In connection with the publications of the POLITIS newspaper of Mr. Manolis Kalatzis which referred to allegations/complaints about forged documents and corruption and related to the lease of two helicopters for aerial firefighting, the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment informs the public that the "treasure trove" of forged documents turned out to be "carbonless".
The issue of the forged documents was raised by the member of the Acceptance Committee who disagreed and clarified that they related to the helicopters and were documents submitted with the Bid. The issue was of primary concern to the Forestry Department as the Contracting Authority which is why we acted immediately and on our own initiative, without the suggestion of third parties, and without anyone providing us with any evidence even though we publicly requested it in our Notice dated. Specifically, we asked "If there is evidence of forgery, the matter is very serious and the evidence must either be given to us or submitted to the competent authorities for further investigation". We replied to the Embassy of Ukraine in Cyprus on 4/10 and had requested the verification of the authenticity of the documents in question. The Embassy of Ukraine in Cyprus by letter dated 17/11 confirmed the authenticity of the documents in question. It is reported that the said letter/reply was received at the Forestry Department on 16/12. It is also noted that when we received the Draft Report of the Audit Service, in our comments on the said Draft we informed the Auditor General that we would also seek the assistance of the Attorney General which we did in our letter of 21/11, in which we informed him of the actions we had taken and sought his guidance.
It is also stressed and clarified that even if there were forged documents, the person responsible would be the one who made the forgery. The Forest Department Officers would have no liability unless they were aware or had reason to believe that they were forged and did nothing.
(OP)
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