The issue of long-term rental of the Fazıl Polat Paşa Farm Citrus Gardens belonging to the Cyprus Foundations Administration (Evkaf) was recently on the agenda.

The Fazıl Polat Paşa Farm citrus gardens have been under the management of our administration for years and their maintenance has been carried out by our institution personnel. As is known, the majority of the trees in the 980-acre citrus garden date back to 1974, and 300 acres of these trees have been planted in the garden by the Cyprus Foundations Administration as valencia, king mandarin and lemon saplings.

However, we would like to inform the public that the figures in the press are not correct and present the income-expense balance of the garden in question between 2017-2024 in the table below. (*General expenses and personnel expenses spent by Evkaf are not reflected in the expense item. In addition, direct income support is also included in the income.)

As can be seen from the data, the income and expense balance has become negative over the years.

For this reason, the Board of Directors' decision dated 22.05.2024 decided to rent the garden for the long term.

However, no bidders were submitted for the tender that started on 31.05.2024 and ended on 12.06.2024. In order to prevent further damage to the garden, which is the property of the foundation, and to prevent the destruction of hundreds of trees, a new base price was determined and a second tender was held on 08.08.2024 with the decision of the Board of Directors dated 31.07.2024.

Applications for the second tender started on 08.08.2024 and ended on 20.08.2024 at 10:00. Three bids were submitted for the second tender.

The bid values ​​given respectively were 1,278,284 Sterling (One million two hundred seventy eight thousand two hundred eighty four Sterling) (investment amount 500 Thousand Sterling), 1,314,000 Sterling (One million three hundred fourteen thousand Sterling) (investment amount 577 Thousand Sterling) and 1,571,000 Sterling (One million five hundred seventy one thousand Sterling) (investment amount 2 Million Sterling).

In line with the bids given, the tender committee took the rental decision of the company offering the highest rental and investment value to convey it to the Board of Directors.

Fazıl Polat Paşa Farm Citrus Gardens has an important place in the promotion of citrus products, which are one of the important symbolic values ​​for our country. In this context, schools coming from all over the island will organize a cultural trip here during the year, introduce our culture to students and help them learn new information. At the same time, the garden in question will provide educational services to agricultural schools in the region, and will contribute to students working more efficiently and learning new information. The historical garden, which is also very popular with tourists, will be open to visits.

In addition to all these, the garden, which aims to support beekeeping with newly organized projects, will contribute to the development of the country.

In all our work, we aim to protect foundation assets in line with our mission and transfer them to future generations in the best way possible, and we handle every issue with sensitivity in line with this goal.

For this reason, trying to make a profit through our institution with unfounded claims not only bothers us, as one of the most established institutions in the world, but also the press and the public. For this reason, it is also announced that legal action will be taken regarding the issue in order for the Cyprus Foundations Administration not to see its rights as halal.

Respectfully announced to the public.