By Peter Stevenson

THE EFFECTS of the oil spill in the sea off the Karpas peninsula last month could have been limited had the Turkish Cypriots accepted immediate help from Cyprus’ relevant departments, according to a report by the University of Cyprus.

The University’s oceanography department used the Mediterranean Decision Support System for Marine Safety (MEDESS-4MS) in cooperation with the ports authority, fisheries department and the department for marine research to formulate a prediction of how it could have unfolded.

MEDESS-4MS is dedicated to the strengthening of maritime safety by mitigating the risks and impacts associated to oil spills.

The research clearly showed that if The Turkish Cypriot side had accepted the help initially offered, the majority of the oil spill could have been confined if it had been dealt with within the12-18 hours.

It also showed that there was a danger that part of the spill could have spread to the Paralimni area as well as the residue which sank and was swept away by the tide.

MEDESS-4MS capitalises on existing pan-European frameworks and embraces recent advances and important developments in oceanography in the Mediterranean area. It aims to deliver an integrated operational multi model oil spill system in the Mediterranean by gathering and analysing met-ocean data as well as data related to ship traffic, ship operations and sensitivity mapping. This data is provided to help well established oil spill monitoring and forecasting systems, providing an invaluable tool regarding the early detection and efficient control of oil spills at early stages.

MEDESS-4MS aims to offer a comprehensive and integrated multi-model approach regarding response to oil spills at sea; an approach that takes into account all three important aspects related to marine pollution, that is, prevention, detection and control.

The beneficiary countries of MEDESS-4MS are Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro and Spain.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reported yesterday that the Turkish Cypriot Doctors’ Union (KTTB) accused the ‘government’ of not being transparent on the issue of the environmental disaster that happened in the sea off Gastria, and of not taking the necessary measures.

In statements during a press conference on Monday, the union argued that the sea area from the north of the Gulf of Famagusta until Larnaca was at risk and reiterated the warning that women who were pregnant, and children younger than seven years old should avoid entering into the sea in that area.

‘Minister’ of health, Buri Goksin told Kibris that the analysis of the water samples taken from the area was on-going and added that they could not prevent people from entering into the sea before having the final results.

Paralimni Mayor Theodoros Pyrillis announced last week that all remnants from the oil spill had been completely removed from Famagusta beaches.

Head of the Fisheries department, Loizos Loizides had pre-empted the University’s findings in the aftermath of the spill, stating it would take months to clean up, and the effects on the environment would be long lasting.

Loizides added that even though the Turkish Cypriots finally caved in and sought help from the government, the damage had already been done.

“Once the first 24 hours pass then dealing with the problem intensifies and becomes even more difficult as the oil seeps into the waterbed and into underwater plant-life,” he said.

It was reported last month that AKSA energy had been deemed responsible for the spill and were fined around €68,000 (169,800 Turkish Lira) by the environmental protection office in the north for polluting the sea and beaches in the area of Gastria.

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By Stefanos Evripidou

NIKOLAS M. Ierides, a key figure in the history of education on the island, was buried yesterday after a funeral ceremony held at the Chapel of the School for the Blind in Nicosia.
Ierides, who died on Sunday at the age of 85, played a seminal role in establishing a modern school for the blind in Cyprus after the country won independence from British colonial rule. He later moved on to establish his own successful private education institute in Nicosia, The Falcon School.

Born on April 8, 1928, in Varosha, Famagusta, Ierides was put in charge of the School for the Blind at the age of 32, following the establishment of the Cyprus Republic in 1960.
In his first few years as headmaster, Ierides worked hard to create a new school for the blind that met the highest standards of the day in Europe.

Despite the eruption of interethnic violence in 1963-1964, Ierides worked in cooperation with the country’s first President, Archbishop Makarios, during those tumultuous years to move the school’s students from their old building- the current abode of the commerce ministry on Makarios Avenue- to a purpose-built school on 28th October Street in the Acropolis area of the capital, boasting the island’s first indoor swimming pool.

One of his graduates from the School for the Blind, DISY MP Riccos Mappourides, gave one of the three eulogies at the funeral yesterday, praising Ierides for his meticulous work in creating a school of the highest standards for the island’s blind and coordinating relief efforts for the enclaved during the 1974 invasion, using the school as a base.

In 1976, Ierides founded The Falcon School in Nicosia. He stayed on as headmaster at the School for the Blind until 1979, when he took early retirement, concentrating his efforts on The Falcon and offering continuous English-language education for girls and boys from the ages of 3 to 18.

He worked to ensure that the private school offered the highest quality in education based on traditional values and in a multicultural environment, complemented by a special focus on sports and the arts, with the school providing its own swimming pool, sports field and amphitheatre.

Each year, Ierides would take his conductor’s baton in hand to lead an orchestra during each of the many musicals performed by students and teachers, which he directed.

He remained director of The Falcon from 1979 until 2013.

A great lover of the arts and music, Ierides played a huge role in ensuring that the amphitheatres at both the Falcon and Blind School provided cultural enrichment both for their students and the capital’s residents for decades.

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By Anthony Boadle

Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who published documents leaked by fugitive former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, plans to make new revelations “within the next 10 days or so” on secret U.S. surveillance of the Internet.

“The articles we have published so far are a very small part of the revelations that ought to be published,” Greenwald on Tuesday told a Brazilian congressional hearing that is investigating the U.S. internet surveillance in Brazil.

“There will certainly be many more revelations on spying by the U.S. government and how they are invading the communications of Brazil and Latin America,” he said in Portuguese.

The Rio de Janeiro-based columnist for Britain’s Guardian newspaper said he has recruited the help of experts to understand some of the 15,000 to 20,000 classified documents from the National Security Agency that Snowden passed him, some of which are “very long and complex and take time to read.”

