AN IMMINENT multi-million pound deal for the upgrade of the two airports will stay on track no matter what, the government insisted yesterday, irrespective of suspicions that the tenders were weighted in favour of the preferred bidder.
The Hermes consortium, comprising a number of Cypriot and foreign companies, is to take over the running of the airports for 25 years, in an agreement expected to generate some £2 million. Negotiations between the government and Hermes were just about to be wrapped up when last week it was revealed that the European Commission was making formal inquiries into the tenders’ procedures. The J&P-led consortium, one of the rejected bidders, charged that the procedures were tailor-made to suit Hermes and disqualify all its competitors.
Yesterday a government envoy met in Brussels with representatives of the European Commission department dealing with state procurements. The envoy, part of the negotiating team for the government, was set to give Brussels a blow-by-blow account of how Hermes was selected.
This came just as the deal was set to be finalised and signed after almost a year of negotiations. The government made it clear that, based on legal advice from the Attorney-general and foreign legal firms, it was not forced to suspend it.
Yesterday, Communications and Works Minister Haris Thrasou elaborated on why the deal would go through even as the European Commission was scrutinising it.
For one thing, he said, the investor could not wait indefinitely for things to clear up. Secondly, the tenders’ regulations specifically stated that the client (the government) could not reject more than one preferred bidder once negotiations actually begin.
Hermes is the second consortium to enter into talks with the government, after negotiations with Alterra fell through last year.
“We’ll allow some time (for the European Commission to study our clarifications),” Thrasou commented on CyBC radio.
“But we won’t get entangled in time-consuming procedures…if we realise that this is going to drag on too long, we shall go ahead and sign the agreement.”
The heat on the government came as even yesterday its advisors met with Hermes’ legal team in London to put the finishing touches to the contract. But Thrasou denied media reports that the deal would be signed today or tomorrow
In a bid to drive home the argument that the government was operating in full transparency and not hiding anything, Thrasou said the envoy to Brussels had taken with him “hundreds of pages of documents” showing in minute detail all the stages of the tender process.
“Plus, we drafted our response to the Commission in record time… five days… as promised,” he added, hinting that the administration had no problem explaining its actions.
The minister again dismissed allegations of corruption or irregularities in the government’s dealings with Hermes.
Last week, Thrasou said the timing of J&P’s charges was suspect, suggesting that certain quarters were out to kill the deal out of sour grapes.
Questions were also raised after it emerged that President Tassos Papadopoulos’ law firm represented Hermes. But Presidential Spokesman Marios Karoyian said this did not necessarily mean anything sinister.
Even if the Hermes deal survives the European Commission’s inspection, more woes lie ahead for the government. Duty free staff at the airports have gone on strike, demanding guarantees for their future employment and status, which they feel are jeopardised by the new regime.
