Five new members have been added to the board at the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company (EDEY), following a decision by the Environment, Energy & Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis.

As manager of the State’s rights in hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation projects, EDEY’s role is to organize tenders, evaluate bids, and issue exploration permits. The company is funded by the State budget.

Sofia Stamataki, a member of the faculty at the National Technical University of Athens, heads the board, and Andreas Georgakopoulos, a member of the faculty at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, is Vice President.

The five new board members appointed are: Loukas Georgalas, a geologist, Stefanos Xenopoulos, a chemical engineer, Alexandra Sdoukou, a lawyer, Antonis Schetakis, a geologist, and Aphrodite Tzika, a political scientist.

An international tender for exploration and exploitation rights to twenty sea plots in western Greece and south of Crete is expected to be announced in the Official Journal of the European any day now, giving the go-ahead for bidding.