The Minister of Transport Alexis Vafeades refutes the claims by the CEO of Kition Ocean Holdings, who earlier on Tuesday had blamed the government for the impasse over the €1.2 billion marina and port investment project in Larnaca.
Speaking to philenews, Vafeades reiterated that the company is in breach of a fundamental term of the contract due to their failure to renew a €10 million guarantee. “The obligation to have a guarantee in place is a contractual term, it is not negotiable. The government has no choice but to insist on this letter of guarantee. We would be in breach of contract if we didn’t. This isn’t just my understanding, it is also the stance of the Law Office. Therefore, the two issues cannot be linked. We have explained to them numerous times that their requested changes to the project cannot be considered until they renew the guarantee.”
He also noted that the government understands the company’s concerns and is willing to discuss them, provided that the guarantee is renewed.
Vafeades also revealed that the company had sought legal action to obtain a unilateral court order when they were informed that the state had the right to cash in the remaining guarantees in place.
“We have told them that if they continue to not renew the guarantee, we may have no choice but to cash in the remaining guarantees. They went to court and obtained a unilateral order, which states that we are not entitled to cash in the remaining guarantees until their case and the government’s position are heard in court. The hearing has been set for April 15.”
The Minister dismissed the allegations made by the CEO of Kition Ocean Holdings, Oliver Corlette, as baseless and stated that they are awaiting instructions from the Legal Service to decide on the next steps for the state.
“The Law Office is handling the court case and is preparing to present the state’s position. The CEO’s claim that we are not discussing their demands is unfounded because we have clearly requested the renewal of the guarantee before any discussions can take place. I believe the company’s arguments do not reflect the true nature of the issue,” Vafeades said.
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