Crete, the island beloved for its ancient history and traditions and for its abundant natural beauty, is being destroyed by profiteers. Most professionals I know who are not handcuffed to the industries and oligarchs ruining the Island’s development agree. A recent press release about the so-called BOAK infrastructure project is another key sign that one of the world’s true paradise islands will eventually look like something out of a futuristic sci-fi horror.
Crete’s Governor, Stavros Arnautakis was in meetings recently conducted by Eurobank. The purpose of those events was to cheerlead the forward progress of the Northern Road Axis of Crete, which Arnautakis says “is the top of the development pyramid of the island.” Arnautakis and all the other stakeholders in Crete’s future is all about planned development, with little or no concern over far more pressing problems facing the island and its citizens. As for a regenerative future for the sacred Island, nothing in their plans coincides with giving anything back.
Of course, the true reason for jackhammering Crete mountainside flat for bigger roads is money, but let’s address that issue in another report. What should be of concern is the fact that superhighways running all over Crete are unnecessary. This news release talks about the road works from Chania and Kissamos in Crete’s Far West, connecting Heraklion as “crucial,” when other, more dire infrastructure problems in Chania Prefecture should be prioritized far above roads to connect current and future all-inclusive resorts and luxury villas.
Anyone who understands Crete knows the island cannot support much more growth in tourism numbers or business development schemes. I won’t get into the Eastern segment of this “wonder road” to help ensure wild Lassithi gets its share of hotels, golf courses, and energy engineering. The latter, the energy buildup of Crete, is at the core of all that is wrong with Crete, Greece, and even EU governance. How can we know this BOAK is a money-making proposition for the big daddy investors? It’s simple. Their logos and names are all over it. Look at the governor’s announcement. And filter Arnautakis’ proud assertions:
Crete is an island that is entitled to a share in development, based not only on proportionality, but also on the basis of the role that our place can play in the wider Mediterranean area.
Crete: The Coppertop Battery
To understand what is really going on we must research the roles of entities like the NSRF Regional Programs (see 26.2 billion EU euros in the pie), GEK TERNA, AKTOR Concessions, and INTRAKAT in this grand scheme of transforming Crete Island. It should come as no surprise that the consortium responsible for creating the nearly €3 billion euro project (overall high estimate) are GEK TERNA, AKTOR Concessions, and INTRAKAT.
We can see the far-reaching goals of BOAK by knowing what these entities are really about. GEK TERNA, for instance, is the largest construction company in Greece. What is most relevant about this company is not the billions to be made building these roads; it’s the much more profitable and destructive energy, the new Kastelli Airport with all it entails, and real estate activities of George Peristeris’ company(s). GEK Terna SA stocks have skyrocketed since a low of 1.15 euros per share in 2016 to a peak of 17.84 euros in July of this year. TERNA ENERGY’s role in transforming the landscape of Crete from rural agricultural and natural wonders into wind and photovoltaic farms is the real Crete disaster is something we must address now.
Peristeris’ investors will also be thrilled when the company turns to waste management solutions for the filthiest island (trash-wise) on this side of Sri Lanka. However, water scarcity and the island’s gigantic trash piles are issues that need to be handled down the road.
More to the point of a forecast of Crete’s future, TERNA ENERGY has already built the largest hybrid energy project in Europe to combine wind energy and pumped storage, with a total installed capacity of 153 MW in Amari, Crete. For those unaware, the Amari Valley is where the god Zeus grew up and one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Or I should say, it was. This hybrid facility is linked to wind farms in distant Lassithi by high-voltage lines that will eventually interconnect with other TERNA projects. I know the reader can connect the dots as to why Greece’s biggest energy concern set projects to be interconnected at opposite ends of the Island.
This so-called “hybrid” system and its interconnects will ultimately send power back to Greece and central Europe. Some experts say Crete is being turned into one giant battery for Germany and other nations in the EU. Many Cretans believe the power cable from the mainland was to better serve Crete customers with electricity. There’s a laugh.
Big Fish Eat Little Fish
Turning to the other stakeholders in these massive Crete projects we find the ELANKTOR Group, which operates in much the same way as TERNA about wind farms (see wind turbine base below) and photovoltaic projects but with more of a focus on concessions and real estate development. The company history/mission section of its website tells us a lot:
“The Group’s mission is to deliver high-quality infrastructure, energy, and environmental projects, promote circular economy through innovative waste management solutions, increasing its alternative energy footprint, contributing to the development and improvement of the quality of life while aiming at the continuous creation of added value for all shareholders, employees, the Greek economy and society.”
As for the third member of this triad, INTRAKAT is interested in EU-financed construction projects and public-private partnerships. This conglomerate is keen to build malls and other construction developments involving EU financing. The boss of this company is Feroniki Tzavela, a Greek economist, politician, and former New Democracy Member of Parliament and LAOS MEP. She seems the perfect conduit for snagging developmental funding, if she’ll excuse me for saying so here. Here connections via the Eisenhower Foundation, the OECD and the Adenauer Stiftung do not hurt INTRAKAT or any of these other companies, especially where outside investing is concerned. Much has been made of her dinners with both American Presidents Bush and Ford. The reader can quickly fill in the rest. Those dinner conversations had so little to do with the welfare of Greek society, let alone democracy.
Before I leave off, it would be unfair not to mention the bankers, lawyers, and privateers associated with ELANKOR Group. The list reads like a Greek “who’s who” of connected big business people. Perhaps the most interesting because of his ties to Eurobank, is Efthymios Bouloutas the CEO and an executive board member of the company. He is also a board member at Vivartia, Olympic Airlines, EFG Bank Luxemburg (which owns hundreds of thousands of shares of Creta Farms), and EFG Private Bank. Boulatas also holds degrees (and connections) via his Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a M.Sc. from Stanford University. It would be interesting to investigate all these individuals and linkages to entities like Blackrock (see Larry Fink), which sees Greece as a prime business opportunity. And we all know how the world’s biggest investment firm loves the everyday citizen and Crete’s natural bounty, right? Expert more of the beauty below.
I know some readers will be thinking, “and he got all this from a crummy Greek regional press release?” Well, as I have stated many times on many media outlets, my friends and I do not want these people to destroy Crete, let alone the rest of the marvelous places left on Earth. But they certainly will with the promise of some pauper level jobs, green technology, and progress – the same progress that made Greeks the poorest people in Europe. Think about that until my next report, revealing what I believe the future Crete will look like. (See America’s role in the Supergrid) If I am correct, the ancients will roll in their tombs, and mighty Zeus will cast thunderbolts in all directions.
Stay tuned.
[…] partners to the cause of making Crete into a wind and solar battery for mainland Europe. We reported recently on the activities of corporate interests of GEK TERNA, AKTOR Concessions, and INTRAKAT to this end. […]