Greenwald told Reuters he does not believe the pro-transparency website WikiLeaks had obtained a package of documents from Snowden, and that only he and filmmaker Laura Poitras have complete archives of the leaked material.

Greenwald said Snowden, who was in hiding in Hong Kong before flying to Russia in late June, was happy to leave a Moscow airport after being granted temporary asylum, and pleased that he had stirred up a worldwide debate on internet privacy and secret U.S. surveillance programs used to monitor emails.

“I speak with him a lot since he left the airport, almost every day. We use very strong encryption to communicate,” Greenwald told the Brazilian legislators. “He is very well.”

“He is very pleased with the debate that is arising in many countries around the world on internet privacy and U.S. spying. It is exactly the debate he wanted to inform,” Greenwald said.

After a meeting in June with Snowden in Hong Kong, Greenwald published in The Guardian the first of many reports that rattled the U.S. intelligence community by disclosing the breadth and depth of alleged NSA surveillance of telephone and internet usage.

Last month, in an article co-authored by Greenwald, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the NSA spied on Latin American countries with programs that can monitor billions of emails and phone calls for suspicious activity. Latin American countries fumed at what they considered a violation of their sovereignty and demanded explanations and an apology.

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In Brazil, the largest U.S. trading partner in South America, angry senators questioned President Dilma Rousseff’s planned state visit to Washington in October and a billion-dollar purchase of U.S.-made fighter jets Brazil is considering.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee peppered Greenwald with questions on Tuesday, such as whether the NSA was capable of spying on Brazil’s commercial secrets, including the discovery of promising offshore oil reserves, and the communications of the country’s president and armed forces.

Greenwald had no details on specific targets and said the documents did not name telecommunications and internet companies in the United States and Brazil that might have collaborated with the NSA’s collection of internet users’ data.

The journalist said Snowden planned to stay in Moscow “as long as he needs to, until he can secure his situation.” He said Snowden knew he ran the risk of spending the rest of his life in jail or being hunted by the most powerful nation in the world, but had no doubts about his decision to leak the documents on the U.S. surveillance programs.

Greenwald criticized governments around the world for failing to offer Snowden protection, even while they publicly denounced the U.S. surveillance of their citizens’ internet usage.

Meanwhile, Washington is working through diplomatic channels to persuade governments to stop complaining about the surveillance programs, he said.

“The Brazilian government is showing much more anger in public than it is showing in private discussions with the U.S. government,” Greenwald told reporters. “All governments are doing this, even in Europe.”

In a speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota called the interception of telecommunications and acts of espionage in Latin America “a serious issue, with a profound impact on the international order.” But he did not mention the United States by name.

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By Poly Pantelides

THE PREVIOUS administration’s delays in finalising a bailout agreement worried the European Central Bank (ECB), which threatened to pull the plug on liquidity assistance to the island’s second biggest lender, a former senior Central Bank official said yesterday.

Spyros Stavrinakis, who had a brief stint as deputy governor before the appointment was rescinded on grounds it was unconstitutional, was asked to explain why the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) allowed the now defunct Laiki – formerly the island’s second biggest lender – to acquire over €9.0 billion in emergency liquidity assistance by March this year, when Cyprus was forced to shut it down.

He was testifying at an inquiry into how the country’s banking sector and economy came one step away from collapse in the run-up to a €10 billion EU/IMF bailout in March.

The ECB allows national banks to draw ELA via their Central Banks provided they are solvent and have sufficient collateral. Laiki was considered potentially solvent but that assumption rested on the island’s authorities agreeing to a bailout programme with their lenders, Stavrinakis said. “ELA decisions were taken under the assumption a [bailout] programme was in the works to recapitalise Laiki and render it solvent,” he said. But the ECB “was concerned” so set a January 23, 2013 deadline to terminate ELA assistance. When an interim November agreement failed to lead to a deal, the ECB extended the deadline to March 21 – weeks after a change of government – “again, this to exercise pressure to the new government,” Stavrinakis said.

Stavrinakis’ bank supervision department advised then-CBC governor Christodoulos Christodoulou in 2006 to give the green light to the acquisition by Marfin Financial Group Holdings S.A. of over 10 per cent of the bank’s stake. He mentioned no caveats in his executive summary. But in his fuller report he advised waiting for input by major Marfin shareholder, Dubai financial limited liability company as well as the United Arab Emirates’ Central Bank. Meanwhile, Greece’s Securities and Exchange Commission had informed the Central Bank Marfin had been fined three times in the past, for regulations’ violations.

Stavrinakis claimed that only after Marfin was permitted to move in, did the relationship between Tosca Fund and Marfin become known. Tosca Fund was within the sphere of influence of former Marfin strongman Andreas Vgenopoulos and had acquired a stake of little over 8.0 per cent in Laiki, but as this stood below the 10 per cent threshold no Central Bank approval was necessary.

Marfin and Tosca Fund collectively bought most of the shares that had been owned by HSBC, in what Laiki had called “the acquisition of a strategic share”. Under the helm of Vgenopoulos the bank went on to complete a merger in 2009 with Marfin Egnatia bank in Greece, amid jubilant statements of a new era of growth for the bank and its shareholders. The Vgenopoulos-controlled Marfin Investment Group (MIG) is now under investigation in relation to loan agreements between Laiki and MIG that were secured using MIG shares as collateral, while a Nicosia court has frozen Vgenopoulos’ assets and has banned MIG from making any transfers to his benefit.

