EFKA over worst, says head of fund
The head of the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA), Thanassis Bakalexis, has told Kathimerini in an interview that he believes the organization is on the right track after encountering serious problems when it went into operation at the beginning of this year following the merger of several other funds.
“In the first months there were a number of problems with our records, which was caused by the [poor] quality of records from the funds that were merged,” he said, adding that 29 million documents had to be processed by EFKA. “Every day that passes, the quality of information is improving, and in the near future the problems will be limited.”
Bakalexis likened the setting up of EFKA to the creation of Greece’s national healthcare system. “A year ago, the idea of one fund for everyone was a challenge, but today it is a reality,” he said.
He insisted that there is no question of any EFKA staff being surplus to requirements after the merger of the previous fund. The EFKA head noted that the number of people working for funds fell from 12,104 in 2010 to 8,322 currently.
Bakalexis also pledged that efforts to root out corruption would continue. He said that recent inspections at three offices of IKA, previously Greece’s largest social security fund, in Aegaleo, Patra and Volos led to the discovery that around 1 million euros had gone missing.
