Egnatia

After no fewer than 16 years, the section of the E65 highway linking Lamia (in central Greece) with Kalambaka (in Thessaly) was officially launched on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

This is a 136-kilometer section of the road that the PM dubbed "a decades-long dream."

An investment proposal submitted by Atlas Robotics to Enterprise Greece foresees the creation of a manufacturing factory for robotic technology in northwestern Greece, with a budget of 91 million euros.

The agreement for the concession of Egnatia Odos between the Greek state and the Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), as well as the company Nea Egnatia Odos and the original shareholders, GEK Terna and Egis Projects was signed on Friday, according to TAIPED. 

Motorists using the Egnatia Odos highway (A2) around the Igoumenitsa area may face some delays through Wednesday as maintenance work is carried out on the Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel.

The concession of the Egnatia Odos highway to GEK Terna for a period of 40 years is expected to be completed in March.

Despite the complaints about the traffic congestion caused by the construction of a flyover on a ring road in Thessaloniki, the Infrastructure Ministry has categorically rejected any possibility of suspending the project, as the inconvenience will be temporary and the benefits will be permanent.

A total of 24 migrants who had illegally entered Greece from the land border with Turkey at Evros in northeastern Greece were intercepted on two separate occasions by the Alexandroupoli police department on New Year's Eve and January 1.

Forty passengers travelling from the northern port city of Thessaloniki to the western town of Ioannina were left stranded in intense snowstorm on Friday evening after their long-distance KTEL bus broke down. 

Toll prices }will be hiked by an average of 7-7.5% as of January 1, according to the new rates published by the six operators of Greece's national highways, in line with an agreement with the Infrastructure Ministry.

This means, for example, that the Athens - Thessaloniki trip for a regular sized family car will increase by 2.20 euros to €33.55.  

Appeals by residents or local government bodies (or both), disputes between companies, and service delays in the delivery of required spaces for the establishment of construction sites - e.g. due to the need for expropriations - are just a few examples of the issues that continue to derail the timetables of most of the country's major projects.