{"id":1942,"date":"2025-07-28T14:19:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/participation-of-thracean-mining-in-the-et-forum-development-conference\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T14:34:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:34:07","slug":"participation-of-thracean-mining-in-the-et-forum-development-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/participation-of-thracean-mining-in-the-et-forum-development-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Participation of \u201cThracean Mining\u201d in the ET Forum Development Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMetalleia Thraki\u201d participated in the development conference <em>ET Forum<\/em>, organized by the newspaper <em>Eleftheros Typos<\/em> in Alexandroupoli (11\/06\/2025). The company\u2019s General Manager, Mr. Leonidas Bakouras, participated as a speaker in the panel discussion titled:<br \/>\n<strong>\u201cEconomy, Entrepreneurship, and Financial Instruments \u2013 Showcasing a New, Innovative, and Sustainable Model of Development for the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (EMT), through the Primary Sector, Tourism, Culture, and Development Infrastructure.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Also participating in the panel were Mr. Nikos Papathanasis, Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance; Mr. Georgios Broufas, Vice Rector of Innovation at Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH); and Mr. Georgios Koumparakis, Chief Commercial Officer of the Mesogeios Group.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to questions posed by the panel moderator, Mr. Giannis Tsaprounis, Mr. Bakouras emphasized the urgent need for genuine <strong>regional development<\/strong> in Greece\u2014particularly in <strong>border regions such as Thrace<\/strong>. Citing relevant studies, he pointed out that <strong>Northern Greece sits atop a mineral wealth valued at \u20ac71 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to the current activities of \u201cThracean Mining,\u201d Mr. Bakouras noted that the <strong>Environmental Impact Study (EIS)<\/strong> for the Perama project is currently in preparation, stating:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore than 40 university professors are working on it through collaborations we have established with academic institutions and universities throughout Greece.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regarding these academic partnerships, he added:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur goal is for the Perama project to be backed by the scientific credibility and technical integrity of the academic community\u2014above all, by the sensitivity they bring when working for the advancement of both Thrace and Greece as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Financial Data from the Kassandra Mines<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThracean Mining\u201d operates as a subsidiary of <strong>Eldorado Gold<\/strong>, a Canadian company that has already invested over <strong>\u20ac3 billion<\/strong> in the <strong>Kassandra Mines<\/strong> located in Halkidiki.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing key figures from the operation, Mr. Bakouras stated:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cEldorado Gold currently employs <strong>2,500 workers<\/strong> in Halkidiki, a number expected to increase to <strong>3,000<\/strong> with full development of the Kassandre Mines by 2026.<\/li>\n<li>To date, the company has paid over <strong>\u20ac500 million in taxes<\/strong> and more than <strong>\u20ac1.5 billion to local suppliers<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The Municipality of Aristotelis has received approximately <strong>\u20ac18 million<\/strong> in mining royalties over the past four years.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He also referred to a published study by <strong>IOBE (Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research)<\/strong>, which clearly indicates that over the next 20 years (2024\u20132044), the Kassandre Mines will significantly contribute to public revenue, the regional GDP of Central Macedonia, and the local economy of the broader Halkidiki area.<\/p>\n<p>According to Mr. Bakouras, <strong>similar figures could apply to Thrace<\/strong> in a few years, <strong>provided that the Perama mine becomes operational<\/strong>. Naturally, a <strong>prerequisite for this is the submission and approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment<\/strong>, which will serve as \u201cthe mirror of the project\u2014detailing all environmental and economic aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The company aims to <strong>complete the Environmental Impact Assessment within the designated timeline<\/strong>, so that it may form the basis for a <strong>structured dialogue with the local community<\/strong>, conducted through public consultation and founded on <strong>accurate, up-to-date data\u2014not figures from 2001 or 2011<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Bakouras expressed optimism about the quality of the study, citing <strong>Eldorado Gold\u2019s unwavering adherence to environmental laws and regulations<\/strong>, as well as <strong>the exceptional scientific competence of the university professionals involved<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMetalleia Thraki\u201d participated in the development conference ET Forum, organized by the newspaper Eleftheros Typos in Alexandroupoli (11\/06\/2025). The company\u2019s General Manager, Mr. Leonidas Bakouras, participated as a speaker in the panel discussion titled: \u201cEconomy, Entrepreneurship, and Financial Instruments \u2013 Showcasing a New, Innovative, and Sustainable Model of Development for the Region of Eastern Macedonia [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1945,"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1942\/revisions\/1945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalleiathrakis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}