Mr. Papanastasiou also mentioned that additional specialized personnel from China will arrive in Cyprus
Energy Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou expressed the hope that the Vassiliko terminal will be completed within the year, speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, saying that the President of the Republic visited the Vassiliko area on Saturday when work resumed.
He also mentioned that additional specialized personnel from China will arrive in Cyprus and that a commitment has been made before the President of the Republic that the company is moving forward with the completion of the terminal and its delivery ship in the coming weeks.
Asked if there was any risk with the EU funding, the Minister said the European Commission was closely monitoring the project which had taken several extensions, “so those who are funding the project are actually worried about its implementation”.
He reminded that the project is mostly European, it has received European funding with 101 million euros and the banks involved in this project are European.
“There is some concern on the part of the financiers of the project, but with the latest development, which shows that the project is starting to go in the right direction and with a close monitoring by the Ministry itself, I believe that we will end up with a completion of the terminal” he said the Minister.
He said the terminal consists of two parts. The first part is the floating unit which is almost complete and awaiting certification. “This week we will have a confirmation from the classification society that the ship is on course for certification,” he said.
Regarding the second part, the land terminal, he said that the construction has already started and since last Saturday the joint venture with management company CPP which is of Chinese interests has resumed its work.
“We hope that through an increase in the labor staff and the staff that the management company will actually bring from China and with the help of the state to give the visas that are needed for this staff, the terminal will be finished hopefully before the end of 2024”, he emphasized.
The Minister, answering another question, said that there is a period of time that the financier has indicated that he would like the terminal to be complete, which is until the end of 2024 but these can get a little postponement, as he mentioned.
Regarding the staff that will come from China, he said that a number of 120 people have been indicated in addition to what they already have in Cyprus. These, he said, are specialized personnel who know the construction of piers, but at the same time they will also help with welding on the land terminal, welding of pipes and other materials which are already in the work area.
The work, he said, started last Saturday and he added that the President of the Republic also visited the area on Saturday.
“We visited the area of Vasilikos with the President of the Republic on Saturday because he wanted the President to see for himself what is happening at the Royal Palace and yes, we had a very good meeting in addition to the meeting we had at the Ministry on Friday, in which we have actually been indicated – a commitment has been made before the President of the Republic – that the company is moving forward with the completion of the terminal and with the delivery of the ship, in the coming weeks we hope”.
