Proto Thema’s report on German construction company Hochtief’s failure to pay VAT tax owed to the Eleftherios Venizelos Athens International Airport for over 20 years has made its way to Greek Parliament. Conservative New Democracy politician Nikitas Kaklamanis submitted a written question to Greek Justice Minister Haralambos Athanassiou and Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis asking what measures have been taken against the company in order to get back the hundreds of millions of euros that the Greek state is owed.
The letter submitted by Mr. Kaklamanis:
Dear Ministers,
On Sunday, September 28, Proto Thema newspaper published a judicial decision that gives the Greek state the legal right to immediately proceed towards the acquisition of 600 million euros and more from Hochtief.
According to a decision by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Athens, Hochtief, that has exploited the “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport for 20 full years, has proven to be the gravest tax evader in the Greek public sector. Based on the publication, the German company – apart from 600 million euros in failure to pay VAT – also owes hundreds of millions of euros to insurance funds, OTA union and other beneficiaries of the public sector that brings its total debt to as much as 1 billion euros!
It should be noted that had Hochtief payed its aforementioned dues there would not have been slashes to employees’ wages and cuts to pension bonus payments as the amount that was gathered from cuts and abolitions was in the class of 400 million euros!
It is truly tragic that at a time when the Ministry of Finance as well as the Ministry of Justice are enforcing the greatest austerity possible on Greek taxpayers that are unable to meet their tax obligations and have become the laughing stock of the German mass media, German Hochtief continues to turn a blind eye to a final decision on a debt worth 600 billion euros.
THE MINISTERS ARE ASKED
– Is Proto Thema newspaper’s publication based on reality (even though it refers to a verdict passed on September 22, and includes the names of the judges that were responsible for issuing it)?
– If you haven’t taken measures for the collection and confiscation or at least the offsetting of debt as would happen with every Greek citizen then why have you not already done so?
