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Who are the main runners in the bidding war for the Paphos Marina project?
The Paphos Poseidon consortium whose plans to build a new marina were rejected, have stated they will launch an appeal with the Cyprus Supreme Court, citing unlawful decision making.
Poseidon’s bid was recently rejected by the Marine Management Committee after the Chamber of Commerce in Paphos claimed the consortium didn’t meet the financial conditions and offered the project to runner up bidders Pafilia Developers, after they show proof of liquidity.
The consortium consider the committee’s ruling to be void, stating they submitted a bank guarantee of €130 million and a €26 million cash deposit, over and above their requirements; the Poseidon Project Manager held. “The decision lacks any legality and violates any principle and notion of law” he furthered.
The Paphos Chamber of Commerce on Thursday defended their decision due to the conditions of the deal not being met, as the submission was not according to the required documentation: “yes, they submitted the bank guarantee, but they were supposed to have €100 million in cash” Andreas Demetriades Head of the Chamber countered.
The funding for the project is crucial. Pafilia Developers have already confirmed that they have the appropriate liquidity and they will have to confirm this imminently. Pafilia is currently constructing major building projects all over the island. Its main development is called ONE, a 37-floored building of on Limassol’s beach front. Once completed, it will be the tallest residential seafront apartment block in Europe with an impressive height of over 170 metres.
The Paphos marina is planned to take approximately three years to complete, and will include up to 1,000 docks and over 43,000 square metres of commercial and residential buildings. However, the project has been plagued with years of setbacks and delays, dating back to 2007 being in and out of court settlements.
Both the Paphos Chamber of commerce and the Poseidon consortium have issued statements assuring that the latest legal proceedings would not delay the project any further as they will ask the Ministry to proceed with the next tender while the case is on-going. All involved parties are expecting a swift court ruling whatever the outcome may be, either to reverse the decision or uphold it.