THE MINISTRY of Communications and Works has taken the unusual step of releasing a list of public tenders awarded to private corporations amid accusations that a known construction contractor, who has ties to a football club affiliated to the ruling party, has been getting more than his fair share of state contracts since AKEL came to power in 2008.
The allegations concern Miltiades Neophytou, owner of the eponymous contracting company, who also happens to be the president of Omonia FC. They are being spearheaded by DISY deputy Andreas Kyprianou, who claims that the football club’s series of expensive player signings are being bankrolled by fat state contracts awarded to Neophytou’s company – compliments of the AKEL government.
The DISY MP, who himself has ties to another football club, Apollon of Limassol, last week dared the government to disclose the state contracts awarded to Miltiades Neophytou Ltd. over the past two years, that is, during the AKEL administration.
The Ministry of Communications and Public Works did one better, by releasing yesterday a summary of building and road contracts (worth over €100,000) awarded all the way back to 1993.
The data shows that the first public works project ever awarded to Miltiades Neophytou Ltd. was a €3.5 million contract for upgrades to Makarios Avenue in July of 2006.
The company was established in 1986.
According to the ministry, since 2006 a total of 163 contracts have been awarded worth €451 million. During this time, Neophytou’s company has landed four contracts, worth €68 million.
From 2008 onward, Neophytou’s company secured three contracts, each worth over €20 million. These also happen to be the biggest contracts (in terms of cost) for this time period – which some quarters could interpret as reinforcing the allegations of preferential treatment for the company in question.
In a statement yesterday, the ministry noted that all tender procedures “are conducted in complete transparency.”
The ministry notes also that when a contractor has a public works project ‘in hand’, this cannot be used as grounds for excluding the same company from other tenders.
The list is useful in another way, in that it serves as a sort of ‘who’s who’ of successful contractors. Throughout the mid to late 1990s, the big players included companies such as Cybarco, Chapo, and Iacovou Bros, who usually snapped up the most lucrative contracts. In the early 2000s, others like J&P and Medcon Construction Ltd. began to get into the picture.
At the time of press, DISY’s Kyprianou had not yet responded to the publication of the list.
It’s understood that the DISY deputy made his allegations public immediately after Omonia snapped up a 23-year-old winger from Apollon FC, in a move that took most by surprise. The player, Andreas Avraam, is seen as the new star of Cypriot football.
The player’s transfer to Omonia has angered the fan base of Apollon FC, a club with title aspirations.
In a statement released last week, Omonia accused Kyprianou of seeking to ‘exploit’ this anger by creating a smokescreen – raising the issue of Omonia’s finaces. In the past, the DISY deputy has served on the board of directors of Apollon FC.
The president of Apollon FC has since said that the cash-strapped club was the first to approach Omonia for the deal.
Although it is not known how much Omonia paid for the winger, speculation is rampant that the fee could be as high as €750,000 – quite steep for Cypriot standards.
Omonia have perhaps unwittingly drawn unwanted attention by not disclosing the figure for this as well as their other signings, such as that of Congolese striker Lomana Trezor Lua Lua.
However, the club have reportedly raised approximately €3 million this summer from the sale of season tickets.
