Projects with 2004 invoices are requested to be implemented by the construction industry

By Eleni Bota

Projects that have been invoiced in 2004… during the ministry of G. Souflia, the construction sector is called upon to implement.

As he mentioned yesterday, at the Athens Investment Forum o Petros Suretis, Authorized Advisor and Executive Member of the Board of Directors of GEK TERNA, “Law 4782 of 2021 which would have cured the weaknesses of 4412, largely ignored the objections and counter-proposals of the market. The long-awaited Price Observatory which would bridge the gap between the underground cost projections of the projects and the modern reality of international prices, remains a blank slate, ending in 2023 and 20 years after the industry is asked to execute projects with the data of the 2004 Souflia tariff. Other Balkan countries, such as Romania, are proceeding with revisions of project costs up to 60% and in Greece we are still discussing 5%”, he noted characteristically.

The CEO of ABAX also mentioned the issue of price revision, Constantine Mitzalis, stressing that the problem will be solved, with the existence of a modern mechanism so that price and labor increases correspond to reality. “But right now we have budgets that are with 2004 invoices. Is it possible that the invoices are the same today?” he wondered.

“We take 2023, 2017 prices to make project estimates. We had a price review in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Nothing has happened yet, although prices continue to rise. To give an example: the craftsman’s wage in market has exceeded 100 euros and the legislated is 58 euros. Where will this extra cost be covered when there are no price revisions?” he wondered.

Mr. Suretis also pointed out the problem of human resources, stressing that if no initiative is taken through the cooperation of the private sector with the State, the problem will not be solved. In fact, he also referred to the example of the Group in two projects it is carrying out in Crete, part of the BOAK and the new airport in Kasteli. According to him, “in these projects we faced a problem in finding a workforce. We moved through the institutional body that is DYPA (former OAED) and took all the necessary actions foreseen in order to hire staff from the local community. The result was that we came into contact with 1,680 unemployed people and only 8 of them showed interest.

For his part, Mr. Mitzalis emphasized that during the crisis the number of workers in the construction sector decreased from 400,000 to 150,000.

In addition to the above, the construction industry is also faced with another set of problems.

“Incomplete studies, underpriced projects and bad designs, lead to barren tenders even in critical projects with a strong environmental character such as the Havria Dam. It may sound like a criticism, but it is not. It is a cry of distress from the industry, recognizing that the public administration is understaffed and has limited resources. We are not pointing fingers, we are extending a helping hand to the state,” said Mr. Suretis.