According to a detailed report published by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) on Thursday, the 2004 Summer Olympics that were held in Athens had a positive effect on the economic activity of the country and also gave a boost to employment.

However, the report noted that this boost was not long-lasting, as the positive impact of the Olympics was not fully exploited by the Greek state and the country received a lot of negative publicity over the following years.

More specifically, the study on the economic impact of the games that was commissioned by Gianna Angelopoulos, the former organizing committee chief of the Olympics 2004, showed that the event cost Greece a total of 6.5 billion euros. It should be noted that this sum does not include outlay costs for projects indirectly linked with the Olympics, such as the new airport and the subway in the Greek capital.

Half of the total expenses were spent on sports venues.

This figure didn’t significantly influence the country’s finances, said the think tank’s report, adding that the state received approximately 2.9 billion euros in the form of taxes and social security contributions, as a direct consequence of the games.