March 14, 2012 [Famagusta Gazette] - In mid autumn the government will have completed the evaluation to choose the company that will join the venture to create a Modern Oil Terminal and Storage at Vassiliko area.
The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Praxoulla Antoniadou Kyriakou, appeared Tuesday before the House Commerce Committee to provide an update on the issue concerning the transfer of the oil terminals from Larnaca to Vassiliko.
Antoniadou told the Committee that in mid autumn the government will choose one of the five companies that are being evaluated, to be its partner in the joint venture to create the oil terminal at Vassiliko.
She said the Ministry has informed the House Commerce Committee on Tuesday about the progress in implementing the terminal project reminding members of the House that last November, the Evaluation Committee, in its report about the companies that exhibited interest, said that only five out of the ten that applied fulfilled the criteria.
A Technical Committee has been set up and is chaired by the Director of the Energy Services of the Ministry and is frequently meeting to proceed with the process. The five companies will have to submit a complete proposal and then their proposals will be assessed by the Evaluation Committee, which was appointed by the Cabinet in January 2012.
The Ministry, said Antoniadou, wants to see this project completed the soonest, because it will contribute to the economic development that will arise from the field of energy and tourism, as the removal of the oil terminal in Larnaca will free up the area of the current installations.
“Based on the planning, we believe that in the middle of autumn we will have completed the procedure and will know which company has been chosen to form the joint venture”, she said, adding that soon after, the implementation of the project will follow.
The government Oil Refinery and the storage deposits of private companies are currently situated on the shores of Larnaca town. According to Larnaca Municipality, in 2000 the Municipality signed a contract with the government according to which all installations related to petrol should be removed from Larnaka by the year 2010 and that by the year 2012 the related plots of land should be environmentally cleaned and delivered to the new ambitious policies of the town aiming in transforming the city into a unique town resort in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Oil refining has been terminated in the year 2004 and these installations are currently being dismantled to be exported in a nearby Middle Eastern country.
