ENERGY chief Solon Kassinis yesterday said he would ask for the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of AKEL MP Andros Kyprianou after the latter apparently accused him of putting the interests of corporations before his country.
What sparked the row were comments attributed to Kyprianou in yesterday’s issue of London-based newspaper Eleftheria.
In the article, Kyprianou was quoted as saying word-for-word: “The value of natural gas from Block 12 is estimated at $7 billion, and based on the contract [with Noble Energy] a large percentage of that goes to the Republic of Cyprus.
“The contracts to be signed for the four other blocks will be on far better terms for the Republic, since at the time the outspoken Mr. Kassinis took pains to shape a contract that was in favour of Noble. Now, we are motivated by a desire to serve the interests of the Republic, not of the corporations.”
Kyprianou was reported to have made the remarks on November 12 during a pre-election gathering in north London for AKEL-backed presidential candidate Stavros Malas.
On being told what Kyprianou was quoted as saying, Kassinis yesterday said he would check if in fact the comments were accurately conveyed.
If they were, Kassinis said he would be taking legal action against Kyprianou – but first would ask for the lifting of Kyprianou’s parliamentary immunity.
The energy chief also threw down the gauntlet, daring the AKEL chief to table the matter for discussion at the House Watchdog Committee.
“I never expected this sort of slander and insults from Andros Kyprianou. It is well known that he is fighting me, for example when he said that I was not a serious person when I argued against signing the contract [for supply of natural gas] with Shell.
“He also described me as not serious when I said we would drill for gas by the end of last year. In the end, we did drill and we found the gas. Yet I never heard him talk about this, because he is too much of a coward to retract those statements.”
Hitting back at insinuations that he was serving the interests of foreign energy corporations, Kassinis countered that it was thanks to his own efforts that the profit-sharing percentage for the Cypriot state almost doubled in the contract signed with Noble on the Block 12 prospect.
Later in the day, AKEL spokesman Giorgos Loukaides denied that his party boss had accused Kassinis of treason.
“What Mr. Kyprianou did say was that the bargaining position of the Republic is better today than at the time it was negotiating with only one company,” Loukaides said, alluding to the first offshore licensing round.
energy chief Solon Kassinis is calling for Andros Kyprianous immunity to be stripped