Another €200m will be needed for the completion of the LNG import terminal at Vasiliko, said the finance ministry. But we suspect that this is a very optimistic estimate, considering the slapdash way in which the project was approached right from the start, when it was labelled of “national importance” and awarded without competitive tenders to a consortium led by a company that had no experience in building LNG terminals.

The project has been going from one costly disaster to another, the Chinese-led consortium finally pulling out in July last year after failing to complete even 50 per cent of the project, which according to the contract, should have been delivered in September 2022. The abandonment of the project had been preceded by continuous financial disputes with the project manager, Etyfa, the natural gas infrastructure company, which was clearly not up to the job. The dispute will now be settled in the court of arbitration in London, with fears that the Republic might end up with a bill for tens of millions.

Meanwhile the costs for the project keep on rising. Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said on Tuesday that the FSRU (floating storage regasification unit) Prometheas, that is currently docked in Malaysia, still needs two systems costing €7m to be installed. The FSRU had already cost €200m, the Republic having paid almost double the market rate for such vessels.

After Tuesday’s House committee meeting Etyfa said that the €200m would not only be used for the completion of the infrastructure work. Part will be used to pay off loans and capital for this year and 2026, legal and other costs related to the ongoing arbitration, technical consultancy fees regarding the supervision of the project, staffing and operation of the FSRU and provision for additional funding needs for the construction work.

It is astonishing that Etyfa has no clue how the €200m of the taxpayers’ money would actually be spent and considers it acceptable to mention what might be spent on legal costs or construction or the FSRU. What if the legal costs and compensation ordered by the court of arbitration comes to €200m? What would happen then with the infrastructure work for the terminal? Will that be suspended for another three years until we find the money?

Then there is the small matter of the investigation into allegations of violations of the procurement rules being carried out by the European Public Prosecutor’s office. Could this investigation also have cost for the taxpayer?

After everything that has happened and the huge amount of money wasted, we would have hoped that Etfya and the government would show a sense of responsibility in how they manage the Vasiliko project from now on. This demand for €200m without any proper budgeting forecasts is unacceptable.

The taxpayer has a right to know how this money will be spent, even if, at present, there is no way of knowing what the International Arbitration Court in London will decide. Etyfa should still be able to say how much the laying down of pipes, the completion of the jetty and the operation of the FSRU will cost.

The taxpayer has the right to know how Etyfa would spend €200m it claims it needs. There must be accountability for such big budgets.