The President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulidis, presided today, at the Presidential Palace, at a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
After the meeting, Deputy Government Spokesman Mr. Yannis Antoniou told reporters that "the Cabinet approved today a proposal by the Ministry of Finance to enter into a loan agreement of up to 108 million euros with the European Investment Bank to finance the construction of student buildings centers and for the renovation of various academic and research facilities of TEPAK in Limassol and Paphos.
Another 53 million euros will be paid by the state for the specific projects.
In the context of its policy to deal with the serious housing problem, especially for young people, the Government considers the implementation of the above projects very important. The ever-increasing demand for Cypriot universities from Cypriots, but also from international students, makes it even more imperative to build student residences as early as possible. A total of 703 student beds will be erected, of which 500 will be in Limassol, the rest in Paphos. These will improve students' access to high-quality higher education and research services as well as affordable housing.
In addition to the fact that this project contributes to the promotion of affordable student housing, but also to the strengthening of education and research, it also provides the possibility of creating new jobs and increases productivity in the areas in question.
The planned projects of TEPAK, with a total estimated cost of 178 million euros, will be implemented by two Agencies. TEPAK will be the implementing body of the projects in Limassol and the Municipality of Paphos will be the implementing body of the projects in Paphos.
The Council of Ministers approved the Specific Criteria for the Plans implemented by the Central Agency for Equal Burden Distribution, for access of more refugees to financing plans based on specific plans such as:
• Study Loan Concession Scheme
• Plan for Housing Purposes
• Plan for Professional Purposes
• Loan Concession Scheme for Medical Care
• Plan to Purchase household appliances with or without kitchen renovation
• Plan for Energy Upgrade in existing homes
• Mortgage Interest Subsidy Scheme
• Business Loan Interest Subsidy Scheme
These decisions are part of the Government's housing policy and, of course, in conjunction with the refugee policy".
He added that "the Council of Ministers approved a proposal by the Ministry of Education, to determine the permitted number of admissions of students from third countries in each of the 21 Private Schools of Higher Education, which present a large number of students from third countries during the academic year 2024-2025.
In particular, students from third countries and from countries originating from Council of Europe countries will be allowed to enroll in the Schools regardless of the existing restrictions.
The new regulation will be valid only for the next academic year and provides for a strict procedure and conditions, in order to serve the policy of attracting students, but at the same time to ensure the strict provisions of the Republic's policy in relation to immigration".
He also said that "the findings of ex officio investigations by the Incongruous Investigation Committee on cases of persons appointed to positions on Boards of Directors of Public Law Legal Entities were put before the Council of Ministers. Of the 103 persons appointed to the Parastatals, the Commission has identified professional incompatibility for two members, who will be replaced as soon as possible.
The Government will adopt the Commission's positions and will proceed with the appointment of two members in the coming days. The Government remains committed to the implementation of the policy for transparency, good administration and meritocracy. We note the fact that for the first time there was a strict preliminary check on the part of the Government for any incompatibility before the appointments were made, which is confirmed by the fact that there were only two cases out of the 103 appointed".
When asked, Mr. Antoniou said that the amounts mentioned for the issue of housing are budgeted, foreseen in the budget and consequently, the Government always moves within the framework of the state's fiscal capabilities.
Besides, when asked to comment on the statements of the Government Representative of Greece regarding the UN plan for the Cyprus issue, Mr. Antoniou said that "it is not a plan, it has been clarified that the Representative of the Greek Government is referring to the next steps of the UN. We are also waiting for the decisions of the Secretary General on how the process will proceed. It is a misinterpretation, it is not about the UN's plan, but about their planning for the next steps in relation to the initiative of the Secretary General for the next step in the Cyprus issue.
For us, the important thing is that the conditions for the basis of a solution are met and always under the framework and under the auspices of the UN".