- The business of the law firm DLA Piper, where Mr. Omran heads its office in Greece and Cyprus.
- Mitsotakis dismissed Andreas Patsis for the specific tasks but chose as his candidate for the European Parliament the head of the firm that worked with the former ND MP.
by Vangelis Triantis
The candidacy of lawyer Orestis Omran as a New Democracy MEP in the June 9 European elections raises many questions. According to official documents published on Diavgeia, the law firm DLA Piper, where Mr. Omran heads the Greek office, continues to receive money from ELTA for legal services.
It concerns the company that cooperated with the law firm of former New Democracy MP Andreas Patsis, which provided legal services to ELTA, having jointly signed contracts for a total of 821,877 euros. Moreover, when the ELTA contracts were revealed, Patsis was expelled from ND, while the then-CEO of ELTA, Giorgos Kostantopoulos, resigned. Naturally, the question arises as to how ND could expel Andreas Patsis for ELTA assignments, but a year and a half later nominate the head of the company that collaborated with the former ND MP as a candidate for the European Parliament, especially when DLA Piper continues to receive money from ELTA. But let’s see what comes out of the journalistic investigation by Data Journalists.
Compensations of €114,000 within 2024
At the beginning of January 2024, a decision of ELTA was published on Diavgeia regarding “expenses for the provision of specialized legal services”. The decision concerned the payment of €74,276.15 to the international law firm DLA Piper for the “provision of specialized legal services” after the ELTA Legal Service had given the green light by issuing “certificates of good performance of work”. DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world. The contract for legal services between DLA Piper and ELTA was signed in November 2022, according to which the law firm will represent ELTA before the Directorate General for Competition in matters of European law, competition law, and state aid before the European Commission. Until November 2022, this legal matter was handled jointly by the law firms DLA Piper and “Andreas Patsis and Associates”, directly mandated by ELTA. The law firm of Andreas Patsis was the “legal representative in Greece” of DLA Piper, according to an announcement made by ELTA at the time. These contracts were signed during the first term of the Kyriakos Mitsotakis government, when Patsis was a member of parliament for Grevena, leading to his expulsion.
In January 2024, another ELTA decision on payment of compensation to DLA Piper for the provision of specialized legal services was published on Diavgeia. This time, the amount of compensation was 18,819 euros. Previously, on December 5, 2023, an e-mail was sent by the ELTA Administration and Organization Directorate regarding a certificate of good performance of services.
At the end of February last year, another decision on compensation for DLA Piper, the third in a row, was published on Diavgeia. This time, the amount of compensation was €20,873.02, while shortly before, ELTA’s legal counsel had sent an “email regarding a certificate of good performance of services”. Thus, in the period from January to February 2024, DLA Piper received approximately €114,000 as compensation from ELTA, while Orestis Omran is the head of its office in Greece. It’s remarkable that Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed Andreas Patsis for these specific tasks, but chose as a candidate for the European Parliament the head of the company that collaborated with the former ND MP.
Who is ND’s candidate for the European Parliament?
(ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ ΚΟΝΤΑΡΙΝΗΣ/EUROKINISSI)
According to Orestis Omran’s bio, he is “a partner in DLA Piper’s Brussels office and leads the firm’s team for Greece and Cyprus. Mr. Omran “focuses on international corporate and financial transactions and EU regulatory matters in the energy, banking, and infrastructure sectors. As noted, the New Democracy MEP candidate “has represented clients in formal and informal state aid and other investigations before the European Commission, national regulators and subsequent proceedings before EU courts. Impressive are the references to the relations maintained with the Mitsotakis government. At the same time in the past, he is said to have cooperated with the IMF and the EU in the implementation of the Greek program.
Orestis is regarded as one of the top international lawyers in Greece, with a strong network of contacts in government and industry. He has led major privatization, structured finance, and project finance transactions and has represented the Greek government on some of the most complex issues of Greek and European law before the European Commission and other international organizations. He has also advised the IMF and EU institutions on the implementation of the Greek program,” according to his bio on DLA Piper’s website.
“Patsis does not represent us”
Particularly interesting is the statement made by Orestis Omran a few weeks ago when New Democracy announced his candidacy. At that time, several media outlets referred to the cooperation with the law firm of Andreas Patsis and the mandates of ELTA. In the statement, Omran states that “DLA Piper is not represented in Greece by a Greek lawyer or a Greek law firm”, while he refers to the then management of ELTA concerning the ELTA mandates and the cooperation with Patsis’ law firm.
“Although it is known that the law firm (of Andreas Patsis) was involved in these cases until 2022 by decision of the then management of ELTA, there is no relationship or cooperation between our law firm or myself and the said firm,” Omran stressed in the announcement.
However, according to reports at the time, ELTA’s then management had argued that “due to the absence of a DLA Piper office in our country, Andreas Patsis was proposed by the international law firm as a local associate”.
In any case, a year and a half after his expulsion, the “ghost” of Andreas Patsis continues to hang over New Democracy and ELTA.
