Electricity consumers pay every two months not once, but twice for the government’s incompetence

 

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Giorgos Koukoumas

10 January 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

More than 350 million euros have gone into the state’s coffers over the past five years from the fines for pollution rights that were purchased by the Electricity Authority. Three hundred and fifty million euros which, of course, were paid by the Cypriot people, and not by the government ruling forces who are responsible for the failure to promote renewable energy sources and the transfer of natural gas to our country.

The state’s revenues from the fines for pollutants should have been returned to the people so as to provide support for households, working people and for the reduction of VAT on electricity, as well as for investment in environmental policies and construction of infrastructures. However, the indicators speak for themselves. And this is precisely where the government has failed, given that it still doesn’t have a comprehensive plan on energy.

In other words, all electricity consumers in Cyprus are paying not once but twice every two months for the government’s incompetence and indifference. And on top of that, the government is provoking the whole of society by refusing to reduce the VAT on electricity from 19% to 9% – as Parliament has demanded – in order to provide relief for households for as long as the increases in prices last.