Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras on Wednesday said he is “satisfied” with the government’s decisions regarding the future of the town’s port and marina, placing Greek state-owned asset management company the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRDAF) in the driving seat of the port’s development.

He said he “welcomes the fact that now the decisions and procedures for the port’s development are now focused on permanently finding an investor, both for the port and the marina, and for the land surrounding it”.

He also said he was heartened by the fact that President Nikos Christodoulides had told him that on the matter of the surrounding land, “no possible solution has been ruled out, even for the project to be carried out by a state body such as the ports authority”.

Additionally, he said he was pleased that the marina will now be temporarily managed by the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), saying this will “ensure the smooth implementation of the first projects at the marina, which have already been decided”.

The government had on Tuesday placed the HRDAF in the driving seat of the port and marina development project, with the company now set to play a key role in deciding the next steps for both sites.

Vafeades said a study into possible development plans would be completed “within six months”, before being put before the relevant authorities for a decision to be made.

This, he said, will ideally see “a tender immediately put out, not for a manager, but for an investor, and for the implementation of whatever development is included in the study”.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, he explained that with the HRDAF now in place, it is hoped that once plans have been drawn up for the development of both the marina and the port, the government will then be able to find a private investor to take on the control of both sites on the basis of a public-private partnership, which will operate in a similar fashion to the way Hermes airports operate Larnaca and Paphos airports.

He added that Tuesday’s discussion on the port and marina’s future was “thorough”, and that “all options have been put on the table”, with important decisions being made.

The HRADF currently operates a number of ports in Greece, including those of Alexandroupoli, Lavrio, and Volos, Kavala’s commercial Philip II port, and the Corfu megayacht marina. 

It takes over Larnaca port as part of the second “transition period” for the port as devised last year by Vafeades, with HRADF now operating the port while the government seeks a long-term investor to upgrade the infrastructure of both sites.

The government had announced in August that the development of Larnaca’s port and marina would be split into two projects, while Vafeades also brought forward the expected date of completion to September 2026, compared to the previously estimated date of March 2027.

The move comes after the government in May terminated its agreement with Kition Ocean Holdings, the company it had initially entrusted with a combined project which was set to cost €1.2 billion.

The contract was terminated after the government accused Kition of refusing to pay a requisite financial guarantee for the project’s operation and maintenance.

The government had insisted Kition pay a total of €8m, while Kition believed the figure had been agreed at €4.2m.