Technical Chamber of Greece struggling to make ends meet

The Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), the organization that awards licenses to engineers and advises the Greek state on engineering projects, is suffering from funding problems.

Until last year, TEE had three sources of funding: its members’ annual contributions, a 2 percent tax on engineers’ fees and a 1 percent tax on profits from construction works. The last two have been scrapped as part of liberalization measures.

“During the last three years, TEE cut is budget by 45 percent, down to 20 million euros this year,” the chamber’s president, Christos Spritzis, told Kathimerini. “But our revenues from members are only 11 million euros per year.”

Spritzis said that TEE has not paid its rent at its Athens offices for the last five months. It also has 17 national branches, with the one covering western Greece and the Ionian island set to suspend its services for the rest of the month in a bid to pressure the government into providing more funding.

Source: ekathimerini.com