ATHENS, Sept 19 (Askume) – Cyprus reiterated its commitment to laying a transmission cable to Greece but said on Thursday it needed to sort out technical and financial details before investing more money in the project.
The so-called Sea Connector project aims to link the Greek power grid to Crete, Cyprus and eventually Israel at a cost of 2.4 billion euros ($2.67 billion). The Greece-Cyprus section is expected to cost 1.9 billion euros.
Plans to build the world’s longest and deepest undersea cable have led to some unusual disagreements between the two historic allies. Cyprus wants to ensure the plan’s viability, while Greece wants a quick solution.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides discussed the issue at a meeting in Athens on Thursday.
A statement from the Cyprus presidential palace said Christodoulides assured Mitsotakis of Cyprus’ political commitment and that he would take an equity stake in the project once the due diligence report was finalised.
It said, without naming names, that it also hopes to create a special purpose vehicle in Cyprus and is currently in advanced discussions with third countries.
Nicosia said on Tuesday it would contribute 25 million euros a year over five years to the cable , without specifying how much equity it would invest, raising some concerns in Athens.
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said: “We are optimistic… that there will be positive results on the financial side, because that is the issue, that is the aspect of the specific projects that are being discussed.”
(1 USD = 0.8977 EUR)
