The Audit Service of Cyprus has flagged serious transparency and competition concerns in its report on the ‘Digital Citizen’ project — the country’s popular digital wallet application.
The project was carried out through a Memorandum of Cooperation with Greece and a contract with the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance. In practice, the work was assigned to the same private contractor who built Greece’s gov.gr Wallet, without any tender being held in Cyprus.
The Audit Service warns that such inter-state agreements may evolve into ‘clever ways’ of bypassing public procurement procedures. In its view, best practice would have been a joint tender from the outset, so that all economic operators knew the full scope of the project.
Strikingly, work on the ‘Digital Citizen’ began as early as March 2024 — three months before the Memorandum was signed in June and six months before the official contract in October. This ‘reinforces the impression that the implementation path was predetermined’, the report notes.
The Legal Service of the Republic also identified legal risks: the tacit acceptance of deliverables within 20 days, limited liability on the Greek side, and Greek court jurisdiction all increase the risk for Cypriot interests.
The total cost stands at €1.7 million, of which €1.5 million is paid by Cyprus — without a detailed cost breakdown at the time of signing.
