Financing scandal rocks Greece's ruling party – politico

Big party names

According to a report, more than half of the 57 people who are officially listed as Blue Skies employees had high -ranking positions near Mitsotakis or New Democracy. Nobody listed their corporate PR roles in their résumés.

In addition to the outgoing general secretary of EPP of Bakolas, the names, Domna Mikhailidou and deputy transport minister of Konstantinos Kyranakis.

Most of them seem to have worked in the company when Mitsotakis took over the party leadership in 2016 and stopped in 2019 when New Democracy was elected and they received official roles. Others, such as Orsaki Rousnetou, who works in the Prime Minister communications office, continue to appear on the company's salary statement.

When asked about Bakolas, Mikhailidou, Kyranakis and Rousnetou, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis rejected the allegations and said that many party members would of course receive their income from the private sector if they were not in a paid party role.

“In New Democracy, a party position is a position, i.e. not a job in the party. In parallel to this position, people in the private sector work,” he said to a press conference.

The objection of the opposition is that the blue sky looks like a new democracy shadow surgery, but Marinakis called this claim “a relic of science fiction”. Instead, he said he supported civil servants who have experience in the private sector.