False start for Environment Ministry’s subsidy platform

The Environment Ministry’s Saving at Home (“Exoikonomisi Kat’ Oikon”) program received such a huge response on Tuesday that its online platform crashed.

The platform, which launched on Tuesday, received 1.5 million visitors in just a few hours, while there were concerns on the ministry’s part that malicious software may have played a role.

After the platform went offline, the ministry was forced to temporarily suspend the program, which offers subsidies for home improvements aimed at saving energy.

Authorities have now announced that the platform will reopen gradually from next Monday: Applications from central and eastern Macedonia, Thrace, Epirus, Thessaly and Western Greece will be accepted from 8 a.m. on March 19, while those from the Peloponnese, Central Greece, western Macedonia, the Ionian and northern Aegean islands and Crete will be accepted from March 26 and those from the southern Aegean and Attica from April 2.

The platform’s crash and the suspension of the program came on the back of successive delays in the launch of Saving at Home in the last month, which led to great anticipation among citizens.

Source: ekathimerini.com