The abandonment of the electrical interconnection pipeline between Greece, Cyprus and Israel now appears as a likely scenario following intense disputes between stakeholders and the “strange” behind-the-scenes developments triggered by the European Prosecutor’s intervention. The Greek side, through both Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, expressed confidence that the project will continue, calling on the Cypriot government to commit to implementing the project. Yesterday, George Gerapetritis speaking on Parapolitika 90.1 argued that “to the extent that certain technical-economic issues are resolved, the project will proceed, in cooperation with the company that will do its planning in the immediate future.”
For his part, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidis, with yet another ambiguous statement spoke of his country’s commitment to the project, but threw the ball of responsibility back to the Greek government: “The Republic of Cyprus will fulfill the commitments it has undertaken. I hope all those involved in this project will implement their commitments,” he declared, thus throwing “barbs” at the Greek side.
Cyprus Finance Minister Makis Keravnos added fuel to the fire by insisting that no one knows exactly how much the project will cost electricity consumers and when this project will operate for consumers’ benefit, while arguing that “there are only estimates for the final cost, some of which speak of a cost of 2 billion euros, some of 3 billion euros and some of two and a half billion,” refusing so far to approve the 25 million euros that the Regulatory Authority has allocated to Cypriot citizens towards ADMIE. As Cyprus’s Finance Minister argued, he is obliged to seek data and information about the project’s viability, referring to 125 million euros that Cyprus is called to pay.
Deputy government spokesman Yannis Antoniou moved along the same wavelength, arguing that “it is unfair for the Republic of Cyprus to be considered responsible for the project’s delay,” emphasizing that responsibility for its implementation lies with ADMIE, whom he accused of pressuring the Republic of Cyprus through media reports.
Cable: Gerapetritis “fires” at Nicosia over interests that “would like the project not to be executed”
In this climate, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, speaking on Parapolitika 90.1, raised the tone by referring to interests that would like the project not to be executed, turning towards the Republic of Cyprus. “When you have expensive energy, there are interests that want it to remain expensive, and we will be relentless about this. And because I see there’s beginning to be an underlying trend, we hear various extremes and vulgarities, these will not pass with us. We will be relentless and use every means to prevent cases of private interests that would undermine the project,” the Foreign Minister emphasized.
Shortly after Gerapetritis’s statements, the Cypriot website Sigmalive published an article titled: “Gerapetritis’s father-in-law implicated in ‘Euroasia’.” The report cited documents that allegedly prove involvement of a relative of Mr. Gerapetritis, raising potential ethical and political issues. “The connection appears from the financial statements of GEK TERNA SA company, whose senior executive is the Minister’s relative, Michail Gourzis,” the report wrote, causing an immediate and strong reaction from the Foreign Minister.
Mr. Gerapetritis, after denying what was published, announced his recourse to legal remedies. “Both the article’s title and its content were written with obvious defamatory intent. Without attributing any specific accusation, a chaos of unrelated matters is presented to create impressions of ‘entanglement,’ but not even one element is presented that justifies the targeted title. Nor is the publication timing coincidental, due to recent events that arose, although the article refers to matters dating back years,” Mr. Gerapetritis stated in his announcement.
Meanwhile, French company Nexans, which undertook construction of the cable, awaits clarification of the situation to make its decisions. Either to temporarily halt work or terminate the contract it has signed with ADMIE, sending the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) pipeline to the back burner.
