In early April 2025, Greek media reported that the cost of delaying research in international waters by an Italian company on behalf of French firm Nexans had been calculated at €19 million.
How many more millions are we talking about today? And how much will it be by the end of May? How much longer will the research continue to be postponed and, through these postponements, increase the compensation owed to Nexans?
Is anyone in Greece, Cyprus, France, or anywhere else planning to put an end to these extensions? If they were costless, we could say fine, let’s wait. But they cost millions, which consumers in Cyprus and Greece will ultimately have to pay.
They likely also put the €1.4 billion contract with Nexans at risk, since we’ve been told that the Full Notice to Proceed hasn’t yet been given and the implementation body—or more accurately, the Greek state—isn’t adhering to the schedules.
But even if the research were to start backwards, would it start at all?
The cost isn’t increasing only through research delays, but also through general project delays. There will also be a cost—loss of benefit—if the interconnector is delivered one, two, or three years late, even if it does eventually happen.
However, those who are eager to hear about—and celebrate—the project’s cancellation should know that this outcome wouldn’t be without financial damage either. From the Greek side, it appears IPTO (Independent Power Transmission Operator) has already spent €200 million and continues to spend dozens of millions more each month. And if it’s not spending this money, it still owes it.
If the project fails, IPTO will seek to recover these funds, and the absent EU will likely not do us the favour of covering the damage from the €658 million grant they promised us.
Let’s not forget that both CERA (Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority) and the Greek regulatory authority have already approved—for now—around €570 million for IPTO as expenses to be recovered from consumers in both countries.
That decision—made in late September 2024—stipulated that for the cable construction, recoverable expenses of €287 million for 2023-24 and €201 million for 2025 were approved.
For the voltage conversion stations (in Kofinou and Korakia, Crete), recoverable expenses of €47.5 million were approved for 2025 as a first instalment, despite the pending—and still pending—contract between IPTO and Siemens.
Cyprus committed to paying IPTO €25 million annually, in five instalments, with the first due in early 2026. The remaining funds allocated to Cyprus (63%) would be paid after the project’s operation, assuming they have been spent.
And since everyone tells us that Nexans continues to manufacture the cable, it means millions continue to be spent (or debts continue to accumulate) without even having a NAVTEX notice for maritime surveys.
Everything is quite confusing for anyone to believe that if the project fails due to fear of complications with Turkey, Cyprus will suffer only minor damage today.
If the project’s cancellation is attributed to geopolitical obstacles, the agreement provides for coverage of incurred expenses on a 50-50 basis. But how will the geopolitical factor of obstruction be proven without even attempting to conduct the research and—later—lay the cable?
On the other hand, should the Greek Government perhaps take the risk of a ‘heated’ incident (or multiple incidents) to convince “investors” that responsibility for a fiasco lies 100% with Turkey, so that we split the damage and avoid blame for the failure being assigned to IPTO? In such a case, IPTO would find itself in a dire financial position.
That’s why it turned to the Justice system against CERA, seeking to nullify its current regulatory obligation to shoulder the damage alone and compensate for benefits lost by consumers in both countries if the project’s cancellation is deemed its responsibility.
When the Greek Prime Minister (just the day before yesterday)—like the Foreign Minister—postpones decisions and states that the project will be completed in due time or at the appropriate time, we hope they understand what a mess we’re heading into while everything remains up in the air.
