Compensation payments of about €44.36 million were made to 4,524 affected depositors and holders of securities from the 2013 banking crisis, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace, Letymbiotis confirmed that the transfers have already been arranged through the Central Bank of Cyprus.

He said the payments “reflect the government’s resolve to implement cabinet decisions and support citizens who suffered financial losses.”

The payments will go to those whose savings and securities were reduced during the 2013 bailout. Each case has been verified, the spokesman said, and beneficiaries who confirmed their details are now receiving the sums owed.

Letymbiotis added that the process continues smoothly, following the official plan. He urged those who have not yet submitted their information through the online platform – a website – to do so immediately, so their losses can be confirmed and they too can receive compensation.

The scheme represents the latest step in addressing the fallout from the financial crisis. It aims to deliver verified compensation directly and transparently.

Meantime the finance ministry urged people who had applied for compensation via the online platform, but did not verify the data on their application, to do so by September 30 – the cutoff date.

In March 2013, Cyprus secured a €10 billion bailout from the Eurogroup, European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. As part of that agreement, 47.5 per cent of uninsured deposits above €100,000 in the Bank of Cyprus were converted into shares. Meanwhile, all uninsured deposits at Laiki Bank were wiped out, and Laiki was wound down, with its assets and insured deposits transferred to the Bank of Cyprus.

This ‘haircut’ on bank deposits was imposed to avoid the collapse of the financial system. Courts later upheld that the action was justified in the public interest to prevent a ‘disorderly default’ of the banks and wider economic disaster.

The National Solidarity Fund, set up to aid those affected, collected around €260 million in assets. As of March 2025, it had verified 80 per cent of the claims submitted via its online platform, which opened in December 2023 and closed in May 2024.

As debate over compensation continued, loss estimates among depositors and bondholders reached €2 billion. Around 13,000 beneficiaries have been identified. Many expressed dissatisfaction with the compensation terms, specifically, a €25,000 cap per person and a 15 per cent compensation rate for losses, calling these measures unfair.

In June 2025, the cabinet approved a €100 million payout from the Solidarity Fund. The plan includes 3.61 per cent compensation for Bank of Cyprus deposit losses, and 10 per cent for net losses from Laiki Bank. Beneficiaries were invited to confirm their details online beginning that month.