70 EoIs for Limassol port
More than 70 firms have so far expressed an interest to bid for one or all three concessions of the privatisation of services at Limassol port, the island’s main port of call that accounts for 80% of passenger traffic and 70% of all commercial activity.
The tender document for the privatisation was published a week ago on the government’s e-procurement website www.eprocurement.gov.cy with the deadline set for midnight, August 12.
Expressions of Interest must submitted by July 17.
The contract notice concerns three potential opportunities for a services concession for the Container Terminal, a services concession to provide Marine Services and a services concession in respect of a Multi-purpose Terminal.
Interested parties may bid for one or all three of these potential opportunities.
The Ministry of Transport, which is the Contracting Authority, anticipates that the duration of the services concessions for the container terminal
be and the multi-purpose terminal is likely to fall within a range of between 25 to 30 years and for the marine services from 10 to 20 years.
Limassol Port is currently in the process of upgrades which should be completed in 2016.
Speaking on CyBC radio on Monday, Ministry Under-Secretary and ex-officio chairman of the Cyprus Ports Authority, Alecos Michaelides, said that “the great interest shown so far also guarantees that the tender process will be a success, with the competition already quite big.”
“The benefits will be extensive and multiple, as this is a major project of strategic interest. The managers (of one or all three concessions) will utilise their know-how and experiences to transform Limassol port as a leading centre in the Mediterranean with tremendous benefits for our economy,” Michaelides said.
After a short-list is assessed by consultants Rothschild, the new operators will be selected later this year and undertake management in the first quarter of 2016, initially in a parallel transition phase with the CPA. After that, the CPA will cease to act as an operator and be limited to the role of landlord and regulator of all three major commercial ports – Limasol port of call, home port Larnaca and Vassiliko cement and oil terminal.
The government is also in the process of finalising the privatisation of Larnaca port and marina with the winning bidders Zenon Consortium, that initially won the tender in 2013 but failed to find sufficient funding due to the economic crisis that hit Cyprus.
The privatisation process, that includes the break-up and sale of telco Cyta and energy producer EAC, is part of the government’s obligations to international creditors who bailed out the island with a 10 bln euro programme in 2013.
The aim is to raise about 1.4 bln from the privatisation of state assets or de-nationalisation of services and utilities, to make the economy more competitive and less reliant on its rigid civil service.