The Defa budget comes to €85.89 million. An attempt by Disy MP Kyriacos Hadjiyianni to ‘cross’ items on the budget failed when his proposed amendment did not garner sufficient support. ‘Crossing’ means marking individual spending items in a budget as pending, so that if the budget as a whole is passed, government officials must later come back to parliament and specifically request the release of those amounts. Hadjiyianni tried to block spending in reaction to the government’s request earlier this week to increase the share capital of Etyfa – the state-run natural gas infrastructure company – by €70 million. Etyfa, a subsidiary of Defa, is in charge of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project at Vasiliko.

The extra €70 million in funds requested was for completing works at the land-based LNG terminal at Vasiliko – a project plagued by delays and the Chinese contractor’s walkout last year. The government has promised that the LNG project as a whole will be completed by the end of the year. The LNG contract was awarded in 2019 with a 24-month deadline for completion.

The Chinese-led consortium subsequently submitted four delivery timetables – September 2022, July 2023, October 2023 and July 2024. In July 2024, the Chinese contractor unilaterally pulled the plug, citing insurmountable differences with the Cyprus government and claiming unpaid invoices. Once completed, the LNG facility will convert the imported liquefied fuel into gas, which will be fed via pipeline to drive turbines at the nearby Vasiliko power station.

During the debate in the House, Diko MP Chrysis Pantelides accused Disy’s Hadjiyianni of seeking to “shirk Disy’s responsibilities” for the delays in the advent of natural gas. He said the prior administration of Nicos Anastasiades bears “a heavy responsibility” for that, adding that the present government is managing the project “in the best possible way”.

Source: Cyprus Mail