The Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday the submission of the first payment request to the European Commission for a disbursement of €85 million from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
According to the Ministry’s press release, the first payment request submitted on 28 July relates to the achievement of 14 milestones by completing reforms and investments in the energy and circular economy sectors, the financial sector, digital transition, modernising the public administration, fighting corruption and strengthening the effectiveness of the monitoring and control system of the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan.
It is recalled that the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan was adopted by the EU Council on 28 July 2021 and subsequently the Financing and Loan Agreements between the European Commission and the Republic of Cyprus were signed, with the amounts to be disbursed amounting to €900 million in grants and €200 million in loans. This was followed in September 2021 by the disbursement of €157 million from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM) as pre-financing and the implementation and promotion of the measures and interventions included in the Plan started immediately.
It is also noted that the disbursement of European funds from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, in addition to the pre-financing, is made per semester, based on payment requests and after all the milestones and objectives of the Plan corresponding to each tranche have been achieved, as defined in the relevant agreements. The disbursement will be made in a total of 10 tranches (in addition to the pre-financing of €157 million).
It is added that the submission of the first payment request was also subject to the signature of an Operational Arrangements Agreement between the European Commission and the Republic of Cyprus to define the framework for monitoring and controlling the fulfilment of the 271 total milestones and targets of the Plan to be achieved by 2026.
After extensive consultations of the coordination authority (Directorate General for Growth, Ministry of Finance) with both the EU and all the implementing agencies of the plan measures, this agreement has been finalised and already signed with the European Commission.
The Plan includes 133 Measures (58 reforms and 75 investment projects/grant schemes), with 13 grant schemes for enterprises and individuals already announced and a number of other investment projects being implemented, in addition to reforms promoted and bills passed with the contribution and close cooperation of all stakeholders, as well as parliamentary parties.
Source: Cyprus News Agency