A new donation of 160 million euros from the four systemic banks, aimed at the comprehensive renovation and upgrading of the facilities and building infrastructure of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the National Technical University of Athens, was announced today by the chairmen and CEOs of Alpha Bank, Eurobank, the National Bank of Greece, and Piraeus Bank, during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Mansion.
The initiative aims to create modern and accessible facilities at three major and historic academic institutions in the country. It includes the preparation of studies for the redevelopment of the campus and the maintenance of teaching, administrative, and common-use buildings at the University of Athens, the renovation of student dormitories at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), along with the upgrading of lecture halls and common areas, as well as the renovation of the iconic Gini Building at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).
«With the initiative we are presenting, a very decisive step is being taken to upgrade the public university, as the 160 million donation from the country’s four systemic banks will serve as a springboard for the renovation of the historic infrastructure of our historic institutions,» the prime minister noted.
The donation will complement initiatives funded by national and European resources aimed at modernizing and upgrading the infrastructure of public universities, as part of a broader investment in public education.
«I am absolutely certain that these significant resources will be put to good use and will be added to the substantial expenditures that have already been made using national funds as well as funds from the Recovery Fund,» said Kyriakos Mitsotakis. «I believe that a new dawn is breaking for public universities—free of occupations, with libraries, gathering spaces, and places of joy and learning. This is the public university we want, and that is what we will all work toward,’ the prime minister added.
The new donation also complements the funding provided by the four systemic banks to finance the «Marietta Giannakou,» through which a total of 670 public schools across the country have been or are being renovated.
«The “Marietta Giannakou” program is being implemented for the second consecutive year. I must tell you that, as you yourselves have observed, it brings great joy to local communities, who see that, to a large extent, schools that had been neglected are being upgraded, made accessible, repainted, and their athletic facilities repaired—all of which bring so much joy to the children and to the entire neighborhood. »And I believe that these donations truly have a very significant social and educational impact,” noted Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
For its part, the Sofia Zacharaki, Minister of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports stated:
«This is an important day, Mr. President, as a continuation of the efforts that the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports has been making in recent years anyway. With particular emphasis during the two previous terms—under my predecessors, Niki Kerameos and Kyriakos Pierrakakis—and under the current political leadership, now together with Nikos Papaioannou, we are striving to strengthen Greek public universities through a very significant increase in public funding.
I would like to remind you that, since April, the regular subsidy—exceeding 110 million—for the universities’ operating expenses has been disbursed, and an amount exceeding 120 million has already been allocated through the public investment program—known as the EPA in the new programming period—for maintenance.
And of course, let’s not forget that the very optimistic and ambitious—I would say—project to build student dormitories at both regional and central universities is currently underway. We will exceed our target of building 8,500 new beds for our students within the next five years—a PPP project that, in itself, exceeds 700 million.
So today, this is being accompanied by an outstanding initiative on the part of the banks as well, aimed at supporting three historic institutions—which, however, have significant exposure to a large real estate portfolio and, in fact, I would say, worn down by the passage of time.
I would like to point out, in closing, that this is, in any case, the direction you have set in recent years to strengthen Greek public universities—through infrastructure, as well as by increasing the number of permanent staff and faculty members and implementing other measures to promote the internationalization and outward-looking nature of Greek universities.».
Ο George Zanias, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Bank Association stated on behalf of the four donor banks:
«The four systemic banks—Alpha, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece, and Piraeus Bank—have decided to respond to this new call, from you and the government more broadly, to contribute to the radical upgrading of three iconic Greek universities. Two of these are also the largest universities in Greece. In this way, we believe that the generation and dissemination of knowledge at these universities will be further strengthened.
This initiative runs parallel to the current “Marietta Giannakou” program for school renovations, to which systemic banks are contributing 400 million over the next two years. And now they are contributing another 160 million for higher education, bringing the total to 560 million for all levels of education in the country.
This is now possible because, after everything we’ve been through—including the crisis—Greek banks are now strong and can fulfill their role in promoting economic growth and social welfare.