Also testifying yesterday at the inquiry, former senior CBC official Costas Poullis official said the regulator could not have stopped the island’s banks from investing in large numbers of Greek government bonds whose write-down in 2011 caused devastating results.

The previous administration blamed former Central Bank governor Athanasios Orphanides for allowing the banks to invest in the bonds, whose write-down in 2011 resulted in huge losses for the lenders who sought assistance from the cash-strapped state, which was forced to seek an international bailout in June 2012.

Government bonds theoretically carried no risk which in effect meant banks did not need to offset any risk of purchase of Greek bonds with additional capital, Poullis said.

Government-issued bonds are also exempted from regulatory investment and lending limits, he said.

At the time of the 2011 eurozone decisions to write-down Greek sovereign debt, the island’s biggest banks, the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and Laiki, had acquired a disproportionate amount of Greek debt relative to the country’s GDP and their own size.

Warning the banks of the risks, Poullis authored a March 2010 Central Bank letter advising all exposed banks to take action to limit exposure, but the Central Bank could do little else, he said.

Asked to comment on reports on bad banking governance policies inherent in the system, Poullis said that although the banks in general followed the Central Bank’s instructions, there was no culture of checks and balances.

“I agree that in Cyprus there is no governance. Not in government, not in semi-governmental organisations, not in co-operative bodies, not anywhere. There is a culture that is not compatible with governance,” Poullis said.

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Open Letter to President Anastasiades

The advantages which Cyprus has are evident to all – friendly and hospitable people, beautiful countryside and many others too numerous to mention.

The disadvantage which Cyprus has is the internet – not the speed or reliability of the data transfer, but the fact that anyone who is contemplating buying a property in Cyprus will use the internet for their research. After only a few minutes searching, they will surely come across those websites aimed at expatriates which contain countless horror stories relating to

Title Deeds and the sharing of communal expenses, and will rapidly come to the conclusion that their property purchase should be made in another country.

I would like to propose two measures which would help to overcome these problems which could help rejuvenate the Cypriot property industry and encourage more foreigners to buy property and spend money in Cyprus.

The first relates to title deeds. Any foreigner thinking of buying a property will not proceed if they think there will be any problem with obtaining their title deeds. In most major countries, every single property – whether pre owned or a new build – will have its own individual title deeds available before the property is put on the market. I believe that it will be in Cyprus’ best interests if it adopts the same procedure. I realise that this will be a major change in the way it has been done for years but sometimes one does have to change in order to progress.

Developers should be taken to court if they start a development without the appropriate planning permission. During the construction phase, there should be regular inspections of the development to ensure it is being built in accordance with the building permit. A final permit should be issued only on completion and a developer who permits buyers to occupy the property before being in receipt of the final permit should be fined. You could ask your representatives in major western countries to research the purchase procedures for a new build property in the countries in which they are serving and for Cyprus to adopt a “best practice” after reviewing the various alternatives.

The preceding will take time to implement. In the meantime, prospective buyers will be following the title deeds fiasco for those who have been waiting years for them. Although measures have recently been introduced to expedite the issuance, the problem is that many developers will not be able to finish complexes (“no money”) or obtain the final permit nor be able to pay off their outstanding tax liabilities. The result is that many innocent buyers will not (probably never) obtain their title deeds. This will become evident very quickly and will put off prospective buyers.

It is quite unreasonable that innocent buyers should be held hostage by the failure of developers to find the funds to pay off loans, tax obligations or even to finish the complexes. I believe that previous administrations must bear some responsibility for – can I be blunt, this mess – but you have an opportunity to revitalise the property industry by introducing both the measures I am suggesting.

In regards to title deeds, I would propose a proper Amnesty, not aimed at developers over minor issues, but aimed at the innocent buyers who have been caught up in a mess which is not of their making. I would propose that title deeds be issued to all those who are waiting for them and are in occupation of the property whether the complex has been fully finished or not and for these title deeds to be issued by the 31st of December 2014. It would then be the responsibility of the various government departments/banks to sue the developers for not having complied with their obligations – loans, tax, failure to comply with the building permit etc etc – and not hold the innocent buyers hostage to failings of other parties.

My second measure relates to the handling of those owners who refuse to contribute to the communal expenses in a complex. There are many threads on the internet where a prospective purchaser will quickly learn that it may be possible to take non payers to court but it will take many years with several lawyers advising that it will not be worth it until the arrears amount to several thousand Euros. Non payment causes much anguish and stress and complexes which have non payers quickly become run down. Indeed, any visitor to Cyprus cannot fail to notice the many tatty blocks of flats which can only impart on the visitor a feeling that they have entered a third world country.

I would propose that non payment of communal charges should become a police matter. A complaint from an authorised residents’ committee to the police should result in that complaint being investigated within a matter of days and, if the complaint is deemed to be justified, the non payer should be given 28 days in which to start making payments acceptable to the residents’ committee or else the police should be able to impose an “on the spot” fine with further fines to be imposed every 28 days until the miscreant starts to make his payments.

In conclusion, the question on which your administration should focus is this:

why on earth should any foreigner buy a property in Cyprus which will undoubtedly result in lots of stress with the likelihood of owning a property in a complex which will become more and more run down and with the prospect of not even holding the Title Deeds?

I believe that you now have an opportunity to transform the property industry in Cyprus which will result in satisfied buyers, more income for Cyprus and more Cypriots employed spending more money. The alternative is for the property market to remain moribund with fewer and fewer buyers and more and more empty and partly finished developments with even the occupied developments becoming more and more run down.

Yours sincerely,
A foreign Cyprus resident. Name and address supplied

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POPULISM will never be defeated in Cyprus, not even after it bankrupted the state and completely destroyed our economy. A new bout of mindless populism was sparked by news that the government had decided to hire consultants to advise it on how to proceed with the privatisation of the semi-governmental organisations.

