Corridor 10 – Good News for Greek Property Investments

Corridor 10 – Good news for Greek property investments

Greece has always suffered from one unavoidable weakness when attracting investment of any type. Its relative isolation from the rest of Western Europe makes the swift transit of goods extremely difficult, so the country relies upon shipping or long and arduous routes through Eastern Europe. Obviously, this is a major problem for freight companies and exporters, but it also creates difficulties for foreigners moving to Greece on a temporary or permanent basis.

The Hidden Cost

Foreigners buying a house in Greece generally want a holiday or retirement home, so usually want to transport some of their belongings from Northern Europe to Greece. The most cost-effective way is to order a shipping container, but this can take weeks, and there is little guarantee that your belongings will arrive in one piece. Otherwise, the only other viable options are to use an international removals service or self-drive.

This usually involves catching a ferry from Italy to Patra or Crete, which takes over 24 hours and costs a few hundred Euros. The other option is to take one of the overland routes through Eastern Europe. The shortest route is through Serbia, but this country lies outside the European Union, meaning that there is a disproportionate amount of paperwork and fees. The road through the Balkans is not in great condition, and then the only way is through Bulgaria and Romania, a long and slow haul across some relatively poor roads. If you are using a specialist removal company, this adds a considerable amount of money onto the final bill. This only serves to raise the cost involved in purchasing Greek property investments for retirement.

The Corridor 10 Improvements

The Serbian government recently announced that it intends to complete its section of the Corridor 10 route, a road network that runs from Scandinavia, through Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Serbia, before finally entering Greece. This six-lane highway will be partially funded by a loan from the World Bank, with an additional 100 million Euros from the Greek government.

Alongside these improvements, the Serbians have pledged to reduce the amount of paperwork and cut down the unnecessary waiting at border crossing points. This promises to make life much easier for tourists, commerce and those simply transporting their belongings to Greece. Buying a Greek retirement villa looks set to become an even more attractive option.

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