Office of the Auditor General of the Republic of Cyprus Andreas Papaconstantinou
came
to the conclusion that donors to the foundation of the country's first lady often receive government contracts and other preferences. The audit service said the student support fund, led by the president's wife, "appears to be a charitable organization whose goal is to make an impact."
BACKGROUND
From its creation in 2014 to 2022, the annual income of the student support fund was about 500 thousand euros. In 2023, revenues rose sharply to €2.3 million. In 2024 they remained at the same level.
The chairman of the foundation is the president's wife. Initially it was headed by Andri Anastasiadi. In March 2023, the foundation became supervised by the wife of the new president, Nikos Christodoulides, Philippe Carcera.
In September 2024, Parliament approved a bill requiring the publication of the names of individuals and companies that donated more than 5,000 euros to the First Lady's foundation. The list of donors should have been published on the foundation’s website.
A month later, Nikos Christodoulides refused to sign the bill and sent it to the Supreme Court, citing potential conflicts with basic EU laws and personal data protection rules.
In April 2025, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected
law,
requiring disclosure of information about donors to the social support fund. The court ruled that the document violated constitutional norms protecting privacy.
WHAT'S HAPPENED?
The Auditor General's Office released a report on a social assistance fund that helps needy students stay in school. Led by the First Lady, it is funded by private donors who can remain anonymous. The lack of full transparency raises doubts about the fund’s activities, the Accounts Chamber said.
FRAGMENTS OF THE REPORT
The audit office's report mentions a company that donated €695,750 in 2023 and 2024. At the same time, "she signed a long-term contract with the government at a high cost." Six shipping companies, which donated €750,000 in 2024, benefited from the government's decision to reduce tonnage tax to 30% for some types of ships in May 2024. An individual whose company was granted a license to build a facility for commercial use made two contributions to the fund for 2023–2024 in the amount of EUR 200,000 for each year. A company that was licensed by the competent authority as a credit manager at the end of 2024 contributed EUR 50,000 to the fund in the same year, and EUR 30,000 in 2023. Financial services companies that were in the process of settlement with the competent authority after violations were identified contributed amounts to the fund between 10,000 and 50,000 euros.
CONCLUSIONS + ADVICE
“There is a connection - or it appears that there is a connection - of influence and/or expectation of benefit,” said the report of the Auditor General of the Republic of Cyprus.
In his opinion, it is problematic that the chairman of the social support fund is the wife of the head of state, “while the president can make decisions that directly or indirectly affect private donor companies.”
The Auditor General's Office recommended that the endowment fund create an internal mechanism to increase transparency. It is proposed that from now on all donors who donate more than 20,000 euros per year will consent to the disclosure of their first and last names.
OPPOSITION REACTION
Opposition party AKEL said the auditor general's findings revealed a "scandalous lack of transparency, conflicts of interest and lack of meritocracy in the functioning of the fund."
REACTION OF THE FUND
— An attempt is being made to use auditing for political purposes. The position of the audit service is presented in such a way as to create a false impression of abuse of power without taking into account the constitutional and legal context -
reported
First Lady Foundation
