Cyprus's anti-corruption authority found a former agriculture minister and two department heads unlawfully approved permits and water supply for a fish farm.
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Cyprus's Anti-Corruption Authority, after an investigation that included 55 hearings, found that former Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis approved extraction of water from the Kouris river upstream of the Trimiklini reservoir for an unlicensed fish farm without following due process. It found that fisheries department head Loizos Loizides signed the farm's establishment and operation licences in 2011 and 2013, and that environment department head Kostas Hadjipanayiotou sent a letter ahead of the 2013 licence which the report called illegal and an abuse of power. The report says the officials 'knowingly, intentionally and deliberately' bypassed legislation. The Authority flagged possible criminal liability for the three, and for seven others, and sent the case to the Attorney General; in January 2026 it was passed to police for further investigation. These are the Authority's findings and referrals; no charges or convictions have been reported.
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