- How were the tax identification numbers (AFMs) unblocked after being blocked by order of Grigoris Varras, the former president of OPEKEPE and current associate of the Prime Minister?
- The freezes were imposed following inspections carried out by the former head of the Directorate of Internal Audits, Paraskevi Tycheropoulou.
- The former presidents of the organization, Kyriakos Babasidis and Evangelos Simandrakos, argued about the role of Lefteris Avgenakis.
- Among the AFMs that were unblocked and paid are cases under investigation by the judiciary or cases in which prosecutions have been brought for allegedly receiving EU funds unlawfully.
- According to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), “payments had already been made for 80% of the blocked AFMs” from October 16, 2022, to December 31, 2023.
- Three individuals involved in the Hiletzakis case are reportedly among those with blocked AFMs.
By Vangelis Triantis
The total amount paid to tax identification numbers (AFMs) frozen by OPEKEPE from 2020 to 2023 was €63.875 million. This information comes from an official document from the new OPEKEPE (AADE) forwarded to the Parliamentary Investigative Committee.
The document concerns 6,404 AFMs that were initially frozen by the former president of OPEKEPE and current associate of the Prime Minister, Grigoris Varras, and then again during Giorgos Georgantas’s tenure as Minister of Rural Development in 2022. The freezes were imposed following audits carried out by the former head of the Directorate of Internal Audits, Paraskevi Tycheropoulou, and the Director of Technical Inspections, Panos Theodoropoulos. Ms. Tycheropoulou was reportedly removed from her position because of the freezing of these AFMs.
Subsequently, the AFMs gradually began to be unblocked, peaking during Kyriakos Babasidis‘s presidency when thousands of AFMs were released. In fact, the minutes from an OPEKEPE meeting on January 31, 2024, which discussed the “settlement of the blocked AFMs,” show that Mr. Babasidis argued the “political leadership” had instructed both the Babasidis and previous Simandrakos administrations to resolve the issue.
This occurred while Lefteris Avgenakis served as Minister of Rural Development. Additionally, Evangelos Simandrakos, the former president of OPEKEPE, stated in his testimony to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office that he was removed from OPEKEPE because of the payment of these AFMs. He also said that this was the cause of the pressure he received from Lefteris Avgenakis, the Minister of Rural Development at the time.
The document from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) raises many questions, particularly about certain points it mentions. Among the AFMs that were unblocked and paid are alleged producers who are either under investigation by the judiciary or have been charged with fraud against the financial interests of the European Union. These producers allegedly received EU funds unlawfully. Now, let us look in detail at what the AADE document states.
Blocked AFMs and millions rain down
On February 6, the AADE document was forwarded to the chairman of the Parliamentary Investigative Committee on OPEKEPE in “response to statements made by PASOK rapporteur Milena Apostolaki.” Specifically, Ms. Apostolaki claimed that OPEKEPE submitted inaccurate data to the Investigative Committee about the blocked AFMs.
The AADE document references OPEKEPE records sent to Parliament in response to requests from the PASOK parliamentary group concerning the number of AFMs blocked by OPEKEPE from 2020 through 2022. On October 3, 2025, OPEKEPE sent Parliament an Excel file containing a list of 6,404 AFMs and detailed payment information for 2022, 2023, and 2024.
As stated in the AADE document, from October 16, 2022, to December 31, 2023, “payments had already been made for 80% of the blocked AFMs.” The document also notes that “the freezes of the 6,404 AFMs applied only to schemes related to land and livestock (schemes within the OSDE system).” The list sent to Parliament “pertained to the sums received by the 6,404 AFMs for schemes paid based on the processing of EAE data (as detailed in the preceding paragraph and document no. 74145/10.03.2025) relating to European and state aid (de minimis, emergency aid for Ukraine, etc.).” The total amount received by these AFMs was €50.256 million over the three-year period from 2022 to 2024.
On October 21 and November 12, 2025, PASOK followed up by requesting that “the data sent for the 6,404 AFMs be expanded.” Specifically, they requested “detailed, accurate, and complete information, beyond just the AFMs, for each payment made to the 6,404 AFMs from October 16, 2022, to the present.”
The three AFMs involved in the Hiletzakis case
Following strong protests from the PASOK rapporteur on December 18, 2025, OPEKEPE sent a reply document to Parliament along with a new Excel file containing additional payments for “schemes outside the OSDE system, which are not paid based on the Single Aid Application (i.e., not based on land area or livestock).” These included payments for “improvements in the production and marketing of honey,” “support for new participation in quality schemes,” “the installation of young farmers,” “the establishment and operation of ESK operational groups for agricultural productivity and sustainability,” and more. The file also included payments returned to the European Union because they “were rejected by the banking institution when the file was transmitted due to an issue with the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.”
