Demetriades advised that Pafilia Developers, which was next on the list of tenders, has been invited to tender for the marina’s construction and operation.
But the Poseidon consortium, in which Aristo Developers is a major stakeholder, is not throwing in the towel; it is appealing to the island’s Supreme Court claiming that the decision is unlawful and has already instructed its legal advisors.
The Paphos marina project has been dogged by delays and postponements.
In 2008 the contract was initially awarded to the Cybarco Pandora consortium of which the Leptos Group was a member. The two other bidders, Poseidon and Pafilia, contested the award claiming that the Cybarco Pandora consortium used insider information that enabled it to bid a lower figure.
Eventually, in May 2016, the marina contract was awarded to Poseidon. Although the consortium secured a letter from the Bank of Cyprus in which the bank guaranteed to fund the entire project, it appears that that it was unable to demonstrate that it had €122 million or 60 per cent of the total project cost of €215 million.
When it’s built, the marina will have a capacity of 1,000 berths for boats and more than 42,000 sqm. of commercial and housing development. It will be located in Potima Bay in Kissonerga in an area 155,000 square metres. The project will take approximately three years to be completed.