Presidency of the Republic: Katerina Sakellaropoulou Blows the Budget Out of the Water

One month after assuming office, Katerina Sakellaropoulou committed to streamlining the operations of the Presidency of the Republic.

On April 11, 2020, she formally announced that “in the coming period, I plan to undertake a broader rationalization of the Presidency’s functions, aiming for modern, lean, and efficient management of its services, aligned with the needs and expectations of our time.”

As part of this initiative, she stated that “a presidential decree will introduce the institution of unpaid special advisors,” made up of “highly qualified and experienced individuals, without imposing any additional cost on the state.”

Four years later, and just months before the end of her term, the Presidency’s expenses have risen significantly.
Data Journalists investigated the trajectory of the Presidency of the Republic’s expenses—a task far from easy, as expense reports and costs are not posted on the “Diavgeia” transparency platform, as one might expect, and as is customary for all other financial activities in the public and wider public sector. The Presidency of the Republic is under no obligation to disclose such information, aside from legislative and presidential decrees.

The only window of transparency comes from the State Budget, where official financial records show a striking 35% increase in the Presidency’s budget during the current president’s term. Based on these figures, the initiative to streamline expenses has not achieved its intended results.

In detail, in 2019, the Presidency’s budget stood at €3.4 million, the same as in 2018. Since 2020, when Ms. Sakellaropoulou took office, expenses have risen almost annually, reaching €4.6 million for 2024, an increase of 35%.

• 2019: €3.4 million
• 2020: €3.7 million
• 2021: €3.8 million
• 2022: €4.4 million
• 2023: €4.2 million
• 2024: €4.6 million

The budget, final accounts, breakdown of expenses, and additional costs for the security of the Presidency of the Republic

Expenses, Additional Security Costs, and Budget Implementation

The budget implementation shows similar patterns. In 2019, actual spending totaled €3.2 million, with some funds left unused, a trend that continued in the following years. Over the next three years, by 2022, spending had reached €4.1 million, a 28% increase.

For 2023 and 2024 (with the latter year still in progress), official figures have yet to be published. However, it’s estimated that, as with the budget, the rise in expenses will settle between 30% and 35% by 2024, or possibly even slightly higher.

The largest jump in the budget occurred in 2022 when employee benefits increased from €2.7 million in 2021 to €3.3 million.

Additional Security Costs

Official data indicates that the Presidency employs around 130 people. However, security costs for the Presidential Guard Service fall outside the Presidency’s budget and are instead covered by the Ministry of Citizen Protection.

These extra security expenses have increased by 50% between 2021 and 2024, rising from €100,000 to €150,000 annually.

All Expenses for 2022

 

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The Detailed Expense Report

On January 15, 2020, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated Katerina Sakellaropoulou, then President of the Council of State, for the position of President of the Hellenic Republic. During the parliamentary vote on January 22, she was the sole candidate and was elected as the new President of the Republic with a broad majority of 261 votes.

On March 13, 2020, Sakellaropoulou succeeded Prokopis Pavlopoulos, becoming the 13th president since 1924, the 8th president of the Third Hellenic Republic following the 1974 restoration of democracy and the first female president in the history of Greece.

Data Journalists have now revealed the latest detailed expense report for the Presidency of the Republic for 2022. The total payments amounted to €4.1 million. Of this amount, €852,000 was spent on purchases of goods and services, while €202,600 was allocated to promotion, advertising, and public relations. Key expenditures include:

• Presidential Sponsorships: €120,000
• Natural Gas Expenses: €106,000
• Overtime Compensation for Unified Salary Staff (excluding teachers): €151,000
• Wages for Work During Holidays and Night Shifts for Special Salary Groups: €333,000
• Employee Benefits: €3 million
• Purchases of Computers and Related Equipment: €32,000
• Fixed Telephone Expenses: €52,000
• Mobile Telephone Expenses: €16,000
• Special Unforeseen Presidential Expenses: €50,000
• Purchases of Additional Furniture: €8,600
• Purchases of Books, Textbooks, Magazines, and Newspapers: €250

The Paradoxes of Comparing with Previous Years

A comparison of the expenses from the preceding years with those of 2022 reveals several paradoxes:

