By Ifigenia Theodoridou

Monday will be a “historic day” for the Republic of Cyprus as two “major agreements” to commercialise natural gas in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone will be signed, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace, he said “agreements will be signed for the first time in relation to the commercialisation of natural gas”.

These are of “geostrategic political, energy and economic importance,” he added.

“Within this framework, we continue our efforts, we continue the implementation of our election programme, we continue all that we promised to the Cypriot people, looking them in the eye every day, changing our country, and this effort will continue, and nothing, nothing will lead us to different paths.”

Asked what these agreements mean for the Republic of Cyprus and what are the milestones that have been agreed on, Christodoulides said they concern Aphrodite block 6.

The two agreements are “one with Egypt, ENI and Total that will move much faster.” The other is on Block 12 which is Chevron, Shell and NewMed. “All these companies have already moved forward and on specific projects.

“We are moving forward on the basis of planning for commercialisation.”

Taking into account current regional and international developments, these agreements have a decisive role in cooperation with states of the region where the economic and energy sectors are concerned, but primarily in their impact on people in Cyprus, Christodoulides added.

Asked if there is a date for commercialisation, he said he has a specific date in mind, which emerged through discussions with stakeholders but that he would not want to say anything specific.

“What is more important for us is that it is implemented as planned and then announcements will be made,” he said.

On Friday night, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou announced that Cyprus had taken a significant step towards bolstering its role in the regional energy sector with the approval of a revised development and production plan for the Aphrodite gas field. The project will advance through facilities in Egypt.