Decades of spending on officials that prompted a response from the Audit Office—and the bill passed on to the taxpayer
The debate over the purchase of a new armored limousine costing €595,000 for the needs of the Presidency of the Republic has reignited an old but enduring issue. That of the bills—which, ultimately, the taxpayer pays—for the conveniences of the country’s political and state leadership.
The presidential vehicle is just the latest example. Reports from the Audit Office in recent years document expenditures on cars and secretaries for former officials, luxury hotels and VIP services abroad, as well as furniture costing tens of thousands of euros.
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In other cases, government vehicles are even used for the daily commute of staff to and from work.
Based on what has been reported from time to time, the debate always revolves around whether the costs were truly necessary and proportionate.
The €595,000 Limousine
As we mentioned, the €595,000 allocation for the purchase of a new armored vehicle for the Presidency, which was ultimately approved by the Finance Committee, has reignited the debate.
President Christodoulides had initially stated that he learned of the matter from the media, noting that issues concerning the President’s security are handled by the relevant agencies. After the funds were released, he limited himself to saying, “No comment on the matter of the vehicle.”
The Department of Electromechanical Services maintained that the recommendation was made on the basis of “objective and technical criteria,” following an assessment of both the needs and the condition of the existing vehicles used for the President and high-ranking foreign visitors.
However, citing security needs does not, in and of itself, address the financial aspect. Why is a vehicle costing over half a million necessary, and to what extent were other options considered that could meet the same specifications at a lower cost to the government?
Cars and secretaries… even after retirement
State support for top officials does not necessarily end when they leave office.
Data presented to Parliament showed that, since 2004, nearly €1.5 million has been paid for secretarial support for five former Presidents of the Republic and Speakers of Parliament. An additional €477,695 had been spent on the purchase and maintenance of vehicles used by these former officials, with fuel costs also borne by the Republic.
The issue resurfaced even more prominently in a 2025 report by the Audit Office. Among other things, the report documented the case of a sitting member of Parliament and former Speaker of the House, who, in 2023, received €12,302 as a lump-sum secretarial allowance as a member of Parliament and €39,089 for a personal secretary as former Speaker of the House.
The Audit Office calculated a total of €51,391 for services it considers to serve the same purpose. Marios Karogian, who was the subject of the report, rejected the Audit Office’s interpretation, arguing that the allowance received by members of Parliament is part of their compensation and that he himself receives only a secretarial support allowance as a former Speaker of the House.
€26,000 for three nights and VIP services
A different picture emerges from an audit of the House of Representatives’ expenditures and an official visit by the Speaker, Annita Dimitriou, to London in July 2023.
The Speaker was accompanied by eight people: five Parliament officials, a journalist and a cameraman from RIK, and a security officer. The entourage stayed at the same luxury hotel, with the cost for three nights totaling €15,172, while the Speaker’s own stay cost €3,621.
The Audit Office also noted that the General Accounting Office’s official travel manual stipulates that government officials’ stays at luxury hotels should be avoided, unless deemed absolutely necessary.
On the same trip, an additional €7,674 was paid for “VIP facilities” at Heathrow. The Audit Office found that the invoice did not contain sufficient details regarding who used the services, how many people the charge applied to, exactly what was provided, or what the price per person was, with the result that the audit of the amount could not be fully substantiated.
The House of Representatives responded that the selection of hotels and escorts was made for official purposes and that the President had no personal involvement in the relevant decisions.
Canteen furniture: €77,500
The same report highlights perhaps one of the most telling examples of the question “why so much?”
Approximately €77,500, including VAT, was paid for the furnishing of the Parliament’s cafeteria through a negotiated procedure without prior publication. The justification was that the design required specific, high-quality furniture.
The Audit Office was not convinced. It pointed out that high-quality furniture is widely available on the market, and also noted that the architect who recommended the specific furniture held a managerial position at the company from which the purchase was made.
The House of Representatives defended the decision, arguing that the renovation of the space was necessary. The question, however, remains. Even if the renovation was necessary, was this specific solution costing €77,500 really necessary?
With a military vehicle… on the job
This phenomenon is not limited to the highest levels of government. In a report on the Ministry of Defense in November 2025, the Audit Office noted that the daily transportation of permanent military and civilian personnel of the National Guard to and from their workplace using military vehicles continues.
This practice had already been banned since 2014, with the Audit Office noting that commuting from home to work does not constitute official travel. Even more telling is that the fuel consumed for these trips is deducted from the monthly fuel allowance allocated to units for carrying out their operational duties. The Ministry of Defense cites the unique nature of the National Guard’s operations and states that measures have been taken to limit the use of official vehicles to absolutely necessary cases.
The exact annual cost of this practice is not specified in the report. And perhaps this is the information most needed—namely, how much the state ultimately pays each year for the daily transportation of personnel.
This isn’t the first time
The limousine case has yet another dimension. This is not the first time the current President’s name has been linked to a state benefit that the Audit Office has questioned.
When he was serving as a diplomat at the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU and returned to Cyprus in 2013 to take up his duties, he continued to receive the General Overseas Allowance for approximately four months. The amount paid totaled €16,514. The Audit Office ruled that the continuation of the payment should have been referred to the Minister of Finance, who had the authority to decide on such special cases.
From €16,514 to €595,000, the amounts, circumstances, and cases obviously differ. The question remains. When the government opens its wallet for the people who run it, who decides where genuine need ends and extravagance begins?
