The former Auditor General of Cyprus, Odysseas Michaelides, spoke of “yet another energy Waterloo” following the massive scandal at Vasilikos, in comments referencing the Phileleftheros report today, which detailed continued pressure from the Greek Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) on the Cypriot regulator (RAEK) to be paid tens of millions for the Cyprus–Greece interconnector.
In a social media post, Mr. Michaelides stated: “The lack of decisiveness from President Christodoulides, compounded by the peculiar and destructive insistence of his main governmental partner, Nikolas Papadopoulos, in favour of the project ‘at any cost,’ is pushing the Republic of Cyprus deeper into quicksand, as for ADMIE the project runs and the bill increases.”
Michaelides’ Full Post
In August 2023, I personally informed the Commission and the Cypriot Energy Minister, G. Papanastasiou, about the “peculiar” background of the project’s then-Implementation Body (a history of bankruptcy of dozens of companies, betting and others), which explained why the project was not progressing. I recommended finding a suitable body through an open tender.
The Christodoulides Government ignored me and in October 2023 allowed the Body to directly sell the project’s “air” to ADMIE for a suspicious consideration of €48 million. This is currently being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In September 2024, the Christodoulides Government involved the Republic of Cyprus more deeply with the Council of Ministers’ decision for a €25 x 5 = €125 million prepayment to ADMIE before the project is even completed.
The only check on this slide is the Minister of Finance, who factually demonstrated that the repeatedly revised latest cost estimate of €1.9 billion no longer has any connection to reality.
The lack of decisiveness from President Christodoulides, compounded by the peculiar and destructive insistence of his main governmental partner, Nikolas Papadopoulos, in favour of the project “at any cost,” is pushing the Republic of Cyprus deeper into quicksand, as for ADMIE the project runs and the bill increases.
Yet another energy Waterloo after the massive scandal at Vasilikos.