Greece reaffirms commitment to subsea power link to Cyprus

ATHENS - Greece reaffirmed on Monday its commitment to building a subsea electric cable planned to link continental Europe to the East Mediterranean, following reports that the project was halted over financial and geopolitical concerns.

Greek power grid operator IPTO is building the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) cable, which will link transmission networks of Europe to Cyprus in a project costing 1.9 billion euros ($2.12 billion), and later stretch to Israel through the Mediterranean Sea.

But progress has been delayed by a long-standing dispute between Greece and Turkey, both NATO allies, over the limits of their continental shelves in the Mediterranean Sea.

Vessels leased by Nexans to carry out research in sea waters off the island of Crete to help determine the route of the cable were allegedly forced to leave earlier than scheduled this year, after Turkey challenged Greece's jurisdiction over the area. 

The link has been a source of unusual disagreement between Greece and Cyprus, two historical allies, with Cyprus seeking assurances on the project's viability.

Shares in French cable maker Nexans fell last Thursday after a Greek newspaper reported that IPTO missed a payment until further notice. Nexans later said it had received substantial payments that allowed it to continue production of the cable and that it would respect the project's contractual obligations.

Asked about the fate of the link, Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told a bi-weekly news conference on Monday. "I reaffirm all stakeholders' commitment to the successful conclusion of this infrastructure project of strategic importance." 

Greek, Cypriot and Israeli foreign ministers are due to meet in Athens on Thursday to discuss the issue.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Sharon Singleton)