Filenews 11 November 2025 - by Vassos Vassiliou
The Municipalities make it clear that they will not implement the "Pay as You throw" program if the conditions they set are not met, while at the same time they are asking the state for €179 million per year.
In particular, regarding the "pay as you throw" program, the president of the Union of Municipalities, Mr. Andreas Vyras, in his speech before the General Assembly of the Union of Municipalities, clarified that "if clear answers are not settled or given that satisfy the positions of the Municipalities on all the pending points raised in the dialogue with the government, he will not advocate its implementation.
Justifying the position of the Municipalities, Mr. Vyras stated that the main issues for which clear answers have not been given (from an official point of view) are the following:
• Organic waste infrastructure – Location and treatment costs
• Financing of equipment and actions
• Announcement of tenders for the supply of common equipment
• Recruitment of inspectors – cost coverage Green Points
• Licensing of a Collective Packaging Waste System
Regarding the state sponsorship to the Municipalities, Mr. Vyras stated that it should amount to €170 million compared to today's €117 million.
Mr. Vyras indicated that according to a techno-economic study by Grant Thornton on behalf of the Union of Municipalities, the amount of €117 million (agreed in 2019) corresponds to a significantly lower real value compared to previous years.
Using a composite calculation based on annual changes, the inflation adjustment rate amounts to 18.4%, said Mr. Vyras, who added that the amounts from the other requests of the Union of Municipalities will be added to the new amount (estimated at around €139 million).
"The final amount (estimated at around €170 million) will be translated as a percentage of the state budget," he noted.
He also pointed out that the percentage of the government's sponsorship to the Municipalities is significantly lower than European practices and, according to the calculations of the Municipalities themselves, is limited to 1.45% of the 2025 state budget.
Similar percentages in other European countries, in Sweden it ranges between 15% – 20%, in Denmark 30%, in Finland between 20% – 25%, in Spain: 13% – 15%, in France: 4% – 5% and in Greece: 2.5% – 3%.
For the 'Smart Cities' project, which is funded by the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy with € 35 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRP) and will be implemented by June 2026, Mr. Vyras said that it includes the following actions:
Award of a Contract to Cyta (through a Tender that was announced) for the implementation of the National Smart City Platform 'Smart Cyprus' and the three (3) vertical solutions of Smart Parking, Smart Waste Management and Citizen Application (€13,000,000).
• Direct Award of a Contract to the EAC for the installation and maintenance of 26,000 smart lighting fixtures in all Municipalities
• Compensation of Municipalities that have already implemented smart city actions on their own initiative (€ 7,000,000).
Regarding the pending legislative amendments, the president of the Union of Municipalities observed that there are still gaps in the reform legislation.
Furthermore, sending messages in various directions, he expressed respect for the institution of the Deputy Mayor and added:
• The Union categorically rejects any attempt to downgrade the institution of Deputy Mayors, an institution created on the proposal of the Government and the approval of the legislator.
• Undermining the existence of a democratically elected institution undermines both the democracy of the entire institution of Local Government and the administrative autonomy of the Municipalities.
He also noted that the Reform of Local Government, with all its weaknesses, is a necessary step towards the new era for local democracy in Cyprus.
However, as he acknowledged, in practice the new system does not adequately ensure the administrative and financial autonomy of the Municipalities, which is a key issue of the Reform.
