EAC to lose power monopoly by 2003

THE ELECTRICITY Authority (EAC) will from 2003 no longer hold the monopoly on power, with the state obliged to liberalise a third of the carrying and distribution of electricity by then.

Speaking after a Ministerial Committee meeting, Commerce, Tourism and Industry Minister Nicos Rolandis said yesterday that the government was already taking steps in this direction, adding that that Greece had already begun the practice from February 19.

“Our obligation,” Rolandis said, “along with the other EU candidate countries is to liberalise one third of electricity. Some (foreign) companies have already expressed interest. This indicates that we are entering a competitive environment and that our companies and the EAC will have to be in a position to compete. This is what we are trying to do.”

The Minister continued said he had also heard that the EU planned to liberalise the entire market sector, “This means that Cyprus will have liberalised its whole market and that the entrance into the market of some and not others will depend entirely on whether they can compete.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.