Μακαριος Δρουσιώτης

On Wednesday, 10 May 2006, the Government released a memo by the Auditor General with an account of the amounts paid by the United States for the facilities offered to its telecommunications installations in Cyprus and, specifically, for the FBIS radio station in Makedonitissa, which operates under the CIA.

 

Despite its efforts, the Government is unable to account for even one cent for all years since 1997.  In other words, all the amounts paid by the CIA to Cyprus during the past nine years have become invisible, while for the previous years they were presented through a number of peculiar accounting practices.

 

It was in its Sunday edition of 7 May that Politis revealed documents showing that since 1968 the CIA was handing over to the Government of Cyprus 1.4 million dollars each year, as payment for the operation of the FBIS radio station in Karavas.  The above station was moved to Nicosia after the events of 1974.

 

We have not been able to trace the above amounts in the state budgets and, according to a very reliable source, they were paid as "black" money.  In other words, they were deposited in secret accounts and later disbursed outside normal budgetary procedures, without any transparency and for aims that were never explained.

 

The agreement

 

Last Monday, government spokesman George Lillikas refuted the above publication, saying it was all a conspiracy and stressed that all the amounts received from the United States were included in the state income accounts.  Lillikas explained that "there was indeed an agreement between 1968 and 1978 concerning a fixed amount which, however, cannot be verified whether it has actually been paid to the government and thus the debtor has paid his debt."

 

Even though on Monday the Government was claiming that it could not verify whether the amount had actually been collected, nevertheless on Wednesday it released the Auditor General's memo.  According to this, 1.4 million dollars had been paid for each year until 1978.  This amount agrees with the figures published by Politis.

 

According to the Auditor General, between 1978 and 1997 the amount entering the state budget was reduced to 400.000 US Dollars per year, a reduction of one million dollars per annum.  Nevertheless, the memo states that it is not in a position to confirm "whether any other ministry, department or service was involved with any kind of financial transactions in relation to this issue."  This is equivalent to saying that the Auditor General is not certain if the complete amount paid by the United States was actually recorded in the state budget.

 

"Import duties"

 

Moreover, the amounts collected for the last year - 1997 - have completely disappeared and the Auditor General is not in a position to know what happened to them because the relevant documents were destroyed after the minimum time required for their storage had lapsed!  Moreover, according to the Auditor General's memo, the amounts paid by the Americans do not appear under the state income heading of the budget since 27% of them were recorded under the heading of import duties, 50% under sundry charges and 23% under sundry income!

 

A state that receives any amount from another country is obliged to keep transparent accounts.  Moreover, it cannot mix up receipts for the supply of services rendered to foreign agencies with … import duties, or prove to be unable to find the amounts received and to discover these nine years later and admit its inability to investigate because the relevant documents have been lost.

 

The "gap"

 

Although all the above are indeed weird, more follows. Government spokesman Lillikas claimed that "there is a gap between 1997 and 2002, after the agreement was abrogated by the United States and it appears that from 1997 until 2002 there was a gap during which the US had no commitments."  In addition, he stated that "a new agreement was signed for the years between 2002 and 2010."

 

In other words, according to Lillikas, in 1997 (during Clerides’ presidency), the United States unilaterally abrogated the agreement and thus the agreement ceased to exist. Consequently, the Americans did not pay a single cent and because of this …..gap no commitments whatsoever exist.   Despite this, according to the government spokesman, the "gap" closed in 2002 after an agreement was signed for the years until 2010.  Therefore, the current government that was elected in 2003 is abiding to the above agreement.  In fact, according to the Auditor General's memo and made public by the government, details are given of the amount according to this agreement between 2002 and 2006.

 

The deception

 

The truth is that the government is deceiving public opinion.  The agreement for the years between 2002 and 2010 to which it keeps referring has absolutely nothing to do with the FBIS station in Makedonitissa.  This agreement was signed between the Government of Cyprus and the Broadcasting Board of Governors of the United States and covers ONLY the Voice of America relay station that began operations in 2002 in the Cape Greco area.  Politis reported on this agreement last Sunday.

