We remain committed to the completion schedule until 31 July 2023, the Energy Minister assured the General Secretary of AKEL, responding to concerns expressed by Stefanos Stefanou about delays in the preparation of the infrastructure.
"The timetable remains as it is, that is, after the nine-month delay, which was already announced months ago, we remain committed to the completion schedule until July 31, 2023," Natasha Pileidou said, speaking immediately after her meeting with the leader of the opposition, which took place in the presence of DEFA President Nikos Castellani.
"We are working very hard to formally agree with the contractor, the parameters that will apply in order to make the delivery without further delays with specific stages of completion of the project by that date and with safeguards that have already been discussed with the contractor and will be secured hopefully soon and officially" said Natasha Pileidou speaking immediately after the meeting to reporters.
Assurances which are assessed as particularly important, at a time when the Vasilikos gas terminal construction project is in the spotlight due to the compensation claim of the consortium that has undertaken its construction.
In her statements, the Minister essentially refutes what has come to light regarding claims of 100 million in compensation by the consortium.
100 million
As the Cyprus Times[/B] is in a position to know, compensation of 100 million euros was never officially raised[/B] by the consortium, which is indeed asking for compensation but much lower, for reasons related to the pandemic and which have been publicly reported and which relate to the increase in the prices of raw materials, transport, etc.
After consultations, ETYFA and the contractor CPP "locked" the amount of compensation at 25 million euros A fact that initially caused some discomfort, but the Government is well aware that they are asked to give very little, given the increases brought about by the pandemic and for such a large project.
"The additional amount is certainly something to be decided and determined by the CAC (Central Claims and Claims Committee). We will certainly submit a fully substantiated request as to whatever additional amount we feel is warranted. Certainly the amount will not exceed 10% of the total cost, so we are talking about a very limited amount compared to what has seen the light of day", essentially confirming the information that the 100 million as compensation does not stand.
Regarding the issue of additional claims, she stressed that "there is no question of not using the possibilities that our contract gives us", while regarding additional safeguards. Pileidou expressed the hope "that there will be some further improvements in the contract."
Commenting on the intervention of the Auditor General on the matter, Ms. Pileidou said that "a legal opinion has been obtained regarding the possibility of renegotiating the contract, regarding these aspects and these are the aspects, there are no other aspects that open up wider issues. So for these specific aspects legal advice has been sought and the request which will be submitted to the CECA will be fully substantiated in terms of the legal basis on which we are making the recommendations."
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