VTT Vasiliko fuel terminal’s work started last April and is expected to be completed in 2014. To begin with, the terminal should be able to store up to 643,000 cubic metres (of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, gasoil and mazut). The total capacity will be operational in two phases. 

Plans include a marine jetty to extend offshore for 1,200 metres and to include two loading arms per berth per product. About 550 ships are expected to be served a year. 

The company has said that the ports authority is expected to make €18 million a year from port duties, with customs duties and taxes bringing in additional revenue for the state. 

The overall investment is in the range of €300 million and the project is expected to considerably boost the island’s ailing economy.

According to VTT Vasiliko’s managing director, Cypriot consumers would also benefit, due to reduced fuel prices, as the VTT Vasiliko terminal is expected to reinforce competition as it will be used by companies that currently don’t operate in the Cypriot market.

Last November, VTTI (to which VTT Vasiliko is a subsidiary) was forced to respond to reports suggesting there was a conflict of interest from the potential participation of the company in the construction and management of the oil storage terminal at the Vasilikos Energy Centre.

VTTI said that oil storage terminals, by nature, do not affect competition in a market as the owner/operating company of the terminal is in control of the storage infrastructure rather than the oil stored within it.

“The aim and priority of VTT Vasiliko Ltd is the development and operation of its private terminal that will be erected in Vasilikos and not any other similar project in Cyprus,” a statement said.

It said the main activity of the private terminal would be storing fuels for companies, the majority from abroad, which do not have commercial operations in Cyprus and are competitors to each other. 

VTT Vasiliko Ltd is a company registered in Cyprus, a subsidiary of VTTI B.V. 

With interests spanning over 11 countries and 5 continents, VTTI is considered one of the top ten independent oil terminal operators in the world. Major terminals are located in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Fujairah in the UAE and Port Canaveral, Florida, USA. 

VTTI’s shareholders are the Dutch energy giant Vitol, one of the world’s largest energy trading companies, and MISC, a leading international shipping company, registered in the Malaysian stock market and owned by the state oil company Petronas.