THE HOUSE of Representatives yesterday admitted it had covered the expenses of a controversial visit to Moscow by House President Spyros Kyprianou, but insisted he had conducted official business while he was there.
During the trip, Kyprianou received an award for his contribution to Orthodox unity.
Part of the prize was $25,000 in cash, which Politis on Sunday claimed Kyprianou had pocketed.
Kyprianou, who has filed a lawsuit against Politis, has not denied keeping the money, but insists he did nothing wrong in doing so.
“The award was clearly personal and it was awarded with my personal contribution as the sole criterion,” Kyprianou said.
But yesterday Politis hit back, asking why the House had paid for Kyprianou to go to Moscow and receive the prize if it was indeed a personal award.
In a two-paragraph statement yesterday, the House stressed that during his trip, Kyprianou had also had a series of meetings with Russian government officials as well as other Russian dignitaries.
The statement lists all the people Kyprianou met in Moscow, adding that the award ceremony had lasted a few hours only.
On Monday, Politis turned up the heat on Kyprianou, saying he had asked for and been given a top of the range BMW to replace the S320 Mercedes provided for him by the state.
The paper noted that Kyprianou would get to keep the new BMW when he retired in May.
Politis said there was no truth in Kyprianou’s claims that the Mercedes was “problematic” and published a photo of the limo standing idle in a Finance Ministry garage.
Yesterday, the Mercedes importer ran an advertisement in the press stating that the specific car had no problems whatsoever and was in excellent condition.
“We presume,” said the ad, “that the House president rejected the car because he preferred a different make.”
The 69-year-old former President did not deny having the limo changed, but insisted this had nothing to do with his leaving the post as House president.
Yesterday, the Finance Ministry confirmed that according to a long-standing protocol, former Presidents of the Republic and House presidents were entitled to a service limo provided by the state.
Finance Ministry Official Themis Theodosiou told the Cyprus Mail that the cars still belonged to the state and not to the person that they serviced.
Theodosiou said the new car, a BMW 735i, was purchased after tender in which five companies participated.
But yesterday Politis quoted Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou “confirming that Mr. Kyprianou had expressed preference for a specific marque and was told by the Finance Ministry that it would try to get a good offer from the dealer so that it could be selected”.
According to the ministry the BMW cost the state £27,457, £1,428 less than the Mercedes.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
