The chaos caused by the procurement of Smart Meters appears to be nearing resolution, as the court decision on the appeal filed by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) regarding the award of the contract to CYTA is expected in the coming days.

It should be noted that the House of Representatives unanimously passed the emergency bill on Thursday, May 16, which aimed to amend CYTA's responsibilities. The ultimate goal of the bill was to address the Smart Meters controversy that arose after the contract award and subsequent cancellation—by the Administrative Court—of CYTA’s bid to supply 400,000 smart meters.

The Smart Meters procurement issue has been ongoing for years, with several attempts by EAC to purchase Smart Meters falling through.

Although the court's decision on EAC's appeal was expected by mid-June to allow more time in case the appeal is rejected, sources at EAC suggest there will be no problem if the decision is issued by the end of June.

Following recent developments, EAC faces two scenarios:

1. If the appeal against the initial Administrative Court decision is successful, EAC will proceed with signing the contract with CYTA.

2. If the appeal fails, EAC will reissue the tender for the purchase of the smart meters.

It is important to note that EAC has been working with other authorities to find a solution to avoid losing €35 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund. The contract was supposed to be signed by the end of March, according to the given timelines, but this was delayed due to an appeal by another company and the Administrative Court’s decision that the contract could not be awarded to CYTA. The court ruled that CYTA’s legislative framework does not include the provision of devices, specifically electricity consumption meters.

With the passage of the new bill into law, CYTA is now authorized to conduct activities and operations in areas related to the exploitation of its assets, capital, technical or commercial capabilities, facilities, services, and expertise, whenever such activities are deemed necessary and beneficial for the organization.

Specifically, the new law allows CYTA to participate in parallel markets or activities related to communications, media, information technology, and other similar sectors.

Sources speaking to Brief mentioned that although there is a risk of losing the €35 million from the EU if timelines are not met, there is still time to achieve the September milestone.

According to the binding timelines set by the Recovery and Resilience Fund, following the cancellation of the previous tender, the contract had to be signed by the end of March 2024. The delivery of 50,000 meters and the installation of 15,000 of them should be completed by September 2024, and the delivery of 400,000 meters and the installation of 250,000 by June 2026.