The Government of the Republic of Cyprus has plans to select the preferred bidder for the Limassol Port privatization during this week. After that the Parliament will be called to approve the transaction which is expected to be closed by March 31.

Marios Demetriades, Minister of Transport, Communications and Works in the Council of Ministers of Cyprus, commented:

“We are at the final stage as the submissions are being examined by the evaluation committee and I hope that we will be able to announce the preferred bidders within the next days. This is a huge effort which began two years ago.”

This announcement comes after Alecos Michaelides, president of the Cyprus Port Authority, announced in September 2015 that 12 companies were pre-selected for the containers operations, 13 for the general cargo sector and 10 for the sea-services operations.

Marios Demetriades, added:

“We are confident that by attracting a private investor in combination with the broader restructuring underway of the port’s operations, we will be able to attract more operations, which would yield significant benefits for our economy, the city of Limassol, the employees and for job creation which is so needed in Cyprus.”

The port has become the principal seaport in Cyprus. It is the largest and busiest harbour on the island, capable of handling vessels up to 250 m size for berthing in 14m of water.

The overall port area is estimated to be 1,5 million m² and currently services 100% of the container traffic, 40-50% of total cargo and 75% of the passenger traffic in Cyprus. Three long-term contracts are available for commercial operation of: container facilities, a multipurpose terminal and marine services.

It is expected that the opening of the Suez Canal extension will result in increased activity at the Limassol port, which lies at a strategic point in the eastern Mediterranean.