Commerce Minister, Neoclis Silikiotis stated on Tuesday that the government will launch simultaneous procedures for the transfer of natural gas from Israel and other markets, as an interim solution until natural gas arrivals in Cyprus.

In his statements to the Annual General Meeting of DEFA, Mr. Silikiotis noted that negotiations with Israel for the transfer of natural gas before 2015 are in progress. “Natural gas from the deposits of the Cypriot EEZ will reach the island in 2017”, he added.

He also stressed that the procedures via DEFA for the invitation of tenders in order to examine the possibility of transferring any form of natural gas from another market, if negotiations with Israel collapse, will start soon.

According to the Minister, by the end of the year the government should have at its disposal proposals, either from Israel or elsewhere. “It will take two years to bring natural gas to Cyprus”, he stressed.

“It is not easy to provide natural gas that will contribute to large reductions in power. This will happen when we have our own gas”, he said.

Mr. Silikiotis clarified that DEFA will express interest in any form of gas, either this is liquefied or compressed.

As for negotiations with Israel, he said that a negotiating tem ahs already been introduced, composed of CERA, DEFA and EAC. A similar team will be introduced by Israel.

According to the Minister, DEFA went to processes for the internal gas distribution network.

“For the project, DEFA secures €10 million from the European Union”, the Minister concluded.