Out of order the websites of ministries and government services in Cyprus have been down since yesterday afternoon, due to a problem connecting to the internet.

The problem was caused by a water leak in a tank, which is located in the basement of the Ministry of Finance, very close to the area where the equipment (servers) that provide internet access for all state services is hosted.

Speaking to RIK, the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital PolicyFilippos Hatzizacharias, reported that the websites of the government departments were taken down for precautionary reasons.

In statements to KYPE, the general director of the Ministry of Finance, Giorgos Pantelis, said that it is difficult to estimate when the problem will be resolved. He also noted that all possibilities are being considered for restarting the system and for utilizing any available backup systems.

In his statement, the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy emphasizes that it is making every possible effort to restore the provision of the state’s online services, points out that there was a cabinet decision to move the equipment in question in November 2022, which was not implemented. In the same announcement, it is stated that yesterday’s incident that occurred at the facilities of the Ministry of Finance affected the equipment of the servers of the IT Services Department, which provide internet access for the government websites.

“So far it has the call center has already been restored and put into operationo and we are working intensively to restore the rest of the affected services as soon as possible. A significant part of the damage began to be restored gradually.

Unfortunately the systems were placed in the Ministry of Finance building in a way that they were exposed to a possible accident. And this despite the fact that a Cabinet decision was taken in November 2022 to move the equipment to CYTA facilities.

The Deputy Ministry will conduct an investigation to ascertain the reasons why the aforementioned decision of the Council of Ministers of November was not implemented but also the reasons why no further measures were taken to shield the existing facilities.

We express our regret and apologize for any inconvenience caused to citizens,” the announcement concludes.