The proposal of the President of DISY, Averof Neophytou, to renounce state revenues from the Limassol port is under consideration, said today Transport, Communications and Works Minister Yannis Karousos, who said that already the Port Development Team of the Ministry of Transport will present proposals and suggestions within the day, for various scenarios based on those proposed by the President of DISY.
In his statements on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of the contract for the construction of the first phase of the Mental Health Centre in Nicosia, Mr. Karousos said that in the next few days a meeting will be held with the Legal Service and the Minister of Finance, because, as he explained, "the solutions proposed must be legally and procedurally correct".
As he said "the contract allows changes, provided that the manager will not be favored, but also will not be wronged", to add that "therefore changes can be made and there are procedures, proposals and suggestions."
In relation to the proposal of Averof Neophytou and what measures his Ministry intends to take, so that the citizen does not bear the cost, Mr. Karousos said that "the basis is what the President of DISY has proposed, that is, we will forgo what is due to us in any increase or part of this increase and use it in such a way as to make sure that this increase is not passed on to the final consumer."
He also referred to the commercialization of the ports, saying that it is a great success for Cyprus, since there have been huge benefits from this initiative and commercialization.
He said that revenues in the last 5 years of port privatisation have reached around 250 million euros, noting that in the same period for the previous 5 years, revenues were around 89 million euros.
"So in terms of revenues we can all understand how much we have improved and how much increased revenues we have. Also, the service offered at the ports has improved, service times have been significantly reduced and the companies have invested 50 million euros to date."
[/P]On the issue of the contract, Karousos said that "it is a concession contract, which gives a significant percentage of the companies' revenues to the state."
On the issue of the contract, Karousos said that "it is a concession contract, which gives a significant percentage of the companies' revenues to the state.
"We have been considering since yesterday the letter and Averoff's recommendation, which suggested that we should forego part of the revenues we have received and which are due to us, so that we can use them in such a way as to absorb any increase that will be there in the end consumer," he said.
He also explained that the contract allows the state to make changes, provided that the manager will not be favored, but neither will he be wronged, to add that "changes can be made, there are procedures, there are proposals and suggestions."
Meanwhile, the Transport Minister said he has sent a letter to the companies,asking them to postpone any increase until the end of February, so that they have time to finalise the proposals and suggestions, expressing his optimism that a solution will be found.
In addition, Mr. Karousos said that a study has been completed, concerning the tariffs in the ports, explaining that some tariffs, which are not regulated in the contract, can be converted into regulated ones, provided that certain data are respected.
Finally, he said that the study has been completed and will be presented to him next week with some recommendations, expressing confidence that some that will come through this study will be implemented.
Source: CNA
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