Transparency has become a buzzword in the upcoming presidential elections – but some of the candidates are failing to adhere to it fully, while others are simply going for the stony silence approach.
Independent candidate Achilleas Demetriades said he would be publishing his election funding details by the end of the day.
Meanwhile, Disy candidate Averof Neophytou’s spokesman offered a two-sentence response on Wednesday saying the party had been given €400,000 and by January 30, “additional funds” amounted to €396,000. No private or company donation exceeded €50,000 the response said.
But Nikos Christodoulides, running as an independent with the backing of centre parties, has stayed completely mum on where the funding for his strong presidential campaign stems from.
Over the weekend, Politis ran a story claiming Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd had transferred €200,000 to his personal account.
Christodoulides has neither commented on the funds nor in fact, responded to requests from Politis to divulge where his funding is coming from. Christodoulides makes a particularly interesting case as he stated he had not received “a single cent” from the parties backing him.
Costas Christofides, also running as an independent, shared with Politis that his pre-election campaign amounted to approximately €110,000.
The breakdown of these figures is €20,000 from a concert organised by his team, €20,000 from friends and supporters, €20,000 from his New Wave movement contribution, €10,000 of Cypriots in the diaspora, €10,000 from a Cypriot scientist living in Boston whom he did not name and €30,000 that came out of Christofides’ own personal funds.
Mavroyiannis’ funds, which were released a day earlier, revealed €510,000 from Akel, plus €408,000 from “other donors” (amounts over €10,000).
The “other donors” include an individual named Andreas Rialas (€55,000), a company called Masterstar Trading Ltd (€50,000), and the Cyprus Union of Shipowners (€50,000).
Panicos Papanikolaou was listed as donating €31,000, Laiko Cosmos Trading Ltd with €13,000, Takis Vasiotis Ltd with €13,000 and Laiko Manufacturing & Trading Ltd, Loel Viomichanoi Ltd and Filippos Filis with €10,000 respectively.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Mail
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Mail
Source
