Filenews 30 November 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
The deadline for the submission of tenders for the rental of the licensed commercial premises on the land area of the port of Kato Paphos, announced by the Municipality of Paphos, expires today.
After the shipwreck of the processes for the operation in the port of Kato Paphos of one of the largest catering chains, due to legal obstacles, the Municipality of Paphos is now promoting the process of renting the commercial premises of the onshore area through the tendering process. The premises according to the notice are intended for use in the catering sector and are those whose use in recent years had been interrupted due to the reluctance of the old tenants to agree with the new financial data they had before them. These are the same professional premises for which, as revealed by "F" last March, the Ports Authority and the Municipality of Paphos were at an advanced stage of consultations with a large group in the catering sector in order to rent a "package".
Things took a different turn when businessmen who were previously active in the area and left the buildings due to a disagreement over the increases that had been decided, took legal action against the state and municipal authorities. This was because the operators in question considered that the rent prices agreed with that chain were well below those requested by them, which they argued constituted unfair competition and illegality, since no call for expressions of interest had even been launched for the rental.
Now, after the announcement of the majority tender and today's completion of the relevant procedure, the final award decisions are awaited with great interest, since the reactivation of commercial enterprises in the port is considered vital for the survival of all businesses in the area, even by the entrepreneurs who traditionally operate in the port. As some of them told "F", in the given difficult times for the economy, any move that brings general commercial activity today is welcome.
"The kind of food and beverage businesses that some of the businessmen who appear to be interested in representing," they said, "will obviously bring new customers to the port, mainly young people and groups of friends who in recent years have abandoned coffee in the area and moved to the center of Paphos, after its redevelopment."
