next elections.” Additionally, regarding agricultural products, he noted: “We submitted an amendment so that every agricultural product imported into Europe must display its country of origin. This was an important intervention to protect the income of Greek and European farmers, but also to protect citizens’ health.”