 

According to the International Broadcasting Act, Public Law 103-206, the Broadcasting Board of Governors is responsible for producing and transmitting of television and radio programs to foreign audiences.  The FBIS has a different mission, it is subject to the CIA and has absolutely no connection with the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

 

The agreement for the Voice of America relay station was negotiated by the then Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides and Communications and Works Minister Averof Neophytou.  It is a clear agreement setting out the rights and obligations of the United States for the relay of Voice of America programmes to the wider region.  This is the reason why the amount received from the above rights (242.600 Cyprus pounds per year) is not get mixed up with import duties, is not invisible but appears in the income for the electronic communications department of the Ministry of Communications and Works.

 

The admission

 

From the statements made by Lillikas, and the memo prepared by the Auditor General, it is clear that there is not merely a gap for the period between 1997 and 2002, but a black hole that absorbs the amounts paid for the operation of the FBIS station during the past 10 years.   The Government was unable to show that even one cent had been paid into the state budgets for the period 1997 to 2006.

 

Last Sunday, Politis raised a number of questions.  After the answers given by the Government, the questions have now become more specific and pressing:

• What is the government's justification for the accounting alchemies on the income received between 1968 and 1997?
• What is the amount of money paid by the US Government for the operation of the FBIS station from 1997 until today and why they do not appear in the state budgets?
• Why did the Government sign the 2002 agreement for the Voice of America relay station and is it correct that the United States unilaterally abrogated the FBIS agreement?
• Why did the current Government accept so easily the "gap" of the previous government, since it is the one normally "blamed for everything" and is invariably accused of bending to US pressures?
• Although the Government of President Tassos Papadopoulos denounced as a conspiracy against Cyprus the financing of projects by UNOPS, why has it not said a single word about the FBIS payments that were completely absent from the state budgets?
• When an unmanned Voice of America relay station pays half a million dollars each year, what is the amount that should be charged for the operation of the FBIS, a facility with a substantial infrastructure and is staffed by personnel with diplomatic immunity?
• Is it likely  that the United States unilaterally abrogated the agreement as far back as 1997, without this issue ever being raised in Cyprus when, in the case of the British bases for which we have legal commitments on every opportunity we demand the payment of "rent?"
• Is it reasonable to believe that a super power paying half a million dollars for a relay station at Cape Greco is willing to unilaterally abrogate an agreement and refuse to pay even one cent for the considerably more important FBIS facilities in Nicosia?
• Why is the government of President Papadopoulos, which is known for its with anti-American sentiments on the local front, tolerating the existence of the radio station and accepts that the United States has no obligations toward Cyprus?
• If the Government is unable to give convincing answers to these questions, then it should state how much it is receiving from the CIA for the radio station, how does it collect it and how does it disburse it?

Black money, dark business

 

Since the Government has failed to explain even one cent of the charges paid for the FBIS, and since it is not reasonable to believe that the United States stopped paying without facing any protests by the Cyprus Government, especially the present one, it is almost certain that the money is paid "black."  This means it is handed over under the table and is not being paid into the state budgets.

 

The reason why they do not enter into the state budget is because once they do they cannot be disbursed without following strict formalities.  Governments accept to collect "black money" in order to be able to disburse them using procedures that lack transparency and for carrying out dark business.

 

It quite is legitimate for states to enter into alliances and to reach agreements offering facilities to other, more powerful, states.  Otherwise, they will be sidelined and marginalised.  What is illegitimate is when the above agreements are reached without transparency, leading to dependence on the more powerful states.

 

It is not possible for a government dedicated to blind anti-American rhetoric to maintain financial relations totally lacking transparency with the United States, and particularly the CIA.  Nor is it possible for Demetris Christofias to claim that Condoleezza Rice "will be confronted by the people of Cyprus," while the Government it has elevated power is in favour of this kind of economic dependence from the CIA.

Makarios Drousiotis - Politis

14/05/2006