Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said the winter heating allowance will rise, with extra support for the parts of the country that need it most.

Speaking in Litochoro, a town at the foot of Mount Olympus in the northern region of Pieria, Mitsotakis said the increase would be larger for areas with greater heating needs. Full details will be announced on 14 October, the day before sales of heating oil begin for the season.

“It is a political choice of this government to raise the heating allowance by more, in the midst of an energy crisis, so that we support the areas that most need to stay warm in winter,” he said.

The remarks build on a Cabinet meeting on 30 September, where Mitsotakis said the government was still aiming for a starting price of below €1.75 a litre for heating oil, the level at which the previous season closed.

The final size of the intervention will depend on how international energy prices move before sales open. Greek press reports suggest the allowance could rise by up to 20%, with the increase applying to households that heat with natural gas or firewood as well as oil, and an extra payment for mountain regions.

Nikopolis next on the list

Mitsotakis was in Pieria for an event marking the inscription of Mount Olympus on the World Heritage List of the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO. It was held at the headquarters of the Olympus National Park management unit.

UNESCO added the wider Olympus area to the list on 26 July, unanimously and as a mixed cultural and natural property, at the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea. The decision brought Greece’s total number of World Heritage sites to 21. The listing recognises both the mountain’s place in ancient Greek religion and mythology as the home of the 12 Olympian gods, and its biodiversity and natural environment.

Mitsotakis placed the achievement within a wider effort to promote Greek monuments and landscapes of international importance. “After the listings of Olympus, Zagori and the Minoan palaces, our next goal is to have ancient Nikopolis included as well, and I believe we will achieve that too,” he said.

Zagori is a mountain region of villages and stone bridges in Epirus, in north-western Greece, while the Minoan palaces are on Crete. Nikopolis, near Preveza in Epirus, was founded by the future Roman emperor Augustus after his victory at Actium in 31 BC.

The visit also included meetings with local government representatives and a trip to the Holy Monastery of Saint Dionysios on Olympus. Mitsotakis stressed the dual significance of the listing, as a site of global cultural importance and a protected natural ecosystem, and said the mountain’s character must be preserved even as it is put to good use.