Greece's Secret Spending: €435 Million in Classified Budget Lines Since 2019
By Bosphorus News Staff
Greek investigative outlet Dikastiko Reportaz has published a detailed review of classified state expenditure based on official Finance Ministry budget data. The figures cover the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, during which the Greek government spent a total of approximately €434.6 million under the category of "secret funds," classified items that cover everything from national security procurement and informant payments to support for sensitive foreign organisations.
The actual spending exceeded the budgeted amounts by more than 50 percent. The state had allocated approximately €288.3 million for classified expenditure over the same period; what was actually spent was roughly €146 million more.
The three leading ministries
Three ministries accounted for the largest share of that total. The Ministry of Citizen Protection topped the list, with approximately €160.9 million in classified spending across the five years. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed at approximately €91.1 million, and the Ministry of National Defence at approximately €81.4 million.
The report notes that actual spending at the Citizen Protection and Defence ministries consistently and substantially exceeded what had been projected in the state budget, a divergence the publication describes as striking.
Kostis Pikramenos, research director at the strategic consultancy CP Consulting, told the outlet that Greece lacks any parliamentary oversight mechanism for classified spending. "In Greece there is no national security culture, and the Hellenic Parliament does not have a corresponding committee," he is quoted as saying.
The Predator connection
The report draws a specific link to the Predator spyware case. During ongoing trial proceedings in Athens, evidence entered into the record indicated that the Ministry of Citizen Protection had signed seven contracts between 2018 and 2022 with a company called Krikel, controlled by convicted businessman Giannis Lavranos, six of which were classified. The surveillance software company Intellexa, linked to the Predator network, established operations in Greece in March 2020.
The publication flags that classified spending figures spiked sharply in 2020 and 2021, the period that coincides with the infrastructure build-up and extended domestic use of Predator. Witness testimony during the trial suggested the procurement contracts for the spyware were likely concealed within other, unrelated-appearing classified contracts.
An audit by Greece's National Transparency Authority into contracts between Krikel and Intellexa on one side, and the Ministry of Citizen Protection and the National Intelligence Service on the other, also featured in the trial proceedings. The report describes that audit's methodology as inadequate.
***This article summarises original reporting by Vaggelis Triantis and Stathis Baltas published on 17 March 2026 by Dikastiko Reportaz. Full report: https://www.dikastikoreportaz.gr/apokalupsi-500-ekatommuria-se-aporrita-kondulia-apo-to-2019-ta-tria-upourgeia-protathlites-kai-i-theamatiki-apoklisi-apo-ton-kratiko-proypologismo/