ATHENS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Greece on Friday received the first installment under the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF) set up to help the economies of member states recover after the pandemic.
During a teleconference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the European Commission's executive vice president and trade commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, congratulated Greece for achieving the first set of milestones and receiving 3.6 billion euros (3.91 billion U.S. dollars) as a disbursement under the RRF.
"Today's payment will allow Greece to continue major investments and far-reaching reforms. These will help to create thousands of jobs, more sustainable growth and higher economic output," Dombrovskis said, according to Greek national broadcaster ERT.
A large part of the funds will be channeled to projects supporting Greece's green and digital transitions, the Greek leader said.
On the agenda of discussion were also the repercussions of the crisis in Ukraine, such as the rapid rise in international energy prices and the inflationary pressure that threatens the recovery of the entire European economy, Mitsotakis added.
It was essential that the next EU summit takes measures to support European economies, he said. (1 euro= 1.09 U.S. dollars) ■