Ministry seeks European funding for new museum

The government is discussing additional financing from the European Investment Bank for the construction of the new archaeological museum and road safety, Transport Minister Yiannos Karousos said on Friday.

He was speaking to the press after a meeting in Nicosia with EIB vice president Lilyana Pavlova where the two reviewed cooperation so far and discussed the transport ministry’s new infrastructure projects.

Funds from a separate €112m loan agreement signed a few months ago have been earmarked for the Limassol-Saittas motorway, the Paphos-Polis Chrysochous motorway, the Nicosia ring road and traffic cameras, he said.

“Over and above the cooperation we already have, we also discussed the possible financing of transport ministry projects such as the new Cyprus Museum in Nicosia which is the largest project out on tender at the moment with a budget of €120m,” Karousos said.

Road safety projects as well as other motorways for which tenders were launched such as the Astromeritis-Evrychou motorway were also discussed, as was sustainable urban mobility.

With 50 per cent of emissions in Cyprus transport-related, considerable responsibility for their reduction rests with the ministry, the minister noted.

Pavlova said the EIB backs Cyprus in implementing its national road network programme. Support will continue to improve the road network – such as motorways—and sustainable urban mobility with special emphasis on road safety, which is a significant part of EIB financing, she added.

In addition to investments to create a safe road network, cooperation between the two sides will be enhanced within the framework of financing for the construction of the new museum and for the state lab, she added.