Everyone knew this was on the cards, as privatisation is a stipulation of the MoU, but they have reacted as if it was the first time they had heard about it. AKEL, whose government had agreed to the inclusion of privatisations in the first draft of the memorandum in November, is furious about the Council of Ministers’ decision. DIKO, which is part of the government, “rejects any idea regarding the sell-off of SGOs,” while EDEK said it was “inconceivable” to sell “three profit-making organisations”.

But what were the political parties proposing? Should the government not honour its signature and keep the SGOs in state hands? Most seem to agree that we could fool the troika by turning the organisations into public companies in which the state would have the majority shareholding. But what investor would buy a stake in an organisation that would be run by the state – in other words, self-serving and clueless politicians – which has proved a totally incompetent manager? No businessman would invest his money in a company run by the corrupt political parties and the unions.

DIKO has suggested that SGOs should undergo re-structuring and re-organisation in order to become more productive and competitive, but it did not elaborate whether this would be achieved through pay cuts and/or redundancies. The demagogues of AKEL embraced the monumentally ridiculous idea that the chairmen of CyTA, Ports Authority and EAC proposed, whereby their organisations would collectively borrow the €1.4bn that MoU expected to generate from privatisation and give it to the government. AKEL failed to inform us where we would find bankers stupid enough to give such a massive loan.

The government needs to go ahead with the hiring of the consultants and resist the temptation of opting for the half-baked solution of keeping the majority shareholding of the SGOs in the hands of the state. We doubt the troika would allow this, because privatisation is not just about generating cash, but also about making these state monopolies more streamlined, efficient and competitive, for the benefit of the economy. Paying the highest electricity rates and port fees in the EU is not something that should be preserved.

Privatisation will bring down these crippling costs, imposed on all businesses and households by the “profit-making state monopolies” which benefit only their underworked and grossly overpaid employees and corrupt politicians. The sooner these monopolies are broken up into smaller units and sold off to the private sector the better it would be for the economy. And the interests of the economy should be the government’s only guiding principle.

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By Maria Gregoriou

OVER the past ten years, 30 serving national guardsmen lost their lives on the roads, 138 were seriously injured and 207 suffered minor injuries, police traffic chief Demetris Demetriou revealed yesterday.

The latest victim, an 18-year-old, died at the end of last month a day after being critically injured in a motorcycle crash in Paphos when he lost control of the vehicle.

A second conscript, also 18, who was riding pillion sustained lighter injuries. Neither was wearing a crash helmet. The two youths were on their first weekend of leave after joining the National Guard earlier in July.

Demetriou was speaking at a news conference yesterday at the end of a road safety programme for conscripts, jointly organised by the defence ministry, police and BMW car dealers Charalambos Pilakoutas.

The ‘Young Drivers Roadshow’, organised for 3,400 new National Guard recruits had just been completed at the Paphos and Larnaca bootcamps, KEN.

“As police we see that many fatal and serious road traffic accidents involve young drivers, especially soldiers,” said Demetriou.

He said the education given through the programme was of particular importance because during the past ten years, 30 soldiers lost their lives in road accidents, 138 were seriously injured and 207 suffered minor injuries.

“Almost half of these victims died at dawn on Saturdays and Sundays,” he said. “Speeding was the first cause of such accidents followed by negligent driving and driving under the influence of alcohol,” Demetriou said.

More than one third of all road deaths are young people under the age of 25. Demetriou placed the blame on immaturity, inexperience and young people’s tendency to take risks.

During the seminars, representatives from Pilakoutas, gave practical demostrations with cars from the dealership, on how a driver can avoid a hazard or an obstacle on the road by using the right driving techniques.

The company’s chief executive officer, Charalambos Pilakoutas said road safety was one of the main challenges a modern society faces.

“What matters is not the finding of a problem but to take action to solve this problem. If we want things to change, we have a duty to practically do something about it,” he added.

Defence minister Fotis Fotiou said the loss of young people on the roads was a national issue that required active participation and cooperation.

“Road safety should not be just an empty slogan that fades away in the long-term. It should be a daily practice in the lives of national guardmen and young people in general,” Fotiou said.

He said that unfortunately young people were always in a hurry.

“Initiatives like these where the private and public sectors collaborated to train new recruits at bootcamps, is an indication that the state and society, through working together, can achieve the desired results,” he said. Constant education in schools and at army camps was an example of this cooperation, the minister said.

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Around 170 people have opted for early retirement at the Hellenic Bank, saving the lender some 14 per cent per year, it was announced on Wednesday.

Through a voluntary retirement plan that was introduced last month, the bank said it has managed to cut staff by 11 per cent and payroll costs by 14 per cent.

The scheme was part of the lender’s drive to cut operating costs.

“Despite the adverse financial conditions and the unfavorable environment in which the financial sector currently operates, Hellenic Bank is carrying out all necessary actions — promptly and effectively — in a bid to tackle the many challenges faced by our country’s economy,” the bank said in a statement.

Hellenic posted a €31.7 million loss in the first quarter, taking a hit from higher provisioning for bad loans and from the sale of its Greek business as part of an international bailout for Cyprus.

It was one of three Cypriot banks which sold their Greek branches to that country’s second-biggest lender Piraeus Bank in March under a deal brokered between Cypriot authorities and international lenders to ring-fence the Cypriot banking system and prevent its chaotic bailout spilling over to Greece.

Hellenic, in which the Church of Cyprus is a major shareholder, said it booked a €10.2 million loss from the sale of its Greek unit in a deal valued at €29 million.