»As part of corporate social responsibility—which includes this initiative—banks will have contributed approximately 1 billion euros in recent years, in addition to this donation.".
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Minister of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports Sofia Zacharaki, Minister of State Akis Skertsos, Deputy Minister of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports Nikos Papaioannou, CEO of the public limited company «Building Infrastructure» Thanasis Giannaris; the rectors of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), Gerasimos Siasos; the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Kyriakos Anastasiadis; and the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Ioannis Hatzigeorgiou; Dimitris Tsitsirangos, Chairman of Alpha Bank, representing CEO Vasilis Psaltis, Fokion Karavias, CEO of Eurobank, and Pavlos Mylonas, CEO of the National Bank of Greece, Vasilis Koutentakis, Senior General Manager of Piraeus Bank, representing CEO Christos Megalou, George Zanias, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Bank Association; and Haroula Apalagaki, Acting General Manager of the Hellenic Bank Association.
The Prime Minister's full statement:
Today is truly, ladies and gentlemen, a wonderful day, because the initiative we are presenting marks a very decisive step toward upgrading the public university system, as the 160 million donation from the country’s four systemic banks will serve as a springboard for the renovation of the historic infrastructure of our historic institutions.
I would like to begin by thanking the four systemic banks for yet another significant corporate social responsibility initiative, which comes on top of the 400 million euros already allocated, over a four-year period, for the upgrading of our school infrastructure.
The «Marietta Giannakou» Program is being implemented for the second consecutive year. I must tell you that, as you yourselves have observed, it brings great joy to local communities, who see that, to a large extent, schools that had been neglected are being upgraded, made accessible, repainted, and their athletic facilities repaired—all of which bring so much joy to the children and to the entire neighborhood. And I believe that these donations truly have a very significant social and educational impact.
This donation, which resulted from a discussion I had with the university presidents, further underscores the commitment Greek banks have shown to supporting our national education system.
And now we turn our attention to the universities—specifically, the three oldest and most iconic universities— with a donation intended to fund substantial improvements to the university campuses, which, as we know and as the university presidents have stated, have unfortunately, due to the passage of time, have been somewhat neglected and require significant additional intervention beyond the resources already allocated by the state.
I believe that with this very significant donation —which primarily benefits the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, but also allocates significant funds to the National Technical University of Athens and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki—will enable the university administrations to undertake very significant initiatives.
Indeed, I would say there is a discrepancy here between the significant progress our universities—the public universities—have made, especially in terms of outreach, and the state of our infrastructure—and especially our large campuses—which certainly now require more substantial and «major» improvements, which can now be funded by this donation.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the university presidents, first of all for the fact that you have «embraced» the government’s policy of investing in the internationalization of universities. The fact that we are now able to attract international students—both undergraduate and graduate—to English-language programs in the numbers mentioned is, I believe, a great success for Greek public universities, which are now moving away from a closed-off mindset, are becoming more closely linked to the market, and are entering into significant agreements with foreign institutions. And in this way, it is obviously improving the quality of the educational services it provides, which is, after all, its primary goal.
But I also want to congratulate you on the great determination you have shown in matters concerning the enforcement of law and order within your universities. This has been the Greek government’s policy, from the amendment to the law on university asylum to the explicit directive I have personally issued to the Minister of Citizen Protection, whenever police intervention is requested, they may intervene to address instances of lawlessness.
We have taken very significant steps in this direction, with the result that there are essentially no active occupations within the universities, and spaces that had been occupied for many decades have been returned to the public universities, for the benefit of students, professors, visitors, and university staff.
And this could not have been achieved without the active participation of the university presidents. I am well aware, gentlemen, that you have done this—and continue to do so—at personal cost. I want to acknowledge this, and I want you to know that you will continue to have our full support in this endeavor.
This chapter, I would say, of a historical aberration—where anyone could, simply by invoking some ideological preference, occupy the public sphere—must be brought to a definitive and irrevocable close. And this is a non-negotiable political priority. This, of course, also requires investment on your part in systems such as, for example, controlled access. I know that steps are being taken in this direction, but I believe we can move even faster.
