Dendias: HAI will remain in state hands

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias emphatically stated on Friday that it is not possible at the moment for the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) to leave state control, saying, indicatively, that "without the HAI we cannot live."

The streamlining of HAI, he said, is an absolute priority as it is necessary for the uninterrupted support of the work of the Hellenic Armed Forces, stressing that the situation is "absolutely problematic."

He noted in particular that the Hellenic Air Force has paid a total of 120 million euros for projects that were not implemented or whose completion has been delayed.

Therefore, the process of finding a strategic investor is obviously moving to a second, future phase.

Dendias noted that the decision of the Defense Ministry to take over HAI incurs more political cost and few potential benefits, but the current situation...