A clear and unambiguous message that the Greek government remains steadfast in its commitment to implementing the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project, the electrical interconnection between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, was sent by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou. Speaking on ERT’s main news bulletin with Apostolos Manggiriadis, he emphasized that support for the project is concrete and expressed with consistency and responsibility by all competent Greek state agencies. Minister Papastavrou also called on Nicosia to clarify its position regarding the electrical interconnection project, commenting on statements by Cyprus Finance Minister Makis Keravnos, who questioned the project’s economic viability.
Papastavrou on cable: “Urgent need for Cyprus to clarify its position”
Specifically, commenting on the statements by Cyprus Finance Minister Makis Keravnos regarding GSI’s lack of viability, Minister Papastavrou stressed that these send an ambiguous message and create legitimate questions from the Cypriot side about the project’s completion. He noted that the viability studies referenced by Keravnos have not been submitted to the Greek side. The Minister of Environment and Energy reminded that RAEK approved the relevant revenue of 25 million euros for the project’s implementation on July 31 and participates in relevant discussions with the European Commission and RAAEU for the project’s completion, contrary to the aforementioned statements by the Finance Minister, emphasizing that it is urgent for the Cypriot side to clarify its position.
Strengthening interconnections
Highlighting our country’s actions toward strengthening interconnections, he stated: “We are in the era of interconnections, which play a very important role. By the end of the decade, the government aims to have interconnected our islands. We have already interconnected with the Cyclades and Crete, and we are proceeding with more Cyclades, Dodecanese and North Aegean, while simultaneously strengthening our international interconnections.” Minister Papastavrou further emphasized that this specific project, co-financed by the European Union, is of major importance for Cyprus, “because upon its completion it will end its energy isolation.”
On the international hydrocarbon tender
Responding to a question about the ongoing international hydrocarbon tender, for which the deadline for expressions of interest expires on September 10, Minister Papastavrou expressed cautious optimism about its successful outcome, noting that this tender has been conducted with all safety measures in place, emphasizing that “it is a decisive moment to see if our country’s underwater wealth will be transformed into national capital for future generations.”
On electricity prices
Regarding electricity prices, he noted that the European Commission’s task force will reconvene in the coming days to reduce the electricity price gap between northern EU countries and Eastern Europe, while emphasizing: “What is very important to point out is that we avoided, thanks to the Prime Minister’s initiative, a repeat of last summer – this year southeastern Europe did not have double the prices of Central and Northern Europe. Now we are working to address chronic pathologies, so that this convergence becomes permanent and the task force mechanism our country requested is institutionalized and becomes a constituent element of the European Commission.”
