The government has taken all necessary steps within its responsibility for the start of seabed surveys for the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday.

He also said the payment of €25 million to Greece’s independent power transmission operator ADMIE for the electricity interconnection project was proceeding according to plan.

Speaking to journalists, Christodoulides was asked whether there had been any developments concerning the issuance of a Navtex for the surveys.

“On this particular issue, the less we say publicly, the better,” he said, adding that this was also the informal understanding reached with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron.

He stressed, however, that Cyprus had taken all the necessary steps required of it.

Asked when the €25 million payment to ADMIE would be released, Christodoulides said everything was proceeding according to plan and that the government was honouring the agreements it had entered into.

“We are taking the steps we need to take and, away from the public spotlight, we are doing what we need to do,” he said.

Separately, asked about the Turkish Cypriot side’s reaction to Cyprus raising the issue of a planned natural gas pipeline between Turkey and the occupied north with the European Union, Christodoulides said he saw no reason for objections.

“Of course we acted correctly,” he said, describing the proposed pipeline as an illegal undertaking.

He added that the EU had already expressed its position and taken specific steps towards Turkey over the matter.

Earlier Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel had said that the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey will continue exploration and energy activities in the Eastern Mediterranean based on what he described as their “legitimate rights”, without seeking anyone’s permission.