Tourism projects for Skorpios Island given green light by Greek Government

Greece’s private island of Skorpios is set to become the home of dozens of luxury villas, a spa, fitness center and restaurants as well as a fiber optics network budgeted at 181.4 million euros.

The islet, which is located in the Ionian, near Lefkada, was once owned by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, and is now in the hands of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev’s daughter, Ekaterina Rybolovleva, who bought Skorpios in 2013, from Onassis’ sole surviving heir, granddaughter Athina Onassis Roussel, for a reported £100million.

An inter-ministerial committee for strategic investments made up of the economy, digital policy, finance, environment and tourism ministers gave Rybolovlev the green light on Thursday, to proceed with the massive tourist project.

According to the committee decision, the projects, which include a VIP tourism unit budgeted at 120 million euros and a Next Generation Access (NGA) fibre optic network at 61.4 million euros, are expected to have significant benefits for the local and national economy.

“The investment climate in the country has changed and this is now reflected in the business initiatives materialising on a daily basis. Both strategic investors as well as small- and medium-sized businesses are confirming their confidence in the Greek economy,” said Economy and Development Minister Dimitris Papadimitriou, who chaired Thursday’s committee meeting.