Greece’s Agriculture Minister Kostas Tsiaras fired on Friday the head of the country’s EU agricultural funds distribution agency OPEKEPE, Nikolaos Salatas, after the latter threatened to take to courts the European prosecutor investigating fraud worth millions of euros in the distribution of EU agricultural funds and subsidies.
In a statement announcing Salatas’ removal Minister Tsiaras cited “urgent public interest” and the need to preserve effective cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is leading the probe.
The ministry said the move was necessary to prevent “any dispute” over OPEKEPE’s collaboration with the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO).
The EPPO investigation has found embezzlement worth of hundreds of millions euros of EU agricultural funds, mainly in Crete, with beneficiaries being people who falsely claimed to be farmers or breeders.
In an interview with parapolitika FM, Minister Tsiaras said “we are determined to clean up OPEKEPE” and the money that has been illegally received will be returned as provided by law.
He sharply criticized the fired head of OPEKEPE for sending wrong messages to the EPPO. “Salatas handled the dispute with EPPO the wrong way,” he stressed
Minister Tsiaras emphasized that OPEKEPE distributes over 3 billion euros annually, with 2.2-2.4 billion to be distributed to 680,00o different tax numbers.
