The discussion regarding the Cyprus Rally and the control of state sponsorships that were given continued on Thursday in the Audit Committee of the Parliament in recent years for its conduct.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association, Antonis Michaelidis, spoke of the “relentless war of the Cypriot Automobile Federation against the Cypriot Automobile Association”, while for his part, the President of the Cyprus Automobile Federation, Manolis Kouloumas, said that the state should examine the corruption of public money.
ELAM Member of Parliament Sotiris Ioannou, who registered the issue with the committee, stated after the end of the debate that many serious complaints were heard last time from the Minister of Finance himself that 10.3 million euros were spent without any control over their management of money.
Today, continued Mr. Ioannou, the Cypriot Automobile Association, the private company which organized the specific race in previous years, did not deny these statements of the Minister, as a result of which we ask for a new session to be held so that all of them can be heard again opinions, to ask our questions and the conclusions, which will come from the investigation ordered by both the Auditor General and the Ministry of Finance.
“Our position for transparency purposes is clear: any event in the field of automobiles should be organized by the Cyprus Automobile Federation and not any other private organization, since it is the only legal federation recognized by the CMO”, emphasized Mr. Ioannou.
In response to a question as to whether embezzlement of public funds was found, the ELAM MP said that the embezzlement of public funds was mainly identified by the Minister of Finance, who is also the one most responsible for the specific grants, and the evidence he provided in the previous session was not refuted today.
He added that the conclusions of the investigations of the Ministry of Finance and the Audit Service are awaited so that in the next sessions the necessary responsibilities will be attributed to those who proceeded to squander the money of the Cypriot taxpayer, with the main question remaining why the state had millions with no one at all control.
DIPA Member of Parliament Alekos Tryfonidis described the dispute between the Cyprus Automobile Federation and the Cyprus Automobile Association as unacceptable and provocative, adding that motor sports is very important for the country and the organization of the international Cyprus Rally brings many good things in relation to tourism and in relation to the advertisement of Cyprus internationally.
“For this reason, we call on the competent Minister of Education and the Cyprus Sports Organization to bring the two bodies together in consultation so that the Cyprus Rally can be held by the legal federation of the KOM in cooperation with other bodies in order to have the right and good results for the economy of the country”, stressed Mr. Tryfonidis, adding that the funding from the state should go to the legitimate Cyprus Automobile Federation so that they can be controlled down to the last cent by the Auditor General.
< p>Also present at the committee session was the Chairman of the Board of the Cypriot Automobile Association, Antonis Michaelidis, who stated during the session that what the Auditor General states in his reports that the Cyprus Rally cost €10 million is correct, ” however, they concern an amount of 300,000 pounds that was first approved as a sponsorship for the Cyprus Rally by the Council of Ministers in 2003, repeated without an increase for 18 years of running the race”.
Mr. Michaelidis also spoke of the “relentless polemic of the Cyprus Automobile Federation against the KSA”, in which, as he said, “it found a hopeless ally and members of the political leadership and especially the Minister of Finance, as well as a clumsy and apathetic Cyprus Sports Organization , which while aware of the international regulation of motorsport and the responsibilities and limits of everyone involved in motorsport as clearly defined by the World Federation (FIA), does nothing towards a final, fair and effective regulation of the issue”.
For his part, the President of the Cyprus Automobile Federation, Manolis Kouloumas, stated that in today's session the Director of the company of the Cyprus Automobile Association, Antonis Michaelidis, instead of referring to the specific issues, spoke about the course since 1934 and anything other than the specific topic, in an effort, as he stated, to mislead the topic he is discussing it in the Parliament.
“Here things are clear, it is about a legality that the state and the state must finally implement and examine the waste of public money”, Mr. Kouloumas emphasized, adding that there are specific documents that have been submitted to the Auditor General and the Ministry of Finance and their immediate examination will be requested regarding the financial management of the Cyprus Rally sponsorships over time.
