Over the course of its 30 years of operation, it has approved a total of 57,853 applications—amounting to approximately 1,928 applications per year—totaling €2.57 billion (from 1996 through September 2026) the Central Agency for the Equitable Distribution of Burdens (KFIKV), the Agency’s Deputy Director, Giorgos Sophocleous, told CNA.
He noted that the 44,980 applications correspond to loans totaling €1.38 billion and the 12,873 to loan interest subsidies totaling €1.19 billion, adding that these figures are “an indication of the effort being made to provide security and value to the property held.”
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More specifically, according to the Agency’s data, loans for education, among other purposes, totaled 33,514, amounting to €858,284,000; medical loans totaled 1,239, amounting to €19,852,000; mortgage loans totaled 4,587, amounting to €321,360,000; loans for newlyweds totaled 2,924, amounting to €47,410,000, and loans for new entrepreneurs totaled 116, amounting to €2,525,000.
Loans with rent subsidies included 12,712 housing loans, totaling €1.18 billion, and 161 business loans, totaling €8,213,000.
On the occasion of the KFIKV’s 30th anniversary this year, Mr. Sophocleous told KYPE that the Agency’s commitment is “to continue contributing to the owners of occupied properties by upgrading its Regulations and Criteria as well as the plans it offers until redemption is achieved—which is none other than the return to our ancestral homes.”
Specifically, the Deputy Director of the KFIKV stated that the Agency was established by Law 141 of 1989 as a legal entity under public law and added that the Central Agency’s Officebegan operating in early 1996, approximately six months after the approval of the Regulations of the Plan for the Restoration of Pre-War Financial Security for Owners of Occupied and Inaccessible Real Property, which took place on July 21,July 1995.
“This year marks the 30th anniversary of the CMP’s operation, and it would be appropriate to take stock of the Organization’s contributions to refugees and, more generally, to the owners of occupied properties who, for for 52 years have been bearing the brunt of the consequences left in its wake by the Turkish invasion and occupation,” he emphasized.
According to Mr. Sophocleous, the primary purpose of the Central Agency is to take action to achieve an equitable distribution of the burdens resulting from the Turkish invasion and occupation and, to the extent possible, to restore pre-war financial stability in accordance withproperty of each individual.
Referring to these actions, Mr. Sophocleous said that they concerned the Property and Assistance Registry, a study on the Cost of the Turkish Invasion and Proposals for its Equitable Distribution, and a study on financial assistance for owners of occupied real estate to compensate for their lost income.
Specifically, regarding the Property and Assistance Registry, he noted that, pursuant to a decision of the Council of Ministers dated May 14, 2014, the Central Agency was tasked with creating this registry.
“The purpose was to record each owner’s properties in the occupied areas and the assistance they have received from the State,” he stated, adding that the database was completed in February 2019 and is hosted in the Government Information Repository. It includes, he continued, information from the Department of Land Registry and Surveying, the Population and Migration Registry, the Service for the Care and Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons, the General Accounting Office regarding the Loan Commissioners System, the Turkish Cypriot Property Management Service, and the Central Authority itself. He noted that all records are updated daily by all the relevant agencies.
Regarding the study on the cost of the Turkish invasion and proposals for its equitable distribution, Mr. Sophocleous told CNA that the study was conducted by the Department of Economics at the University of Cyprus, with funding from the Central Authority, was completed in May 2000, and is available on the Central Agency’s website.
Regarding the study on financial assistance for owners of occupied real estate to compensate for their lost income, he stated that its purpose was to calculate the amount of the allowance per eligible owner of property in the occupied areas based on a specific budget allocation and to calculate the total amount required to pay the allowance to theowners of occupied property, once a minimum and/or maximum amount per beneficiary has been established, in order to estimate the budget required to provide this allowance.
He noted that the study was completed in June 2020 and submitted to the Ministers of Finance and the Interior in July 2020.
“The Central Agency is the only organization that adds value to occupied property through various loan orloan interest rate subsidy schemes, which are periodically upgraded and/or expanded, always for the benefit of the refugee community and, more generally, the owners of occupied properties,” he emphasized.
Revenue of €94 million from the 0.4% levy, with €85 million in timely deposits
In addition, Mr. Sophocleous told CNA that the Central Authority has been tasked with drafting regulations for the creation of a Special Economic Support Plan for Owners of Occupied or Inaccessible Propertieslinked to the collection of a 0.4% fee on the sale of real estate in the free areas, as well as on the sale of shares in companies that own occupied property.
He added that these Regulations have been finalized and sent to the Ministry of Finance.
He noted that from the collection of the 0.4% fee, the Central Agency has collected approximately €94 million to date.
Mr. Sophocleous said that the Central Agency’s Board of Directors decided that, until the Special Plan becomes operational, in cooperation with the Public Debt Management Office of the Ministry of Finance, an amount of €85 million would be invested in 3- or 6-month time deposits at various Cypriot banks so that the available balance would increase for the benefit of thebeneficiaries of the Plan.
Furthermore, he noted that the Central Agency responded positively to the request submitted by the Minister of the Interior to the Central Agency’s Board of Directors to assist in the implementation of the“Ktizo” Plan.
He added that the Central Agency has already prepared the relevant regulations and sent them to both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior.
Source: CNA
