Kyriakos Virvidakis was appointed Deputy Development Minister responsible for the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) funds, on February 16. 

The creation of this new position had been announced a day earlier during the cabinet meeting, following a proposal tabled by Development  and Networks Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.Addressing that meeting, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stressed that EU funds should be directed where they would be more effective in order to contribute to economic growth and employment. 

Virvidakis, a seasoned politician, is an elected Member of Parliament, former mayor of Chania and a professor of Medicine at the Universities of Athens and Crete.