The State, the local economy and the society have benefited from the privatization of the Port of Limassol and this can be seen both in the numbers (€ 201.6 million) and in the rest of the data that the Ministry of Transport has before it, it states in a response. issued on Tuesday by the Ministry of Transport in a statement by AKEL spokesman Stefanos Stefanos after the meeting of the Finance Committee for the Budget of the Cyprus Ports Authority
The response of the Ministry of Transport states that the total trade through the Port of Limassol has increased in recent years and revenues have increased significantly compared to before, mainly due to the successful acquisition of port work, showing that through such moves the state can significantly increase its resources for the benefit of society and citizens.
Specifically, the benefit of the State, from 2017 until today amounts to the amount of € 201.6 million, while for the period 2012-2016 it amounted to € 116.5 million, the Ministry of Transport continues, adding that in addition to the above companies have invested significant funds amounting to € 50 million with the aim of improving, security and as much as possible the automation of port service, through the development of appropriate software systems, installation of security systems, investment in new equipment and upgrading of existing equipment, staff training as well as infrastructure maintenance and upgrading.
In terms of charges, the Ministry of Transport recalls the relevant legislation passed by the House of Representatives to simplify the charge with a single charge for each container instead of varying the price depending on the type of product, which resulted in some charges to decrease and some to increase.
On average, the charges remain the same, as a relevant study shows, while at the same time some products were identified, which would have higher charges and which are the minority, the Ministry of Transport continues, adding that for the first three years (transitional period) , there was a compensation mechanism for these products.
It further states that from January 2020, the date on which the transitional period ended, the Ministry is in consultation with the administrator to find a solution, but that does not create problems of distortion of competition and state aid and at the same time in early 2021, the Ministry has announced a tender for the purchase of services to examine all non-regulated charges.
The Ministry of Transport then clarifies that the charge for the use of the anchorage is a regulated charge with a ceiling based on the legislation, which does not apply to ships waiting to enter the port to be serviced.
In addition, he notes that for this service there is competition from other anchorages such as the Monastery and Larnaca.
Regarding the transit trade, the Ministry states that it is working on a plan to turn Cyprus into a transit trade center and states that today, 4 years after the start of management of the Port by private managers, the works in the port are carried out without any problems, the port is able to serve 24 hours a day and weekends, when and if there is a relative need and the average service time of trucks has been reduced to 18 minutes.
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