ATHENS – A ceremony to signal the handing over of Skaramagas Shipyards to Greek shipowner and new owner Giorgos Prokopiou was held in Athens on Tuesday morning.

Prokopiou was the winning bidder in a tendering process of July 2021, while the contract for the transfer of ownership was signed on March 1, 2023.

During the ceremony, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras welcomed the new ownership at the ministry and said it was a result of four-year efforts to resolve all pending labor issues after the winning tender. The new ownership “opens new prospects of dynamic development for this historic company,” he said, noting that Skaramagas Shipyards “are not simply the largest shipyards in Greece, but the largest in the entire East Mediterranean.”

Resolving chronic impasses and developing the Shipyards with new capital and technical know-how “will bring significant benefits to labor, exports, economic activity in general and the spread of new technologies, as well as potentially in retaining defense autonomy by repairing and constructing ships for the Hellenic Navy,” Staikouras said. The government’s commitment in the last years was to revive Greek shipbuilding and grow it beyond Greece’s borders, and Skaramagas Shipyards workers have extensive experience in construction, providing a guarantee of success.

On his side, Prokopiou noted the preparatory work done by the Finance ministry, with the assistance of the ministries of Development & Investments and Labor & Social Affairs, “settled many issues with tremendous speed and justice to all, and it impressed me. The attitude toward workers was very appropriate, and that is our obligation also. There are no jobs without workers, but jobs must be able to stand on their own, without subsidies. Because after one, two, three months of subsidies, they will shut down.”

Prokopiou also noted the welcoming attitude of Shipyards staff, whom he had interviewed personally, he said, noting their care and concern for the business. “My vision is to turn this into a state-of-the-art technology in shipping and defense industry that will allow us to become self-reliant in several issues.[…] There is a plan, and we shall do whatever we can to implement it.”