The Poseidon consortium’s ambitious €215 million project to build and run the new Paphos marina was finally rejected on Wednesday, leaving runner up Pafilia construction company in with a chance to take on the project.
The marina management committee has now asked Pafilia to provide evidence that they can fund the construction and running of the marina. “Provided the company meets the requirements and conditions of the competition an agreement will be signed between the government and Pafilia for the construction and operation of the Paphos marina,” head of the Paphos Chamber of Commerce Andreas Demetriades said on Wednesday.
Demetriades explained that the Poseidon consortium could not present evidence that they were able to find the necessary funds. “Based on the information submitted, we concluded that the conditions were not met and we proceeded to invite the next tender, Pafilia, to negotiate and prove they can finance the entire project,” he said, adding that the goal is not to lose valuable time. He said that if the deal fell through the ministry and the chamber would prepare new tender conditions and cancel the current effort.
The latest delay follows 10 years of postponements.
Following the announcement of the tender for the project in 2007, the contract was initially awarded to the Cybarco-Pandora consortium of which the Leptos Group is part in 2008. However, the other two bidding consortiums, Pafilia and Poseidon, challenged the award at various stages. They claimed the winning developer used inside sources to offer a lower figure for the construction of the marina, and was therefore awarded the tender. The project was frozen after litigation began in 2008.
In December 2015, the supreme court voted in favour of Poseidon, a joint venture in which Aristo Developers is a mayor stakeholder. Poseidon submitted a project with a cost of €215m. According to the terms of the tender, proof of funds must total 60 per cent of that amount. This amount was set at €125m. Poseidon subsequently submitted they had cash of €25m and a number of banks – the Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic and Eurobank – would provide €100m, something that they ultimately failed to prove.
The plans submitted by Pafilia, the biggest developer in Cyprus, had a projected cost of €175m.
Pafilia is currently constructing major residences around the island. Its flagship development is ONE, a building of 37 floors on Limassol’s beach front. Once completed ONE will be the tallest residential seafront tower in Europe with a height of 170 metres.
The Paphos marina is to be located in the area of Potima between Kissonerga and Peyia. It will include up to 1,000 berths and more than 42,000 square metres of residential and commercial developments. The project will take approximately three years to be completed.
