Parliament on Thursday approved Cyta’s €597.9 million budget for 2026 with 33 votes in favour, while also backing an amendment that requires prior scrutiny by the House Finance Committee before 17 senior officer posts can be filled.

The state telecommunications authority’s budget forecasts revenues of €450.6m, including €438m from services and products, €9.87m from operating activities and €2.7m from investment activities.

During the debate, Dipa MP Alekos Tryfonidis welcomed Cyta’s financial results and the implementation of its investment and infrastructure programme.

He referred to plans to expand network coverage in mountainous areas and to modernise IT systems.

At the same time, he reiterated his party’s position against any form of privatisation or denationalisation of the organisation, saying that Cyta had remained under public control following previous efforts to privatise it, with the state continuing to benefit.

Lawmakers adopted his first amendment with 26 votes in favour and 10 against.

The provision removes the first 17 of 50 planned senior private law officer positions from immediate approval and stipulates that the House Finance Committee must give the green light before any recruitment process proceeds.

Tryfonidis said that the planned hiring of 50 directors, senior officers and department heads in key posts could amount to indirect privatisation, raising concerns over the scale of the appointments.

A second amendment, which sought to commit an amount related to remuneration and incentive schemes at Cyta, was rejected by the plenary.

Akel MP Andreas Kafkalias said Cyta’s public character had been preserved by those who opposed its privatisation.

He added that reinforcing the organisation’s role and ensuring its effective operation in the public interest remained a constant objective, noting that his party supported the amendment to ensure oversight of private law appointments.