Our Managing Partner, Chara Zerva, had the honor of chairing Panel III: “Capital for Security: Markets, Capability, and Strategic Delivery” at Athens Defence Summit held on 20 May at the InterContinental Athenaeum Athens.
The panel featured an exceptional lineup of speakers covering the full chain — from fiscal policy to international strategy to private capital:
🔹Thanos Petralias, Deputy Minister of National Economy & Finance
🔹 Dimitris Skalkos, Secretary General for International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic; Chairman, Enterprise Greece
🔹 Christos Megalou, Chief Executive Officer, Piraeus Bank
The discussion addressed some of the most pressing challenges in European defence financing:
▪️ Designing a fiscal architecture that sustains a €30bn defence programme without compromising fiscal discipline ▪️ Leveraging Europe’s new defence instruments — SAFE loans (€150bn), EDIP, and European Defence Capability Consortia — for Greek industry ▪️ The role of private banking in bridging the “valley of death” for innovative defence SMEs scaling from R&D to full production ▪️ Piraeus Bank’s landmark €100m EIB facility — the first in Greece dedicated exclusively to security & defence enterprises ▪️ Reconciling ESG commitments with defence financing and redefining “S” as Security ▪️ Greece’s ambition to evolve from defence buyer to regional hub and coordinator of joint programmes for SE Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean ▪️ Super tax deductions for defense investments
The conclusion was clear: the challenge is no longer the capital capacity. It is execution — industrial capacity, supply chains, procurement agility, and the institutional speed to deliver security when it matters most.
A decade ago, Greece was fighting for fiscal survival. Today, it is building an integrated defence-industrial-financial ecosystem with strategic clarity.