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THE AGRICULTURE ministry has strongly denied claims made by the Turkish Cypriot doctors union on Tuesday that the oil spill which occurred last month off the coast of the occupied village of Gastria has affected the beaches south of the border too.

The union had said on Tuesday that the sea from the north of Famagusta bay until Larnaca was at risk and warned pregnant women and young children to avoid entering the sea in that area.
Oil residue which was spotted off the coast in the Protaras area in late July caused no problems as the fisheries department and the department for marine research took the correct measures to deal with the spill, a ministry statement said.

“The environmental department of the Agriculture Ministry carried out tests in the twelve swimming areas within Paralimni Municipality to check on the quality of water for swimmers and to detect any traces of Entercoccus or E.coli,” the statement added.

The ministry statement concluded that the beaches in the Paralimni and Protaras tourist areas remain clean and in good condition and there was absolutely no reason for swimmers to worry.

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By Poly Pantelides

APPLICATIONS by Chinese nationals to gain permanent residency in Cyprus have jumped from over a couple of dozen in 2012 to hundreds this year, the interior ministry’s migration department has said.

In 2012, some 29 Chinese nationals applied for permanent residency in Cyprus compared with 445 applications so far this year, according to data by the migration department.

Applications from Chinese also made up the bulk of some 744 applications filed this year by non-EU nationals in relation to applications by investors and those who can prove they have independent means of income.

Russians, thousands of whom already live on the island, made up the bulk of the rest of this year’s applications although applications dropped from 267 last year to 173 this year. Over half of the 423 applications filed last year, came from Russians (267). Cyprus’ 2011 population census placed the Russian population on the island at 9,000. Some of them were among the depositors of what was the island’s second largest bank, Laiki, who saw their savings of over €100,000 disappear overnight when Cyprus was forced to shut down the bank.

But the Chinese are fairly new on the island and their presence barely made a dent in the 2011 population census. Two years later, over 1,000 Chinese have bought properties in Cyprus with about 80 per cent of them setting up home in Paphos, Huali Che, president of the Chinese friendship association in Cyprus, has told the Cyprus Mail.

Paphos holds by far the greatest proportion of non-Cypriot to Cypriot residents with about 35 per cent of its population originally hailing from overseas. And it is in Paphos where the promise of a €290 million investment has attracted attention, as a promise of a brighter future – this time from the Chinese.

The purchase by Hong-Kong-based China Glory National Investment of the Venus Rock Golf Resort has been hailed as an example of the growing links between China and Cyprus, and as a demonstration that the island can still attract foreign investment, despite its woes. Meanwhile, the University of Cyprus has plans – tentatively pencilled in for the end of 2014 – to open a Confucius Institute, promoting Chinese language and culture.

The cash-strapped government pledged last September that it would speed up migration permits’ application procedures for investors, to make it easier for those who can afford it to take up residency on the island, a gateway to the rest of the European Union. So far the migration department has approved some 570 applications within the scope of fast-track procedures this year.

Those who can afford to can apply to take up residency on the island for themselves and their family by depositing at least €30,000 into a bank account and keeping the money in the country for three years, even if and when the island-wide restrictions on capital movements are lifted.

Applicants – who need a clean criminal record – need to prove they have an annual income of €30,000 a year from operations abroad (each dependent person raises the amount by €5,000 a year). They also need to show they have paid up at least €200,000 for a property worth a minimum €300,000 before VAT.

Adult children are also welcome, but the purchase price for a Cyprus-based property then gets raised an additional €300,000 before VAT per child and the applicant needs to pay up two thirds of that in advance. Each adult child would also need to meet the income criteria and park money in a bank account in Cyprus.

In late May, authorities told foreign investors they would also get to become Cypriot citizens – and by extension EU citizens – if they bring in €5.0 million, have large bank accounts or perform certain business transactions on the island.

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By Stefanos Evripidou

HEAD OF the national oil and gas corporation Charles Ellinas on Wednesday met with Energy and Trade Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis to discuss the government’s energy plans and how they will impact on his own future at the helm of the new company.

In a written statement, the executive director of the Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company (CNHC) said he discussed the government’s plans regarding the company “and the possible consequences for him” with Lakkotrypis.

Ellinas said in the statement that he left a successful international career to take up the position at CNHC because he believed he had a lot of experience to offer the country. He noted that before accepting the position, he met with President Nicos Anastasiades, then leader of the opposition DISY, who told him to go ahead and take the job.

“I believe Cyprus is at a critical juncture and needs the contribution of us all. How we proceed in future, however, is in the hands of the government. I hope to be a part of that future,” he said.

It is no secret that all is not well at the CNHC, after two of the three executives on the CNHC board offered their resignations, citing delays and uncertainty over the future role of the company in the hydrocarbons sector.

One of the two is top energy official Solon Kassinis who told Anastasiades last week that he wants to quit as executive vice-chairman at the corporation.

According to sources, the main reason for the discontent is the government’s apparent desire to appoint a “fully political board” of non-executives to the corporation, giving it total control over the entity, while sidelining its three executive board members, Ellinas, Kassinis and Stavros Stavrou.

The coming shake-up at the company will reportedly see the position of executive director, currently held by Ellinas, abolished while the three serving executives will effectively be demoted to department heads.

Sources also pointed to the fact that the CNHC has already been demoted to observer status, with no clearly determined role in negotiations with Noble Energy and other companies for the earliest possible supply of natural gas from offshore block 12 and the construction of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant.

The board executives had assumed that their place on the negotiating team to conclude commercial agreements was a given, since the company is meant to be acting as the state’s representative and commercial arm.

