- They are wasting money on consultants at a time when ELTA has over 3,000 regular employees, and 500 experienced managers, and is losing tens of millions of euros.
- The tainted past of direct awards to Rebecca Pitsika’s company and the case reminiscent of Andreas Patsis.
The management of ELTA is preparing to award a new contract worth half a million euros to a company owned by Rebecca Pitsika, an advisor to the Prime Minister.
This concerns the company People For Business, which, as was revealed in October 2022, during the first term of the Mitsotakis government, received contracts totaling 400,000 euros from the Hellenic Post, the Independent Power Transmission Operator, and ERT. The new contract, if finalized, will be awarded without a tender, as Hellenic Post did not announce a competitive process but received bids from three companies. Among them was People For Business, whose offer was considered the most advantageous based on the lowest price criterion. This particular contract was discussed by the Hellenic Post board a few days ago. However, according to information from Data Journalists, there were strong reactions from board members with the argument that Hellenic Post’s maximum contract award limit cannot exceed €435,000. The meeting was adjourned. A new proposal for a contract worth €432,000 followed, which will be discussed at tomorrow’s board meeting. It is questionable whether the board will proceed with this particular award.
The initial proposal for direct award
The project that Hellenic Post is preparing to award to Rebecca Pitsika’s consulting company involves the provision of “Consulting Services for the Appointment of Consultants and Special Associates”. The project includes the recruitment of 7 consultants for 18 months. Two are expected to work in the Procurement Directorate of Hellenic Post, and one in the Financial Directorate. At the same time, the hiring of two project managers and two auditors is also foreseen for the same period. Hellenic Post did not conduct an open tender for this project but received offers from three companies. High Fidelity EPE with a bid of €540,378.22, Action Line MEPE with €535,240.60, and People for Business with €521,491.57.
People for Business was identified as the lowest bidder. Just a few days ago, on April 5, the Board of Directors of Hellenic Post was scheduled to meet. One of the items on the agenda was the proposal to award the specific project to People for Business.
However, one day before the crucial board meeting, there were strong reactions from board members who had been informed about this specific proposal. The reason for the reactions was that, as they claimed, the maximum direct award limit of Hellenic Post could not exceed €435,000 plus VAT. Within hours, Hellenic Post received new bids from the three companies, all of which were below the €435,000 threshold. Hellenic Post’s response in this particular case was indeed remarkable.
The new fast-track proposal
The new proposal is for essentially the same project, “Consulting Services for the Appointment of Consultants and Special Associates,” but with one position less than originally planned. Specifically, the number of associate positions was reduced from seven to six, as hiring one of the two project managers was eliminated to reduce the assignment’s cost.
The new bids from the three companies were as follows Fidelity EPE at €449,142.05, Action Line at €444,725.06, and People for Business at €432,993.01. These amounts include the cost of paying each employee plus the company’s fee.
The revised proposal, along with several other issues, was finally presented for discussion at a Hellenic Post board meeting on April 5. Tensions arose when the discussion turned to the controversial award.
According to Data Journalists, some of the board members reacted by questioning why there was no open competition and instead the method of direct award was chosen. The meeting was adjourned in a highly charged atmosphere and is expected to reconvene on Tuesday, April 15.
Voluntarily dismissed to cut costs
All this raises many questions. According to Data Journalists, Hellenic Post has over 3,000 permanent employees, 500 experienced administrative managers, and another 1,500 employees hired through leasing companies. Therefore, many within Hellenic Post wonder why hiring through Rebecca Pitsika’s company is preferred, especially at a time when Hellenic Post is reporting losses of tens of millions of euros. It is noteworthy that a few months ago, the management of Hellenic Post decided to voluntarily reduce the number of employees in order to reduce the company’s wage costs. In this process, about 2,000 people are said to have left the company, while at the same time, 140 of the 1,150 stores across the country were closed. It is worth noting that Ms. Pitsika is the head of New Democracy’s cadre registry and has been appointed as an advisor to the Office of the New Democracy President on personnel evaluation issues.
The awards that reached the Parliament
This isn’t the first time that Rebecca Pitsika’s consulting firm has secured government contracts through direct awards. In October 2022, SYRIZA revealed that Ms. Pitsika’s company had received contracts totaling 400,000 euros from Hellenic Post, ERT, and the Independent Power Transmission Operator during the first term of the Mitsotakis government. Specifically, the Hellenic Post contract was for consulting services for the recruitment of consultants and special associates, amounting to €287,000.
In addition, according to information that came to light during this period and even reached Parliament, Ms. Pitsika was appointed by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Export Credit Insurance Organization and by the then Minister of State to a working group tasked with preparing the “Greece 2050” report.
In response to SYRIZA’s allegations, Ms. Pitsika issued a statement in which she stated, among other things, that her company’s projects from the broader public sector averaged 16.5% – with the remaining 83.5% coming from the private sector. According to the same statement, of these broader public sector projects, “80% were awarded through competitive procedures, while only 20% were direct awards”. According to the same statement, Hellenic Post’s direct awards were for two individual projects that did not exceed a total of 20,000 euros.
Patsis and the €821,877 from Hellenic Post
Another case that came to light regarding contracts with Hellenic Post was the case of former New Democracy (ND) MP Andreas Patsis. According to reports from October 2022, Patsis’ law firm signed 27 contracts with Hellenic Post for the provision of specialized legal services in European law, competition law, and state aid before the European Commission. Their total cost amounted to 821,877 euros. These revelations provoked strong reactions. The then CEO of Hellenic Post was forced to resign, and the government dismissed Andreas Patsis, following earlier revelations about deals involving non-performing loans.
In any case, Hellenic Post has proven to be particularly “generous” in recent years when it comes to associates of the Prime Minister or “blue” MPs, despite the financial problems they face.
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