The opposition party AKEL has launched a fierce attack on the government, claiming that repeated assurances from the Minister of Energy about the arrival of natural gas have been consistently disproven by reality, as one timeline after another has collapsed since 2023.
Citing the ongoing reports on the troubled Vasiliko gas terminal project which, the party notes, the government “does not even dare to deny”, AKEL argued that President Christodoulides’ administration has failed to resolve the impasse inherited from previous governments.
“The outstanding issues and gaps keep piling up, and no one knows when, or even if, natural gas for electricity generation will finally arrive,” the party said in a statement, stressing that this remains the only way to meaningfully reduce Cyprus’s soaring energy costs.
According to AKEL, the absence of both a contingency plan and effective foresight has left “the most critical strategic energy project up in the air,” forcing society to shoulder the burden of energy insecurity, high costs, and risks to supply.
The party also accused the government of dragging its feet on other key projects, such as the upgrade of the Dhekelia power station. AKEL warned that delays there are already leading to more frequent power cuts and an increased risk of blackouts. It further highlighted the lack of progress on storage infrastructure, which it said is forcing thousands of consumers to endure recurring supply reductions.
On renewables, the opposition party pointed to ongoing distortions in the energy market, accusing the government of failing to intervene while allowing certain private operators to reap “windfall profits at the expense of society and the economy.”
“The public cannot withstand this deception any longer,” the statement concluded, calling on the government to assume responsibility and deliver real solutions before, as AKEL warned, “Cyprus is led into complete energy chaos.”
