€1.4 million cost to Eastern Macedonia and Thrace region for 11-month animal culling operations against sheep pox

The Regional Council of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (EMT) has approved, by majority vote, a €1.4 million settlement for the implementation of emergency animal culling operations carried out over an 11-month period to combat sheep and goat pox and other zoonotic diseases.

The approved payment αφορά the program titled “Animal culling operations, destruction of products, and implementation of additional measures for the control of exotic diseases and zoonoses”, covering the period from 28 November 2024 to 30 October 2025 across the EMT region.

Outbreak and Emergency Measures

According to Nikos Foteinias, Head of the Regional Veterinary Services, the sheep and goat pox outbreak began in August 2024. At that time, an existing contract of €500,000—with an available balance of €400,000—was already in place but was rapidly exhausted due to the scale of the outbreak.

By 11 November 2024, the contractor informed the regional authorities that it could no longer continue the project under the existing financial framework. As the disease was intensifying, the region was forced to urgently seek a new contractor and additional funding.

A new public call with a budget of €250,000 attracted only one consortium of companies. These funds were also depleted within 20 days, due to the large number of animal cullings required.

Direct Award Without Budget Ceiling

Given the urgent need to continue disease containment measures, the regional administration proceeded with a direct award under emergency provisions, without a predefined budget ceiling. The operations continued uninterrupted until 30 October 2025.

During this period, no payments were made to the contractor. The total accumulated cost reached €1.4 million, which the Regional Fund initially refused to cover, citing procedural and budgetary concerns.

Verification of Work and Council Debate

All operational records were subsequently compiled and reviewed by the Committee for Proper Execution, which confirmed that:

• All legal procedures for animal culling and farm disinfection were followed
• Interventions were immediate
• Cullings were carried out within a maximum of 1.6 days from detection

The main point of contention during the council debate focused on financial governance. Christos Metios, leader of the opposition group “New Regional Renaissance”, expressed strong reservations over the fact that the project operated for 11 months without an approved budget framework.

Administration’s Defense

Responding to criticism, Regional Governor’s advisor Giorgos Mavridis stated that the severity and scale of the outbreak were unprecedented, making any interruption of operations impossible. He explained that suspending culling activities to complete contracting procedures would have jeopardized public and animal health.

Mavridis noted that the contract documentation was formally uploaded in October 2025, but the Regional Fund deemed this timeframe unreasonable and therefore declined payment. Nevertheless, he stressed that no party disputes that the services were fully delivered, that all burial and disinfection procedures were carried out correctly, and that costs were consistent with those of previous years.

He also emphasized that the direct award was unanimously approved by the Regional Committee under the emergency procedure, warning that terminating the contract earlier could have undermined the legal basis of the urgent response.

Funding Search Parallel to Operations

Throughout the implementation period, regional authorities were simultaneously working to secure the necessary funding to cover the emergency direct award, acknowledging the extraordinary circumstances under which the decisions were taken.