Christodoulides’ intervention paid off - Kition is continuing the Larnaca marina project

The consortium that undertook the integrated development of the port and marina of Larnaca has agreed to the renewal of the guarantee, following a meeting chaired by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, at the Presidential Palace.

The amount of the guarantee based on the contract amounts to €10 million.

In the meeting which was attended by the Mayor of Larnaca Andreas Vyras, the Deputy Minister to the President Irine Piki, the President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry Stavros Stavrou, the Assistant Attorney General Savvas Angelides, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and representatives of the companies Kition Ocean Holdings and Aroundtown.

In his statements after the end of the meeting, the Mayor of Larnaca, Andreas Vyras, stated that the intervention of the President had been very positive and that the company has committed during the meeting that it would deposit the guarantee in the next few days and thus the project will continue based on the provisions of the contract.

"We expect the implementation of the terms of the contract exactly as they have been stated at the meeting," he said.

Vyras added that what was said in the meeting was that the guarantee must be renewed in order for the contract to be implemented. Once the guarantee is renewed, he said, then the rest will proceed based on the provisions of the agreement.

Asked if the works would start in June, he said that's what the agreement says. He added that the conditions exist since the permit is being issued on 26 April 26, bids have been sought and the implementation of this agreement is expected from both the company and the Ministry of Transport, which controls the contract.

Vyras stated that as had been said, the guarantee will be renewed immediately. Asked about the amount of the guarantee to be paid, the Mayor of Larnaca said that he himself cannot refer to it and added that the agreement provides for a dispute resolution process.

He expressed the opinion that the most important thing is to have a guarantee since without it there is no agreement. He noted that the amount of the guarantee was not the subject of the meeting, but the issue was that for there to be an agreement there must be a guarantee.

"The positive thing is that the company has indicated that it will renew the guarantee so that the deal can continue," he said.

According to sources, the President of the Republic told the company that in order for the contract to be considered valid, the guarantee must be paid. The company pledged that it will file the guarantee and after it is filed, all other issues will be discussed.

The President did not enter into a discussion regarding the demands that the company has.

Kition Ocean Holdings soon after issued the following statement:

KITION OCEAN HOLDINGS ANNOUNCEMENT:

Kition Ocean Holdings (KOH) is pleased to announce that the recent meeting with the President of the Cyprus Republic has effectively bridged initial differences between the Government and KOH, thanks to his invaluable intervention.

Following a productive dialogue, an agreement was reached for KOH to place the guarantee of €4.2 million. This step will enable further discussions on the details concerning the specifics of this guarantee amount. Once the guarantee is submitted, the Government has committed to promptly engage in discussions about the Company’s variation requests as outlined in the Concession Agreement.

We are optimistic that this renewed cooperation will quickly resolve remaining issues and expedite the initiation of construction works as soon as possible.

KOH is committed to moving forward in a spirit of collaborative engagement to ensure the success of the project.

(Source: InBusinessNews/Kition Ocean Holdings)