For another year, semi-state organizations have delayed submitting their budgets, with the majority yet to present their plans for the current year.

Even though we have already passed the first half of January, only 10 out of 43 semi-state organizations have submitted their 2024 budgets to the Parliament, of which two have already been voted on.

Specifically, the budgets of the State Scholarships Foundation of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot Properties Fund, the Public Oversight Authority of the Auditing Profession, the Equal Distribution of Burdens Authority, the Fiscal Council, the Human Resource Development Authority, the Cyprus Organization for the Marking of Precious Metals, the Registration and Inspection Council of Building and Technical Work Contractors, the Cyprus Anti-Addiction Authority, and the Cyprus Theatre Organization have been submitted to the Parliament.

Of these budgets, two - the Turkish Cypriot Properties Fund and the Equal Distribution of Burdens Authority - have already been voted on, while six - the Human Resource Development Authority, the State Scholarships Foundation of Cyprus, the Public Oversight Authority of the Auditing Profession, the Fiscal Council, the Registration and Inspection Council of Building and Technical Work Contractors, and the Cyprus Theatre Organization - will be put to vote in the full assembly on Thursday (18/1). The other two are under review by the relevant Parliamentary Committees. The Cyprus Organization for the Marking of Precious Metals is under the Commerce Committee's review, and the Cyprus Anti-Addiction Authority's budget is under the Health Committee's review.

It should be noted that, in addition to the above semi-state organizations, the Pan-Cyprian Refugees Union has also submitted its budget for 2024, which is expected to be discussed next Tuesday (30/1) in the Parliamentary Refugee Committee.

However, the fact that the majority of the semi-state organizations have not submitted their 2024 budgets causes discomfort in the Parliament, with calls from both the President of the Body, Annita Dimitriou, and the President of the Parliamentary Economic Committee, Christiana Erotokritou, falling on deaf ears for yet another year.

In her statements to Brief, the President of the Economic Committee, while not hiding her annoyance at the delay in submitting the semi-state organizations' budgets, expressed hope that they would be submitted at the next full assembly of the Parliament to begin their examination.

"Once again, we see disrespect for the Constitution," she added, noting that the Parliament's calls start in September, but it seems that nobody takes them into account.

"The agenda of the Economic Committee is crystal clear," Mrs. Erotokritou added, noting that "we are fully prepared to examine any budget submitted to the Parliament and referred for discussion in the Committee."

"We, as a Committee, have already examined all the budgets we had before us and submitted them to the full assembly for voting," she explained, emphasizing that if necessary, the full assembly will vote on provisional twelfths for the month of February, allowing the semi-state organizations to operate smoothly until their budgets are passed.