Cyta looks set to win the legal right to enter the energy sector through renewables after a parliamentary majority began to form behind the pending bill, Phileleftheros has learned.
DISY, DIKO and DEPA will vote in favour when the bill comes before the House plenary next week, according to information obtained by Phileleftheros. Other parties remain undecided, with concerns centring on the potential impact on the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).
EAC chair Giorgos Petrou previously warned the parliamentary Finance Committee that the authority could lose between 4,000 and 5,000 customers if Cyta enters the energy market commercially.
At the same time, MPs have been weighing the consequences of rejection: Cyta chair Maria Tsiakka warned that the bill’s defeat would put the organisation’s future at risk, as competitors would be able to offer bundled telecom and energy packages that Cyta could not match.
Assurances have been given that Cyta would not move immediately into energy and would operate exclusively in green energy, targeting a specific consumer profile rather than the mass market.
The EAC leadership proposed that the two state bodies cooperate in the energy sector, but the Competition Protection Commission effectively ruled that out, concluding that a joint arrangement would create a monopoly given both organisations are state-owned.
Finance Committee members are due to present their parties’ final positions next Monday, ahead of the following plenary session. No amendments to the bill have been prepared so far, according to Phileleftheros.
Auditor General intervention agitates Cyta
The bill has also drawn the Auditor General into the debate. Andreas Papakonstantinou wrote to Finance Minister Makis Keravnos on Tuesday setting out reservations about the proposed legal amendment.
He argued it is misleading to suggest that Cyta’s entry into the energy market would reduce household costs, and said alternative ways exist for Cyta to offer enhanced service packages without going head-to-head with the EAC.
The two powerful state bodies, he wrote, can and should operate cooperatively and in a complementary manner rather than as competitors.
Cyta staff have reacted with frustration to the Auditor General’s intervention, arguing that EU competition law permits state bodies to operate in open markets.
Cyta itself has repeatedly stated that the bill updates its institutional framework to allow it to operate in additional markets, in line with other public bodies, and that leveraging the potential of a healthy state organisation benefits both the economy and citizens.
The organisation said it would set out its next steps in response to the Audit Office’s position in the coming days.