State, MPs, former party leader clash over GSI
Before the ink has dried on the government’s decision to approve connecting the electricity grids of Cyprus and Greece, the first warnings of its immense cost was made as the government spokesman defended the move.
Chairman of the House energy committee Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis said the move approved by the cabinet for participation in the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) will cost 500,000 consumers €17 per month or €200 per year, while Cyprus will pay €105 million on average annually for the next 35 years.
Hadjiyiannis told Alpha that these calculations did not change with the government’s decision.
But government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Hadjiyiannis had applauded the project a couple of years ago, even saying it was of “strategic importance”.
He added that “Hadjiyiannis does not have all the data before him [and] he is sky-rocketing the cost of the construction by 30 to 40 per cent.”
“It is self-evident that lifting the energy isolation of our country will help and relieve the Cypriot consumers,” the spokesman said.
He also assured that there would be no increases on electricity bills during the construction period and that by its completion the cost of electricity would drop by 40 per cent.
Meanwhile, former Disy president Averof Neophytou lashed out at President Nikos Christodoulides, asking if he could clearly say when the project would finally be completed and how much it would cost the taxpayers.
He said the president, speaking on Sigma TV, avoided replying directly to questions and turned the interview into a coffeeshop chat.