Finance Minister Makis Keravnos referred has referred to statements made by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, on the Cyprus-Greece electricity interconnection project GSI, noting that his position is identical with the position of the Government.
On Sunday, 21 December the President of the Republic had stated that the Government is in favour of the strategic goal of the electricity interconnection between Greece and Cyprus.
Asked to comment on Monday, 22 December in the context of statements after his meeting with the Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, on references by the President of DIKO, Nikolas Papadopoulos, to the Government's double talk on the GSI, the Minister said that his position is that of the Government "and is the one set out by the President of the Republic, and previously by the Prime Minister of Greece and the President of the Republic, that there is a need to update certain economic and technical aspects. Within this framework, the Government will proceed with any processes and actions," he said.
Asked to comment on the European Commission's position that it does not consider a new study on the project to be necessary, he said that "I will not comment on anyone's position. I comment on the positions of the Government. The positions of the Government are those set out by the President of the Republic yesterday, and together with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece a few weeks ago," he said.
Asked whether the government would proceed with the payment of €25 million, he said that the amount was in the budget. "When the conditions are met, they are in the budget," he added.
Asked if he still considers the project unviable, Keravnos said, "I am not the one who considers the project unviable. Studies are carried out for every project. There is now a perception that there needs to be an update. It has been a long time since the Energy Committee approved the amount, a decade. Geopolitical developments are ongoing. The data is changing. That is why Greece and Cyprus have taken the official position that there must be an update," he said.
(Source: CNA)
