The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Marios Demetriades, speaks about a "new era" in trade.

The three contracts for the commercialisation of Limassol port were signed on Monday, April 25 at a special ceremony at the Presidential Palace.

The consortium, comprising Eurogate International GmbH, Interorient Navigation Company Ltd and East Med HoldingsS.A., was awarded the concession for the Container Terminal. The consortium of DP World Limited and G.A.P. Vassilopoulos Public Ltd was awarded the concession for the Multi-purpose Terminal and Marine Services

“The signing of the contract marks a new era for Cyprus as a commercial hub”, said Transport Minister Marios Demetriades in his address to the ceremony, while he described the signing of the contracts as pivotal for the course of the economy.

Furthermore, he noted the complete transparency in the procedure followed. "Do not forget that the contract was part of the terms of the offer. Τhis means that the parties submitted their offer based on these terms." Demetriades stated.

For his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and Chairman of the Cyprus Ports Authority(CPA), Alecos Michaelides, said that the commercialisation of the port is the second biggest PPP project in Cyprus to date .

In his speech, Thomas Heinrich Eckelman, President and CEO of Eurogate International, said that the company, which is the largest independent container terminal operator in Europe, transported 15 million containers in 2015. Limassol Port is the Group’s twelfth seaport.

Eckelman said that he expects Limassol Port to be handling a total volume of 500,000 TEU annually in the coming years.

For his part, the Chairman of DP World, Sultan Ahmet Bin Sulayem, said that their organisation is present in 30 countries and operates 70 container terminals while distributing a total of 80 million containers. Moreover, he stressed the predicted growth prospects in the region which is why it was interested in the port of Limassol.

Company Profiles

Germany’s Eurogate is the largest container operator in Europe. In 2014, the company managed 14 commercial terminals in European ports. The company is a joint venture between major companies in the industry, which decided to form Eurogate in 1999.

The terminals handled by Eurogate are located in Germany, Russia, Portugal, Italy and Morocco. Annual turnover exceeds €600 million, while more than 4,000 people are employed.

At the same time, the DP World Group, with headquarters in Dubai, is one of the largest container operators, storage service and world ports managers. It has an annual turnover of more than €3 billion and employs more than 35,000 people. The Group was created in 2005 as a result of the merger between the Dubai Ports Authority and Dubai Ports International.

Economic benefit to the state

Upon signing the contracts, the Republic of Cyprus received €10 million (€7.5 million from Eurogate and €2.5 million from DP World for two contracts).

The estimated profit to the state, as regards revenue and investment, amounts to approximately €1.9 billion, according to the financial reports submitted by the operators. The agreements are also expected to have extensive operational impact on the Cypriot economy due to the port’s increased activity.

The transfer of Limassol Port’s activities to the consortiums is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2017. At the same time, the institutional framework of the Cyprus Ports Authority is being upgraded in order to develop into a modern, independent regulator.