‘People forget what they said a year ago about interconnector’

People “seem to forget what they said a year ago, two years ago, or three years ago” about the Great Sea Interconnector, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday.

He was referring to what he described as “the intense positions of some in the mass media, either for or against” the project, as well as “the positions of some politicians, either for or against”.

In any case, he said, “I am not interested in that anyway,” adding, “we as a government are accountable only to the Cypriot people, and as a government, we will take a decision that serves the interests of the Cypriot people.”

Asked by a journalist where the decision over the regulatory framework of the leg of the Great Sea Interconnector project connecting Cyprus to Crete is “getting stuck” after the government on Thursday delayed its decision to next Tuesday, he said “it isn’t getting stuck anywhere.

“We have seen in the history of this republic what was done with large projects, with projects of great strategic importance, and where they ended up,” he said.

For this reason, he added, “we, as a responsible government, will make a decision and of course will not unduly financially burden the state and its citizens. Our decision will be based on facts and will not be in any way ambiguous.”

He said that it was on this basis that he had asked the various stakeholders to travel to Cyprus to attend a meeting on the matter on Tuesday, before turning his attention back to the people who he said had changed their mind on the issue.

“All those who changed their opinions along the way, who said one thing, then say another today, and I see it, let the world, let society ask them why they are changing their positions,” he said.

He was then asked about reported differences in opinion over the interconnector in the energy and finance ministries but dismissed the idea.

“There is no difference in position. The job of one ministry is to put forward the economic data, the job of the other ministry is to put forward the energy data, and then we decide as a whole. At the end of the day, it is a decision for cabinet to make,” he said.

Tuesday’s meeting will be attended by Energy Minister George Papanastasiou, Finance Minister Makis Kervanos, Deputy Minister to the President Irene Piki, Greek Energy Minister Theodoros Skylakakis, a representative from the European Commission and representatives from Greece’s independent power transmission system operator Admie, cable company Nexans, and Cyprus’ legal service.

The Cyprus News Agency reported that a cabinet meeting will be held after Tuesday’s meeting.

The government had initially been expected to make its final decision on the matter on Thursday at a planned extraordinary session of the cabinet.

Consultations had been ongoing throughout Thursday between Cyprus’ energy ministry, legal service and finance ministry, as well as with the Greek authorities, Admie, and the European Commission.

The main point of contention is Admie’s request for Cyprus to pay a total of €125 millionbetween 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.

In the end, a solution to the matter had reportedly been reached, with the Cypriot government set to utilise funds made available to it through the European Union’s emissions trading system (ETS) to pay the required €125m.

Admie had reportedly initially driven a hard bargain on the matter but, faced with the spectre of the project’s collapse and the possibility of being liable for tens of millions of euros to cable producer Nexans, which had already been commissioned to start the project, they reportedly eventually backed down.

The €125m payable over five years to Admie is separate from the €100m buy-in to the project’s holding company, which Cyprus is required to pay if it wishes to buy itself into the project.

In both cases, the matter of geopolitical risk is taking increasing precedence, with fears growing regarding the region’s potential geopolitical volatility.

The issue of geopolitical risk relates to possible interference with the laying of the cable by Turkish warships in the Aegean. Admie had sought reassurances that should anything occur beyond its control which would hinder the interconnector project, including Turkish interference, it would be able to recover the investments it had made up to that point.