Today marks a historic milestone for Larnaka region, President Nicos Anastasiades said yesterday, during the inauguration of the gas terminal of the VLPG consortium in Vasiliko area.

He said that the operation of the gas terminal, marks the completion of the process of moving the oil, gas and asphalt facilities from the Larnaca waterfront to the Vasiliko Energy Center, noting that in addition to the numerous benefits for the local economy, the Energy Center paves the way to full development of an area of the city that has been degraded for decades.

In his speech the President spoke about the determination shown by the Government and the Municipality of Larnaca and the cooperation with the companies in making the investment possible. He congratulated the VLPG consortium for the investment, which exceeds 35 million euros, without any state contribution.

President Anastasiades noted that the highest standards of quality, safety and environmental protection apply, adding that the energy infrastructure has a total capacity of 4,000 metric tons and includes, among other things, an automatic tank depot, a bottling plant and a gas cylinder maintenance facility.

Anastasiades said that the Energy Center now brings together almost all the energy infrastructure of the island, noting that the safety of the workers and facilities of the Vasiliko Energy Center and the residents of the communities in the wider area, was put as a high priority.

To this end, he said that a ministerial committee was set up with the participation of a representative of the communities in the area in order to supervise and coordinate all the procedures. The President also said that a Security Coordinating Body of the Vasiliko Energy Center was established, in order to manage and deal with security issues.

He also referred to many other projects which were completed or are under construction in Larnaka, including the upgrade of the road network, the installation of perimeter fencing which will include security systems and controlled entrance gates to the Energy Center, the construction and operation of a Special Police Security Center which, including the cost of transporting oil products to the Center, amount to approximately 58 million euro.