About

Accounting for 48% (537 km) of Greek motorways that are currently under private management, Nea Odos and Odos Kentrikis Elladas are separate motorways with a combined in-house legal department led by legal counsel and secretary of the board of directors Natalie Kedikoglou. She is ably backed up by lawyers Katerina Katechi, Christina Nikolaou and Ephie Kantza, as well as legal affairs coordinator Eirini Garoufalia. Kedikoglou explains that within the companies ‘the volume of legal issues is very significant with the joint legal affairs department handling all concession related issues, project finance, litigation, labour and statutory issues as well as all other day-to-day company matters’. The team has undergone a major transformation in recent years, with the approach to litigation and legal affairs being ‘totally redesigned’, as Kedikoglou puts it. ‘Now, the in-house legal team is the driver of all legal aspects and the companies have reduced recourse to external counsel, practically eliminating their use in concession-related and project finance issues. The new system has been in place for three years and relevant costs have been reduced almost 50%, whereas statistic results are better, proving that the cost reduction has not affected performance’. At one point threatened with bankruptcy due to the economic crisis in Greece, the projects were refinanced in 2013 and skilful handling and acceleration measure negotiations backed by the legal team have allowed construction to finally complete in 2017, a major achievement for Kedikoglou and the team. When summing up the team and its abilities, she had the following to say: ‘The motorways operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and by nature of their activity the companies must routinely handle crises due to road accidents and extreme weather conditions among others, leading to stress caused by the very significant workload. The ethos of the legal affairs department is very collaborative, and luckily all team members have a great sense of humour; we find that being able to have a laugh under pressure alleviates spirits, lets off steam and helps the team come together and collaborate more efficiently’.