After several years of waiting, the Environmental Authority, with its positive opinion, has paved the way for the construction of the new alcoholic beverage production and bottling plant, natural juice bottling plant and distribution centre, by the company KEO Plc in Kato Polemidia.
This is one of the two opinions that the Limassol District Government Organisation was awaiting in order to issue the necessary permits to begin construction work on the factory.
It is recalled that, according to information provided to Limassol Chamber of Commerce & Industry's publication 'Entrepreneurial Limassol' by the Limassol District Government Organisation, the licensing of the project is in its final stages.
As mentioned, "once the positive opinions of the Department of Environment and the Department of Public Works are received, the issuance of the permit will proceed and the way will be opened for the start of work."
It is worth mentioning, however, that KEO has expressed complaints about the delays in the examination of applications by the competent state agencies, pointing out that this is a project with a significant developmental and economic impact for the country.
At the same time, it is emphasised that the time-consuming procedures, combined with the continuous increase in construction costs in Limassol, have led to a dramatic increase in the total cost of the investment, which is now estimated at €50 million.
The project and its scope
In relation to the project, it is worth mentioning that, according to what is recorded in the Environmental Impact Assessment Study (EIA) and the positive opinion of the Environmental Authority, this concerns the construction of a factory for the production of alcoholic beverages and their bottling, bottling of natural juices and their distribution centre, of the company KEO Plc.
The project is located on plot 479 F/Sh. 58/08 in the parish of Archangel Michael in the Municipality of Polemidia (Municipal District of Kato Polemidia) and is included in the Urban Planning Zone of Economic Activities Ba4-BE.
The project site has a total area of 62,335 sq m. and based on the company's plans, the area occupied by the factory facilities amounts to approximately 44,000 sq m, while an area of 9,612 sq m. in addition to its facilities will concern a green area, which adjoins the east of the vertical road leading to the Port of Limassol.
The project's building facilities will be built on three levels:
- basement area of 9,810 sq m. which will be used as storage and wine aging space,
- ground floor space of 22,840 sq m. which will be used for the production process (final processing and bottling/packaging) and
- first floor of 992 sq m. which will be used for office space.
The project also includes the construction of:
- 600kW photovoltaic system on the roof of the facility
- Biological secondary wastewater treatment plant, with a daily capacity of 50 cubic meters.
Close to MyMall, City of Dreams and Limassol Port
Also based on the same information, within a radius of one kilometer from the boundaries of the proposed project implementation plot, the following developments are identified:
- City of Dreams Mediterranean-Integrated Resort, Casino and Entertainment at a distance of approximately 1,200m to the south of the project.
- Residential development called "SUNSET GARDENS" at a distance of approximately 1,100m to the south-southwest.
- The Port of Limassol is approximately 1,800m to the south.
- My MALL is approximately 750m away, also to the south of the project.
- The biological wastewater treatment plant of West Limassol is located 700m northwest of the project.
What will the factory produce?
Furthermore, according to the company's plans, the project's facilities will receive wines produced at the company's winery in Mallia, for final processing, aging and bottling.
Also, imported raw materials will be received, such as bulk molasses alcohol, Eau de Vie (a distilled beverage made from fruit other than grapes), bulk wines, as well as clarified concentrated grape must, for use in the manufacture of wines and spirits.
It is noted that the incoming raw materials will be exclusively wine and marc (a distilled alcoholic beverage produced from pomace), which will be received from KEO's Mallia Winery and will be used in the zivania production process.
It is noted that the unit will not receive grapes as raw material for this specific process.
Furthermore, for the production of zivania, the unit will receive wine and marc from the Mallia Winery, which are incoming raw materials and will be sent to the distillation process. Vinasse is the liquid residue that results from the distillation process.
It is clarified that the marcs referred to as incoming raw material are received from the Mallia Winery and do not constitute waste produced from said receipt or from the unit's process.
It is emphasized that after the completion of the distillation process, the residues produced, as appropriate, will be collected and transferred to a licensed waste management unit for energy recovery purposes.
The total annual capacity of the unit for the processing and bottling of wines (which will come from the winery in Mallia) is estimated to range between 1,000 and 2,500 tons.
In addition to the above, the project will involve the preparation of juices from concentrated natural juices for canning.
The main production processes that will take place at the facility are summarised as follows:
- Mixing wines and spirits
- Wine filtration
- Cooling for tartrate stabilisation
- Pasteurisation, where required
- Distillation of Zivania and Ouzo
- Aging of wines, commandaria and Eau de Vie in barrels
- Bottling and packaging of finished products.
Environmental Authority Position
The Environmental Authority, in formulating its position, took into account the information submitted based on article 24 of the Law and the on-site visit and, having taken into account the criteria of the Fourth Annex to the Law, does not object to the construction of the project under the terms/conditions referred to in the Annex of Terms attached to the positive opinion.
Additionally, the Environmental Authority, based on article 24(5) of the Law, sets out the main reasons why an Environmental Impact Assessment Study is not required, with reference to the relevant criteria of the Fourth Annex and proposes the characteristics of the project and/or the measures envisaged to prevent or mitigate impacts that would otherwise be significant and adverse to the environment.
Specifically, it examined the following criteria:
- Project characteristics: The proposed project concerns the construction of a factory for the production and bottling of alcoholic beverages, bottling of natural juices and their distribution centre, of the company KEO Plc.
The total area of the project plot is 62,335 sqm The area that the project facilities will occupy is approximately 44,000 sqm
- Project location: The project is located exclusively in the Economic Activities Urban Zone Ba4-BE, in the Municipality of Polemidia (Municipal District of Kato Polemidia). The green space adjoins the east of the vertical road leading to the Port of Limassol. The nearest residence from the project is located at a distance of approximately 70m, northeast of the northeasternmost boundary of the project plot.
The two closest buildings with sensitive uses to the development plots concern the 6th Primary School-Zakaki, located 560 meters southeast of the southeastern boundary of the project plot, and the Agia Varvara High School, located 645 meters northeast of the northeastern boundary of the project plot.
The proposed project does not fall within the areas of the "Natura 2000" Network.
The project is located 7,900 meters southeast of the "Natura 2000" protection area, Limnati Valley (CY5000006) and 1,630 meters north of the "Natura 2000" protection area, the Akrotiri Special Protection Area (SBA-SAC01 and SBA-SPA01) in the Akrotiri Salt Flats.
- Type and characteristics of potential impacts: The impacts from the operation of the project, according to the above, are not environmentally significant and with the proposed mitigation measures, will be manageable.
(Source: InBusinessNews)
