President Nikos Christodoulides and political party leaders and representatives discussed on Monday ways to further improve cooperation between the Government and the parties for the implementation of the reforms and milestones included in the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The meeting was held at the Presidential Palace, in the presence of Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos.

In statements to the press after the meeting, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that cooperation of the House of Representatives with the executive, especially in terms of the recovery and resilience plan, "has been very close and it is proof that through common challenges, the common goals we can achieve a lot". At the same time he emphasised that the goal is by the end of 2023 "to have reached the milestones of both the second and third installments in order to apply for the disbursement of these amounts, but also to implement the reforms."

In particular, the Government Spokesperson said that "the meeting was about coordinating the implementation of the reforms and milestones of the Recovery and Resilience Plan", which is an ambitious undertaking at EU level.

He pointed out that "the Cypriot Recovery and Resilience Plan, amounting to 1.2 billion euros, is a very important milestone for the modernisation of our country" and added that "to date, very important reforms have already been implemented with the close cooperation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers".

And it is precisely on this framework, according to Letymbiotis, "that the President of the Republic today, in the presence of the Minister of Finance, informed and discussed with the political leaders how this cooperation can be improved even more, always having before us this important reform, this very important plan, of recovery and resilience, especially after and RepowerEU for the penetration of renewable energy sources with the funds that should be dedicated to this green transition."

It is very important, he continued, "not only that not a single euro is lost from the Plan in terms of raising funds, but perhaps much more that these very important reforms aimed at modernising our country can be implemented, making Cyprus an even more modern, more digital European state".

Asked about delays in the disbursement of the second tranche, the Government Spokesperson said that "at the moment there is a delay in the second tranche", adding that "Cyprus is not the only member state that has this delay", as 17 out of 27 Member States have disbursed the second tranche.