Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis launched a sharp rebuttal in Parliament against members and leaders of the opposition who, according to him, are spreading innuendos and rumors about the alleged mismanagement of EU Recovery Fund resources allocated for digital projects.

His intervention came in response to online insinuations picked up by the NIKI party and Alexis Haritsis of the New Left. Pierrakakis submitted to Parliament’s official record a full list of digital projects carried out in recent years by the Information Society agency, including detailed statistics on company participation in public tenders.

He explained that all Recovery Fund projects undergo 26 levels of audits conducted by both national and European authorities. He emphasized that 203 projects were auctioned, with more than one company bidding in two-thirds of the cases. The total budget of €1.8 billion was not awarded to 10 companies, as claimed, but to 102.

Pierrakakis’ Statement in Parliament:

“I took the floor due to a remark made by the representative of NIKI, which echoes a question posed to me yesterday by the leader of the New Left, Mr. Haritsis, regarding digital projects implemented in recent years. They implied misuse of funds and other shady dealings. This builds on a narrative that circulated last weekend trying to link me personally to certain companies involved in these projects, based on fabricated claims spread by far-right internet trolls. Legal actions have been taken, and the rest became a parliamentary question by Mr. Haritsis.

As for the ‘sewer rats of the internet,’ responses will come through the courts—as is proper in a rule-of-law democracy. What I didn’t expect was for the stench from that sewer to reach this very hall. But now that it has, I’ll give full answers.”

Key Points from Pierrakakis:

1. Before 2019, Greece had virtually no digital infrastructure: “We were a fax-driven country that couldn’t even submit a digital declaration. All that changed thanks to engineers and civil servants of all political backgrounds—embraced by the public, as polls show.”
2. Every project funded by the Recovery Fund goes through 26 oversight stages, including pre-contractual audits by the Court of Audit for specs and compliance.
3. Regarding conspiracy claims: “The IT market has grown 20-fold due to the Recovery Fund and COVID-era demands. The Information Society alone has auctioned 203 projects. In two-thirds, multiple companies submitted bids; half involved company consortia. The €1.8 billion was awarded to 102 companies, not 10. I’m submitting this to the official record.”

He added:
“I understand Mr. Haritsis is sensitive about fair competition. So, I looked back at SYRIZA’s track record (2015–2019). Guess how many projects were auctioned? Thirteen. And how many had more than one bidder? Zero. So, based on Mr. Haritsis’ own standards of competitive fairness, perhaps he should have handed himself over to the prosecutor. I’d happily be his defense attorney, because we all know the boundaries of ministerial vs. market responsibility.”

He closed his speech by stating:
“Let this be the end of this particular narrative.”