The audit office on Tuesday added fuel to the fire after Paphos mayor Phedon Phedonos once again criticised the city’s airport, speaking of “unacceptable manipulations” on behalf of the former government regarding the concession agreement for its development and management.
The previous night, Phedonos posted a number of videos on his social media showing queues spilling out of the airport as people waited to enter passport control.
“It’s tragic what is happening at Paphos airport tonight, but also very often,” he said. “Some people need to be held accountable.”
In a written statement, the audit office said that under the previous government, the interior ministry, “without being the contracting authority, marginalised the competent transport ministry, and with its director general as the head of the negotiating team, preliminarily adopted the unacceptable positions of the management company for bundling”.
This concerns the express contractual obligation of the company to expand the airports so as to increase their capacity (so-called Phase B) and the illegal extension of the concession agreement by 5.5 years (it directly concerns assignment of services with gross revenues of €1.5 billion), as well as various financial claims on both sides.
“The scandalous preliminary agreement that was made served the company and would lead, among other things, to huge delays for Phase B since, due to the 5.5-year extension provision, the agreement required approval from the European Commission, which, if granted, would require one to two years,” the statement said.
It also noted that with the approval of President Nikos Christodoulides, who supported their effort, the current ministers of transport and finance transferred the responsibility of the project back to the transport ministry.
The ministry now follows the correct position that Phase B is already long overdue and should be pushed forward as a matter of priority, regardless of any other differences between the parties.
“The illegal preliminary agreement to extend the 5.5 years is no longer on the table,” it explained.
The mayor’s posts “prove the tragic situation in which the interior ministry has allowed the state to find itself with its unacceptable manipulations,” the statement stressed, agreeing with Phedonos that accountability should be a given.
It said this creates a conflict in the attorney general’s dual role as on one hand, as a legal advisor he was aware of the interior ministry’s actions and gave legal advice and guidance, and on the other, as a public prosecutor.
“He is now called upon to assist in the accountability of those he advised,” the audit office said.
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