Police investigations into the cases of the Pentakomo waste treatment plant and the Trimiklini fish farm are ongoing, attorney-general George Savvides said Thursday, declining to give a timeline for when the two probes would wrap up.
Savvides was being queried by journalists as to progress in the two investigations.
Regarding the Trimiklini fish farm, police are investigating how and why officials gave the nod to diverting water to the site from the Kouris river, and also the permits issued for the facility.
In December 2025, the anti-corruption authority issued a report flagging possible criminal liability for former agriculture minister Nicos Kouyialis and two former department heads – Loizos Loizides, formerly of the fisheries department, and Kostas Hadjipanayiotou of the environment department.
Kouyialis reportedly approved a special request allowing water extraction from the Kouris river upstream of the Trimiklini reservoir without following due process. He also authorised water supply directly from the dam, despite no such request having been submitted.
As regards the two department heads who issued permits, the report states that “essentially, they knowingly, intentionally and deliberately bypassed all legislation and regulations, relying on the positions they held as directors of the respective departments, and completely arbitrarily and in abuse of their power, coordinated between themselves to issue the fish farm establishment and operation permit.”
On the other probe – the Pentakomo waste treatment facility – the attorney-general likewise refused to be drawn when asked whether any criminal liability would be apportioned.
A report on the matter had arrived at his desk in late 2023. Police have been investigating ever since.
Asked specifically if the investigation covers possible criminal offences by former auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides, Savvides declined to answer.
“I won’t personalise this in terms of who is being investigated, nor will I say whether criminal offences have been established.”
Once the police finish their work, he added, the attorney-general’s office will go over the findings to determine whether any criminal offences are documented. If necessary, charges would then be filed.
The Pentakomo case is seen as a major scandal. Designed to produce Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF), the facility has faced long-term operational failures.
The plant failed to meet the goal of producing high-quality SRF, often burying waste rather than treating it. Due to mismanagement the contractor was given marching orders in late 2023, and the Water Development Department took control.
In 2023 the operator was fined €183,000 for corruption and producing subpar fuel.
Michaelides’ name has come up in relation to the affair, because as auditor-general he had steadfastly argued for the lowest bid for choice of contractor – in a stated bid to save public moneys.
Earlier this week, Politis published email correspondence showing that Jaspers, technical consultants to the EU, had urged Cypriot authorities to ensure that the contractor selected for Pentakomo have prior experience in producing SRF. The EU had offered to co-finance the project.
One of the emails, dated August 2013, reads: “The goal of this tender is to find a builder/operator who can build the MBT [Mechanical-Biological Treatment] plant and produce SRF according to the specifications listed in the tender.
“SRF is not an easy product to manufacture and it is really critical to ask bidders to prove that they have direct experience in producing similar quantities of SRF. Otherwise, there is a big risk that the fuel produced will end up in the landfill.”
Despite the warnings, the correspondence shows, Michaelides insisted that cost should be the sole criterion.
Currently, about 90 per cent of the facility’s waste gets buried – instead of the 5 to 10 per cent threshold set by EU regulations.
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