A private Cypriot company managing the island’s speed camera system earns more money as traffic fines increase, with the state paying commission on each violation issued, the Finance Ministry has revealed.
The disclosure emerged during parliamentary debate on the 2025 supplementary budget, which includes €229.9 million in additional spending. AKEL MPs Aristos Damianou and Andreas Kafkalias questioned a €3.9 million allocation for the Transport Ministry.
The Transport Ministry line item covers operating costs for the photo enforcement system and its software, according to Finance Ministry explanatory notes. A Finance Ministry representative told the committee that the state pays the company commission for each traffic violation issued under the arrangement.
The revelation prompted sharp reactions from MPs, who said they had been assured during Transport Committee discussions that the company received no commission from fines.
Airport software sparks fresh row
Damianou also objected to the budget line covering software installation at Larnaca and Paphos airports that would identify passengers with unpaid state fines and bar them from leaving Cyprus.
The Legal Affairs Committee had called on the Transport Ministry not to proceed with the project, he said, but it was being implemented through the 2025 budget amendment.
The new system will allow police to serve undelivered traffic fines at the republic’s entry and exit points—airports, ports and checkpoints—when they were not received by post or from a process server. Police will specifically serve camera-issued fines to drivers not previously located at these points.
MPs had noted that passengers at airports and ports can only be stopped with a court warrant for fine service.
The Finance Ministry will send additional information on both issues, whilst Justice and Transport Ministry representatives will attend the next Finance Committee session.
The supplementary budget, already approved by the cabinet, creates 153 new posts whilst abolishing an equal number of existing positions. The new posts will primarily serve the National Guard and the Civil Defence Directorate.
The Finance Ministry said the 2025 supplementary budget is fiscally neutral.
