Filenews 10 September 2021
The certainty that the Government will announce very soon measures to support citizens from the increase in the price of electricity, expressed the President of DISY Averoff Neophytou. Mr. Neophytou met today at the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism with Minister Natasa Pilidou and the President and members of the Board of Directors of EAC.
In his statements after the meeting, Mr. Neophytou said that the only issue in the discussion with the Minister and the leadership of EAC was the increase in the price of electricity.
Mr. Neophytou expressed his satisfaction as he took, as he said, an assurance that both the President of the Republic and the competent Minister, not only have received the right messages from society and are determined soon to announce measures that will respond to what society is asking for in these times of sharp rise in the price of electricity.
The President of DISY thanked the Minister for the meeting and congratulated her in advance, "because I am sure", as he said, "that we will have good news in the coming days, maximum in the coming weeks, in a cooperation between CERA, EAC, the Ministry of Energy and the guidance of President Anastasiades".
Asked to comment that this increase affects the whole of society, including with small and medium-sized enterprises in a period of Pandemic, Mr. Neophytou said that the increase of 38% did not arise in one day but was an increase in recent months due to the sharp increase of fuel in the global market.
EAC as a state-owned company, he said, must on the one hand remain strong and viable but on the other hand it should have a sense of its social obligation. "I believe and expect with certainty that the Government will proceed with the announcement of an important social dividend, at a time when the citizen is facing problems due to the price of electricity," he noted.
At the same time, he expressed the view that the measures would move in two directions. The first direction, as he said, will concern a horizontal measure that will cover all consumers, domestic and corporate, and the second direction will concern specialized measures for households and the farmers' sector.
Asked to comment on what is heard about the reduction of VAT or the contribution to the reduction of electricity from the EAC's reserves, Mr. Neophytou said that the powers should, as the Constitution imposes, be distinct and therefore the final decisions belong to the Government, in which it has, as he stressed, absolute confidence.
