The government expects delivery of a report on the status of the half-finished LNG infrastructure at Vasiliko sometime in the next few days, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou told MPs on Tuesday as he faced another barrage of criticism over the stalled project.

The new project manager – a subsidiary of French company Technip SA – is preparing a report on the optimal way for completing the jetty and the land-based infrastructure at the LNG import terminal.

In parliament, Papanastasiou conceded that “mistakes” were made in the past – alluding to previous administrations.

“We are getting criticised for delays of the past. People are shouting, and they are justifiably frustrated.”

The government is striving to have the project finished as soon as possible, the minister assured incredulous MPs.

“It is not an open-ended project,” he asserted.

But he stressed the government won’t sacrifice safety for speed.

“We are interested in swift implementation, but also the safe operation of the project, safeguarding the public interest and managing the cost from the damage incurred.”

Papanastasiou recalled that the LNG project has been probed by the European Court of Auditors, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (Cinea) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Responsibilities would be attributed wherever they exist, he added.

Next, MPs fired a volley of questions at the minister. But the chair of the House energy committee decided that the rest of the session, with Papanastasiou’s answers, would be held behind closed doors at the minister’s request.

Disy’s Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis, the committee chair, asked the minister what he had earlier meant when he spoke of a “course correction” in the LNG project.

Greens MP Stavros Papadouris asked Papanastasiou directly if the project would need redesigning from scratch. Apparently the minister said no.

Other lawmakers wanted to know whether the decision to break off the contract with the former Chinese-led consortium had been well thought out.

Akel MP Stefanos Stefanou said the priority now is what can be done to finish the infrastructure at Vasiliko the soonest possible.

Turning to the minister, he said: “We warned you not to speak of timetables, because you would be refuted. So do you now believe that you got it wrong, and will say mea culpa? Are you even sure that we will have natural gas by 2028?”

According to Stefanou, since 2018 Cyprus has spent approximately €1.3 billion on greenhouse gas emissions allowances – because of reliance on heavy fuel oil for electricity generation.

“Plus now, we’re in danger of running out of electricity and water,” he remarked.

Weighing in, Akel MP Andreas Pashiourtidis queried the cost of the LNG project so far.

His Akel colleague, Costas Costa, asked about the status of the floating, storage and re-gasification unit – dubbed Prometheas – still anchored in Malaysia.

Attending the session were the auditor-general as well as representatives of some of the subcontractors.

Last week a former official at the Transmission System Operator revealed that the sub-contractor hired to build the jetty at Vasiliko has declined to take responsibility for the materials and infrastructure equipment as they require repair and/or remanufacture.

The same official said the project manager could decide that infrastructure at Vasiliko need to be built from the beginning, given the lack of certification for certain equipment and materials used so far.

This information had been relayed to the Cyprus Mail about a month prior. Sources close to the matter, who wished not to be named, told us then that some of the gear ordered by the former Chinese-led consortium did not come with safety certificates.

This included, for example, high-pressure valves for the natural gas. Our sources had indicated that the Chinese-led contractor – CPP-Metron Consortium – had cut corners when ordering parts.

The LNG terminal contract was awarded in 2019 with a 24-month deadline for completion.

The Chinese-led consortium subsequently submitted four delivery timetables, all missed – September 2022, July 2023, October 2023 and lastly July 2024.

In July of the same year the consortium tore up the contract, citing insurmountable differences with the Cyprus government and claiming unpaid invoices.