Greek mining enterprises are planning investments worth 300-400 million euros for this year, focusing on sectors such as digitization of production, the supply of new machinery equipment and security, President of the Association of Mine Enterprises Athanasios Kefalas said on Tuesday.

Addressing a special event in Athens, Kefalas noted, however, that problems such as energy cost, regulatory hurdles and lack of workers create obstacles in the further development of the sector in a period when a Green Deal leads to an increase of demand in mineral sources offered by Greece.

He said that in 2022, the cost of electricity power grew by 160% and the cost of liquid fuel by around 40%, raising production costs by 25-50%. Kefalas urged the lifting of regulatory and technical hurdles for the implementation of a stable electricity price for the mining industry, and introducing a 50% return on a special fuel tax. He reiterated there were several-year delays in environmental licensing, and repeated a demand for completing a special land framework for mineral raw materials.