KOZANI, Greece – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday announced that a one-off benefit of between 200 and 300 euros will be given to pensioners who did not see increases in their pensions due to the ‘personal difference’ measure, during a press conference in Kozani.

“There will be an extraordinary benefit for pensioners who did not see an increase in their pensions as of January 1, 2023,” the prime minister said in response to a related question. “It will be between 200 and 300 euros, depending on the amount of pension that each person receives,” he added.

Mitsotakis also said that the announcements will be made on Wednesday by the government’s economic team, adding that: “It will be a one-off payment and we estimate that it will approach a total of 300 million euros,” however, as he pointed out, our economy is growing faster than expected and the fiscal cost for this provision has been calculated.

PM Mitsotakis: ‘Ptolemaida 5’ plant a very important work for the energy coverage of the country

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday visited the new Public Power Corporation (PPC) power plant “Ptolemaida 5”.

“It is a very important, a very significant project for the energy coverage of the country, for PPC, a work with substantial domestic added value” noted Mitsotakis.

“This plant will in the future become a strategic reserve unit for the country but it was also a plant which I would say completes the PPC’s 70-year presence in the area of Ptolemaida. It will work for many more years in this form and will continue to offer jobs for many many years, not only for those working in the plant but also to those that work in the mines which supply the unit with lignite”.

The premier added that the strategy for the transition to a green future was a fact and non-negotiable but that, at the same time, “we should not forget the significance we attach to the country’s stategic self-sufficiency in domestic fuel.

Mitsotakis thanked the board of PPC for its consolidation and its participation in the green transition. “It is a strategy which is followed today by PPC itself, which, on its part, is making its own transition to a greener future by investing in renewable energy sources such as the major photovoltaic park is under construction near this plant” .

“There is no need to explain here in Western Macedonia what a possible PPC bankruptcy would mean for the local economy, apart from the devastating reprecussions for the country’s energy security. Not only have we prevented such a possibility but we have achieved something very impressive by adding capital and offering the PPC the possibility to be here today and talk about significant investments abroad”.