Regulatory Other

At a joint summit in Athens on 12 November 2025, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accompanied by Cypriot Energy Minister George Papanastasiou and Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou, formally agreed to update the economic and technical parameters of the Great Sea Interconnector project. The decision followed months of bilateral tension over project cost escalation, Cyprus's annual €25 million contribution to IPTO, the March 2025 freezing of payments to cable contractor Nexans, and Turkish naval interference with seabed surveys near Kasos. Mitsotakis stated the move would allow the project to be strengthened with the entry of new, strong investors, which is to the benefit of all of us, while Christodoulides framed it as moving forward in full coordination in expanding mutual and regional energy cooperation and interconnectivity. The agreed parameter update committed both governments to commission a fresh feasibility study to firm up the project's total cost (last stated at €1.9 billion), define a viable revenue model, and clarify the basis for the 8.3% return-on-capital figure set for GSI shareholders over the first 17 years of operation. The November summit set the stage for the joint Greek-Cypriot letter to the European Investment Bank in April 2026 requesting an independent due-diligence study and for the broader financial restructuring of the project consortium beyond the December 2024 agreement in principle for Meridiam to take a 49.9% stake alongside IPTO.