“This is a deeply flawed process, devoid of transparency, where the rules prevent meaningful scrutiny of these declarations,” said Nicholas Aiossa, the director of Transparency International EU.
Here are some of the interesting findings …
Landlord commissioners
Greece’s Apostolos Tzitzikostas has the most impressive list of properties, with four pages of his declaration detailing his partial or total ownership of 16 apartments, 655,463 m2 of land (that’s around six times the size of Paris), six stores, and also several garages and storage spaces all around Greece. Tzitzikostas’ family is one of the biggest landowners in the country, with land ownership dating back centuries, according to a Greek official, granted anonymity to speak freely. Tzitzikostas’ family is one of the richest in northern Greece.
Tzitzikostas’ portfolio will include the tourism industry, raising questions about decisions he might take that could affect the value of his properties, said an MEP who had access to the declaration, granted anonymity to speak freely. The Greek politician, who also declares owning more than €200,000 of shares in various businesses (from dairy products to photovoltaic energy), also received funding from Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy for one of his farms worth €18,116.30. At the time of publication, Tzitzikostas had not responded to a request for comment.
Italian Raffaele Fitto declared owning seven apartments, while having shares in three others. His real estate assets, all located in Italy, also include land, two garages and a cellar. The politician from Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing party, who made his career in the public sector, is expected to take on the cohesion and reform portfolio. He also declares owning 15 percent of a pharmacy in Brindisi in the south of Italy, the value of which is estimated — by Fitto himself — at €150,000. At the time of publication, Fitto had not responded to a request for comment.
Bulgarian Commission nominee Ekaterina Zaharieva has also apparently established a real estate fortune. In 2008, she bought a 6,850 m2 plot of land including a holiday home on the Greek peninsula of Halkidiki, as well as an apartment in her country’s capital Sofia. Between 2016 and 2018, Zaharieva bought two other houses and plots of land in Bulgaria. At the time of publication, Zaharieva had not responded to a request for comment.