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€14 million in unpaid VAT? Gone.
A company linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich? Also gone.
MPs now want to know what the Finance Ministry did, if anything, before the company vanished. So far, no answers. No clarity. No money.
And now, Parliament wants to know how the state let it all slide.
Tensions ran high at the House Audit Committee on Thursday after MPs discovered that “Blue Ocean,” a Cyprus-based company linked to Abramovich, was dissolved in 2024 without settling a €14 million VAT bill, a debt that’s been on the books since at least 2010.
But when the Legal Service showed up to the session, without answers and without the people who handled the case, MPs were furious.
“You send us someone who knows nothing about the case, while people go to prison over €10,000,” fumed MP Alexandra Attalidou. “This man was treated differently, and we want to know why.”
The Legal Service’s representative said she was there to “listen and take notes for written answers.” That wasn’t good enough. The meeting was cut short, and the committee chair, Zacharias Koulias, said the attorney general himself will now be summoned to testify in two weeks.
A long-running saga
According to Attalidou, Cyprus’ tax authorities began investigating Blue Ocean in 2010. By 2012, a €14 million fine was slapped on the company for VAT it didn’t pay between 2005 and 2010.
Blue Ocean didn’t take it lying down. They challenged the decision in court—and lost, not once but twice. The Supreme Court rejected their appeal in March 2024. Four months later, the company was dissolved. And to this day, no one knows if any of that €14 million was ever paid.
“How does a company just disappear after owing that kind of money?” asked MP Irini Charalambidou. “We were supposed to get answers today, not silence.”
Missing accountability
Part of the fury is about what looks like a lack of follow-up. As Koulias pointed out, when someone contests VAT payments in court, that doesn’t stop the charges from adding up. So why didn’t the Legal Service file more cases each quarter?
The Audit Committee is now looking at the role not just of the Legal Service, but also of the Registrar of Companies and the VAT Office, who all followed legal advice in the case.
And behind the curtain? A larger concern is that Cyprus’ legal and tax institutions have gone soft on billionaires, especially those with ties to past governments.
Attalidou didn’t hold back: “The Attorney General was part of a government that turned a blind eye to oligarchs. And now he won’t even show up to explain how we lost millions.”
The bigger picture
This scandal comes at a time when President Nikos Christodoulides is pushing to clean up Cyprus’ image. He’s been traveling, promoting reforms, and trying to attract serious international investment.
“This kind of behavior undermines all those efforts,” Attalidou said. “If institutions won’t do their jobs, how can we expect the world to take us seriously?”
Meanwhile, Germany has reportedly conducted its own investigation into Blue Ocean. German authorities allegedly warned Cyprus that the company looked like a €280 million “pyramid scheme” funneling huge expenses and avoiding taxes.
MPs now want to know what the Finance Ministry did, if anything, before the company vanished. So far, no answers. No clarity. No money.
