The supplementary budget of the Ports’ Authority, which was examined by the House Finance Committee today together with the Authority’s budget of €275 million, is of €650 thousand.

Vice Chairman of the Authority, Lakis Christodoulou, explained that the additional expenses of €650 thousand concern overtime employment only and are not the result of bad coordination. “A large number of customers in the ports arrive after 10 pm, when overtimes start”, he said.

“The revenues from the ports’ operation after 10 add €10 million to the Authority”, he added.

According to figures, the transport of general load recorded an increase of 10% for the six months of 2008 compared to 2007 for the Limassol port and an increase of 22% for the Larnaca port.

The budget also includes a provision that by the end of the year the Limassol port will show an increase of 8%, while that of Larnaca of 20%.

As for the performance of the shipping industry, Mr. Christodoulou said that it is not affected in Cyprus, however, the possibility for a downturn is still open. “If imports from China are affected, the ports’ operations will be affected too”, he said.

Referring to the Authority’s revenues, Mr. Christodoulou talked about the sum of €5 million that the Authority receives from the peace power for Lebanon, while as for the new development projects, special emphasis was given to the construction of the new passengers’ area in Limassol to serve the citizens of the Schengen countries.

Another significant project in the budget is the expansion of the rails in Limassol and the purchase of new cranes and tugboats.

The calculated revenues for 2009 stand at €76 million while the expenditure at €78 million.