On 3 September 2026, €8,090.70 was seized from an account held by the Municipality of Spata–Artemida at Piraeus Bank, in respect of a debt that had been upheld by the courts in 2023 (judgement 10128/2023). Of this amount, only €5,034.58 represented the debt itself. €2,140.62 was interest and €915.50 was legal costs, amounting to almost 38 per cent of the seized sum.
An attachment order is placed on a local authority’s account when the party who has won a court judgement is not paid and is therefore compelled to enforce it. In this case, the attachment order issued to the bank is dated 23 June 2026. The local authority recorded the attachment in its accounts (‘accounting adjustment’) by a decision dated 7 September, which was published on the ‘Diafania’ transparency portal on Tuesday 13 October, five weeks later.
A 2019 salary, paid through garnishment
It was the second seizure this year. On 25 February, again at Piraeus Bank, €4,629.99 was seized in respect of unpaid wages for June 2019. Of this amount, €2,377.81 was the salary, €1,000 was financial compensation, €560.56 was interest and €691.62 was legal costs. This followed court rulings in 2023 and 2024 (352/2023 and 4038/2024) and a seizure order on 20 January 2026. Consequently, a salary was paid almost seven years later and cost the municipality almost double the original amount. Furthermore, this decision was published almost a month after it was issued.
In February, the Municipality also set aside 34,113.53 euros for ‘enforcement of a seizure by EYDAP (the Athens water and sewerage company)’ and, in April, a further 108.13 euros for seizure costs ‘by third parties (EYDAP)’.
The code that never arrives
All these payments are charged to the budget heading ‘Other compensation in accordance with court judgements or settlement agreements’. In the 2026 budget, it had been approved at 400,000 euros. At the end of February, the figure stood at 520,000 euros; in July, at 564,000; and in September, at 714,000. In July, following a single commitment of 138,179.32 euros, 14,091.72 euros remained. By 7 September, a total of 555,858.36 euros had been committed, leaving 158,141.64. For interest arising from court judgements, there is a separate allocation of €20,000, of which €9,096.24 has been committed.
The year’s biggest commitments, according to Diafania:
- €164,619 for the settlement of compensation for expropriation as ordered by the court (February)
- €138,179.32 and €26,829.22 in July, with no further description
- €103,187.50 to a private individual, in accordance with a court judgement or settlement (May)
- €54,169.40, and €3,500 in default interest, relating to Decision 2766/2025 of the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal (February)
- €18,272.99 to ECO HELLAS, pursuant to judgment 2565/2025 of the Athens Court of Appeal (May)
These are credit commitments. The amounts that were ultimately paid are shown on the payment orders.
Further cases before the courts
The outstanding issues continue. On Monday 12 October, 12 decisions of the Municipal Committee (548 to 559/2026) were published, appointing lawyers to represent the Municipality in legal proceedings, appeals and counter-appeals, some of which were filed as far back as 2019. Another concerns a request for the Municipality to comply with a court ruling. On the same day, a decision by the Municipal Council (137/2026) was also published, creating a permanent post tied to a specific individual, again in compliance with a court ruling.
Source: Municipality of Spata–Artemida, commitment decision EEZ7Ω1X-SKI (Diafania 13/10/2026) and 9R56Ω1X-9ET, ROITHΩ1X-TMH, PSNXPO1X-RBG, 6ARXΩ1X-406, ΨΜΤΖΩ1Χ-Θ2Π, ΨΑ0ΤΩ1Χ-9ΤΥ, Ψ2ΤΙΩ1Χ-Π9Γ, ΨΕΘΞΩ1Χ-ΦΟ2, Ρ2ΤΖΩ1Χ-ΠΥΓ, 6XOTHΩ1X-IE4; Municipal Committee Decisions 548–559/2026 and Municipal Council Decision 137/2026 (Diafania, 12 October 2026).
