Greece’s relevant energy and environment minister on Friday tersely said that “what we expected didn’t occur”, in reference to efforts to overcome hurdles in pushing through the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project, an ambitious plan to connect the power grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece via an undersea cable spanning much of the eastern Mediterranean.
In answer to a press question, Minister Thodoros Skylakakis merely added that “we’ll have the opportunity to discuss the issue on Tuesday in a meeting called by the president of the Republic of Cyprus, which, as I have been told, will include the Cypriot energy minister.”
Meanwhile, according to reports from the island republic, when asked on Friday about the issues blocking the project – mainly due to objections by Cyprus’ power authority over costs – Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides denied that any hitch.
“I am following with great interest the statements of some politicians, either for or against. We, as a government, are accountable only to the Cypriot people, and as a government we will take a decision that serves the interests of the Cypriot people. We have seen in the history of this republic what happened with major projects, with projects of great strategic importance, and where they ended up. We, as a responsible government, will make a decision we won’t financially burden the state with debt, nor the people, certainly. Our decision will be based on factual data and will not entail any ambiguity, constructive or not. That’s why I’ve asked them (other stakeholders) to come to Cyprus, to have all the facts before us,” he said.
