Christodoulides said he was unaware of the €595,000 purchase of an armoured limousine

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said he was unaware of plans to purchase a new armoured limousine for him at a cost of €595,000. He said he learned about the request from press reports on the morning of 5 September. “This morning I learned from the press about this intention to make the purchase. I knew nothing about it,” the president said.

The issue concerns a letter from the Ministry of Finance dated 24 August and sent to the Parliament’s Finance Committee, requesting the release of funds for the purchase. The document was marked confidential, and the committee is due to consider it in a closed session on Monday. The vehicle is planned to be purchased through a restricted tender procedure among official representatives of car brands in Cyprus; the request does not specify a particular model.

The current armoured vehicle used by the head of state was purchased in 2019, during the presidency of Nicos Anastasiades, for €258,000 plus VAT. As stated in the request, the new car should be equipped with modern security systems; it is also intended to be used to transport heads of state visiting Cyprus.

Christodoulides described the appearance of the confidential document in the media as an intentional leak from Parliament. “There was undoubtedly an intentional leak from the House of Representatives, because it was the recipient of the letter, and judging by today’s reports, the aim was to harm the president of the republic,” he said.

The president stressed that decisions regarding his security are not made by him, but by the relevant state services. “No president should know about security matters or how the competent state services decide to act,” Christodoulides said, referring to the practices of Greece, Israel, Egypt and France.

He added that he had already received serious reprimands from his security detail for travelling in a personal car with his young daughter, and noted that the detail protects the institution of the presidency, not a specific individual. The head of state called the criticism directed at him populism and warned that the leak would have negative consequences for those who organised it.