Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, George Papanastasiou is expected to announce the official launch of the e-Kalathi electronic platform on Wednesday.

But it won’t be online for the public for a further three or four days, he said.

In statements on the sidelines of the Investopia Global Mediterranean Forum in Limassol, Papanastasiou said the ministry was ready to present the platform to stakeholders and then, following a cabinet meeting Wednesday morning would make a presentation to the media.

The cabinet is expected to green-light the rollout.

“We are preparing the public to accept the e-Kalathi, the digital platform that we have prepared so that they can use this tool to make smarter purchases,” Papanastasiou said, adding that after the presentation to the media, the platform would “open very soon”.

There would first be a three-day campaign to inform the public, he added.

Earlier this month the minister assured that the platform would be fully operational in June.

The e-Kalathi platform was designed to inform consumers about the prices of essential goods and allow them to compare prices.

Its rollout has been delayed on a number of occasions, with earlier delays having been related to the system’s security.

When the platform is fully operational, it is expected that thousands of products will be listed on it, and that it will include all supermarkets with an annual turnover of €5 million.

Its aim is to allow consumers to compare prices of everyday products at different supermarkets and will comprise a mobile application and a website.