IPTO denies seeking immediate €251 million payment from Cyprus over electricity project
Source: in-cyprus.com
Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator has issued a revised statement denying it is seeking immediate payment of all expenses for the electricity interconnection project after withdrawing an earlier denial statement it had sent at midday in response to Phileleftheros’s report.
IPTO maintains in its revised statement that it is not claiming all its expenses for the electricity interconnection at this stage but only the €25 million provided for in the Framework Agreement between the governments of Cyprus and Greece, provided that CERA recognises the €251 million it claims to have spent on the electricity interconnection.
The statement makes no reference to the president of the Republic’s declaration, who spoke of blackmail of the Republic of Cyprus by the head of IPTO.
However, IPTO avoids publishing the letter it sent to CERA, despite having used it to submit an objection to CERA’s July 2024 decision, which stipulates that the implementation entity will receive only €125 million by 2029 in annual instalments of €25 million.
Phileleftheros sources maintain IPTO disputes regulatory framework
Phileleftheros’s information insists that IPTO disputes the correctness of the July 2024 regulatory decision and is claiming compensation, before the interconnection becomes operational, for all expenses it incurs.
Sources also state that CERA’s position, as formulated in relevant decisions, is that IPTO has not submitted sufficient supporting documents for cost recovery beyond the €82 million recognised by the regulatory authority.
IPTO withdraws initial statement, issues revised denial of Phileleftheros report
IPTO’s statement reads as follows:
“IPTO categorically denies information contained in the report on the Cypriot website philenews titled ‘Revelatory: IPTO declared war over the cable – Bombshell letter to CERA – Preparing to appeal to the courts’, regarding its claims about the amount of the expected compensation from CERA concerning the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection project.
“IPTO recognises and claims the agreed first instalment of €25 million for 2025, and nothing more regarding the project’s investment expenditures (capex) and denies the arbitrary and uncorroborated information in the report about immediately claiming €251 million, which constitutes part of the €1.9 billion project and which will be recovered over the 35-year depreciation period that has been determined regulatorily.
“The reason IPTO, based on its contractual right, requested a review of CERA’s decision of 31 July 2025 is that CERA, with this decision, did not recognise the expenses the operator has made to date, despite the evidence it has received and despite the fact that the Greek regulatory authority recognises them.
“Specifically, CERA recognised only an amount of €82 million, versus approximately €251 million, which constitute verified investment expenditures to date.
“IPTO recognises the recoverable amount of €25 million for 2025 as an advance on the project’s actual revenue, which regulatorily should be calculated on the basis of total investment expenditures, as the Regulatory Authority for Energy of Greece does. For this reason, it claims recognition from CERA of the total actual expenses to date. All necessary evidence that must be taken into account is submitted with the objection”.
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