Greek Officials Seek to Shore Up Confidence in Country’s 40% Cash Rebate After Program Put on Extended Pause

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias Greek officials sought to reassure local and foreign producers this week at the Thessaloniki Film Festival that the country’s 40% cash rebate is still on track, after the announcement last month that the Mediterranean nation was delaying plans to reopen its popular incentive scheme.

That decision came after Greece pressed pause on its cash-back program in May to clear more than €100 million ($107 million) in outstanding debts.

Greek officials now insist the program is set to resume in January, with Leonidas Christopoulos, CEO of state audiovisual body Creative Greece, insisting the further delay was necessary for the government to square its accounts. “You cannot be credible — especially abroad — if you have a huge backlog and reopen the platform,” Christopoulos told Variety. “It wouldn’t be credible.” Since launching in 2019, Greece’s rebate scheme has helped the Mediterranean nation land high-profile productions including Rian Johnson’s Netflix blockbuster “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (pictured), Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness” and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter.” According to Christopoulos, the program has fully repaid 211 of the 319 applications that have been approved since its inception, for a total expenditure of €130 million ($139 million) in public funds — half of which was paid out in 2023.

An additional €55 million ($59 million) was earmarked by the government this year to back previous approvals. Those payments, however, are still pending completion of each project’s audit process.