Short answer: a serious Development Law consultant screens your project before you commit and confirms eligibility in writing before the full file is built. They never promise approval. They can show the schemes, regions and years they have worked in. And they stay with the project after the approval decision. If a firm fails any of those four tests, keep looking — however polished the pitch.

The email usually arrives within a day of the first call. A confident proposal, a headline grant rate, a fee, and a sentence that ends with the word “approval”. For a CFO in Munich or New Jersey, it reads as if the hard part is over.

It is not. Greece’s Development Law — Law 4887/2022, as amended by Law 5203/2025 (GG A’ 87/02.06.2025) and Law 5297/2026 (GG A’ 64/28.04.2026) — is applied through competitive calls with fixed budgets, and applications are assessed by evaluators drawn from official registers. The consultant you choose shapes your odds. They do not control them.

These eight questions separate the advisers who understand that from the ones who sell around it.

1. Will they screen your eligibility before you commit — and confirm it in writing?

Eligibility is checkable. The aid scheme, the region, the size of your enterprise and the type of costs all have to fit. So does timing: under EU state-aid rules, works must not start before the aid application is filed (Article 6, Regulation (EU) No 651/2014). A serious consultant runs a preliminary screen before you sign anything and tells you plainly if there is an obvious deal-breaker. Once engaged, their first deliverable is a full written eligibility opinion — before months go into building the business plan. Be wary of the opposite pattern — a retainer signed before anyone has looked at your cost plan, or a file built for months before anyone confirms the project fits the scheme. The cheapest outcome of a Development Law project is a clear “no” in week one. The most expensive is a rejection in month nine.

2. Do they promise approval?

No adviser can. The application is filed in the investment entity’s name through the state’s electronic system for development laws, the ΠΣ-Αν (Law 4887/2022, Article 17) — in practice, usually prepared and submitted by the consultant on the entity’s behalf. It is then assessed by evaluators drawn from official registers (Article 117). A consultant who writes “guaranteed approval” is either misreading the process or hoping you will. Ask a better question instead: what, specifically, would make them advise you not to submit?

3. How is the fee structured — and what triggers the success fee?

The structure to look for: a small part of the success fee on the approval decision, and the balance in stages as the investment is implemented. A success fee paid in full on approval rewards the consultant for winning the scoring. It does not reward a plan you can actually build and be paid for. Ask what is included: the business plan, the submission, replies to clarification requests, any objection, post-approval reporting. Ask what is billed separately. The state application fee (παράβολο, Article 27) is paid by the applicant on top of any consultant fee.

4. Who writes the business plan — and in which language will you read it?

The file is prepared for a Greek administration. Your board still has to understand it. Ask who drafts the plan, who signs off the financial projections, and how you will review what is filed in your company’s name — a summary, a full translation, or both — and whether that is included in the fee or quoted separately. You are accountable for every figure in that file, whether or not you can read it.

5. What happens after the approval decision?

Approval is where the obligations begin, not where they end. The investment has to follow the approved plan. Changes need consent. And the aid depends on what was actually built and spent being verified. Ask who manages that phase, who prepares the verification files, and who answers the ministry when questions arrive two years in. A consultant who disappears after the decision has sold you half a service.

6. Can they show a track record — documented, not declared?

Approval rates are the most quoted and least useful number in this market. A firm that takes every project and a firm that turns half of them away can report the same rate and mean opposite things. Ask for the schemes, the regions and the years. Ask to speak to a past client. A track record you cannot check is a claim, not evidence. On why that distinction decides how foreign capital reads a Greek proposal, see Declared, Documented or Verified?

7. Do they coordinate what sits outside the grant?

The grant is one workstream among several. Company formation, tax registration, a bank account for a non-resident shareholder, know-your-customer checks and proof of your own contribution all run alongside it. EU rules on regional investment aid require the investor to fund at least 25% of eligible costs from own resources or external financing that contains no public support (Article 14(14), Regulation (EU) No 651/2014). Banks will ask where that money comes from. Ask who coordinates the lawyer, the accountant and the bank, and whether that coordination is part of the fee or priced separately — or whether it falls to you.

8. Are they independent of suppliers, lenders and evaluators?

Some consultants earn commissions from equipment suppliers, contractors or lenders. That is not necessarily improper, but it changes whose interests the plan serves. Ask directly, and ask for the answer in writing. On the evaluation side, the law already draws one line: chartered auditors who took part in preparing an investment plan may not evaluate it (Law 4887/2022, Article 117). Hold your adviser to the same standard of separation.

Risks and considerations

Choosing well removes avoidable risk. It does not remove the structural risks.

  • Timing is administrative. Evaluation and verification depend on the administration’s capacity and discretion. Any timeline in a proposal is an estimate.
  • Calls are competitive and capped. A well-prepared plan can still miss out if a call’s budget goes to higher-scoring applications.
  • The law moves. Law 4887/2022 was amended in June 2025 and again in April 2026. Terms quoted today may differ by the time your call opens.
  • Your contribution is real money. The grant reduces your capital requirement. It does not replace the share you must fund yourself.

Under current conditions, a strong consultant improves the quality of your application and the speed of your preparation. This assumes the project is eligible and fundable on its own merits. The primary risk to any timeline is administrative capacity, which no adviser controls.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a consultant to apply for Greece’s Development Law?

Not legally. The application is filed in the investment entity’s name through the ΠΣ-Αν, the state’s electronic system for development laws (Law 4887/2022, Article 17). In practice, filing alone is rarely realistic for a foreign investor: the system and the file are in Greek, the business plan is scored against the call’s evaluation criteria, and every application goes through a completeness check at submission (Article 17(4)). Approval then opens years of implementation, change requests and verification. The real question is not whether you need a consultant, but which one — which is what the eight questions above are for.

Can a consultant guarantee approval?

No. Applications are assessed by evaluators drawn from official registers (Law 4887/2022, Article 117) and compete for each call’s budget. Treat any written guarantee as a reason to look elsewhere.

Can a foreign-owned company apply?

Nationality alone is not the test. What matters is whether the investment entity, its legal form and the project meet the conditions of the specific aid scheme. Confirm the legal-form requirement of your scheme before you incorporate.

How much does a Development Law consultant cost?

Fees vary with scope. Ask for a written schedule that separates the fixed fee, any success fee and the milestones that trigger each instalment, and the work outside the scope.

What should I ask in the first call?

The eight questions in this guide, in that order. If the answers on eligibility, approval promises and track record are vague, you have your answer.

About the author

Athanasios Aggelakakis is the founder of Aggelakakis & Associates, an investment advisory firm founded in 2017 and headquartered in Thessaloniki. The firm has six hubs across five countries: offices in Thessaloniki (HQ), Athens, Munich, New Jersey and Mumbai, and a strategic partnership in Melbourne. He brings 20+ years of investment consulting experience. The firm is a member of AmCham Greece, AHK Germany and SEVE, and is certified to ISO 9001:2015.

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Sources

No adviser can guarantee approval, timeline or aid amount. Content on this site is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current consolidated text of the law and the specific call before acting.

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