Kostis Hatzidakis

A plan for the reconstruction of the fire-ravaged east Attica community of Mati will be posted for public consultation in June, Environment Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said during a visit to the coastal town on Friday.

A deal for an undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe signed by Greece, Cyprus and Israel earlier in the year was ratified by a wide majority in a parliamentary committee on Monday evening.

The height limit of buildings constructed in the vicinity of the Acropolis in central Athens should be reduced to no more than 21 meters, according to a recommendation submitted by the Environment Minister Kostis Hatzidakis to the Central Council of Urban Affairs and Disputes (KESYPOTHA), which convened on Thursday.

The conservative government and the opposition clashed in Parliament Tuesday over a contentious bill introduced by the Environment Ministry that seeks to modernize the country's environmental legislation.

The electricity market is trying to express solidarity with companies and individuals suffering from the effects of the coronavirus epidemic, with Public Power Corporation and Elpedison announcing measures in a bid to make life easier for their customers and heeding the call to that effect by Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.

Public consultations began on Wednesday on a new bill introduced by the Environment Ministry that seeks to modernize environmental legislation.

The bill will change regulations regarding land uses, environmental licensing and the management of protected areas.

Greece must take immediate action to place restrictions on the issuing of licenses for strategic investments and the development of public land that bypass existing zoning regulations as they pose a serious risk to the environment, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned in its Environmental Performance Review of the country.

In the next few days the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) is expected to submit a demand to the Energy Ministry and the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) for the extraordinary revision of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) - which will mean power rate hikes for consumers - after realizing that the reduction of corporate tax from 29 to 24 percent will have an impact o

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the government's determination to phase out lignite plans as part of the National Plan for Energy and Climate at a meeting with Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and ministry officials .

A working meeting of the Greece-UAE Broader Strategic Cooperation Forum will be held in Athens on 19 February following Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' visit to UAE.

Mitsotakis will meet on Wednesday morning with the head of the delegation, State Minister of UAE Sultan Al Jaber, at the Maximos Mansion.