Andreas Papacharalambous, the previous Mayor of Strovolos, strongly denies claims of bad money management. These accusations come from the town's current leaders. The main issue is a large debt. A private company owes the municipality €2 million. Current officials say this debt grew to €2.3 million when Papacharalambous was in charge.
Strovolos Municipality recently said the former mayor did not handle this debt well. The debt was for unpaid entertainment taxes. They claim Papacharalambous made a decision around 2020. This decision paused some payments. They say he did this without the town council's permission. This action, they believe, caused the debt to get bigger.
Papacharalambous has defended himself. He stated his actions were to save all the money owed. He explained that the company was talking with its banks. They were trying to change their loan agreements. The former mayor thinks demanding full payment then would have made the company go bankrupt.
Papacharalambous also said that giving the company more time helped it stay in business. He thought this was a smart plan. It was to stop the company from closing completely. If it closed, the municipality might not get any money back. His actions were a risk to protect more money.
The extra €300,000 debt is the main point of disagreement. The current municipality sees this as bad management. They question his decision. However, Papacharalambous says his action was needed. It prevented a worse situation. This shows different ideas about managing money in Strovolos.