According to official data from the AADE, the new file sent to Parliament regarding the blocked AFMs includes payments totaling €63,875,000 for the three-year period from 2022 to 2024. The AADE’s figures regarding the frozen AFM payments are striking, particularly since several of these AFMs and their subsidies are included in fraud case files against EU funds that are already before the courts. One recent example is a case involving illegal subsidies, in which the prominent agricultural unionist Myron Hiletzakis is a central figure. According to a report by the Authority for Combating Money Laundering, Hiletzakis allegedly concealed €8 million from auditing authorities between 2019 and 2023. Data Journalists obtained information indicating that three individuals involved in the Hiletzakis case were among the AFMs that were frozen and later unblocked following the “audits” carried out under Babasidis.
Where the blocked AFMs were paid from in 2022
The AADE document reveals another important detail that illustrates the farce of the Parliamentary Investigative Committee on OPEKEPE, as described by the authors. During her parliamentary hearing, a senior OPEKEPE official who continues to hold a managerial position at AADE claimed that 80% of the blocked AFMs were “paid” due to actions taken by Paraskevi Tycheropoulou.
“Eighty percent of these AFMs were paid on December 22, 2023, only to be frozen again on December 29, 2023, a few days later,” she stated, adding: “I am also submitting the official document showing that, despite having a frozen AFM, Xylouris was paid €108,253 during the presidency of Simandrakos in 2023, only for it to be frozen again afterward,” emphasized Paraskevi Kourmentza, Director of Technical Inspections.
However, according to the AADE document, the well-known 80% of the payments actually came from the compensatory allowance payment (a Rural Development measure intended for mountainous and disadvantaged areas), which Aristea Volitaki carried out in her capacity as head of Rural Development. She currently holds the same position in the new OPEKEPE within the AADE. Additionally, according to information obtained by Data Journalists, Xylouris’s AFM was not among those frozen.
Unblocking of AFMs by order of a Minister
During the January 31, 2024, meeting of the OPEKEPE Board of Directors, when the issue of the “settlement of the blocked AFMs” was discussed, Kyriakos Babasidis, the president of OPEKEPE at the time, stated that the “political leadership” had instructed both the Babasidis administration and the previous administration under Evangelos Simandrakos to resolve the matter.
Various issues were placed on the agenda during the meeting. However, the most pressing issue was item number 5: “The settlement of the blocked AFMs.” According to the minutes, Mr. Babasidis described the matter as “extremely serious” and proceeded to outline the existing situation.
“As some of you may recall, there was recently a particularly contentious issue—and possibly even a point of conflict—regarding several thousand AFMs, though the exact number is unclear. Nearly two months ago, I personally raised the matter before the legislative-technical committee, presenting whatever dimensions and evidence I had gathered at the time from my position as Vice President for Technical Inspections,” Mr. Babasidis initially stated.
He then argued that the issue is highly political, directly administrative, and, to some extent, existential for the organization since it concerns thousands of producers and families, some of whom are protesting and asking why they are not included in the payments. In other words, they are asking why they remain frozen and excluded from receiving funds.
Mr. Babasidis stated that some AFMs have been frozen for three to four years, which has made it difficult for people, especially the younger members of these families, to make plans.
During the meeting, Mr. Babasidis emphasized that the Ministry of Rural Development had been informed of the issue, including then-minister Lefteris Avgenakis.
The issue has been raised in writing and in person. Because it is highly political, as I mentioned, it has also been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Rural Development in public meetings with the minister, the rest of the political leadership, associations, agricultural unions, and farmer groups. These people do not know why they are excluded from payments, if they are supposed to be paid, or how much. They have no idea what went wrong or if they made a mistake or if there is an error in their declarations. “This constitutes a major credibility issue, first and foremost for the Organization, which has trapped both the frozen producers and itself,” noted Mr. Babasidis.
He added that the briefing has already been completed at the political level and that the political leadership has given instructions to clarify this matter. He further stated that the political leadership had given instructions to him and the previous administration.
According to the minutes, Mr. Babasidis said the following:
“The organization is facing an existential problem.” The supervisory authority, the minister, the ministry, and the political leadership were the first to realize this. Therefore, instructions were given to the new administration as they had been given to the previous administration since he had personally and in writing reported and recorded the cases and deadlock he saw coming…”
All of this raises more questions about the OPEKEPE scandal.
