The Municipality of Spata–Artemida provides ready-made, cooked meals to residents in need. The programme is run by the Social Policy Department. The meals are prepared by a private company based in Artemida, under a contract worth €9,997.11 for 1,250 portions. Of this amount, €8,734.97 has already been paid, i.e. 87 per cent. The contract has been extended once and expires on Tuesday 10 November. To date, no new contract has been published on the ‘Diafania’ transparency portal regarding the continuation of the project.
What the Council buys
The procurement is based on Study 100/2025 by the Directorate of Social Policy and the Directorate of Pre-school Education. The Municipality issued a call for tenders on 30 June 2025, and the Mayor, Dimitris Markou, signed the direct award contract on 8 July. The contractor is a sole trader based on Nereidon Street in Artemida. The contract was signed on 10 July 2025 for a period of twelve months.
The price is per portion:
- 650 portions of meat or fish, at 7.50 euros,
- 600 portions of vegetable dishes or pulses, at 6.62 euros.
Excluding VAT, the total is 8,847 euros, and including 13 per cent VAT, it amounts to 9,997.11 euros, funded from the municipality’s own resources. In the first twelve months, the 1,250 portions amounted to approximately 24 per week for the whole of the municipality.
The scheme is not new. In April 2025, prior to the current contract, the Council had paid €1,930.61 for ready-made meals ‘for residents in need due to emergency circumstances’, under a smaller contract.
When were they paid?
On the ‘Diafania’ transparency portal, we cannot find any payments made under the contract during 2025. On 3 February 2026, the entire sum of €9,997.11 was reallocated to the budget for the new financial year. This was followed by three payment orders: €4,318.48 on 30 March, €957.81 on 21 May and €3,458.68 on 29 September. There remains approximately €1,262, which, at the contract prices, is sufficient for a further 150 to 170 portions.
The extension came after the deadline had passed
The contract was due to expire on 9 July 2026. On 26 June, the Social Policy Department requested a four-month extension, and the company agreed on the same day. However, the Mayor’s decision on the extension (532/2026) was signed on 13 July, four days after the expiry date, and the amendment to the contract was signed on 20 July. Something similar happened this year with the contract for the testing of drinking water, where the extension was approved almost three weeks after the expiry date (as we reported yesterday).
What does this mean for those who need it?
The contract does not specify who is entitled to the meals; this is determined by the council’s Social Services department. Anyone who needs help – whether for themselves or for an elderly neighbour living alone – can contact them on 22940 45566.
The question for the coming weeks is what happens after 10 November. There is little money left, and to ensure the programme is not left without a contract, a new contract must be awarded within five weeks. Last year, the process – from the department’s request to the signing of the contract – took three weeks, from 19 June to 10 July 2025.
Source: Municipality of Spata–Artemida, direct award decision 48091/08-07-2025 (Diaugia PSENDO1X-IGZ); Mayor’s decision 532/2026 regarding the extension (9Ω1ΥΩ1Χ-ΦΙ9, 13 July 2026); payment orders dated 30 March, 21 May and 29 September 2026 (Diavgeia, last updated 1 October 2026).
