EU-funded yacht purchases
Just ahead of the expected new round of NSRF-funded yacht purchase subsidies, the market backlash is escalating.
The objections to a program that started last decade, under the SYRIZA government, and which has allegedly financed the purchase of over 500 vessels, start from the fact that many of these yachts go to people who do not use them professionally and they go so far as to talk about the utilization of this activity for the use of cash from undisclosed economic activities, market sources state.
The 50% subsidy for the acquisition of yachts over 7 meters, which can be classified as professional, with a value of up to 400,000 euros, however, also raises questions about the correct targeting of the financing of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF – known in Greece as ESPA). In other words, for the allocation of resources to an industry that is already flourishing in Greece, which is the number one market for chartering pleasure craft worldwide.
The new round, according to various parties involved, may provide for two categories: one for the subsidy with 50% of the purchase of a yacht worth up to €400,000 and another with a 50% subsidy for a vessel up to €1 million in the context of young entrepreneurship.