However, the government’s plans to restructure the company apparently include giving it a more political slant, by removing experienced members from the board and replacing them with non-executive directors.

Already, the government-appointed negotiating team met with Noble reps in Nicosia this week – one of the first meetings in a series of discussions aimed at hammering out a deal for a final project agreement, considered a milestone for the whole LNG endeavour.

In turn, the deal will pave the way for setting up a joint venture between Cyprus and foreign companies that will seek gas contracts and investors for the multi-billion euro gas plant, eventually leading to the final investment decision by Noble and its block 12 Israeli partners Delek and Avner.

The latter is what will lock in the decision to build an LNG plant, but reports yesterday suggested Delek is already considering exporting natural gas from its offshore Israeli interests to Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority via one or more pipelines.

Should any one project take off, particularly a pipeline to Turkey, this would seriously decrease the chances of Israel making use of Cyprus’ planned LNG terminal to export gas either to Europe or Asia, thereby diminishing hopes of establishing the country as a regional energy hub.

Commenting on the reports, government spokesman Christos Stylianides said it was all the more reason for Cyprus to work fast and methodically to stay ahead of the game.

A road map certainly does exist for turning Cyprus into an energy hub, using its own natural gas while also attracting gas from the region to be processed at its planned LNG plant at Vassilikos.

But as the near collapse of Cyprus’ banking system highlighted the inherent nature of political meddling in the economy, evidence of similar activity in the energy sector would not bode well for the burgeoning industry, considered the great transparent hope of the island’s future economic recovery.

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By Stefanos Evripidou

THE ISRAELI Electricity Company (IEC) has made a proposal to provide cheaper electricity to Cyprus through an underwater cable from Israel.

Sources yesterday confirmed a report in Politis on Wednesday saying that the IEC met with the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) to table a “concept” proposal to bring cheaper electricity to the island.

The proposal is not directly related to the EuroAsia Interconnector project, which enjoys the backing of the governments of Cyprus, Greece and Israel and aims to connect all three countries via an underwater electricity cable able to transfer energy with a total capacity of 2,000 MW.

The IEC’s proposal is to lay down a smaller submarine cable between the two countries to provide Cyprus with cheaper electricity until the island can produce its own cheap electricity, utilising its own natural gas resources. The agreement provides that at that point, Cyprus can reverse the flow of energy, selling its cheaper electricity to the Israeli market.

According to one source, the proposal is clearly an alternative to the government’s current deliberations on whether to sign a contract with Russian company Itera to secure the short-term supply of natural gas to Cyprus as a stop-gap solution until it can bring ashore its own natural gas. The interim gas would be used for domestic electricity production.

The government has made it very clear, however, that it would only go ahead with the decision if the agreed price with Itera would allow for a significant reduction in the price of electricity, alleviating somewhat the battered economy.

Speaking on Tuesday, energy and trade minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said a final decision on the interim solution for the supply of natural gas to Cyprus would be announced in around two weeks.

The source explained that the only official proposal on the table is the Itera one. Until the negotiating process with Itera is complete, the government cannot seriously consider any other offer.

At the same time, he noted that it would be very difficult for Itera to make its proposal commercially viable for Cyprus, given the cost of bringing liquefied natural gas to the island.

Since the government won’t proceed unless it can guarantee lower electricity prices to businesses and consumers, there is a strong possibility other options will be considered in the coming months.

The IEC option, however, is still at a very early stage, said the source, noting that it was merely a “concept” at present, not a detailed proposal, with many technical, economic and political parameters that needed to be considered.

The proposal is considered separate to the EuroAsia Interconnector project, though theoretically, once a link has been established between Israel and Cyprus, this could then be extended to also reach Greece.

The source said the matter was not just about cheap electricity, but national strategy, questioning whether Cyprus should rely on an interconnecting cable for its supply of electric power.

“What happens if it breaks down or is sabotaged?” he asked.

Any such deal would also raise more than existential questions about the raison d’etre of the EAC, which already struggles to find demand for its maximum capacity to produce 1,400MW of power, with around 800MW generated in the peak summer season.

Should the EAC give up its capacity to generate electricity and work solely as a retailer, while maintaining control of the transmission, distribution and substations?

Another informal option also waiting for examination should the talks with Itera collapse is a proposal by Noble Energy to provide a short-term supply of gas from its Block 12 concession in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.

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THE BANK of Cyprus, it is fair to say, has become the new Cyprus problem. It has not only been on the front pages of the newspapers every single day in the last six months, but has also been the main topic of discussion on the radio and television shows, by our politicians who have suddenly developed a big interest in banking. Party leaders now know that their only chance of getting on the television news is by taking a public stand on the BoC.

It goes without saying, that the lawyers have also taken a starring role in the new Cyprus problem, filing legal suits, sermonising about the rights of depositors. The latter have become the new refugees, and threatening to take their cases to the European courts.

Even Archbishop Chrysostomos has embraced the new national problem. Yesterday lunch-time, he was on CyBC television airing his objections about the Central Bank governor holding 18 per cent of the BoC’s shares, as it gave him total control.

Before the debate about that 18 per cent, we had the row about splitting of the bank into two, with the party leaders campaigning against such a move before a viability study had even been commissioned. There was also the letter sent by President Anastasiades to the members of the troika – which was unwisely made public – urging them to help save the systemic bank and his subsequent meeting with the president of European Central Bank which was billed make-or-break by the media.

What the politicians, media and other opinion formers have not realised is that they cannot treat the BoC like the Cyprus problem. Their patriotic platitudes and hollow rhetoric about the Cyprus problem were harmless as they had no consequences, but their rants about the BoC are very harmful as they further undermine the very low public confidence in the banking sector. The daily exchanges are confirmation that there is no plan about the bank, that nobody really knows what should be done and that its future is in the balance.

