“I consider an important milestone that has been completed with the election of Mr. Erdogan. I want to take this opportunity today to congratulate him on his re-election and reiterate our own readiness to resume negotiations from the point where they broke off in Crans-Montana,” said the President of the Republic of Cyprus. Nikos Christodoulides.

Mr. Christodoulidis made statements to journalists in the context of the event of the Ministry of Energy and companies operating in the hydrocarbon sector, where he delivered a welcome message, adding: “You understand that after the completion of the electoral process, our efforts are entering the second stage, because this was an important milestone, and we hope that there will be progress soon.“.

President Christodoulidis noted, among other things, in relation to the workshop in question, held at the central hotel in Nicosia, that: “This shows how high our priorities are in the use of natural gas.. Two and a half months after the new government took office, we present a clear direction. There are three main facts. The first concerns high electricity prices in the domestic market, the second concerns the EU’s attempts to phase out Russian natural gas, and the third concerns the prospects for the Eastern Mediterranean combined with the excellent relations of the Republic of Cyprus with its neighboring states.

Our strategy is to combine all these three facts, with the main goal of course being the domestic market, we are responsible, we have obligations to the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, and at the same time we use the opportunities that currently exist. at the European level to strengthen the EU’s efforts to phase out Russian natural gas. So, let’s unite them, taking advantage of the prospects of the Eastern Mediterranean and excellent relations with neighboring states.” In response to a question about the comparative advantages of Cyprus, the President of the Republic said that “The Republic of Cyprus is an EU Member State and today the Seminar should provide added value in the exploitation of the Republic of Cyprus.

The decision of the Republic of Cyprus does not cancel other options. We have excellent relations with neighboring states, we have spoken and will continue to speak, and then experts, about the need to create synergy, which will ultimately benefit all the states of the region and the EU itself.” When asked how the plan presented last Friday by Chevron corresponds to the wishes of KD, the President of the Republic said that “this is what we are discussing. It is important that there is a development plan, finally you understand how important it is for us to have a development plan, the first contact has already been made, Chevron is waiting for us and will immediately receive our comments on its own proposal and all this is in the context in which the seminar is taking place today.

There are companies here that work in our region, companies that believe in the prospect of the Eastern Mediterranean, and all this is done precisely in order to announce the final decisions. We have a plan, planning, consultations have progressed to a great extent and our goal is first of all the domestic market to respond to what the Cypriot citizens expect from us and at the same time take advantage of the international circumstances.”

In response to the question whether the Cypriot government is in permanent coordination with the government of Israel, the President of the Republic stated that “we are discussing with all governments. As a reminder, I visited Egypt and Israel, accompanied by the Minister of Energy, who will travel to Israel in the coming days, and, yes, we are in coordination with neighboring governments, we have excellent relations, and we are discussing our planning.”

Source: RES-IPE