Filenews 1 October 2020 - by Petros Theoharidis
Within the next week, with a more likely date of Monday 5 October, the signing ceremony of the contracts for the award of the development of the Larnaca port and marina, as well as the surrounding area, is planned to the consortium "Kition Ocean Holding Ltd".
According to the information of "F", the consortium, after the green light received at the end of last month by the Competition Protection Committee to proceed, prepared a series of documents, certificates, guarantees and proofs of availability of funds etc. that were required, which it submitted to the Ministry of Transport for inspection and approval.
The ministry, together with the government committee dealing with the matter, was these days in control of the completeness and compatibility of the documents with the requirements recorded in the letter of award of the project.
At the same time, the contracts for the award of the project were also prepared. If no problem arises, then informally it has been agreed as the date of signature on Monday 5 October, so that there will be no further delay and immediately proceed with preparations for the reception of the port and marina, which are expected to last about a year.
The contracts provide for the award of the long-term exclusive right for the design, construction and financing of development projects, the management, operation and maintenance of the port and marina of Larnaca, and the commercialization of real estate in the area. It will be preceded by the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Transport and the Port Authority, by which the Authority will grant the port to the ministry for rent. For the marina there is no need for such arrangements, since it belongs directly to the state.
At a later stage, following the signings, Port Authority and 'Kition Ocean Holding Ltd', will begin cooperation between them to proceed with a plan for the transition and delivery of the port, which should be completed within 12 months, with which the change in its management should be made fully smooth and imperceptible to port users. Already, account is taken of the negative experiences and transition errors recorded in limassol port.
Among other things, it is envisaged that the operation of the port will continue as a multi-purpose operation and that it will serve all kinds of cargoes from bulk to conventional, safe maritime access services will also be provided at the port, navigation, navigation aids, navigation aids, towing, cargo management services, transit trade management, facilitation of the provision by third parties of services necessary for ships at the port and other services related to the sea.