Following an article published in Phileleftheros on 20 April 2023 regarding the new Limassol Stadium, which states "the CTO blames the Legal Service and the State Aid Control Authority for the delay regarding the Limassol Stadium", the State Aid Control Authority informs the following:
"No delay whatsoever from our Office regarding the case of the new Limassol stadium.
While the CAA has had time since 25 September 2018 - the date when the European Commission, before closing the case, gave the CAA a last chance - to proceed to obtain approval for the management of the new Limassol Stadium, i.e. for more than four years, the CAA has since approached my Office for an opinion on the agreement between the CAA and the company for the first time on 3 March 2022 and received my Office's opinion on 24 May 2022.
As of 24 May 2022, the CMA sent on 12 December 2022 to my Office the notification with the signed new agreement and all supporting documents and on 14 December 2022, after two days, my Office sent the notification to the European Commission.
It is noted that, from 24 May to 12 December 2022, various meetings and communications took place, mainly between the Legal Service and the CTO and according to the guidance and opinion of the Legal Service and my Office, a new agreement was finally reached between the CTO and the three local associations of Limassol in order to put the agreement on a more correct basis and to enable the approval by the European Commission.
It is additionally worth noting that my Office, noticing the delay in the submission of the notification by the CTO, took the initiative and informally contacted the European Commission on 19 October 2022 and received informal approval on 31 October 2022 for the operation of the stadium - and this before the CTO even sent the case to my Office.
It should be noted that my Office was officially informed for the first time about the name of the stadium by the relevant letter sent by the Ministry of Finance to the CTO dated 24 November 2022, a position which I fully agree with, since it is an expenditure of the State worth more than 40 million euros.
I hereby stress that the new Limassol stadium is a jewel for sports, for Limassol and for Cyprus, but this does not negate the fact that all the necessary procedures should be done in accordance with the Rules of State Aid and the recommendations of the Legal Service, which should be taken seriously by the CTO to act in a timely manner."
(AF/EXP)
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