Rumours suggesting that President Nikos Christodoulides was dissatisfied with the previous board of the Public Natural Gas Company (DEFA), believing it had been slow to put the incomplete natural gas terminal project at Vasiliko back on track, were effectively confirmed yesterday with the appointment of a new board by the Council of Ministers.
With the exception of three members, Thomas Sepos, Constantinos Danos and the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Andreas Zachariades, Mr Christodoulides sent all other board members home, including the chairman and vice-chairman.
This happened despite the fact that the tender process for the pre-selection of a contractor to complete the project is, according to sources within DEFA and ETYFA, in the final stages before being launched.
However, with the non-reappointment of, in particular, Giorgos Asiiykalis, valuable experience, contacts and networking that could have proved useful during the next phase of the project will be lost.
The new nine-member board consists of Georgios Pistentis, who has been appointed chairman, Paris Constantinou as vice-chairman, and members Thomas Sepos, Constantinos Danos, Kyriacos Stylianou, Nikos Solomou, Constantinos Pittas, Andreas Zachariades and a second permanent secretary, Kyriacos Iordanou, who serves at the Ministry of Energy and replaces an official from the Energy Service.
Former EAC Vice-Chairman Takes the Helm
DEFA's new chairman, Georgios Pistentis, is a senior executive at a company specialising in technology, particularly the provision of specialised technological solutions for the tourism sector and digital transformation projects more generally.
According to his professional profile, among his strengths are business consulting, project management and the administration of critical state infrastructure.
He became involved in the energy sector during his tenure as vice-chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) board from 2005 to 2013.
As part of that role, he also dealt with natural gas matters, serving as chairman of an ad hoc EAC committee. In addition, his postgraduate studies included research into the issue of the single electricity market.
