George Papanastasiou on Monday outlined the steps that would lead the Cypriot government to take its final investment decisions to join the Great Sea Interconnector, an special purpose vehicle (SPV) established by the Greek Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) to implement and finance the Cyprus-Greece and Israel electricity interconnection project with a cost of €1.9 billion.

In statements after the MED9 Ministerial meeting on Energy, Papanastasiou responded to a question as to when Cyprus will take decision to make an equity investment of €100 million in the GSI SPV, recalling the meeting remarks made by President of the Republic after his meeting with Greek Prime Minister last week over Cyprus’ possible participation in the GSI’s capital.

“This however,” he added, “comes with some preconditions which at this stage is the due diligence study with a legal and financial nature, as well as the cost and benefit analysis submitted last July.”

Currently the Republic of Cyprus through a road map will pass through some issues which would lead to the implementation of this decision to which the Cypriot President and the Greek Prime Minister concluded, he added.

Responding to a question whether this decision is a granted, Papanastasiou said that it cannot be considered as granted as there are preconditions, adding that the final investment decisions will be taken after the due diligence study.

He recalled that the Council of Ministers has already taken a decision in principle to enter the GSI capital in February 2024, a decision reaffirmed in a new decision by the Cabinet as well as the “very strong statement by the President of the Republic after this visit in Athens and his meeting with the Greek Prime Minister.”

Responding to a question, Papanastasiou refrained from giving a specific time table for the completion of the due diligence study.