An Audit Office report has revealed that the Cypriot government spent approximately \u20ac40 million for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees.
\nThis spending covered primarily housing costs for the period up until March 4, 2024, and also included a small amount (approximately \u20ac8,000) for transportation and translation services.
\nThe audit was initiated following a parliamentary inquiry into the procedures used for handling the refugee situation. While the Deputy Ministry of Tourism was the lead agency in securing accommodation, other ministries and agencies may have provided additional aid such as medical assistance and benefits, which were not part of this specific audit\u2019s scope.
\nIn light of Cyprus\u2019s strategic geopolitical position and the ongoing instability in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Audit Office recommends the government develop an emergency contingency plan to better manage potential future influxes of displaced people.
\nThe Audit Office also highlighted concerns over the initial use of a \u201cnegotiation without publication\u201d procedure for selecting refugee accommodations. This non-competitive process is permissible for urgent needs, but the Office stresses it should not be relied upon for an extended duration.
\nWhile the audit found no indications of violations of transparency, equal treatment, or competition principles, it recommends that standard tendering procedures (including expedited options) should be used whenever possible.
\nCyprus has received \u20ac6.7 million in support from the European Commission to help offset the costs of the refugee aid programme.
\nThe government has also transferred management of specific accommodation contracts to the Municipality of Paralimni as of January 1, 2023.
\nFor transparency purposes, the Audit Office provides a table listing the total expenditure of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, per hotel, from March 22, 2022, to March 4, 2024.
\nFor accommodation in 27 different hotels in Famagusta, a total of \u20ac36,154,371.99 was spent.
\nFor hotels in Paphos, the amount spent was \u20ac2,313,808.46, and for a hotel in the Nicosia district, it was \u20ac1,212,651.10.
\nThe total amount spent on accommodation in hotels is \u20ac39,680,831.65.Refugee accommodation.. refugee accommodation, Audit Office report, government spending<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Cypriot government spent approximately \u20ac40 million on accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, primarily covering housing costs until March 4, 2024. Other expenses included transportation and translation services. The Audit Office recommended developing an emergency contingency plan for managing future influxes of displaced people. Standard tendering procedures were advised for transparency, despite no violations found in the audit. The European Commission provided \u20ac6.7 million in support for the refugee aid program, with management of accommodation contracts transferred to the Municipality of Paralimni. Expenditure details for accommodation in various hotels were provided, totaling \u20ac39,680,831.65.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,1447,122,5286,972,7616,426,2577,2511,2950,3,26,1841,4057,3644,1543,4081,308,415,4728,2987,6350,6654,613,6726,6653,4361,6365,406,4593,130,2353,1673,6037,7615,531,4620,19,1806,6386,3480,1358,114,238,1571,2666,4861,17,1180,483,293],"class_list":["post-9353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-accommodation","tag-aid","tag-assistance","tag-audit-office","tag-audit-office-report","tag-competition","tag-concerns","tag-costs","tag-cypriot-government","tag-cyprus","tag-economy","tag-european-commission","tag-expenditure","tag-expenses","tag-famagusta","tag-future","tag-geopolitical","tag-government","tag-government-spending","tag-hotel","tag-hotels","tag-housing","tag-insider-economy","tag-instability","tag-management","tag-mediterranean","tag-municipality","tag-nicosia","tag-office","tag-paphos","tag-paralimni","tag-procedure","tag-publication","tag-refugee-accommodation","tag-refugees","tag-report","tag-russia","tag-services","tag-situation","tag-spending","tag-support","tag-top-news","tag-tourism","tag-transparency","tag-transportation","tag-treatment","tag-ukraine","tag-ukrainian","tag-violations","tag-war"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n