The Athens Chamber of Commerce has been receiving complaints from professionals who are being charged large sums for electricity they had consumed in the 2022-2023 period in recent days.

As the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, Giannis Hatzitheodosiou, said in a statement:

“In recent days, the Athens Chamber of Commerce has been receiving complaints from professionals who are suddenly charged large amounts for electricity they had consumed in the period 2022-2023.

There are cases of our members being asked to pay providers hundreds of euros and even within a few days.

As we have learned, these are amounts that were registered at that time as government subsidies. Only in the end, their payment was never approved by the European Union. And now, following a recent ministerial decision, the companies have started the process of collecting these amounts.

We consider all this to be unacceptable and we call on the relevant ministries to answer some reasonable questions:

– All these current debtors were informed in as clear a manner as possible that these amounts would become due?

– Didn’t the state itself see to it that the electricity bills were reduced through subsidies?

– How ethical is it to ask a businessman to pay within a few days a not inconsiderable amount? Has anyone wondered whether this person, under the current market conditions with such inflation and soaring operating costs, can afford to pay any amount on time?

– Since the government learned at some point that there was no approval from the European authorities, why did it not inform the debtors in time?

As a Chamber we are asking for clear answers in a simple and understandable way from someone in charge. Citizens have the right to know every detail related to such issues as their development determines their family and professional budget.”