Μακαριος Δρουσιώτης

Government spokesman Giorgos Lillikas attempted yesterday, using many adjectives but no evidence whatever, to refute the content of an article published in Politis newspaper last Sunday, in relation to the opaque procedures of collection and administration of funds paid by the CIA in Cyprus, as compensation for the operation of communications installations in Makedonitissa and elsewhere.

 

The government spokesman called the Politis article, which is supported by documentation from the US public records, "a science fiction scenario with alchemies, arbitary caclulations and conclusions".  However, he did not provide clear answers to the crucial questions:  "Does the State collect money from the CIA, how much is it, and why does it not appear in the budgets?"

 

Mr. Lillikas said that "everything collected or paid out by the government appears in the State budgets".   When asked to confirm whether the state has actually collected any amounts from the US for the operation of the radio stations, he said "that is under investigation".  The information supplied by Mr. Lillikas about the agreements on the operation of the radio stations is interesting, and contradicts his absolute certainty that this affair is entirely clear:

 

1. "There was an agreement in 1968 until 1978 with a certain amount for which it cannot be determined today whether it has been collected by the State or not".   If Mr. Lillikas is correct in stating that all government incomes and expenditures are recorded in the budgets, when why is it not possible to determine whether it has been collected or not?   We have supplied documentation confirming that this money, which amounted to 1.4 million dollars annually, was deposited in secret bank accounts and spent with completely opaque procedures. Hence, Mr. Lillikas' position that "there were no secret funds under other governments either" is refuted by the facts.

 

2. "(There had been) another agreement from 1978 to 1997".   What were the provisions of this agreement, how much was paid by the US, with what procedure and why does nothing appear in the budgets of that period?

 

3. "From 1997 until 2002 there is a gap, after the agreement was denounced by the US and it appears, from 1997 until 2002, that there was this gap and there were no commitments on the part of the US."   How was a new agreement arrived at in 2002 without the status of "gap" of the previous five years having been cleared?  And why is so much undestanding given to the previous government, which is blamed by the current government for everything, about the five year "gap" during its tenure?  Why is the current government, which has such a track record in anti-americanism, tolerating such a great concession to the americans?

 

4. "(There is) another agreement signed in 2002 up to 2010".   What are the provisions of this new agreement? Mr. Lillikas said that for all these three agreements, with the exception of the "gap" of 1997 - 2002, there are definite sums of money.   "Now, how much of these, and which, was paid, we will determine through the Central Accounting office of the Republic."  Well, why is it necessary to make a search at Central Accounting for the payments provided for by an agreement made in 2002, the financial provisions of which should have been quite clear?  For instance, in the case of the Voice of America relay at Cape Greco, there is a clear agreement with a particular sum, which is collected annually and appears in the incomes of the Electronic Communications Department of the Ministry of Communications and Works.  Why are the payments for the Makedonitissa radio station nowhere to be seen?

Makarios Drousiotis - Politis

09/05/2006