Filenews 8 July 2025 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
A request was forwarded to CERA for the differentiation of electricity prices due to the expenditure of €25 million that needs to be done for the Cyprus-Greece electricity interconnection.
During today's discussion of the issue in the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, CERA's chairman, Polys Lemonaris, said that IPTO has not provided evidence that it has paid more money beyond the amount of €25 million, adding that "we read in the media that it has given €250 million".
He also pointed out that the Hellenic Regulatory Authority has already decided to apply the pricing on September 1 to cover IPTO's recoverable expenses.
On his part, the Minister of Energy, Giorgos Panastasiou, said that when CERA takes the final decision - after documentation from IPTO - the state's decision is that if it is only €25 million, it will be worth the amount of money it will have to pay for the project. The amount will be included in EAC's invoice as a "GSI fee", which will however be deducted from consumers, either with a discount or a subsidy. At the same time, he indicated that the expenditure is likely to be disbursed from the Pollution Fund.
As Mr. Papanastasiou said, the project has technical, economic, geopolitical risks, pointing out that the implementing body manages all three. "The technical part has been undertaken by a company (Nexans), which has the capabilities to lay a cable and do seabed research. For the economic aspect, there must be a position and commitment of stakeholders and for the geopolitical aspect, it is managed by the implementing body, a Greek company supported by Greece, through diplomacy".
Responding to questions, he said that the implementing body did not sign anything with the Cypriot government, pointing out that a framework of understanding between the two governments has been signed.
They will ask for Europe's intervention
At the same time, the Minister of Energy underlined that this is a European project, however, the management was undertaken by the Hellenic Republic. "For us, this is not right, Europe should have taken a position with diplomatic moves and official statements in favour of the project and against interference to cancel it. As he clarified, during the recent meeting he had with the Greek Minister of Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, they agreed that they would ask the Council of Energy Ministers to take a position.
At another point, responding to questions, he stressed that there are banks that are willing to finance the project. "Our concerns about the issue are that the EIB should have been involved, which said it was studying it. An investor who understands the uncertainties, technical, economic, geopolitical, will assess the risks and make their decisions."
According to the Minister of Energy, the cable has value, even if it is not laid. "The contract comes from the past with production prices of the past, it has much more value. I'm not worried, it can be sold. If you say stop producing, when it starts again it will be more expensive," he added.
On behalf of CERA, reference was made to the progress report by IPTO, according to which 161 km of cable have been constructed and 120 km of cable are in progress, divided into 3 batches of 40 km. "A 60% seabed survey is pending and a 100% cable laying is pending.
