Filenews 15 October 2024 - by Angelos Angelodimou
The health sector will be honoured at today's 3rd Annual Recovery and Resilience Plan for Cyprus (RRP) Event. The event, which is under the auspices of the Directorate General for Development, the Ministry of Finance, and the Representation of the European Commission in Cyprus, aims to present the progress of the implementation of the NRRP and its most important results to date.
As mentioned, today's event will focus on strengthening the health sector through the measures implemented under the RRP.
Speaking to "F", Mrs. Anthoula Savvides, Director of theRecovery and Resilience Directorate and Head of the Coordinating Authority for the RRP, noted that the event chose to present the health sector as a theme, in order to be able to promote other sectors supported by the RRP, in addition to the green transition which receives the highest visibility.
Savvides added that it is important to present all sectors and especially those in which important projects are being implemented through the recovery plan, citing as an example the health centre in Paphos. Savvides noted that about €75 million is earmarked for the health sector. from the recovery plan.
It is noted that the 2nd part of today's event will focus on strengthening the health sector, through the RRP, initially hosting Mrs. Christina Giannaki, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health. Mrs. Yiannaki will present the progress in the implementation of projects in the health sector. This will be followed by a thematic discussion in the same area entitled "Strengthening the resilience of the Health sector through the RRP" with the participation of: Mrs. Christiana Mylona, Marketing and Public Relations Manager of Evangelismos Private Hospital, Mr. Luc Tholoniat, Director of the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission (DG ECFIN), Mr. Kypros Stavrides, General Executive Director of the Cyprus Health Organization, and Mr. Emily Groutidou Petridou, President of the Pancyprian Organisation of Kidney Patients. The discussion will be moderated by Ms. Ifigenia Kammitsi, Director of the Department of Beneficiaries and Providers of the Health Insurance Organization.
Beyond the health sector, as has been mentioned, there will be a presentation of the overall progress achieved in the implementation of the RRP. At the beginning of the event, the Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos and the Acting Head of the European Commission Representation in Cyprus Nikolaos Isaris will address the event. Ms. Céline Gauer, Director-General of the European Commission's Recovery and Resilience Task Force (SG-RECOVER), will report on the progress made so far in funding from the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility to Member States, with a focus on Cyprus, while Anthoula C. Savvides, Director of the Recovery and Resilience Directorate and Head of the Coordinating Authority for the RRP, analyse the progress made so far and the most important achievements of the Plan.
The second request
The European Commission approved last month 37 of the 38 milestones and targets linked to Cyprus' second payment request, including the second and third tranches, for an amount of €152 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. Savvides told "F" that the payment of the second and third instalments is expected in November, adding that Cyprus has long sent the request for the third instalment, as well as for the fourth instalment last June, which means that by the end of the year there may be a new payment. Savvides added that hopefully, Cyprus will be ready by the end of the year to send the request for the fifth tranche to the EU.
As for the milestone that the Commission has identified as not fully met at this stage, this is a reform to tackle aggressive tax planning. The Commission has therefore proposed to suspend part of the payment as provided for in the relevant mechanism. This procedure gives Member States additional time to meet outstanding milestones while receiving a partial payment linked to satisfactorily fulfilled milestones.
The total budget of the Cyprus RDP amounts to €1.22 billion, which is allocated to a grant of €1.02bn and additional funding from the Facility of approximately €200 million in the form of a loan.
