Eleven months after the catastrophic fire in mountainous Limassol that claimed the lives of two of our fellow human beings, it burned more than 125 sq. km. of land by displacing hundreds of families, the Ministry of the Interior is proceeding with the financial relief of the fire victims, the repair of properties and the environmental protection of the area.
According to the official data submitted during yesterday's meeting to the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior by the general director of the Ministry, Elikkos Elias, the total expenses of the Ministry of the Interior directly related to the fire reach €12.809.645. In addition, the Government's overall holistic support and intervention plan, which covers wider infrastructure, the primary sector and environmental regeneration, provides for a budget of approximately €60 million.
Expenses, compensations and investments made or in progress to deal with the consequences of the fire are:
Compensation to those affected
For the immediate relief of families who lost their homes or suffered serious damage, a total amount of €9,070,001 was allocated to 428 families, which is distributed as follows:
• Emergency aid and basic needs: €2,291,000 was paid immediately to cover basic needs and temporary housing to 296 affected families. It is noted that during the first months, 246 adults and 88 children were accommodated in temporary accommodation facilities.
• Rent subsidy: A two-year program was implemented. As of June 19, 2026, rental expenses amounted to:
◦ 1st instalment: €375,300 to 132 families.
◦ 2nd instalment: €296,550 to 105 families.
◦ 3rd instalment: €245,200 to 92 families.
◦ 4th instalment: €229,800 to 88 families.
• Restoration of damage to homes: 758 timely applications were examined and the payments per stage were as follows:
◦ One-time full compensation: €515,965 to 119 homes.
◦ 1st instalment: €3,589,902 in 133 homes.
◦ 2nd instalment: €901,262 in 38 homes.
◦ 3rd (last) instalment: €625,022 in 14 homes.
Infrastructure expenditure
In addition to the direct compensations, the Ministry of the Interior shouldered the burden of operating costs, cleaning and reinforcement of the local authorities:
• €2,070,000 was spent on the cleaning of abandoned rural land in order to prevent new flare-ups.
• €667,979 was given by the state to the communities to make up for lost revenues.
• €395,000 was immediately granted to cover the first emergencies of the local authorities.
• €164,166 from the Limassol District Administration for vehicle rentals.
• €61,312 through the Civil Defence Hospitality and foreign mission expenses.
• 49,592 were charged to the Ministry of the Interior by the WDD for the water supply networks, while a total of €300,000 of work has been carried out for materials, generators and water tankers.
• €20,000 for the upgrade of the park in Agios Therapontas, as the community already has its own fire truck.
• Hunting Service Actions amounting to €7,856.
• Staff overtime was allocated €59,049 for the Limassol District Administration, €21,884 for Civil Defence and €4,802 for the Technical Services of the Ministry of the Interior.
Reactivation of the primary sector
The destruction to agricultural crops and livestock was enormous. The government immediately made available:
• €3.3 million as direct compensation to 1,435 affected farmers and livestock breeders.
• €2.5 million as advance payments to 842 beneficiaries, under two special projects with a total budget of €9 million, with the remaining amount being paid gradually based on the progress of the projects.
• It was decided to write off rents from 1/8/2025 until the end of July 2026 for 250 lease contracts of Turkish Cypriot and state land or Turkish Cypriot premises that have been destroyed.
Support for the local economy
In order to keep the economic fabric of the 17 communities alive, the following programs were funded:
• Business compensations of €870,000 to 31 local businesses for raw materials and goods destroyed.
• Damage to vehicles/machinery amounting to €640,000.
• Employee support of €421,000 for the payment of a monthly compensation of 3 months to employees and self-employed persons affected by the work stoppage.
• Tourism aid: €127,000 for a one-time aid of €1,000 per bed to 27 tourism businesses, as well as an additional one-time aid of 40% on turnover in tourist accommodation, in traditional infrastructure and in self-catering accommodation.
Restoration of utility networks
The semi-governmental organizations responded immediately, bearing significant costs:
• EAC spent €4 million for the complete replacement of kilometers of burnt network. In addition, it offered free electricity for two months up to €500 per household.
• The cost of restoring Cyta's fixed and mobile telephony networks exceeded €110,000. Free telecommunications for August 2025 and free laptops were also granted to affected families.
Environmental remediation
• €485,000 was spent on flood protection and soil stabilization to prevent landslides on the road network, as well as actions for wildlife management.
• 220,000 were given to communities for the management of fire waste.
• €50,000 was allocated for the organization of events in the affected areas and €20,000 through the cultural decentralization program.
Next steps
The process of examining the objections is in its final stage. Of the 142 objections submitted, most have already been examined by the competent Technical Committee, while 11 cases concerning uninsured traditional buildings remain. It is noted that the 76 objections concern insured premises. Another 65 objections concern uninsured premises.
It is noted that a total of 758 applications were submitted on time, while four are pending for examination for the submission of additional information. These applications include a total of 96 listed/traditional buildings. Of these, 28 were rejected and the owners were notified in writing.
Elikkos Elias: We need the help of citizens and volunteers
The general director of the Ministry, Elikkos Elias, informing the parliamentary Committee on the Interior regarding the adequacy of personnel, means and equipment for the prevention and extinguishing of fires, stated that the government is working to upgrade the level of preparedness and many parallel actions are being undertaken by various services on the issue of fire prevention and response.
The intention of the Government, said the DG of the Ministry of the Interior, is the creation of a General Directorate of Civil Protection in the Ministry of the Interior. "To this end, we submitted a Bill to you last March and I ask you to look at it as a priority. With the implementation of the Bill, the State's preparedness in preventing and dealing with catastrophic phenomena, some of which are due to the effects of climate change, will be further improved." Furthermore, he said "we need the help of citizens and volunteers to be able to avoid, prevent and deal with catastrophic fire phenomena, such as the last one we experienced 11 months ago in mountainous Limassol". It is necessary, he added, for us all to be vigilant and vigilant, but also to cooperate.
