Insider / ΚΥΠΕ
The proposal of the President of DISY, Averof Neophytou, for denial of state receipts from the port of Limassol is being examined, said today the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Giannis Karousos, who stated that the Port Utilization Team of the Ministry of Transport will present it within proposals and suggestions, for various scenarios based on them, which have been proposed by the President of DISY.
In his statements, on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of the Contract for the Construction of the First Phase of the Mental Health Center in Nicosia, Mr. Karousos said that in the coming days there will be a meeting with the Legal Service and the Minister of Finance, because as he explained, “The solutions that will be proposed must be legally and procedurally correct.”
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As he stated, “the contract allows for changes, meaning that the manager will not be favored, nor will he be wronged”, adding that “therefore changes can be made and there are procedures, proposals and suggestions”.
Averoff proposal
Regarding the proposal of Averof Neophytou and what measures does his Ministry intend to take, so that the citizen does not shoulder the cost, Mr. Karousos said that “the basis is the one proposed by the President of DISY, that is, we will renounce what it is up to us to increase any or part of this increase and to use it in such a way as to ensure that this increase will not be passed on to the final consumer. “
Privatization of ports
He also referred to the commercialization of ports, saying that it is a great success for Cyprus, since there have been huge benefits from this initiative and commercialization.
He said that the revenues in the last 5 years of the privatization of the ports have reached about 250 million euros, while he noted that in the same period for the previous 5 years, the revenues were around 89 million euros.
“So in terms of revenue we can all understand how much we have improved and how much revenue we have. “Also, the service offered in the ports has been improved, the service times have been significantly reduced and the companies have invested 50 million euros so far”, he said.
Regarding the issue of the contract, Mr. Karousos said that “it is a concession contract, which gives a significant percentage of the companies' receipts to the state”.
“We have been examining since yesterday the letter and the suggestion of Averoff, who suggested that we renounce part of the income we have received and that is due to us, so that we can use it in such a way as to absorb any increase in the final consumer.” , he said.
He also explained that the contract allows the state to make changes, meaning that the manager will not be favored, nor will he be wronged, to add that “changes can be made, there are procedures, there are proposals and suggestions.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Transport said that he has sent a letter to the companies, asking them to postpone any increase until the end of February, so that they can finalize the proposals and suggestions, expressing his optimism that a solution will be found.
Tariffs
In addition, Mr. Karousos stated that a study has been completed, which concerns the tariffs in the ports, explaining that some tariffs, which are not regulated in the contract, can be converted into regulated ones, provided that some data are kept.
Finally, he mentioned that the study has been completed and will be presented to him next week with some suggestions, expressing the certainty that some that will come through this study will be implemented.
