EAC may file criminal charges for €10m faulty poles

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE board of semi-state Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) has decided to forward the case of procuring faulty electricity poles, the replacement of which ended up costing it a reported €10 million, to the Attorney General’s office to determine any criminal offences, the power company said on Thursday.

The faulty poles – 33,000 in number – were imported by the Authority between 2005 and 2008, but were later determined to not meet the specifications regarding the quality of the wood and the insulation.

In a statement, the EAC said in addition to forwarding the findings of an internal probe on the issue to the Attorney General, it would also forward a copy to Energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis for his consideration.

“The issue of the faulty poles, which was recently discussed by the EAC board and the House Watchdog committee, was examined during a board meeting on Tuesday,” the statement said.

“During the meeting, an administrative report prepared by the Authority’s executive director was studied and discussed,” it added.

The statement concluded that in addition to forwarding the report to the Attorney General and the Energy minister, the board ordered a disciplinary investigation against an EAC employee for his role in the order.

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