Secrecy surrounds Qatar trip

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday remained tight-lipped regarding a weekend visit to Qatar by the finance minister to discuss plans for a multi-million euro project in Nicosia amid reports that the deal had collapsed.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, who accompanied Charilaos Stavrakis on his trip to the Gulf state, did not go into details of what had been discussed but he reiterated that negotiations were continuing.

“If it had already collapsed there would not have been a need to travel to Qatar,” the spokesman said.

Stefanou said it was an important matter for Cyprus and the government would rather keep the issue low key.

The spokesman said that all too often with public debates, facts and reality become distorted with negative effects.

“We do not say a lot regarding the Qatari investment because we consider the cooperation with Qatar very important – strategically, financially and otherwise,“ Stefanou said.

He added that negotiations continued and “when we have any news we will inform everyone, as we do every time.”

Financial news portal Stockwatch, quoted Christos Mavrellis, chairman of the consortium set up as part of the deal, as saying that Stavrakis has returned with new suggestions, which will be discussed in order to take the final decisions.

It has been reported that the main sticking point in the deal is the value of the land opposite the Hilton hotel.

The land will be contributed by Cyprus in exchange for Qatar investing what the property was worth in cash.

The government’s initial estimate on the value of the land was €135m while Qatar valued it at €38m. Following meetings in Doha, Qatar last November, the two sides appeared to compromise somewhere between €80m and €100m.

But Qatar then sent a letter saying Qatari evaluations had dropped to €50m, which some viewed as reluctance to go ahead with the project.

Some reports suggested that Turkey had interfered in the affair.

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.