The public service compensation (YKO) special account’s deficit, estimated to have reached roughly 700 million euros, will be dealt with over three stages from this year until 2026, the state budget taking on the biggest share, according to a formula being discussed by the energy and national economy and finance ministries.

The plan’s first of three stages concerns an amount of about 250 million euros in debt owed to suppliers, which ministerial officials will seek to have settled this year.

If all goes according to plan, members of ESPEN, the Greek Energy Suppliers Association, should start receiving, this year, payments for public service compensation-related debt accumulated between April and November, 2023.

A second stage of the plan concerns roughly 400 million euros and will be included in the 2025 state budget.

The third stage, worth roughly 100 million euros, is planned to be offset by a surplus anticipated in 2026 as a result of the Crete-Athens grid interconnection, a project expected to be completed in 2026. It promises to greatly reduce public service compensation costs.

The overall plan is expected to turn around the public service compensation (YKO) special account’s deficit for a surplus of between 100 and 150 million euros in two years’ time.