Worse still, now there seem to be a struggle for control of the bank between the politicians and Central Bank governor who is not trusted by parties. But even if there is ample justification not to trust the governor, this does not mean that the politicians, who have their personal agendas and destroy everything they touch, should take control. If the politicians eventually take control, confidence in the bank will never be restored.

The only way the politicians, the government, the Central Bank and the media could help restore confidence in the BoC and the banking system is to stop making it the main topic of public debate.

Every day it is in the news is another blow to public confidence and pushes back the return to normalcy that everyone, supposedly, wants. The politicians and media would be doing the banking sector a big service if they completely ignored it, because turning it into a new Cyprus problem is a recipe for disaster.

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By Stefanos Evripidou

CYPRUS, ISRAEL and Greece will sign a “historic” memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy and water issues today, paving the way for the further strengthening of relations between the three countries.

Speaking after a meeting with Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis in Nicosia on Wednesday, Israeli Minister of Energy and Water Resources Silvan Shalom described today’s signing of the memorandum between the three countries as a “historical moment”, as it was the first of its kind between the three countries.

On the initiative of Cypriot Energy and Trade Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, Shalom and Greek Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Yiannis Maniatis are in Nicosia to discuss issues concerning tripartite and regional cooperation in the energy sector, including protection of the environment from offshore hydrocarbon activities and connecting the electricity grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece through submarine power cables.

The signing of the MOU on energy and water collaboration, due today, shows how far the three countries have come in terms of cooperation, said Shalom. Relations are better than ever, he said, adding that the MOU will enable the three countries to strengthen relations even further.

“The fact that we are here shows that we do not only work well on (issues concerning) water, but it’s also about geopolitics, strategy and political issues between the three countries,” he said.

Shalom and Kouyialis yesterday held a bilateral meeting to discuss water development, management and protection.

The Israeli minister hailed the meeting as an indication of the good relations enjoyed between Israel and Cyprus these days, adding, “I believe we can do more”.

He spoke of a “big change” in relations and the “good will between the two sides” to help one another.

Enhanced relations between the two countries was also a major theme of President Nicos Anastasiades’ speech at the opening of a fifth desalination plant, which Israeli companies had helped build, near Limassol last night.

Anastasiades said energy cooperation between Israel and Cyprus, given their common interests in the exploration and exploitation of significant natural resources, could “become the driving force for an enhanced partnership between our two countries”.

Given the government’s determination to move ahead with the construction of an LNG plant, he invited Israel “to seriously consider committing to exporting Israeli gas” from the Cypriot LNG facility.

“This is all the more pertinent if one takes into account that Cyprus is perhaps Israel’s most stable partner in the region. In addition, our proximity to the Suez Canal is an important factor favouring the creation of a regional energy hub in Cyprus for the transportation of natural gas from Eastern Mediterranean countries, not only to Europe, but also to the Far East,” said Anastasiades.

Shalom invited Kouyialis to visit Israel in the near future and form a track of semi-annual meetings – once in Nicosia and once in Jerusalem – to exchange information, experts and university professors and to discuss recycled water, waste water treatment, as well as water security.

“We believe that it is necessary these days – even though Cyprus is not facing the same threats that Israel is facing from terrorists – that many countries invest in safeguarding water from attacks of terrorism. Israel would love to help Cyprus through its knowledge and experience, as it does with many other countries around the world,” he said.

Kouyialis echoed the Israel minister, saying that today’s signing of an MOU between the three countries was of the “utmost historical and political importance”.

Regarding collaboration on water issues, he noted that Cyprus and Israel are characterised by similar climate conditions and scarce water resources.

The Cypriot minister described Israel as “one of the world pioneers in the development of new water treatment technologies, such as desalination and waste water treatment and reuse in agriculture”, adding that Israeli companies are involved in three of Cyprus’ four permanent desalination plants.

Yesterday’s meeting marked a “new era of cooperation” in the field of sewage treatment and waste water reuse that will help Cyprus improve its water balance, said Kouyialis.

According to reports, the MOU will cover issues relating to energy infrastructure, renewable energy sources, financial and technical feasibility studies for potential projects, the development of natural resources, managing water resources and environmental protection.

The three ministers are also due to reconfirm their support for the private sector ‘EuroAsia Interconnector’ project, aiming to link the three countries by 2016 through an underwater electricity cable able to transfer energy with a total capacity of 2,000 MW.

The project consists of three junctions, connecting Israel to Cyprus, Cyprus to the Greek island of Crete and from there to the Greek mainland, in the Peloponnese, southern Greece, and on to Europe.

Asked about collaboration with Cyprus on energy security, and reports of bringing electricity to Cyprus from Israel, Shalom reserved comment for today.

“Of course, I’m here to find ways to make progress on those issues. We now have many things in common. We have a much better understanding, common interests if I may say, and even a common border,” he said referring to the delineation of the two countries’ exclusive economic zones.

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Police in Paphos arrested a 42-year-old woman on Wednesday night in connection with a case of the alleged embezzlement of more than €180,000 from her partner who owned a business buying and selling gold.

Charges were filed by the woman’s partner, a 45-year-old man from Paphos on Tuesday.

According to the charge sheet, the 42-year-old employee was working in the accountancy department of the company when she allegedly embezzled €181,380.

The 42-year-old denied any involvement in the case, police said.

An arrest warrant had been issued for her earlier on Wednesday.

Paphos CID is investigating the case.

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Members of the crime prevention unit raided two boats anchored at Paphos port on Wednesday night after they were tipped off that illegal gambling was taking place onboard.

