EN 
EL *By Alexandros Zacharopoulos
Closed on 01/12/2021 at 14:00, the consultation on draft model law (or innovative) infrastructure proposals from the leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure. This is a very positive government initiative by K. Karamanlis that lays the groundwork for dynamic developments in developmentally modern projects that attract healthy investments and mature plans for increased performance for the general and regional economy. The state aims to adopt the large innovative mature projects that will be proposed by the experienced construction groups in the infrastructure space across the territory with their necessary partnerships where necessary, so that the state, citizens and local economies benefit from the deep understanding that they have the infrastructure experts of our country.
Because the draft law concerns projects over 200m. euro and sets conditions for a very high level and budget submission from agencies that can implement such very large projects, the question arises whether the ministry should now immediately move into the new era where the innovation it is not measured by where it comes from and how much it costs, but how valuable it is, and how optimally or excellently it solves the problem it faces.
Similar positive institutional initiatives that can bring the future closer to us, they need to be done with procedures that give civil society as a whole the opportunity to express its opinion, in order for the argument put forward by the leadership from the beginning to be valid, that is, the law is made so that there is greater involvement of civil society citizens who can propose major projects.
As it is worded, the draft law refers to very large projects only and allows groups that have the ability to implement this type of large projects to be involved in the process. Because the main issue of innovation is falling construction and operating costs of projects, and to be applicable to local and regional problems, procedures should be given utilization of innovative proposals for infrastructures that do not cost such large budgets.
Moreover, in order to have the concept of innovation, this idea does not need to reach the extent of submitting measured budgets after costly studies costing 200 million euros or more. That is, if they cost 190 million euros, the proposal body must cost overrunso that it passes the limit of 200 million euros?
Must at this juncture of the full sustainable green transition to DO NOT ideas and innovative infrastructures that are not so big budget are left out. A project large for the local data, 50-100 million euros plus VAT, e.g. in Rhodes or Mytilene, in Corfu or Alexandroupolis, it can solve enormous capital gains in local economy.
With the amount of the minimum set by the legislation, many municipalities that have piles of projects will be left out, which could be offered and matured by our construction groups in order to issue the relevant documents, tender conditions, etc. Non-interregional projects are not they can easily be designed with such large budgets of over 200m+VAT.
Where it is judged that the opportunity can be activated - with the consent of the parties concerned - it should be given to them now, not tomorrow. Activate now the innovative initiatives of great value per invested euro. There are projects of great goodwill that the State cannot think of or implement on its own due to limitations (time, budgets, know-how, bureaucratic slippage, etc.) in order to help the competitiveness of the economy, by region towards the local and by extension the national interest. Let's bring the good future immediately with the innovative infrastructures engineered by the Greek engineer.
*Alexandros Zacharopoulos is a Graduate Civil Engineer & Geologist MBA/MPA/MEng, Chief Engineer of Public Works and Research Fellow at the Administrative Science Laboratory of the Athens University of Economics.
This article was first published in the online newspaper "iapopsi.gr“
