By the first week of September the Republic of Cyprus is expected to reply to the European Commission regarding the €101 million with which the Commission financed the Vasiliko terminal and which it is asking to be returned, the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry George Papanastasiou said on Thursday.

Asked after the meeting of the Parliamentary Energy and Trade Committee whether the Republic of Cyprus has repaid the amount the European Commission is asking for, Papanastasiou said the recipient of the €101 million grant was the Ministry of Energy. "Of this, about €69 million has been paid for the projects that have been completed. The rest has not been disbursed. At the moment the Commission is claiming the €101 million, but it has allowed the Republic of Cyprus to explain some things. These explanations will be provided by the first week of September," he said.

He also noted that "nothing has been returned and nothing has been terminated" as the Energy Ministry will explain to the Commission what happened in an attempt to avoid the withdrawal of this aid.

Asked about the next steps regarding the terminal, the Minister said that the Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (ETYFA) must record the materials on the ship and on the pier and what condition they are in.

He added that at the moment, based on a legal opinion, existing subcontractors cannot be used to continue the work. "A bid in the sense of urgency will have to be organised to register the interest from various companies to complete it," he said, adding that this process will take some time.

Regarding the ship, owned by ETYFA, which is still in Shanghai, the minister said that ETYFA's efforts have been focused on taking possession of the ship and transferring it to Vasiliko. "At the moment there is a consultation between the two parties, ETYFA and the Chinese consortium, for the handover and the departure of the ship from Shanghai," he said.

He also noted that "we know where it is, what is on it and to what extent it has been completed. There are the engineers who have been following the progress of the ship and the engineers who know exactly what is there in Vasiliko. With that knowledge, we as the Ministry of Energy will move forward to complete the project. We have stated many times that this company should not have been given the project, for the reasons that have seen the light of day," he reiterated.

Asked about accountability, Papanastasiou said the Energy Ministry has been focusing on completing the terminal. "If there are any responsibilities, the President of the Republic has stated in very clear language what is to come," he stressed, adding that "instead of dwelling on the past, I suggest that we look to the future, and the future is that Cyprus needs natural gas immediately because it is the only way to reduce the cost of conventional power generation."

Regarding the Cyprus-Greece electricity interconnection, Papanastasiou said there are two decisions to be taken. The first is by the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA), whether after the update made by the implementing agency, it will change its initial decision. As the Minister said, this decision is expected in August, in order to announce to the implementing agency and the European Commission whether the project continues.

The second decision is by the Republic of Cyprus, whether it will take the final decision to participate in the project. Papanastasiou said that the cost to benefit study will have to be analyzed and evaluated by firms that specialize in the field of electrical interconnections and based on this evaluation and opinion, the Republic of Cyprus will take a position. This will require about three months, he noted.