Athens, Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Dear Friends and Partners,

It is a great honor for me to address you for the last time as Chairman of the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics - HAEE, as my term has come to an end due to the assumption of the duties of Vice President at the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA).

First of all, I would like to thank our members, all of you, for your full support during the five years of HAEE’s operation. Your contribution has helped ΗΑΕΕevolve into one of the most important organizations in the energy sector in our country.

With great emotion, I would like to note that since 2015, when we started this journey to date, we have achieved a lot. But most importantly, we have managed to create a benchmark organization for all those involved in energy, the environment and the economy. Our mission has been and remains to bring institutions, regulators, policy makers, industry, the market and social actors together, to enhance dialogue on critical issues, to promote knowledge production as well as to facilitate interconnections and synergies that upgrade the energy sector.

The successful course of the first five years of HAEE, fills us with optimism and allows us to consider it as the roadmap for the future.

I am proud that we have worked hard and systematically over the years to deliver to the next administration a vibrant and active organization with a strong membership base, but mostly an organization that is respected and recognized far beyond the Greek borders. Today, thanks to the consistent implementation of the vision of its founders, HAEE has an extensive portfolio of activities that aim to add value to both its members and strategic partners, as well as to all stakeholders in the industry. We have succeeded in creating landmark events that have evolved into important institutions, such as the HAEE Annual Symposium, the Ecomobility Conference, which from 2020 is expanding and evolves into a very important annual event for alternative forms of energy and environmental sustainability, as well as the Southeast Europe Energy Forum, in collaboration with the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce. In addition, HAEE has participated as a supporter or co-organizer in a big number of positive initiatives, through the establishment of strategic partnerships with domestic and international players.

HAEE, being an independent Think Tank for Energy Economics, presented important academic work that was promoted to the market and the society in the form of periodicals and special editions, such as the "Energy Bible" - the annual issue of Greek Energy Market Report – as well as many Policy Briefs and Policy Papers, which have been presented to the industry and to policy makers.

Last but not least, we ensured that the knowledge produced was conveyed in targeted ways with the goal of informing and training institutional players, executives in the energy industry and academia, through high level training seminars (HAEE Seminars), and workshops in collaboration with accredited bodies and academic institutions, such as the World Energy Council - Global Gas Center, ESCP Europe, NTUA, AUTH, University of Piraeus etc.

Greece is already on the world energy map. The challenges in the energy sector are many and multidimensional and our country could play a leading role in the wider region. At the same time, the scene is changing. Politically, economically and socially, the country returns to its regularity, which is expected to facilitate investment. In this context, energy and environment will be the focus of attention in the coming years.

I am confident that HAEE, with its new administration - the election process is already underway as this term is anyway coming to an end - will continue to be dynamically present in the developments of the sector with its existing and new, high-level activities.

Finally, I would like to thank the HAEE team for the very effective cooperation and of course all our supporters and sponsors who practically embraced our initiatives and helped HAEE become what it is today.

It goes without saying that I will continue to strongly support to the best of my ability all the productive initiatives of the new administration that aim to serve HAEE’s mission and objectives, which were created with love and a lot of work.