Being a Lawyer before the Hellenic Supreme Court, Dr. Jur. George N. Katapodis has had a long and diverse professional experience, which combines a diverse diplomatic and teaching experience, and an active presence in the field of academic publications.
In August 2016, following a hearing before the Hellenic Parliament Institutions and Transparency Committee, he has been appointed Chairman of the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority (HSPPA). Since December 2019, he has been elected Co-Chairperson and as of November 2021 Chairperson at the Bureau of the Working Party on PPPs (WP-PPP) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). In June of 2021 he was elected at the Bureau of the Committee on Competitiveness, Innovation and PPPs (CICPPP) as Vice-Chairperson. From 12 October 2022 to end of May 2023 he became the acting Chairperson of CICPPP. As of June 2023 he is the Chairperson of the Bureau of the CICPPP.
Previously, Mr. Katapodis has had a seven (7) year-experience as a lawyer before the First Instance Court of Athens and the Court of Appeals, followed by a twelve (12) year-experience as a diplomat at the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving at different posts. Namely, as an Embassy Attaché at the Diplomatic Office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the Directorate for European affairs, initially responsible for CIS countries and then for East European Countries, at the Embassy of Greece in Islamabad, Pakistan with parallel accreditation to Afghanistan – initially as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) and in charge of the Consular Section, then as Chargé d' affaires a.i., as Deputy Director at the Directorate for Latin America & the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while actively involved in the Greek rotating Presidency of the EU, in 2003, as National Representative at the CFSP Working Group for Latin America & Caribbean / COLAT and, finally, as Consul General of Greece in Izmir, Turkey.
Furthermore, George Katapodis has been a Visiting Professor at the Economic University of Izmir (İzmir Ekonomi Üniversitesi) in the fields of European Union Law & European Institutions (2007-2008), and from 2008 till 2016, he has been a practicing lawyer in the fields of public, public economic and administrative law.
His research and scientific interests also comprise three (3) main publications, the European Treaties after the Lisbon Revision (2008), the Greek Development Policy and the Legitimacy of State Aids (2006) and the Reforms and Changes of the EU (1997).
He also is an Honorary member of the Denizli Chamber of Industry (Denizli Sanayi Odası) and the Izmir Chamber of Commerce (İzmir Ticaret Odası). By special decree of the Municipal Council of the Metropolitan City of Izmir, Turkey he has been proclaimed an Honorary Citizen of the city of Izmir.
He holds a Degree (DEUG) in Economics (University of Paris-II), a Degree (Maîtrise) in Law (with specialization in Public Law/ University of Paris-II), a Bachelor in Economics (with specialization in Statistics-Econometrics/ University of Athens, Department of Economics), a Postgraduate diploma with specialization in public law (University of Athens, Faculty of Law) and a PhD thesis from the Faculty of Law of the Univdersity of Athens. Moreover, in 2003, he attended Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government executive programs ("The Practice of Trade Policy: Economics, Negotiations and Rules").
He has served for two years as a commissioned officer in the Hellenic Air force (Second lieutenant in the economic services).
George Katapodis fluently speaks Greek, French, English, Spanish, Turkish.