Page 65 - O Οργανισμός Αστικών Συγκοινωνιών Θεσσαλονίκης από το 1957 μέχρι σήμερα | The Organisation of Urban Transportation of Thessaloniki from 1957 to the present day

Administration
In 1967, with the advent of the dictatorship, the then elected Board of Directors, chaired by Ioannis Abatzis, was forced to resign. During the seven-year military jun- ta, the Boards of Directors consisted of five appointive members, while the two OASTH presidents were not even motorists. Also, by Legislative Decree 716/ 1970, chang- es were made to the position of Director General, who would now be selected by the Minister of Transport.
With the restoration of democracy in 1974, the elected Board of Directors of 1967 was reinstated, with Abatzis as chairman, as a transitional measure until elections for a new Board of Directors were held. Law 2465/ 1997 intro- duced certain amendments regarding auditors or mem- bers of the Board of Directors, while the selection of the Di- rector General by the responsible minister following a pro- posal by the Board of Directors was institutionalised.
Under the 1957 law, the election of members of the Agency applied to individuals who were Greek citizens, had free management of their property, had fulfilled their military obligations, had not been deprived of their political rights and had not been convicted of a series of offences. With the 2001 economic agreement, as part of the country’s accession policy to the Euro- pean Union, it was added that a member of the Board of Directors could be a Greek citizen or a citizen of an EU member state.
Changes to the composition of the Board were brought about by Law 2898/ 2001, according to which the Board would consist of nine members with a three-year term.
Outgoing OASTH President Georgios Skodras hands over his duties to Konstantinos Taggiris, August 2022 (photo by Intime News/ G. Moisiadis)
For the first time, a representative of OASTH employees was added to the members, while the Director General was again elected by the organisation's Board of Direc- tors. Under the 2008 financial agreement, the Board of Directors would comprise of eleven members, but under Law 4482/ 2017, it would, again, have nine members, act- ing on a transitional basis until the transfer of the trans- port project to ASITH SA.
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