Coordinated effort underway to prevent delivery of Prometheus ship

The COSCO Group appears to have taken a bizarre yet crucial role in efforts to prevent Cyprus from receiving the Prometheus ship from the Chinese consortium that failed to deliver the natural gas project in Vasiliko.

Chinese national companies are apparently banding together to prevent the ship from being delivered to the Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (ETYFA), which is the rightful owner of the ship, by using various excuses, in an effort ETYFA has deemed as “attempted theft and misappropriation”.

COSCO’s role

COSCO Group had undertaken the construction and conversion of the vessel from an LNG to an FSRU at its Shanghai shipyards. The group has significant interests in a number of European countries, including Greece (Port of Piraeus, Port of Thessaloniki, among other). And so COSCO is apparently attempting to block the ship’s delivery to ETYFA, in a bid to serve other national interests of China. It seems an effort is underway to intimidate ETYFA into not taking legal action to seek compensation, and to waive any claims against those responsible.

Nicosia’s reaction

According to sources from within the Cyprus government who wished to remain anonymous, Cyprus is closely monitoring the developments and has already taken action on multiple levels, both legal and diplomatic, while also involving the European Union institutions. The recovery of this asset by ETYFA is a top priority for Cyprus since it is an essential infrastructure for the transition from fuel oil to Natural Gas and the fact it is still pending is the main reason for the steep electricity bills and fines the Cypriot consumer is being forced to pay every year for emissions. As the sources said, Cyprus will not give in to any threats or blackmails, and will go after what is rightfully its own, through the courts. In any case, the situation is a ticking time-bomb in China-Cyprus relations – and by extension China’s ties with the EU. The Cypriot side entrusted the Chinese consortium at a time when it was being advised against it, and now it feels betrayed by the failure of this important project and the indifference but also aggression shown by the Chinese side.

China’s modus operandi

According to sources in the legal sector, this attempt to withhold an asset belonging to a Cypriot State Company has come as no surprise. It is apparently a commonly used tactic by companies of Chinese interests, to attempt to intimidate and blackmail their opponents in any way possible, even if illegal. By rule, these companies are systematically indifferent towards the applicable laws of third countries; in this case, however, they may be forced to revise their attitude and comply with the relevant court decisions.

The “elephant in the room”

It is at the least questionable how here in Cyprus, the institutions and political parties focus exclusively on allocating the blame, instead of targeting the “elephant in the room”, which is none other than China. No matter how one looks at it, the Chinese consortium failed spectacularly in delivering a project it took on with many promises; and sooner or later, the extent of its responsibility will be decided in the European courts. And then everything will be laid bare. This case has shown – among many other things – that it is time for Brussels to review its attitude towards bidders of Chinese interests in major European projects, so as to put a permanent end to these games by Beijing.