Alexis Tsipras, leader of the newly formed ELAS party, has presented a national plan for small and medium-sized businesses to the Athens Chamber of Commerce board, proposing a €4 billion annual investment fund and sweeping tax relief he says would revive Greece's struggling SME sector.
Mr. Tsipras said he wasn't there to criticize the government's SME policy specifically, but argued the current administration has effectively locked small and medium enterprises out of bank lending and EU Recovery Fund resources, noting only 6% of businesses have benefited from the fund's lending component to date.
The centerpiece of his proposal is a National Convergence Fund, providing €4 billion annually — €12 billion over a four-year term — drawn from public investment budgets, domestic business contributions, and a redirection of Golden Visa program funds, which he said could leverage private capital to reach a total investment capacity of €25 billion.
Mr. Tsipras outlined five guiding principles, including freeing up what he called "innovation cells" trapped within small businesses, ending SME exclusion from closed public procurement processes and cartels, gradually building new financing institutions, and strict adherence to fiscal rules.
"Our program is strictly costed," he said, invoking his record as the prime minister who led Greece out of its bailout programs and restored market credibility.
The plan includes 10 specific measures: eliminating a business activity tax for all legal entities, ending advance tax payments for sole proprietorships, a new debt settlement allowing up to 120 installments with penalty write-offs, and a 30% average cut to electricity bills through reasserting state control over utility DEI.
Mr. Tsipras also proposed cutting VAT to 6% on basic food and hygiene items, halving special consumption tax on fuel to the EU's minimum threshold, capping refinery profit margins, and imposing a windfall tax on refinery profits, which he said exceeded €1.5 billion in the past six months.
He closed by calling for an end to "the sell-off of state and private assets" and greater transparency to accelerate Greece's convergence with European economic standards.