Ex-chief’s claims of PPC graft resurging
Details of the allegations of corruption within the Public Power Corporation (PPC) emerged yesterday from a file submitted to an Athens prosecutor by the former president of the electricity giant, Yiannis Paleokrassas. The file was handed in with 43 documents which the former PPC chief claims support his allegations. Paleokrassas resigned last December after coming under pressure from the prime minister to step down when he publicly aired his suspicions about graft within the corporation. Paleokrassas claims his report concerns «corruption in the area of electricity as an informal and invisible mechanism for promoting the economic interests of certain businessmen.» He alleges this went on «with the cooperation of state officials and media outlets.» The former PPC president points the finger at the leadership of the Development Ministry since 1999, including the current minister, Dimitris Sioufas, the Economy and Finance Ministry, the Regulatory Authority for Energy and the Electric Power Transmission System Operator (DESMHE). He alleges that all these bodies were involved in «perpetual corruption.» Among Paleokrassas’s key allegations are that while PPC was in the hands of his predecessor, Stergios Nezis, tenders were manipulated so that they heavily favored construction group Metka, which is part of the Mytilineos group.
