The government will not deviate from its goal to complete the Vasiliko terminal and gain the capacity to bring natural gas to the island, deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou said on Wednesday.
Speaking to CyBC in the wake of a marathon six-hour extraordinary meeting called by the energy committee on Tuesday, Antoniou said that the state was forging ahead and would not be swayed from its twin goals of promoting the energy plan for Cyprus and assigning responsibilities to those who bear blame for the Vasiliko fiasco.
Information which trickled out at the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, attended by all stakeholders, confirmed that the state would be inviting new tenders to complete the grounded project.
Energy Minister George Papanastasiou had requested late in the day for the second half of the meeting to be held behind closed doors, in light of “a negative development” [for the Republic] in the arbitration case filed by the Chinese-led consortium against the state, currently underway in London.
Reports by pundits suggest that the minister was referring to the consortium having succeeded in reneging on a €70 million guarantee requested to be paid out by Etyfa (the national gas infrastructure company).
According to this reading, the London court ruled in favour of the Chinese, that it could not be paid out, as the Republic is being investigated by the EPPO for acts of corruption and deceit in the original contract.
Antoniou declined to confirm the reports, stating only that the London court case was “complex” with financial disputes within the consortium and among the subcontractors.
Earlier, House energy committee chair Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis and Akel MP member Kostas Costa also demurred when asked to confirm the report, with the former stating that at present the less said the better, as “whatever any official says in Cyprus gets used” [by the consortium].
For his part the government spokesman stressed that the state would pursue its rights, saying, “we have no intention of double paying for the ship or installations.” He clarified that this means the state will fight the consortium in court to try to recover any additional costs incurred for the leasing of a floating storage and regassification unit [Fsru] and completion of the project.
It is understood that prospects of securing delivery of the original Fsru Prometheas by Etyfa, its owner on paper, are still under debate, with some MPs suggesting the ship has to be written off while others maintaining that the bid to lease a replacement can be used as a lever in negotiations.
“They [the consortium] want us to buy the [fallout] but we will not be party to an ‘Oriental bazzar’,” Antoniou said, claiming that the Republic was within its rights in demanding the ship’s delivery.
Speaking on the same program, Hadjiyiannis earlier insisted that “compromise must be sought with the consortium, with all involved.”
“The Chinese are naturally trying to throw out obstacles to seek gains in London, but this does not mean they are all valid,” he said.
“At the moment the state is on the receiving end of an attack and the court’s impartiality must be safeguarded. The less said the better,” the MP said.
Akel’s MP was also circumspect in the matter of details and unfolding entanglements of the state’s dealings with the project’s consortium, saying however, that at this stage “no one seems to be able to say [with certainty] when we will be able to get the natural gas.”
“Initially the government implied we would have direct access to the subcontractors by-passing the Chinese [to complete works] but now this turns out not to be case,” the MP said.
He added that a U-turn would be hoped for in wrangling Prometheas back, as the cost for leasing a Fsru would run to €300,000 daily.
“The securing of a Fsru is the most important and most expensive part of the entire project,” he said.
Asked if the Christodoulides government had managed to effect a “course adjustment” in its policies, the MP confined himself to saying that the events had been volatile.
“The one minute there is talk of a ‘velvet divorce’ the next it falls apart within 48 hours. Let’s hope that the state’s [latest] moves will achieve a change in the consortium’s tactics,” he added.
