A working breakfast between President Nikos Christodoulides and ENI chief executive Claudio Descalzi in Rome turned into a two-hour negotiation on Friday, as both sides push to finalise a gas deal before an East Med Gas Forum meeting in Egypt at the end of March.
During the meeting, a videoconference was held with Nicosia involving the Law Office, the Hydrocarbons Company and other relevant bodies, according to Phileleftheros sources.
Both the Cypriot government and the Italian energy giant are aiming to wrap up all procedural steps in time for the agreement to be signed at the forum session scheduled for late March in Egypt.
Well-informed sources said Nicosia wants the deal concluded and the necessary decisions taken at Council of Ministers level so that Cyprus can begin selling natural gas to Europe via Egypt by 2027.
Following the Christodoulides-Descalzi meeting, working teams from both sides continued their consultations throughout the day. The president and the ENI chief executive agreed to reconvene later in the day if required.
In the official statement issued after the meeting, Christodoulides also referenced his meeting the previous day with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at which both sides agreed to open a dialogue on developing bilateral relations to the level of strategic cooperation.
He noted that Meloni would be visiting Cyprus to attend the informal European Council in April, and said efforts were under way to arrange a bilateral visit either before or after that summit.
Christodoulides described the meeting with Meloni as very good, saying the two leaders held identical views on many issues, particularly within the European Council. He added that they had discussed the IMEC corridor at length, which he described as a topic of interest to ENI as well.
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