Giannis Vroutsis

Giannis Vroutsis
Ιωάννης Βρούτσης
Vroutsis in 2014
Alternate Minister for Sport
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 July 2023
Prime Minister	Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Minister for Labour and Social Affairs
In office 9 July 2019 – 5 January 2021
Prime Minister	Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Preceded by	Effie Achtsioglou (as Minister for Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity)
Succeeded by	Kostis Hatzidakis
Minister for Labour, Social Security and Welfare
In office 21 June 2012 – 27 January 2015
Prime Minister	Antonis Samaras
Preceded by	Antonis Roupakiotis (as Minister for Labour and Social Security)
Succeeded by	Panos Skourletis (as Minister for Labour and Social Solidarity)
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 September 2007
Constituency	Cyclades
Personal details
Born	(1963-06-01) 1 June 1963 (age 61) Athens, Greece
Political party	New Democracy
Alma mater	National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (BA) Panteion University (MA)
Profession	Lawyer, economist, politician
Website	www.ivroutsis.gr

Ioannis Vroutsis (Greek: Ιωάννης Βρούτσης; born 1 June 1963), commonly shortened to Giannis (Γιάννης), is a Greek economist, lawyer and politician serving as Alternate Minister for Sport in the Second Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis from July 2023. He has served as a member of parliament for the Cyclades since 16 September 2007.

Having previously served as Minister for Labour, Social Security and Welfare in the Cabinet of Antonis Samaras (21 June 2012 – 27 January 2015) and Minister for Labour and Social Affairs in the First Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis (9 July 2019 – 5 January 2021).

Early life and education

Vroutsis was born in Athens on 1 June 1963 and is originally from Naxos and Amorgos.^[1] He studied economics at the School of Law, Economics and Political Sciences of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he was awarded a scholarship. He also holds a master's degree from Panteion University. He has previously worked as an economist at the Ministry of Finance.

Political career

He began to participate in politics as a member of ONNED, the youth wing of New Democracy. He has twice been a member of its executive committee, as secretary of the Student Independent Movement [el] and as head of ONNED organizations in the Attica basin.

He had an active and long-standing involvement in local government. He served as a municipal councillor of Vyronas in 1990.

He was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament for the Cyclades constituency in 2007, and was re-elected in 2009, May and June 2012, January and September 2015, 2019, and May and June 2023.

First term as Minister for Labour

He served as New Democracy's chief policy officer from 2009 to 2011, when he was appointed ND's chief financial officer under Antonis Samaras. On 21 June 2012, he was appointed Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare in the coalition government of Antonis Samaras.^[2]

In opposition

Following the 2015 national elections, on 5 February 2015, by decision of the party president, he is appointed along with Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Adonis Georgiadis as a party parliamentary spokesman.

On 13 January 2016, by the decision of the new party president Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he was reappointed parliamentary spokesman alongside Nikos Dendias and Niki Kerameus.

Second term as Minister for Labour

Following the 2019 election and the formation of a Mitsotakis government, Vroutsis was appointed Minister for Labour and Social Affairs.^[3]

His first act as minister was to reverse the previous Syriza government's decision to allow foreign nationals to apply for a social security number in Greece.^[4]

In April 2020, during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he announced a voucher program for scientists (lawyers, engineers/architects, educators and others) where they would complete a basic computer training program in exchange for a 600 euro voucher.^[5] The implementation of the program was plagued by various technical difficulties and the content was characterized by the opposition as low quality, consisting of scanned and poorly translated pages of books.^[6][7] The program was eventually pulled and vouchers were given out without conditions.^[8]

He was replaced by Kostis Hatzidakis after the 5 January 2021 cabinet reshuffle.^[9]

Member of Parliament

After leaving the first Mitsotakis cabinet in January 2021, he was once again appointed parliamentary spokesman.

In March 2021, he stated in an interview to the Documento newspaper that TV personality Menios Fourthiotis [el] had entered his ministry office with his private security team and threatened him over his attempt to stop a fraud case involving himself. ^[10]

References

1. Vroutsis, Ioannis (2014). "CV of Ioannis Vroutsis" (PDF). European Parliament.
2. "Ioannis Vroutsis" (PDF).
3. "H σύνθεση της κυβέρνησης Μητσοτάκη | Kathimerini". www.kathimerini.gr (in Greek). 8 July 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
4. "Με απόφαση Βρούτση καταργήθηκε η εγκύκλιος για απόδοση ΑΜΚΑ σε ξένους υπηκόους | alfavita". www.alfavita.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 5 November 2021.
5. "Κορονοϊός: Ξεκινά η τηλεκατάρτιση των επιστημόνων - Πότε και πώς θα λάβουν τα 600 ευρώ | Έθνος". www.ethnos.gr (in Greek). January 1980. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
6. "Τηλεκατάρτιση επιστημόνων με 'Σκοιλ Ελικικου' και Google translate | news247". www.news247.gr (in Greek). 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
7. "Παραίτηση Βρούτση ζητά ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ κάνοντας λόγο για "σκάνδαλο" με την τηλεκατάρτιση. | Huffington Post". www.huffingtonpost.gr (in Greek). 18 April 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
8. "Καταργείται το πρόγραμμα voucher για τους επιστήμονες, με παρέμβαση Μητσοτάκη -Τι θα γίνει με τα 600 ευρώ | Iefimerida". www.iefimerida.gr (in Greek). 22 April 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
9. "Ανασχηματισμός: Η σύνθεση της νέας κυβέρνησης | Ethnos". www.ethnos.gr (in Greek). January 1980. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
10. "Γιάννης Βρούτσης: «Ηρθε με μπράβους, και απειλούσε για τα λεφτά που έχασε» | Documento". www.documentonews.gr (in Greek). 5 April 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.