Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed party officials and supporters during New Democracy party’s second pre-congress assembly, held in the city of Heraklion, Crete, on Saturday.

The government responded to price hikes generated by the energy crisis by establishing support measures as early as September 2021, said the premier.

“I would be the first one to tell you that even if the state went as far as to cover half the costs of inflated electricity bills, these would still be considered expensive,” and he went on to observe that the price of electricity depends on the price of gas – which has doubled.

While rising energy costs are rubbing off on general goods in the broader market, he added, “we will show zero tolerance to anyone who tries to take advantage of the crisis for profit,” he stressed.

Mitsotakis noted that the government has allocated 4 billion euros to tackle price hikes, and he explained that “we voted for a supplementary state budget of 2 billion euros. We will have bigger discounts on electricity and gas bills, while low-income people, the uninsured, the elderly and the disabled will receive a bonus of 200 euros on Holy Wednesday ahead of Greek Easter [April 24].”

Meanwhile, he noted, support measures for farmers, stockbreeders and fishermen are to continue.

Greece is a leader in shaping European policy, he added, as “we all [EU member states] bought the coronavirus vaccines together at better prices, and the same can be done with natural gas. There are also unallocated resources from the EU’s Recovery Fund. I know that the burden of rising electricity prices is unbearable for many. I pledge that if there is no pan-European solution, our country will prepare on its own an additional and even larger support plan for electricity prices.”

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