The Forestry Department has failed to protect Cyprus against fires due to both insufficient air and ground-based equipment, auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou said in a report made public on Tuesday.

After examining tenders for the purchase of aerial and ground-based fire-fighting means, Papaconstantinou pointed out that “weaknesses and omissions” were found over the period from 2022 to 2024.

He found “bad planning, inadequate market research, inconsistency of evaluation criteria and repeated announcements of tenders that either failed to attract a sufficient number of bids or resulted in rejections, due to exclusive and restrictive technical requirements.”

This, he said, raised “serious concerns”.

The result, he added, was “the reduction of competitiveness, the significant increase of the cost and mainly the delay in securing crucial fire-fighting means.”

Later in the day, the forestry department said it had to deal with “especially demanding and difficult conditions” in securing airborne fire-fighting means for the period in question.

Papaconstantinou said there were delays in three of five cases examined, which resulted in missing the summer season when fire-fighting equipment was most needed.

Furthermore, some tenders provided for a cost of €48.8 million, however the end sum was €62.2 million.

The auditor-general pointed out that these serious problems were detected for the period 2022-2024, after Cyprus faced the most destructive fire in its history – Arakapas on July 3, 2021 – in which four people lost their lives and 55 square kilometres of land, including 28 houses and crops, were destroyed.

“The inability to properly address such a crucial matter, despite the lessons from 2021, constitutes a serious failure on behalf of the management. Immediate corrective actions are needed, as well as institutional accountability,” he added.

Specifically, for purchasing a fire-fighting plane and pilot services for 2025-2027, at the initially projected cost of €13.59 million and later €17.2 million, only two bids were submitted but were rejected, one because it proposed a helicopter instead and the other because the plane did not meet the preconditions.

Regarding the wet leasing – where costs are paid by the hour – of fire-fighting planes for the period 2024-2026, only one bid was submitted and documents were missing, such as a licence to fly the planes.

For the wet leasing of helicopters for 2024-2025, all bids were rejected as they were not accompanied by a participating guarantee.

A subsequent tender did not specify certain necessary preconditions, however four bids were submitted and the lowest offer received the contract.

For the purchase of water-transporting fire-fighting vehicles, a tender was issued for 25 all-terrain trucks and 17 tankers, co-funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The auditor-general said new market research was not carried out and four bids were submitted, two of which were dismissed. The final amount of the tender was 10 per cent higher than the original estimate.

One of the bidders appealed the decision and won, only to be rejected again for not meeting the professional capacity criterion.

Part of the tender was later cancelled and re-announced, three bids were rejected and the fourth successful bid was 24 per cent higher than the projected cost.

For the purchase of six tankers, Papaconstantinou said that again proper market research was not conducted, and the tender was cancelled in 2022, while a new tender in 2023 – increased by approximately 65 per cent – received three bids which were thrown out for lack of professional experience.

Later that year, the tender was issued again with broader terms to attract more interest, five bidders were rejected and a sixth got the project for a budget 92.3 per cent over the original projection.

The auditor-general said his office determined “inadequate preparation and market research in the original planning, recurring cancellations due to unrealistic participation preconditions and technical preconditions, significant delays and a cost much higher than the one projected.”

Responding, the forestry department said in the period following 2020, there was “high demand internationally and at the same time a low supply of airborne means, higher prices due to broader geopolitical instability and due to the exclusion of certain providers because of the sanctions imposed on Russia”.

Since 2024, and under the instructions of the minister of agriculture, responsibility for all tenders procedures relating to airborne fire-fighting means has been transferred to the state treasury.

Also, the department’s airborne unit has been transferred to the defence ministry “for the purpose of higher interoperability”.