Τhe European Commission claims a €68.6 mln refund, which is the EU grant paid to-date to the Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (ETYFA), as the contracting party to the Agreement, according to Cyprus’ Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry in relation to the storage and regasification of liquefied natural gas terminal project, in Vassiliko.

The Ministry notes that it will reply to the European Commission on the positions recorded in the letter within 30 days, as per the procedure.

In a statement, the Ministry said that it has received a letter from the European Commission, which records possible irregularities that occurred during the evaluation period of the tender for the construction and operation of the Liquefied Natural Gas Storage and Regasification Terminal in Vassiliko. These issues concern the evaluation criteria for the consortium China Petroleum PipelineEngineering Co. Ltd., Metron Energy Applications S.A., Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co. Limited and Wilhelmsen Ship Management Limited, it said.

“The letter alleges two substantive violations. The first concerns the criteria for awarding the tender to the consortium in question (December 2019) and the second concerns the signing of the bilateral agreement upon approval of the additional €25 million (June 2022)”, it adds.

The European Commission, as a result of the above, the Ministry said, “claims the refund of €68,608,438.46, which is the European grant that has been paid to date to ETYFA, as the contracting party to the Agreement”. It notes that the project – Cyprus Gas 2 EU – is a Project of Common Interest and was financed with a European grant of €101 million.

“Defending the interests of the Republic of Cyprus remains the Government’s priority”, it said, adding that towards this direction, it was assisting in every way the ongoing investigation, in full cooperation with the European authorities, in accordance “with the strict instructions” of the President of the Republic, for a full investigation into the facts while there will be “zero tolerance” for possible illegal actions.

The Government’s commitment is focused, at the same time, on the effort to complete the important energy project in Vasiliko as soon as possible, the Ministry concludes.
Source: Stockwatch