The Minister of National Defence Evangelos Apostolakis, accompanied by the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Nikolaos Tsounis, visited the premises of Hellenic Shipyards S.A, in Skaramangas, and Neorion Elefsis Shipyards (Elefsis Shipbuilding and industrial Entreprises S.A.)

The Minister of National Defence discussed the progress of the current programmes of the Hellenic Navy, focusing mostly on type-214 submarines and Roussen-class missile boats, and met with employees.

In his meetings, the Minister of National Defence stressed that revitalizing the shipyards is one of the government’s main decisions and its objective is to ensure a sustainable future for the shipyards since they are a national force multiplier and one of our country’s strategic advantages. In parallel, he highlighted that the shipyards offer a constant support to the Hellenic Navy and noted the necessity for the current programmes to be successfully completed, which would reinforce the Hellenic Navy and the Armed Forces, in general. The Minister of National Defence praised the contribution of the employees in accomplishing important shipbuilding and maintenance programmes of the Hellenic Navy.

The Minister of National Defence stated the following:

“Today we visited the Shipyards with the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, as well as with staff officers of the Hellenic Navy. I was informed by both of them on the progress of the programmes. As you may know, the repair of the type-214 submarines is being completed at the Hellenic Shipyards; the employees have showed a remarkable productivity and an incredible support to this programme. At the same time, we have managed to maintain a great part of the Fleet’s ships. The shipyards are undergoing a procedure of liquidation. Very soon tender procedure will start for the selection of a new investor. I talked with the employees, they told me their problems, we discussed for long. We are offering a solution for all the current problems and we proceed to the next step, the tenders procedure to select a new investor.

In Elefsis shipyards, as you know, we have two warships, the No 6 and the No 7 of the shipbuilding programme for Missile boats which we must complete. A 90 % of the construction of the first ship has been completed and a 70% of the construction of the other. We still need time for the completion of the said warships, but several problems exist also regarding the employees, the ownership of the shipyards and, as I stated, at this moment we are trying to find an investor. People have expressed their interest and we are very close to reaching a deal. Our main objective is the shipyards to continue operating, the employees to be safeguarded and the shipbuilding programme of the Hellenic Navy to be completed.

I spoke with the employees, I listened to their concerns, and we gave solutions to the issues that we can solve. We have solved most of the problems they have and we hope that very soon a new situation will begin which will give perspective to the shipyards and their employees.

I would also like to tell you that a discussion is conducted over the last days between two Joint Commitees from Turkey and Greece about the existent Confidence Building Measures. So, through their implementation we can manage to lessen the tension in the Aegean Sea and stop the concern that an accident may come up and cause an uncontrollable “heated incident”.

The effort and the spirit of the talks have been good so far. I am stressing and clarifying that we are involved in matters related to the Ministry of National Defence about the current Confidence Building Measures. Anything different that is discussed is out of reality.

Regarding the statements of my Turkish counterpart, there has been a discussion, as you know. We are sharing, as it seems, the anxiety of finding a new manner to reduce the tension and the problems. Our first move, after we met, was that we decided to designate these committees, one of his side and one of my side. We gave them specific guidance. The talks have begun, as I said earlier, and we hope that a new positive result will come up. This is not the last meeting, the meetings will be continued. Our committee may need to visit Turkey and we will see how we will proceed. We will try to keep this channel of communication open and our effort focuses on achieving the best possible result.”