Larnaca marina construction ‘to begin in June’

Construction work on Larnaca’s marina and port will begin in June, the town’s municipality said on Sunday.

A meeting of the Larnaca town and district development committee held in the presence of Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades had put pressure on developer Kition Ocean Holdings to pay an outstanding financial guarantee for the project.

Vafeades had said on Friday that instructions would be sought from the legal service if the guarantee was not paid by Monday.

The committee “unanimously decided” that the guarantee “be paid immediately” by Kition Ocean Holdings and that “under no circumstances” would any extension be granted.

However, it is as yet unclear whether or not Kition Ocean Holdings will pay the guarantee, as they have made no public comment on the matter since before Friday’s meeting.

They had agreed on Monday to renew the guarantee following a meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides. A total of €4.2 million has been paid so far out of a total expected amount of €10m.

While the amount payable as a guarantee seems to have now been agreed upon, there may be differences in opinion regarding the timeframe of the payments, given that it appears Kition Ocean Holdings have not yet paid the whole amount.

Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras said on Monday that the construction licence would be issued on April 26 – next Friday – and that tenders have been submitted and are awaiting the implementation of the agreement.

The Cyprus Mail attempted to contact Kition Ocean Holdings but were unable to receive a comment from the company.