TAXPAYERS have forked out around £161 million since 1993 for the maintenance of the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNFICYP) on the island, a study revealed yesterday.
According to the study, prepared by the director of the Cyprus Centre of Strategic Studies Aristos Aristotelous, the upkeep of UNFICYP in the nine years since 1993 added up to around £486.4 million, with Cyprus and Greece chipping in 45.2 per cent of the total cost.
Since 1993, when Cyprus decided voluntarily to contribute one-third of the cost of maintenance of the force, taxpayers have paid approximately £161.5 million.
Greece has contributed around £58 million since 1993.
The cost of UNFICYP between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002 was £42.4 million — £13.6 million paid by Cyprus and £6.5 million by Greece, the study said.
The cost was £1.4 million higher than the previous year.
Preliminary estimates indicated that 23 per cent of the amount covered the costs of employing civilian personnel, 18 per cent went to operational expenses, and 55 per cent towards military personnel.
A further four per cent was spent on various other overheads.
The study noted that UNFICYP was a mission that used only a small percentage – 1.5 per cent – of the total budget allocated by the UN for peacekeeping in 2001-2002.
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