According to the report of the Finance Committee, the budget of the Ports Authority for the year 2022 is marginally in surplus, as it provides for expenditure of €30.413,190 and revenues of €30,460,125.
Revenues are mainly derived from the operation of the ports (€16,508,000), the leasing of the Limassol and Larnaca ports (€10.500,000), as well as revenues from European funds (€2,092,125).
In a statement to the plenary session, AKEL MP Andreas Kavkalias referred to a letter sent by his party in January 2022 to the Attorney General, requesting the investigation of any criminal or other responsibilities for acts or omissions arising from the contracts signed by the government with private companies at Limassol Port. He said that in addition to this request, relevant material, including the Auditor General's report indicating possible liability, has been sent since 2018, which was gathered during the discussion of the issue in the Audit Committee of the Parliament. "To date, there has been no reaction from the Attorney General," he said, adding that in practice it has been proven that the contracts signed are problematic and "constitute a crime against the public interest."
For her part, DISY MP Fotini Tsiridou said that "despite the pandemic crisis, which also affected port activities to a large extent, a surplus budget has been submitted". Commenting on the issues raised by AKEL on the Limassol Port, she said that "today, €250 million is coming into the public coffers from the port, while in the corresponding period when it was under the management of the state, not even €90 million was coming in." He added that there were benefits in the development and modernisation of the port's operation, from €50m of investment by companies. He said the Port of Limassol was also helping to reform the Port of Larnaca, which he said was "the biggest investment in Cyprus at the moment". "The Attorney General is certainly studying and investigating the issues and will respond when they come to the surface," he concluded."
In his own statement, AKEL MP and Secretary General Stefanos Stefanou said that, regarding the letter sent by the Audit Committee in 2018 about the contracts at Limassol Port, an institutional issue was also raised. He questioned how it is possible for the Parliament to send letters and for four years to have no response and described as "unacceptable" the behaviour of the executive and the institutions towards the legislature. He added that in a report presented to the House, the Ports Authority had said its viability was at stake because it was deprived of substantial revenue. He also said that complaints had also been raised through letters from the OEB and the KEBE about the charges at the port.
Source: CNA
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