Cyprus is in “advanced consultations” with the United Arab Emirates regarding the establishment of a joint company to participate in the share capital of the Great Sea Interconnector, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday.
Speaking to Greek television channel Open, he said there is “also interest” on the part of the United States and Qatar.
The main subject of discussion on Saturday was the talks which had taken place between Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis this week in Athens.
Christodoulides described the talks as “very important consultations”, saying the talks with all stakeholders in Nicosia on September 10 were “of decisive importance for us to take the first decision”.
He said Cyprus is “interested” in participating in the interconnector’s equity capital, adding that the government is planning to take a decision on the matter “in the near future”.
To this end, he said that “certain facts” are expected to be presented to the government to allow it to make a “full assessment of the situation”.
Cyprus would be required to pay Greece’s independent transmission system operator Admie €100 million if it were to become a stakeholder of the project.
With the aim of clarifying whether this would be a good idea, the Cypriot government has demanded access to a cost-benefit analysis and the time to evaluate it before coming to a final decision.
However, the finance ministry’s permanent secretary George Panteli had said last week that Cyprus’ authorities have not yet seen the project’s financing plan.
This €100m buy-in is separate from the €125m over five years which the Cypriot government agreed to pay Admie between 2025 and 2029 – before the interconnector is operational – in effect helping finance the project and ensuring that Admie will have a stable income while investing in the project before the project itself turns a profit.
Meanwhile in Saturday’s interview, Christodoulides underlined the importance of the contracts being signed to carry out the project, pointing out that the contracts for a part of the project have not yet been signed, and that the first drafts for those parts of the project are now expected.
He added that those contracts are “directly linked” to the project’s costs, and said “we cannot afford under any circumstances to make a decision which will pass the costs on to the consumer.”
On the potential involvement of the UAE, the US or Qatar, he was asked whether those countries “will also be allies of Cyprus and Greece in the event of a threat from Turkey.”
He answered, “certainly, when they invest in such a project, they are also directly interested in the implementation of the project. The sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus and the Hellenic Republic will not be called into question.
“The project in question is subsidised to a very large extent by the European Union itself. It is a project of common benefit of the European Union. Neither Greece nor Cyprus are questioning our own sovereign rights, nor do we accept the Turkish claims.”
He went on to add that he is speaking both “honestly” and “very often” with Mitsotakis about the interconnector.
“It is possible that we have some different approaches, and we resolve them through dialogue,” he said.
He then circled back to the matter of Turkey, saying Cyprus and Greece “should not be dragged to a place where Turkey can question Greece and Cyprus’ sovereign rights”.
