Israel, Greek Cyprus agree to sing energy deals this year
JERUSALEM
Israel and Greek Cyprus have agreed to sign an agreement on an electricy project this year as part of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said.
A separate agreement concerning the sharing of the “Yishai-Aphrodite” gas fields is also anticipated to be finalized within two months, the office said after Netanyahu met Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in West Jerusalem during his visit to Israel.
The Yishai gas field is located near the Aphrodite field declared unilaterally by Greek Cyprus.
The two leaders held both a one-on-one meeting and a broader meeting with delegations.
The delegation-level talks included Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, Greek Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou and Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kombos.
During the discussions, the agreement on the electricity project linking Israel and Greek Cyprus under the IMEC initiative would be signed within this year.
During a joint press conference Netanyahu stated that the meeting covered political, diplomatic, economic and security cooperation between the two countries.
Expressing Israel’s eagerness to advance the IMEC project, Netanyahu said he had also discussed the matter with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and added, “We want to hold a trilateral summit in Israel with [Greek] Cyprus and Greece.”
