The Alternate Minister of National Defence Fotis Kouvelis visited the premises of the Hellenic Defence Systems, Ymittos, on Friday, 8 June, 2018.

During his visit, he met with the Directors of the Hellenic Defence Systems (HDS) and representatives of the employees’ associations and also visited the working sites and the production units of small and medium caliber rounds and defence materiel.

The Alternate Minister of National Defence was informed by the Directors about the productive capabilities of the Entreprise, the problems it faces and the current perspectives. He attended a briefing on the capabilities of the HDS, their strategy and their priorities, as well as the programmes which are underway. He was informed also on their contribution to the satisfaction of Armed Forces’ needs. The briefing referred also to the condition of the infrastructure and the need to staff the factory with specialized personnel.

The Alternate Minister of National Defence referred to the need of a full utilization of HDS production capabilities and asked for both the employees and the directors to contribute and to be motivated for the implementation and the completion of the pending contracts with the Ministry of National Defence. He also confirmed the government’s will for the HDS not only to continue operating, but to upgrade their role and their production capacity so that they will play a strategic role in satisfying the Hellenic Armed Forces’ needs and also to contribute to the productive restructure of our  country with wider participation in the international markets.  

He continued by referring to the total effort of the government in the field of defence industry, and he underscored that, after the painful efforts the government has been making since 2015 to ensure the proper operation of the Hellenic Defence Systems, we should take the next step; a step of reconstruction and recovery in order for the sustainability to have perspective. And we should stress that the Directors of Hellenic Defence Systems should move to this direction with an open mind and a strategic approach, in order to fully eliminate this attitude of depreciation and deindustrialization of the leader of the Hellenic defence industry.     

Addressing the employees, he called on them to contribute to this effort, stressing that the reconstruction of the Hellenic Defence Systems is a necessary prerequisite to ensure the labour rights as well as other rights for those who work in the enterprise today and to create new job posts.

The Alternate Minister of National Defence concluded his visit to the Hellenic Defence Systems by laying a wreath to the monument of National Resistance which is in the site around the premises. It reminds us that during the German occupation, one of the most glorious pages in the history of National Resistance was written in this site. Employees of PYRKAL participated in sabotaged the aircraft engines which the Germans constructed there.

The result became apparent later and caused more than 400 German war aircraft according to estimations to crash. The story ended up in court martials and executions.