Cyprus has been granted financing totalling €35 million (£31m) for a new emergency oil reserve facility.

The Cyprus Organisation for Storage and Management of Oil Stocks (KODAP) will use the European Investment Bank (EIB) funding for a six-tank facility able to hold 200,000 cubic metres of oil – equivalent to a month’s worth of supply.

The financing will also support fencing, pipelines, security and roads at the new site in the Vasilikos terminal.

Panagiotis Malekos, Chairman of KODAP said: “Improving emergency energy storage onshore is in line with best practice and crucial for Cyprus, an inland nation at the South eastern corner of the Mediterranean. The Vasilikos storage facility is a key infrastructure project for our country.”

The €53 million (£46.5m) project is expected to be completed in 2020.