Politicians on Thursday bickered over the budget of the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta) but still passed the €520 million balance sheet.

The 2025 budget for state-run Cyta features expenditures of €522 million and projected revenues of €435 million.

MPs also passed an amendment to the Cyta budget bill, where parliament will freeze a spending item of €5 million set aside for ‘contingencies’. This means Cyta officials will need to come to parliament later and specifically ask for the amount’s release.

In remarks on the House floor, Akel MP Andreas Kafkalias cited data, according to which from 2000 through to 2024, the semi-governmental organisation contributed more than €1.25 billion to state coffers.

Of this number, €914 million were in the form of dividends, and €359 million in taxes.

“This major contribution of Cyta to the country refutes those who in the last few years have been trying to engineer the privatisation of Cyta in order to serve private interests,” the MP asserted.

Dipa MP Alekos Tryfonides likewise signaled his party’s opposition to any attempts at privatising Cyta.

He voiced concern over the matter of the 50 persons to be hired by the organisation under private-law contract.

Elam’s Sotiris Ioannou complained that Cyta’s policy code and promotional campaigns include the Lgbt community.

“What do the services offered by Cyta have to do with the sexual preferences of anyone?” he asked.

Ioannou said Cyta is “using taxpayer money to be an accomplice in the propaganda of the ‘woke’ agenda”.