Patras - Economy

Economy

The economy of the city largely depends on a thriving service sector. Its main economic activities include retailing, logistics, financial and public sector services. Patras suffered a severe problem of deindustrialization during the late 1980s and 1990s; a number of major productive units shut down in successive order. As a result, a considerable portion of the city's workforce and the city's economic planning in its entirety had to be re-evaluated and restructured by the authorities. The University of Patras contributed by working towards this goal, using its widely respected service and technology sectors. The area still retains some of its traditional winemaking and foodstuff industries as well as a small agricultural sector. Major businesses in Patras include:

• Tertiary education

The city is home to three major educational institutions: the University of Patras, the Hellenic Open University and the TEI of Patras.

• Banking

Most Greek Banks have their regional headquarters for Western Greece located in Patras.

• Construction and real estate

Numerous small local companies are involved in the construction sector.

• Retailing

Most of the large retail and super-market chains operate in the city. Patras is also home to some local but dynamic companies.

• Tourism

In 2010, the new Infocenter of Patras was established, inside the neoclassical building of the former market "Agora Argyri", in Ayiou Andreou street. The building includes a conference hall, along with multi-purpose and exhibitional spaces. The regional unit of Achaea has approximately 4,800 hotels rooms and in 2006, 286,000 tourists, mainly from Greece, stayed in the area for a total of 634,000 days.

• Manufacturing
  • Titan Cement Company operates a large cement factory, with a private port, in Psathopyrgos, a suburb of Patras.
• Energy

Acciona has recently completed the largest wind park in Greece, on the Panachaiko mountain, overlooking the city of Patras. The Public Electric Company, operates a small hydroelectric plant on river Glafkos.

• Foodstuff

Some of the biggest industries in the city belong to the soft drinks and drinks sector. There are factories from Coca Cola HBC and Athenian Brewery established in area, along with the facilities of the largest local company in soft-drinks production, Loux (ΛΟΥΞ). The city is also home to many leading Greek wineries and distilleries, among them the venerable Achaia Clauss. In the food sector, Friesland Foods, through the local subsidiary NoyNoy, operates a new yogurt factory in the city's industrial area. Patras is also home to important fish-farming companies (Andromeda, Nireus). ECOFEED operates in the industrial zone of Patras, the largest fish-feeds factory in the Mediterranean. The city hosts the second largest flour-mills in Greece, Kepenou-Mills.

• Machinery

Patras has several packing and industrial equipment companies. The most important of them are the local Antzoulatos and the multinational Frigoglass, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, headquartered in the suburbs of Patras. Ideal Bikes is a leading bike producer in Greece, with large export activities.

• Pharmaceutical

CBL is headquartered in Patras, while Vianex - owned by Pavlos Giannakopoulos - has its largest production facilities in the industrial area of the city.

• Textiles

The once omnipresent textile industry of the city is now almost defunct after the shut-down of the huge factory of Peiraiki-Patraiki (Πειραϊκή-Πατραϊκή), followed by numerous smaller textile industries. This had an important impact on the city's economy and resulted in high levels of unemployment during the '90's. The remains of the facilities, still cover hundreds of acres in the south side of the city. Nowadays, Patras companies focus in dress production, the most important among them being DUR.

• Timber and paper

Patras hosts several timber manufacturing companies, and a wood distribution center of Shelman. The largest local company is Abex. The paper sector is also active including a paper-factory belonging to Georgia-Pacific (Delica) and two important Greek companies, Elite and El-pack, headquartered in the city.

• Research
  • Atmel Corporation has an important R&D facility in Patras with more than 200 employees
  • Intracom facilities in Patras house the offices of Telecommunications Software Development, Terminal Equipment Design, Development Programmes, and Support Services divisions. Expansion plans have recently been completed.
  • CBL Patras, a global manufacturer of specialty chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients, is a startup from a professor of the University of Patras
  • Patras Science Park is an incubator for many small but upcoming technology companies.

There has been a significant development in the R&D sector, during the last years, as a result of the many research institutes and the University impact in the area. The Computer Technology Institute and the Industrial Systems Institute of Greece are headquartered in Patras. The city is also a host to the FORTH-ICE-HT (Institute of Chemical Engineering & High Temperature Chemical Processes) and the Institute of Biomedical Technology.