Following the approval of the revised Greek Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” by the European Commission, the time has come for the submission of the fifth request, which concerns the payment of a total amount of 3.1 billion euros from the Recovery Fund.
This amount is divided into 1.3 billion euros in grants and 1.8 billion euros in loans, compared to 2.3 billion euros, which was the initial plan.
It is noted that the loan installment will be smaller than initially planned in order to normalize them until the end of the program in 2026. After the required procedures are completed by the European Commission, the disbursement of the amount is scheduled for mid-February. Upon the disbursement of 3.1 billion euros, the total amount that Greece will have received from the Recovery Fund will correspond to 65% of the resources available to our country, which total 36 billion euros.
Changes
The changes made to Greece 2.0 in order to submit the fifth payment request are related to the new home subsidy program for the provision of low-interest housing loans to citizens up to 50 years of age, the home renovation program, and the lower number of requests from businesses to participate in the business subsidy program.
In order for Greece to submit the request for 3.1 billion euros, 32 milestones had to be met. Given that there are still two years before the expiration of the Recovery and Resilience Fund in 2026, the requirements are increasing. Therefore, in order for Greece to submit the sixth request within 2025, it will have to meet 44 milestones in terms of the grants.
The timely implementation of the milestones is of particular importance, as in order to absorb the total amount of money it can receive, it is necessary to submit two payment requests per year. Given the current situation, Brussels leaves no room for a time extension of the Recovery and Resilience Fund.
