The European Commission on Wednesday disbursed €76.9 million to Cyprus as its third tranche under its Recovery and Resilience facility.

The disbursement of the funds comes after the commission had last month issued a positive preliminary assessment of the Cypriot government’s request for the funds, with the total value of the funds Cyprus is set to receive to reach over €1.2 billion.

Of that €1.2bn, just over €1bn will be made up of grants and the rest will be loans.

The European Commission said “flagship measures” included in the plans for the funds disbursed on Wednesday include the “facilitation of strategic investments” and the “installation of a market management system” by the transmission system operator (TSO) to open Cyprus’ electricity market to competition.

The funding is based on performances related to various goals set by the European Union, with Cyprus expected to carry out 61 reforms. The European Commission says that 45 per cent of the plan “will support climate objectives”, while a further 24.6 per cent will “foster the digital transition”.

“The transformative impact of Cyprus’ plan is the result of a strong combination of reforms and investments, which address the specific challenges of Cyprus. The reforms address bottlenecks to lasting and sustainable growth, while investments have been selected to enhance sustainable growth and the digital transition, and increase productivity,” the commission said.

It added that all measures as set out within the plan must be completed by August next year.

On the matter of the green transition, the plan is contributing €100m to the Great Sea Interconnector, with the government expected to introduce green taxation, reform the country’s electricity market, and facilitate the use of electric vehicles.

In terms of economic and social resilience, “significant investments and reforms” are expected to be made with the aim of “increasing the efficiency, accessibility, and resilience of the healthcare system”, with the Recovery and Resilience facility investing €46.5m to upgrade state hospitals on the island.