Larnaca mayor pleased with port and marina project split

Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras on Friday expressed his “satisfaction” with the government’s announcement from the previous day that the development of the town’s port and marina will now be split into two projects.

“The announcements made yesterday by the transport minister [Alexis Vafeades] fully satisfy the municipality and the city’s other bodies, since what we requested from the government will actually be implemented,” he said.

He added, “we consider it very positive that the three projects which we consider very important are starting in the marina, namely maintenance and upgrading of the existing marina and the creation of a sailing club which will include offices to be used by the marina’s directorate and government services.”

He went on to stay that there will “still be public entertainment and service areas for marina users as well as the creation of a park and green spaces”, while the marina’s development is now expected to cost between €25 million and €30m, plus value added tax.

In addition to his satisfaction with how things have developed so far, he called on the government to “calculate how much the marina will have to grow to have full capacity”, so it can be determined how the land around the marina can be developed.

Development ideas, he said, include “hotels, a university, a theme park, and other projects which will be the nucleus of attractions for both locals and others on the Larnaca seafront.”

“The municipality wants the port to be for tourists as well as for industry, with clean uses, such as the import of cars and loads with iron, salt, and other materials,” he said.

Larnaca chamber of commerce chairman Nakis Antoniou was also delighted at the projects being split into two, saying “everything we have asked from the government, they have given us.”

He added that the government has “shown a very good disposition to help Larnaca.”

“We believe now that another wind is blowing for our city, and we are very optimistic about the future,” he said.

Alexis Vafeades had on Thursday announced the splitting of the two projects, while also bringing forward the expected date of completion to September 2026, compared to the previously estimated date of March 2027.

The move comes after the government had in May terminated its agreement with Kition Ocean Holdings, the company it had initially entrusted with a combined project which was set to cost €1.2 billion.

The contract had been terminated after the government had accused Kition of refusing to pay a requisite financial guarantee for the project’s operation and maintenance.

The government had insisted Kition pay a total of €8m, while Kition believed the figure had been agreed at €4.2m.

New tenders will now have to be announced and held for the undertaking of the two projects.