Cyprus has amended its constitution to lower the minimum voting age for Cypriots from 18 to 17. The Cypriot government has discussed the progress of a large-scale programme to lease state-owned land for private use. The total area of land already transferred is 15,385,389 m2. The land has been made available for agricultural, livestock, residential, tourism, industrial and other purposes.
This was announced by the Ministry of the Interior on Thursday 22 May.
According to the Ministry, the land is currently leased to the following categories of applicants
- 513 people are using 2,802,613 m2 of land for industrial purposes;
- 50 people are renting 73,463 m2 for tourism projects;
- 675 people have launched various public, community and small business initiatives on 4,213,315 m2;
- 1,051 people work in agriculture on 6,496,346 m2;
- 279 people use 1,799,652 m2 for livestock farming.
A total of 2,568 investors are involved in the state programme. At the same time, the Cypriot government has leased 4,424,127 m2 of state land in the last 5 years alone.
Interestingly, leased land is increasingly in demand for the construction of foreign university branches.
In March 2024, the government submitted the relevant regulations to parliament, but political disagreements arose over the project. DIKO MP Panikkos Leonidou called for the discussion to be postponed in order to clarify the legal and political nuances of the land distribution. Leonidou also proposed broadening the purposes for which the land could be used to include local educational projects, rather than just branches of foreign universities. He said he was prepared to table an amendment if the government did not accept the proposal.
According to the draft, the Cabinet of Ministers will be able to lease land to universities on terms it deems appropriate. The key criteria will be the size of the project, its contribution to the economy, sustainability and financial feasibility. If the applicant does not obtain a licence to establish and operate a university within two years, the lease will be cancelled.