And, of course, a more comprehensive initiative that also addresses student housing, to which I want to give special attention. It is unthinkable today for a modern university not to be able to provide students living in dormitories with an environment that is beautiful, tasteful, and, above all, safe.
We are committed to continuing to allocate significant resources to student housing. This is already happening through PPP programs. To be honest with you, we would have liked them to move faster, but I think things are finally on track. We will create more than 8,000 new spots for students in new student housing facilities, and at the same time, we are making very significant improvements to existing student housing facilities, in collaboration with INEDIVIM, which we intend to transform into an organization providing comprehensive student services, with the support of our student housing as its top priority.
And of course I should mention here—since this is indeed the case, and justifiably so— a great deal is said about the need to support our students in an environment of rising rents, that this government provides very significant resources—and you know this— to subsidize the rent of students who cannot afford it or for whom there is no space in student dormitories, with substantial amounts.
By way of example, I’d like to mention that in the case of shared housing—which I always encourage—two students can receive up to 5,000 euros per year to cover housing costs. This is a substantial amount, which covers a large portion of the rent a student would need to pay if they have to move to a city other than the one where they permanently reside.
I would also like to emphasize the importance I place on collaborating with «Building Infrastructure,» with KTIP, which has now gained extensive experience in quickly executing such projects. The donation helps us accelerate the implementation of these projects.
Deciding how these resources will be used is primarily the university’s responsibility, in consultation with the donors. But I am absolutely certain that these significant resources will be put to good use and will supplement the substantial expenditures that have already been made using national funds as well as the Recovery Fund.
I am pleased that the Rector of the National Technical University of Athens mentioned the investment being made in Lavrio, at «Daedalus,» the state-of-the-art supercomputer that we are currently installing and that will provide enormous computing power, not only to the academic community but also to startups, which are seeking computing power to run artificial intelligence models. This is how we view the connection between investments in technology and education; specifically in the field of technology, the National Technical University of Athens has been providing this for, as you mentioned, 190 years.
Finally, I would like to congratulate you on the priority you are giving to the Gini Building, because for us, this is yet another investment that will contribute to the overall revitalization of a section of the capital’s historic center that has been neglected and run-down. But just imagine a new Gini Building, combined with the new Archaeological Museum being built right next door, and the «Acropol,» which is practically finished and will also take on a new role.
We are creating a major hub—not merely for urban renewal, but for social, educational, economic, and cultural life in the heart of Athens, and I believe you are right to prioritize using the significant funds from the donation toward this goal.
So, I’d like to conclude by once again thanking the banks for this very substantial sponsorship. I’d like to ask everyone involved to move forward at the same pace we did with the ’Marietta Giannakou« program, so that very soon students, faculty, and university staff can see construction sites »in action« and so that we can begin delivering the first renovated spaces as soon as possible, the first renovated buildings, which will truly allow us to transform the appearance of these campuses.
And just so you know, we’re not stopping here. The minister also mentioned new European funding instruments that we can take advantage of, but we now have an opportunity to move very quickly, and to demonstrate the results of this work as quickly as possible.
Because, you know, sometimes even a repainted building, simple things, can completely change the mindset and mood of both students and professors, and we all truly have a duty to provide facilities that are worthy of the quality of our students and professors alike.
So, once again, thank you very much, and I’m happy to accept the invitation to visit the Rector’s Office, but also to visit our other universities—the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, which also occupies such an important location in the heart of Thessaloniki.
Because I remember an experience I had, several years ago, on campus, when I, too, fell victim to a «visit» from hooded men and had a very unpleasant experience, quite a few years ago. We’re going to leave all that behind us now, once and for all.
I believe that a new dawn is breaking for public universities—free of occupations, with libraries, gathering spaces, and places of joy and learning. This is the public university we want, and this is what we will all work toward.
Thank you very much.
