Kostis Hatzidakis

Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis has appointed Michalis Kefalogiannis to sort out the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA), where problems appear to be out of control.

The twin health and financial crisis is having a dramatic impact on the labor market and the lives of workers who amid increasing uncertainty about their jobs also suffered a salary cut of as much as 20% in many cases.

The completion of the national cadastre has been officially postponed until 2024. According to the Environment Ministry, the reason for the delay is not only the coronavirus restrictions, but also the low participation of people in some areas in the effort to digitally register their properties.

Energy cooperation between Athens and Washington was at the center of talks between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette at Maximos Mansion on Thursday.

The two sides discussed the prospect of further US investment in Greece's energy sector.

Motorists that use diesel will pay 0.04 euros more per liter for their car fuel from the start of 2021 due to the imposition of an environmental tax of €0.03/liter plus value-added tax that Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis has announced.

The measure has been included in the amendment to the zoning bill for the support of renewable energy sources tabled on Thursday.

Greece is set to implement the country's largest ever reforestation program over a 10-year period, according to Environment Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, who on Monday presented the new National Reforestation Plan to the Council of Ministers. 

Environment Minister Kostis Hatzidakis has decided to cut the red tape on renewal energy projects by dispensing some of them from environmental impact assessments and simplifying the approval procedures for others.

The aim of these decisions is to reduce the time from the submission of a plan to implement a renewable energy project to its approval to two years.

Environment Minister Kostis Hatzidakis (center) is seen with Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis (left) just before a bicycle ride organized by the Central Union of Greek Municipalities (KEDE) to coincide with World Bicycle Day on Wednesday. Hatzidakis announced the creation of two new bicycle lanes in Athens with a total length of about 25 kilometers, which will be financed by the Green Fund.

Volunteers mobilized by the A.C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation pick up trash on the beach of Schinias, a protected wetland northeast of Athens, on Saturday. The foundation has launched a campaign to eradicate single-use plastic in cooperation with the Environment Ministry.

The American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and the Atlantic Council will hold a digital event on Tuesday on the "East Med and the trilateral partnership (Greece-Israel-Cyprus) and its role in regional energy security and economic cooperation in the age of Covid-19 and beyond." 
The event will take place from 5.30 to 7.30 p.m.