Nicosia, Cyprus. A dispute between Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou and former auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides escalated on Tuesday over allegations concerning the Vasiliko LNG project. Stefanou called for disclosure of documents to show he did not interfere in the project.
Allegations linked to Vasiliko LNG project
Michaelides, now leader of the Alma party and a candidate in the upcoming legislative elections, suggested earlier that Stefanou was implicated in the Vasiliko scandal. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the LNG import terminal at Vasiliko on suspicion of procurement fraud, misappropriation of EU funds and corruption, while the project remains half-finished after the Chinese contractor left in July 2024.
Claim of pressure to revert to no-bid contract
Michaelides said that in 2024 Stefanou urged the government to revert to a no-bid contract for the project, which he said would have been illegal and would have resulted in a specific sub-contractor being selected. He said this allegedly occurred during a closed-door session of the House energy committee.
Stefanou’s response and call for public statements
In a statement, Stefanou said that if Michaelides “continues to tell lies,” he would ask that the confidential committee minutes be made public to show what was said. Stefanou said it would then be revealed that Michaelides, “for the sake of a few votes,” was prepared to smear others while portraying himself as “the only incorruptible politician.”
Stefanou also called on then energy minister George Papanastasiou to state publicly whether Stefanou had ever sought to pressure him regarding the Vasiliko issue, asking him to say whether Stefanou ever phoned or pressured him so that the project would be awarded to a specific sub-contractor.
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