The European Commission on Wednesday disbursed €76.9 million to Cyprus as a third tranche under its Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The disbursement of the funds came after the Commission issued a positive preliminary assessment of the Cypriot Government's application for the funds last month. The total value of the funds to be received by Cyprus will exceed €1.2 billion.

Of these 1.2 billion euros, just over one billion euros will consist of grants and the rest of loans.

The European Commission said that the "guiding measures" included in the plans for the funds disbursed on Wednesday include the "facilitation of strategic investments" and the "installation of a market management system" by the transmission system operator (TSO) to open up the Cypriot electricity market to competition.

Funding is based on services related to various objectives of the European Union. Cyprus is to carry out 61 reforms. The European Commission states that 45 percent of the plan will "support climate goals," while another 24.6 percent will "promote digital transformation."

The transformative impact of the Cyprus plan is the result of a strong combination of reforms and investments that address Cyprus' specific challenges.  The reforms remove bottlenecks for sustainable and sustainable growth, while investments have been selected to promote sustainable growth and digital transformation and increase productivity, the Commission said.

It added that all the measures set out in the plan must be completed by August next year.

As for the green transition, the plan provides for a contribution of 100 million euros to the Great Sea Interconnector. The government is also expected to introduce an eco-tax, reform the country's electricity market and facilitate the use of electric vehicles.

In terms of economic and social resilience, "significant investments and reforms" are expected, with the aim of "increasing the efficiency, accessibility and resilience of the health system". The Reconstruction and Resilience Institution is investing 46.5 million euros in the modernisation of the island's state hospitals.








Author:  Tom Cleaver
Source: CyprusMail.com