21.06.2023
On Wednesday, Konstantinos Ioannou presented a plan to support ktiZO to renovate and provide new apartments in refugee housing estates.
Speaking at the conference, Ioannou announced that the non-profit organization TechIsland will donate 400,000 euros, the Church of Cyprus will donate 100,000 euros, while the SupportCy network will provide its volunteers to refugees in need of help, and network member companies will donate goods.
Ioannou emphasized that the network “aims to cover some additional needs of those people who clearly need financial or other support during their temporary stay in other places until they can move into new apartments.” At the same time, he announced a decision to provide additional financial and other assistance to ktiZO members who have special needs and meet certain socioeconomic vulnerability criteria.
“Every day more and more refugees are interested in taking part in the program to get a new and safe, modern apartment,” he said.
He stated that the money that will be offered by the above organizations, as well as additional financial support provided in the future by other companies and individuals, will be credited to a special account and will serve as an auxiliary aid in addition to government support.
“Money is used with a fundamental desire for good governance, transparency and simplicity based on socio-economic criteria, which are determined in individual meetings and discussions with the recipients of funds. Control over the spending of funds will be carried out through the databases of other competent authorities,” he added.
Ioannou said that other organizations and companies have already pledged to contribute, and about 500,000 more euros are expected to be raised. Assistance from the Bank of Cyprus and the Housing Finance Organization is essential to facilitate the provision of finance to future owners.
“From the first day we announced the plan, there has been an interest in us from organizations, non-governmental organizations and institutions that want to support the government’s efforts by showing their humanitarian side in action,” he said.
Ioannou said that many of the affected tenants are already in the process of finding housing to temporarily relocate until new apartment buildings are built. In particular, he said that out of 183 apartments in 20 apartment buildings falling under the first stage of the plan, 15 applications for participation have been submitted in recent days, and seven of them have already vacated the apartments and handed over the keys. He said ministry officials are visiting tenants of apartment buildings to inform them of the benefits of the plan, and people who have already moved have begun receiving rent payments for their temporary housing.
In his speech, TechIsland board member Alexei Gubarev expressed the organization’s pride in participating in the “ktiZO” project, contributing to the construction of safe housing for refugees so that they can continue their lives.
“As an organization, we are committed to promoting social change and we are proud to contribute to shaping a better future for Cyprus,” Gubarev said, adding that the member companies that contributed to the “ktiZO” project on behalf of TechIsland , are Exness, My Games, Target Global, The Island School, IT Quarter and InDrive.
