During the “Greece After IX: National Action Plan under Conditions of Global Uncertainty” conference, organised by the E-Circle think tank (Circle of Ideas) in cooperation with the Delphi Economic Forum, Evangelos Mytilineos, Executive Chairman of METLEN, spoke with Athanasios Ellis, Director of the English-language edition of the newspaper Kathimerini, about geopolitical and energy developments, critical raw materials and rare earths, and Europe’s competitiveness in relation to the challenges of the green transition.
Mr. Mytilineos noted that the current period is marked by the absolute dominance of geopolitical developments over economic facts, where “geopolitics prevails over everything,” even referring to the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus’ saying, “War is the father of all.” Referring to the recent visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to China, he stressed that despite the positive diplomatic atmosphere and traditional Chinese hospitality, the underlying reality was dominated by competition between different weapons systems models. He added that, apart from certain business agreements, the visit produced no substantial results on critical international issues such as Iran or Ukraine.
He placed particular emphasis on rare earths and critical raw materials, which are decisive for the development of advanced technology as well as the defence industry. As he underlined, China has pursued a long-term policy that it applies unwaveringly, having accumulated as much as 99% of rare earth production, a fact that gives it a significant geopolitical advantage.
In this context, he referred to METLEN’s major investment in gallium production in Boeotia, the first substantial move in this critical sector, the result of many years of work by the company, supported by the European Union and national resources. Mr. Mytilineos stressed that the company has achieved a production cost even lower than the Chinese one. “We are not at all afraid of borders opening,” he said characteristically, adding that production will peak in 2028 and that strong demand is already emerging from the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
Given that gallium is a critical link with geopolitical significance, translating into a need for greater autonomy in sectors such as defence, reality shows that Europe is experiencing major delays in this field. Despite announcements regarding critical raw materials, progress in implementing the EU’s strategy on critical raw materials has been minimal, raising the question of whether Europe will ultimately manage to develop genuinely competitive production compared with China or other countries.
At the same time, Mr. Mytilineos added that after the war in Ukraine, Europe was forced to “wake up,” since for decades it had relied on Russia’s energy umbrella and American defence protection. Referring to the end of energy dependence on Russia, he stressed that Europe will achieve energy independence, but at a high economic cost for businesses and industry. He also pointed out that the pursuit of energy security led to distorted subsidies for green technologies without delivering the expected results.
According to Mr. Mytilineos, expensive energy directly undermines the competitiveness of European industry. “Expensive energy eats away at the very guts of society,” he said characteristically. He stressed, however, that the results of the green transition vary by region, pointing to Spain as an example of a successful energy model due to its combination of renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, and limited interconnection with the rest of Europe.
Regarding Greece, he noted that the major growth in photovoltaics has led the country to export energy during midday hours, but at zero prices, warning that this could create a new generation of “red” loans in the energy sector.
In closing, Mr. Mytilineos focused on the risks of possible political instability and the toxicity that limits the possibility of understanding and cooperation. He also emphasized that Greece is at a crossroads of geopolitical turbulence, which, from a business perspective, makes government stability the number one issue, along with the need for proper and beneficial governance.
