Filenews 23 July 2025 - by Chrysanthos Manoli
Another teleconference is being held today, around noon, organized by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy, in order to find a solution to the financing of the implementing body (IPTO) of the Cyprus-Crete electricity interconnection.
The two regulators (CERA for Cyprus and RAAEF for Greece) and IPTO participate in the teleconference.
If IPTO really only asks for the recovery of the expenses it made in 2025 and have been confirmed with data from CERA - about €13 million. As mentioned, CERA has no choice but to commit to initiating the process for the implementation body to be paid.
This is imposed by the regulatory decision taken by CERA on 20 September 2024, this is imposed by the relevant decision of the Council of Ministers on 17/9/24, this is also imposed by the Framework of Understanding signed by the governments of Greece and Cyprus on 20/9/24.
CERA must approve the payment to IPTO of the money it has confirmed paid for the cable, provided that it does not exceed €25 million per year, until 2029.
In the last few days, it has been written in many media that the Ministry of Finance and Minister Makis Keravnos do not favour the disbursement of the amount that CERA will approve (up to €25 million) if it is not satisfied for the smooth progress of the project as a whole, the final cost of its construction, the geopolitical risks, the delays, etc.
We have written before that the payment by Cyprus of the expenditures incurred so far does not presuppose the absence of a geopolitical obstacle. If the geopolitical obstacle is indeed as high as it seems, then the governments of Cyprus and Greece must manage the situation, with the assistance, perhaps, of the EU.
However, as long as the governments do not intervene to reassess the situation and allow IPTO to continue the costs - even if only for the construction of the cable in Norway - the two regulators must pay the costs that are considered justified and recoverable. And these will increase day by day, with the risk of burdening consumers in the two countries with hundreds of millions, even if the project never works.
Today, CERA is likely – and imperative, in the opinion of the column – to clarify the obvious to the Commission and IPTO: It will approve the recovery of an amount of up to €25 million, as soon as the deposit by IPTO and the evaluation of the evidence are completed.
However, according to the regulatory decision of September 2024, in order for IPTO to get its money through a procedure of CERA and the Transport Operator, the Ministry of Finance will have to approve the disbursement of the amount, which has already been approved by the Parliament.
And messages are being sent from the Ministry of Finance that this will not happen, as long as the current great uncertainty about the final outcome of the project is prolonged.
If this is the position of the ministry, let it formalize it and assume its responsibilities for contempt of an agreement signed by the energy ministers of the two countries, on the orders of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister of Greece, following a decision of the Council of Ministers.
The President of the Republic is also called upon to assume his responsibilities. It is written in the media and there is a party in the NGOs about the different position of the ministers of finance and energy on the interconnection project. Well, will the President watch from afar without being involved? What is the position of the President on the interconnection?
In fact, Mr. Keravnos and his associates in the ministry do not disagree with the Minister of Energy, but with the Government and the President of the Republic. The Government has pledged to pay the country up to €25 million until '29 and the rest after the operation of the interconnection, if it works. It was recently repeated by the President and the government spokesman.
Therefore, if the Ministry of Finance and Makis Keravnos really do not want us to pay "not a single cent", as has been written in the last few days, then President Christodoulides must clarify what is the position and decision of the state on this issue. Which is not the connection in its entirety, but the payment of what we owe.
And after we accept to pay what has been spent and we owe it, Mr. Christodoulides should pick up the phone and ask Mr. Mitsotakis "what will happen, Mr. Prime Minister? Are we going to keep throwing money in the pit, as if nothing is happening?"