Primarily a financial issue... Let Makis Keravnos' view be taken into account on the GSI investment

During the most recent meeting between Energy Minister George Papanastasiou and his Greek counterpart Theodoros Skylakakis in Athens on the issue of the Republic of Cyprus's shareholding in the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), the Greek side’s reluctance to listen to, accept and satisfy Nicosia's reasonable concerns about the possible negative impacts on the country's economy from such an investment was highlighted once again.

At the meeting, although an effort was made to convince him to attend, the Minister or a representative of the Ministry of Finance did not attend, in a move that is interpreted as an expression of his disagreement with the prospective participation of the Republic of Cyprus in the project’s share capital.

As is known, Makis Keravnos has repeatedly expressed strong reservations regarding the economic impact of GSI, with his concerns being confirmed by the findings of the US firm that carried out the study on the Greek Government’s possible investment in the project.

We at InBusinessNews will therefore respectfully disagree with Papanastasiou that GSI and in particular Cyprus' participation in its share capital is primarily an energy issue. It is, especially the share participation, primarily an economic one, because it is the Cypriot economy that will pay the price of any such decision if there are no safeguards that will ensure that the Cypriot economy and Cypriot consumers will not be held financially accountave if something goes wrong.

That is why we believe that Keravnos' words are or should be of decisive and weighty importance and that the position of the Minister of Finance is the one that should count most before any final decision is made.

Very simply because without electrical interconnection or equity participation, Cyprus can survive, but with an economy that has mortgaged its future on an investment of uncertain benefit and high risk, things will be extremely difficult.

(Source: InBusinessNews)