Naxos: New board at Port Fund under abolition

The mayor of Naxos, Dimitri Lianos, appointed a new seven-member board of directors to the Municipal Port Fund of Naxos with decision no. 1081/2026, issued on Monday, September 7, 2026. He presides over the new council, with Emmanuel Lykoropoulos as vice-president. A member of the board is also the port captain of Naxos, navy commander of the Coast Guard Panagiotis Papakonstantinou, together with the alternate members appointed in the same decision. The decision was made public the same day, without being accompanied by an announcement explaining the timing of its issuance in relation to the previous decision of the municipal council to abolish the body.

The appointment of the new board comes at a particular moment in time, as the Naxos municipal council had already voted, in a previous meeting, to abolish the Port Fund itself and transfer its responsibilities to a new Port Office, which will operate directly within the services of the municipality. The staffing of a body whose abolition has already been decided at municipal level raises questions about the transition period until the abolition process is completed. It has not been publicly clarified whether the appointment of the new board constitutes a temporary administrative arrangement until the abolition process is completed or whether it reflects a change of course regarding the future of the body.

The Municipal Port Fund is the body responsible in many islands, such as Naxos, for the management of port infrastructure: construction and maintenance of port works, concessions of spaces within the port zone, regulation of vessel mooring, and collection of port fees. On an island with intense coastal shipping traffic like Naxos, the functioning of this body directly affects both the daily service of passengers and vehicles and long-term infrastructure projects at the port. The transition to a Port Office within the municipality, instead of an autonomous legal entity, would mean a different way of managing the same responsibilities. A change in the legal form of port management, from an autonomous legal entity under public law to a service within the municipality, usually entails changes in decision-making procedures, the financial autonomy of the body, and the procedures for awarding works and concessions.

The timetable for completing the abolition process of the Port Fund has not been publicly disclosed, nor how it will be combined with the term of the newly appointed board. Decision 1081/2026 does not refer to any time limit on the term of the new council due to the pending abolition. The issue is expected to be addressed again by the Naxos municipal council, as the coexistence of a functioning board with an already-voted decision for abolition remains an open administrative matter for the island’s port. Residents and professionals related to Naxos’s port are expected to monitor the next moves of the municipal authorities, as these will determine which body will ultimately be responsible for managing their port over the coming months.