Cabinet dismisses CTSO chief

Cabinet has dismissed the director of the office of the Transmissions System Operator (CTSO) Christos Tsiaros, chairman of the House Energy Committee Andreas Kyprianou said on Saturday.

In statements to the Cyprus News Agency, Kyprianou said the reason behind the director’s dismissal was the serious delays in the liberalisation of the energy market.

The majority of members of the energy committee blamed the delay on Tsiaros, Kyprianou said.

The delays led to a continuous postponement of the deadline for the full liberalisation of the energy market, affecting the competitiveness and the economic development of the country as well as risking Cyprus’ ability to respond to its commitments to the European Union.

CNA said Tsiaros also had problems with the organisation’s staff and failed to address issues, which created problems and risked the safe operation of the Transmission System.

A third reason for his dismissal was his failure to handle crucial policy issues such as the compliance with emission limit values and the use of natural gas for electricity generation.

However, unions representing workers at the operator on  Friday accused the management of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) of “intentional” delays over the creation of photovoltaic parks.

The authority said the matter is not simple and they will seek to meet with the unions.

CTSO is the Management Unit of the Transmission System, while the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) approves and revises the process and charging policy of the Transmission System as well as network usage fees.

EAC is the owner of the transmission system.

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