As the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) continues its investigation into suspected large-scale fraud involving EU agricultural subsidies in Greece, the Greek government has announced its intention to shut down the agency at the heart of the case – OPEKEPE – and transfer its responsibilities to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). In an interview, the now-resigned president of OPEKEPE, Nikos Salatas, defended his tenure, blaiming presidents before him, and criticised the government's move, calling it a "serious problem for the country."

Context: EU probe and Greece’s response

The EPPO is investigating what appears to be a coordinated scheme involving fake declarations of farming activity to illegally access EU funds intended for farmers. As part of this probe, the EPPO raided offices in Athens and Crete, reporting obstruction on the process collecting digital evidence and citing a lack of full cooperation from the Greek agency.

The Greek government announced its plan to dismantle the agency and hand over its duties to AADE while the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Kostas Tsiaras, requested the resignation of OPEKEPE President Nikolaos Salatas

Salatas responds: “2022–2023 marked the peak of irregularities”

In his interview, Salatas acknowledged that issues at OPEKEPE are not new but insisted that the situation deteriorated significantly during 2022 and 2023.

“Everyone knows it – the farmers know it. That’s when the system collapsed. The IT infrastructure failed, and countless fraudulent schemes took place,” he stated.

He shifted the blame for the scandal to earlier leadership and suggested that some previous presidents had yielded to political pressure. “If politicians pressured them, they should have said so. I wasn’t someone who could be managed. I wanted to save the agency,” he said.

Salatas maintained that he fully cooperated with the EPPO and argued that his removal was politically motivated, allegedly ordered by the Prime Minister’s office.

“Why was I dismissed? I was working day and night, and the agency was starting to recover. Not everyone wanted OPEKEPE to continue existing,” he claimed.

Concern over the agency’s closure

Salatas expressed deep concern over the government’s decision to abolish OPEKEPE in the midst of an ongoing investigation, warning that such a move could undermine both the agency’s credibility and the investigation’s outcome.

“You don’t shut down an agency that handles €3 billion a year just because of a raid,” he said. “There’s a danger this becomes a cover-up, shifting responsibility to AADE and letting the real culprits go unpunished.”

He added that transferring the agency’s powers to a body with no agricultural expertise is a mistake and suggested that a better alternative would have been to turn OPEKEPE into an independent authority, properly staffed and supported by the state.

“This is a major issue for Greece,” he concluded. “Losing EU accreditation for managing agricultural funds is a very real risk.”

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