A three-member investigative committee has directly contradicted a transport ministry report over responsibility for the Takata airbag scandal, raising questions about potential criminal charges linked to two deaths and one serious injury.
The committee’s findings stand in contrast to the conclusions reached by Deputy Director of the Transport Ministry’s Konstantinos Kodjiapashis, who conducted an administrative investigation into a controversial 2017 circular that exempted manufacturer dealers from grey vehicle recall procedures.
Whilst Kodjiapashis concluded that “no reasonable suspicion of disciplinary misconduct can arise,” the three-member committee expressed “strong reservations” about whether the Road Transport Department director had legal authority to exempt dealers from recall procedures.
The committee found that Article 8 of Law 61(I)/2005 contains no provision granting such discretionary power, stating that only “the legislator had” such authority, making the exemption legally questionable.
The 2017 circular formally excluded dealers from responsibility for third-country vehicles, adopting the Motor Vehicle Importers Association’s longstanding position that dealers bore no responsibility because “information is not directed to dealers” and “no alternative procedure was established” for dangerous vehicles circulating uncontrolled in Cyprus.
The committee identified this as creating a “serious legal and institutional gap.”
Criminal charges under consideration
The committee noted that disciplinary and criminal issues may arise, referencing Article 105 of the Criminal Code concerning abuse of power by public officials. It emphasised that determining criminal responsibility falls to the Attorney General, who must consider “the time that has elapsed.”
The Attorney General has sent the report to the Chief of Police with instructions to investigate potential criminal offences against any person, including abuse of power, homicide, causing death through reckless acts, and causing serious bodily harm.
Four individuals face potential criminal investigation: former Transport Minister Marios Demetriades, former Ministry Director General Alecos Michaelides, and former Road Transport Department directors Sotiris Kolettas and Yiannis Nicolaides.
Institutional failures
The committee emphasised that despite the 2017 circular being communicated to the Transport Ministry’s Director General, he “paid no attention” to its contents and “did not inform the Minister,” characterising this as “serious omissions.”
The report noted that citizens’ letters in 2015 and 2016 about Takata airbag dangers received no official response, despite the Road Transport Department’s awareness of international risks.
The committee acknowledged that circular preparation began in autumn 2016, before the Takata case peaked, and that the exemption represented dealers’ “established position.” However, it stressed that accepting this position without alternative procedures for grey vehicles meant the exemption’s interpretation was “incomplete or simply inadequate.”
Victim cases
The committee linked institutional failures to three serious cases:
- Alexandros Loungou, 19, seriously injured in 2017
- Kyriacos Oxynos, 24, killed in 2023
- Styliani Giorgalli, 19, killed in 2024
The Attorney General’s report has been sent to the Cabinet for review and potential disciplinary action against various officials across the Road Transport Department, Electromechanical Services, and police.
Background context
Takata airbags contained defective inflators that could rupture with excessive force, projecting metal fragments into vehicle cabins and causing serious injuries or death. The crisis began in 2010 in the United States and expanded globally, ultimately affecting over 100 million vehicles worldwide in what became one of the largest automotive recalls in history.
Cyprus faced particular challenges due to its substantial “grey” vehicle market – used cars imported from other countries with minimal oversight requirements. Under Cyprus law, these vehicles needed only to be less than five years old for import, creating a regulatory gap where hundreds of thousands of potentially dangerous vehicles entered the market without proper recall mechanisms to notify owners of safety defects.
The investigation focused on three serious incidents, two fatal, involving Takata airbag explosions in vehicles circulating in Cyprus. Particular emphasis was placed on the Road Transport Department circular dated 21 March 2017, which the committee found left an information and responsibility gap by relieving importers of obligation to inform about “grey” vehicle recalls.
Through dozens of testimonies, multi-year institutional dysfunctions, coordination deficits between services and lack of political superior notification were revealed, resulting in dangerous vehicles remaining on Cypriot roads for years without owner notification.
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