The appointment of a new personal envoy to Cyprus by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “imminent”, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Thursday.

Speaking to journalists at the presidential palace, he said that “the information we have from the UN is that the official announcement is imminent”.

“It is a matter of the next few days. As has been said in the past, it is a matter of UN procedures and there is no issue in relation to the announcement,” he said.

Letymbiotis’ statements come after UN special representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart had said that developments on the matter can be expected “very soon” and described the decision to name a new envoy as a “big outcome” of March’s enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem.

He added that there had been “speculation as to who it is going to be”, and said that he could not confirm anything until it is announced amid speculation that Maria Angela Holguin, who served as envoy last year, may be reappointed.

“The point is that the appointment of an envoy is a very significant step in this effort because it both represents the results of some positive movement, and in and of itself accelerates those movements, so it is both a cause and effect,” he said.

Sources close to the government had earlier informed the Cyprus Mail that the Greek Cypriot side “would have no problem with Holguin being reappointed” following media reports that the Greek Cypriot side’s reaction to the idea of Holguin’s return “was not especially warm”.

Relations between Tatar and Holguin had seemed to sour towards the end of her six-month stint as envoy last year, with their final meeting in May last year lasting just 20 minutes.

Tatar later criticised Holguin’s modus operandi while in Cyprus, accusing her of “provoking the opposition and turning me into a target”.

“Her holding of meetings with some opposition groups is outside her job description. This is not a nice thing. She visited Akinci twice. Is this even possible?” he said.

“This sort of thing is not something that can be accepted diplomatically. She is taking steps to provoke the opposition and wear me down. I conveyed my discomfort to the appropriate authorities.”

Holguin herself had told news website Kibris Postasi she had been “surprised” Tatar had rejected a proposal of a tripartite meeting with herself and Christodoulides.