• In 2022, the amount allocated for “Special Unforeseen Expenses” was €50,000. Interestingly, the same amount (€50,000) was recorded as an expense for 2021 as well. These “unforeseen expenses” appear quite… predictable, given that there is no variation between the two years.
• In 2021, there was no expenditure recorded for purchases of books, textbooks, magazines, or newspapers.
• In 2022, the total cost was merely €250. This indicates that the “habit” of utilizing printed materials and traditional reading at the Presidency of the Republic has seemingly been abandoned.
• The expense report for 2020 showed a charge of €28,800 for “purchases of computers and related equipment.” Two years later, an additional €32,000 was added to that figure.
• In 2019, the costs for “Wages for Work During Holidays and Night Shifts for Special Salary Groups” amounted to €207,000. By 2022, this figure had increased to €333,000, representing a rise of approximately 60%.

The Salary of Katerina Sakellaropoulou

The official salary of the President of the Republic is €11,561 per month, which amounts to €138,732 annually. The net amount received is €120,000. Over her four-year term, Ms. Sakellaropoulou is expected to earn a total of €480,000.

Shortly after assuming office, specifically at the start of the pandemic on March 30, 2020, Katerina Sakellaropoulou announced her decision to donate half of her salary to a special fund created to address the effects of the coronavirus. This donation was planned for two months.

According to the announcement, “the President of the Republic, recognizing the challenging economic circumstances the country is facing due to the pandemic, decided, as a minimal gesture of solidarity, to deposit half of her salary into the relevant special fund for the next two months.”

 The 2012 Memorandum Decision on the Salaries of Presidents of the Republic and Former Presidents

Salary Cuts Under the Memoranda

The salary (grant) for the President of the Republic has been cut in half since 2012. In September of that year, it was announced that the monthly stipend for Karolos Papoulias would be reduced to double the parliamentary compensation, down from quadruple. As a result, the current President of the Republic now receives €11,561, a decrease from the previous €23,122 gross.

This reduction also led to a proportional decrease in the monthly compensation for former presidents of the Republic, as it is set at half of the current monthly grant. Thus, until 2012, former presidents received approximately €11,500 per month, but they now receive around €5,500.

Additionally, the amendment provided for the elimination of monthly representation allowances for the sitting President of the Republic. These allowances amounted to one-third of the monthly grant, or €6,240.

Overall, the total savings to the state budget since these changes have amounted to €350,000 annually.

The gifts that Sakellaropoulou received in 2023 were detailed in a publication on the Presidential website in January 2024

The List of Gifts

Although all other financial transaction data are absent from the “Diavgeia” platform, the official website of the President of the Republic is required, under the provisions of Articles 16 and 17 of Law 4829/2021, to publish a list every January of the items offered as gifts to the President in the previous year. This list includes items that have become state property and are managed by the Presidency, along with the names of the donors.

Specifically, this includes a) gifts with an estimated value exceeding two hundred (200) euros; b) gifts valued at less than two hundred (200) euros or consumable goods that the President has indicated she wishes to be transferred to state ownership; and c) items of significant national, historical, cultural, or artistic importance.

While the law is designed to prevent the posting of the Presidency’s expenses on “Diavgeia,” Katerina Sakellaropoulou could still request a change to this regime of limited transparency, thus providing open and easy access for all citizens, as is done with the gifts. Such a move would undoubtedly be commendable.

 The Direct Award from the Municipality of Rethymno in December 2023 for Hosting the President and the Delay in Notification

Complimentary Visits

It is important to note that during the ceremonial visits the President of the Republic makes to various locations across the country, the President does not incur any accommodation expenses but are instead covered by local authorities.

For instance, the Municipality of Rethymno issued a direct award on December 29, 2023, through an expedited process, for “providing hospitality with accommodation in a hotel and hosting a meal as part of the President’s visit for the celebration of the Epiphany.”

Additionally, the municipality covered the cost of the “procurement of a commemorative gift for the President of the Republic.”

Moreover, the Mayor of Rethymno, G. Marinakis, cited “the urgent nature of the need for services that cannot align with the timelines required by other procedures” due to “the late notification of the President’s visit.” He emphasized that the municipality was informed late about Ms. Sakellaropoulou’s trip and, as a result, had to proceed with expedited procedures, such as direct awards.