Stakeholders are to convene on Monday morning at the Presidential Palace to discuss the impasse over the future of the planned Larnaca marina and port revamp.
The meeting, to be hosted by President Nikos Christodoulides will be attended by representatives of Kition Ocean Holdings, the management company, Director of the Ministry of Transport Antonis Koutsoullis, and Mayor of Larnaca Andreas Vyras.
Minister of Transport Alexis Vafeades has previously expressed concern over delays to the start of works while the city’s mayor has stated that changes in the design and further delays will not be accepted.
Christodoulides has responded to claims filed by the company against the state in court, saying that the state will not be blackmailed, and that he agrees with the public statements of the mayor and Larnaca MPs as regards the works.
He has added that he is willing to discuss possible approaches and find solutions within the agree upon framework for the construction.
On Tuesday, Kition Ocean Holdings said they filed a case against the government for causing delays and breaching the contract.
According to CEO Oliver Corlette, the government had been unwilling to meet the company to discuss a difference in a financial guarantee.
The guarantee is one of three worth €10 million, which the company said needed to be recalculated, something the government refused, leading to the delay in the works.
“We met with them [the government] several times to try and open this discussion, but they refused to discuss the calculation even though it could have been resolved very quickly but to no avail. Last week, we applied to the Cyprus courts seeking an order to get the government to follow the agreement. We respect the court’s proceedings so we will not comment further on this matter,” Corlette said.
He added that Kition Ocean Holdings has also been “threatened” by the government, which, he said, attempted to “bully” the company by saying it would terminate the contract.
Vafeades refuted the claims and reiterated that the company is violating an essential term of the contract due to the non-renewal of a €10 million letter of guarantee.