Nicosia 'blindsided' by CMC’s decision to terminate Vasiliko terminal contract

Cypriot stakeholders appear to have been surprised not only by the Chinese consortium CPP-METRON Consortium Ltd (CMC) decision to terminate the contract for the construction of the LNG Terminal at Vasiliko but also the consortium’s criticism of ETYFA.

According to a well-informed ETYFA source who spoke to InBusinessNews, the intensive discussions of the last few days did not foreshadow such a development, since the Chinese consortium appeared ready to reach an agreement on the termination of the partnership.

As a result, the same source pointed out, "they showed us different things and they finally did different things."

Regarding the allegations and complaints made by CMC, the same source rejected them, declaring that "the allegations put forward by the consortium are not valid."

As he explained, "the consortium has been making these allegations since January," repeating that "what they claim is not true".

"We recently received the information from the company, we are studying it thoroughly and we will probably respond through an announcement," he added.

Asked about the timing of the announcement, the ETYFA source was unable to say when it would be issued, stressing that "we are trying to understand the legal aspect of this development."

The fate of "Prometheus" was not clarified

Regarding the "Prometheus" ship, the same source said that its fate has not yet been clarified and "it will be shown in the next few days what will happen, if it will be handed over to ETYFA or not."

"We will seek new contacts with the consortium in order to receive the ship", he added, finally noting that "at the moment we are focusing on analysing the legal aspect of the announcement and an announcement from ETYFA will follow."

CMC's claims

It is noted that CMC maintains in its announcement that it has no alternative but to terminate its contract with ETYFA for the LNG receiving and regasification terminal project.

“After years of working without proper or timely payments from ETYFA and having made extraordinary efforts to meet ETYFA half way, including repeated efforts by its senior management and through diplomatic channels to find a mutually acceptable compromise, CMC has found itself with no alternative but to terminate its contract with ETYFA for the LNG Receiving and Regasification Terminal project at Vasilikos and has done so today, July 18th,” it says.

Also read: CMC terminates Vasilikos LNG terminal contract

(Source: InBusinessNews)