During the first raid, officers confiscated three betting tables, a roulette wheel, 104 playing cards and 432 betting chips.

On the second boat, members of the unit confiscated three betting tables, a roulette wheel, ten dice and 2,216 betting chips.

Both boat owners were given a written warning.

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A fire in Aradippou during the early hours of Wednesday completely destroyed a car valued at around €8,000 and caused damage to a second car and two mopeds parked nearby, police said.

At around 3.20am the fire service received a call that a car, belonging to a 38-year-old woman, which was parked at the block of flats where she lives in Aradippou, had caught on fire.

Despite fire-fighters’ attempts to extinguish the blaze, the car was completely destroyed and spread to another car and two mopeds which were parked nearby.

The damage done to the 38-year-old’s vehicle was estimated at around €8,000, police said.

Investigations were underway on Thursday morning to establish the cause of the fire.

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By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

Syrian rebels said on Thursday they targeted President Bashar al-Assad’s motorcade heading to a Damascus mosque to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but state television showed him unharmed and the government denied he had been attacked.

The Tahrir al-Sham rebel brigade, a unit of the Free Syrian Army, said it fired several artillery shells towards Assad’s convoy in the heart of the capital and that at least some hit their target.

If confirmed, the attack would be one of the most direct against Assad in two years of conflict which have pitched mainly Sunni Muslim rebels against the Alawite president.

Rebels have targeted Assad’s residences in Damascus and a bombing in the capital last year killed four of his inner circle, but there have been no reports of Assad himself coming under fire.

Video footage distributed by the Tahrir al-Sham rebels showed smoke rising from what it said was the Malki district, where Assad and his close aides have homes. Other activists also reported rocket fire into the area.

Syria’s government denied the reports. “The news is wholly untrue,” Information Minister Omran Zoabi said.

Firas al-Bitar, head of the Tahrir al-Sham brigade, said his fighters had carried out reconnaissance of the route of Assad’s motorcade and fired 120 mm artillery towards the president’s convoy early on Thursday.

“The attack rattled the regime, even if Assad was not hit,” he told Reuters from an undisclosed location in the capital. “There were two motorcades, one containing Assad and a decoy. We targeted the correct one.”

Bitar’s brigade operates mainly in the Ghouta region on the eastern outskirts of the capital. Another official in Tahrir al-Sham said Assad’s forces fired rockets and artillery “like rain” on the region in response to the reported attack.

Following the statement, Syrian state television showed footage of Assad praying alongside ministers and other top officials. It said the footage was from Thursday’s Eid prayers at the Anas bin Malek Mosque in Malki.

Assad appeared unharmed and smiled at the worshippers as he entered the mosque.

Islam Alloush of the Liwa al-Islam, another rebel brigade, told Reuters earlier on Thursday that rebels fired rockets which struck Assad’s motorcade.

“Assad was not hit but the information we have based from sources within the regime is that there were casualties within his entourage,” Allooush said.

Other activists also reported rockets were fired into the Malki area, which was sealed off by security forces.

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A RUSSIAN bank acquired by Bank of Cyprus (BoC) in 2008 had a bad record and did not follow good banking practices, a Central Bank licensing department official told an inquiry on Thursday.

Testifying before a commission tasked with investigating the island’s economic collapse, Alexandra Theofilou said she had prepared a report recording the pros and cons of Uniastrum Bank, which cost BoC €371 million.

BoC bought 80 per cent of the lender while the remaining stake is held equally by Russian businessmen Georgy Piskov and Gagik Zakaryan..

Theofilou described Uniastrum as a bank with a “bad record, which apparently did not follow prudent banking practices. Its cons were much more than its pros.”

The inquiry heard that before 2007, Uniastrum made cash payments to employees that were not recorded and “did not comply with its tax obligations – an important negative point that was later reversed.”

Of the cost, Theofilou said data submitted by BOC showed it was better compared with other acquisitions in Russia at the time “and the bank’s advisers were of the view that the price was reasonable.”

A findings report on the acquisition compiled by financial forensic experts Alvarez and Marsal said that BoC went ahead with the purchase despite misgivings in due diligence reports and a legal opinion that judged it could opt-out of the deal or renegotiate the acquisition price.

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By George Psyllides

THE HEAD of the Central Co-operative Bank (CCB) has reiterated that co-operatives will regain ownership of their shares within a reasonable time, as the list of the 18 entities that will result from the merger of 93 banks was made public yesterday.

“I continue to express certainty that within a reasonable time period, the co-operative movement will, gradually or in a one-off transaction, regain its shares, which will return to its members,” Erotokritos Chlorakiotis said.

Co-operatives will receive €1.5 billion from the state to recapitalise in line with the island’s €10 billion bailout deal with international lenders.

The move will make the state the exclusive owner of the co-operatives, acquiring 99 per cent of its shares.

Some observers believe the shares will never return to the co-ops.

“With all due respect to economic analysts, neither they can convince me, nor I can convince them,” Chlorakiotis said.

He was speaking after a morning meeting that discussed the sector’s overhaul.

Under the bailout agreement, co-ops will have to drastically reduce their number.

The CCB yesterday gave a list of the 18 entities that will be created through the merger of 93 co-ops of various sizes.

According to the scheme, Nicosia will have 10 companies, followed by Limassol and Larnaca with three each.
Famagusta and Paphos will have one company each.

Main opposition AKEL has expressed concern over the developments, demanding that the co-operative movement retained its people-centric character.

One of the party’s concerns is that the state may at some point sell the shares to private individuals.

AKEL wants to ensure co-ops will remain in the hands of the current shareholders “and the movement will not change the character it has for the past 100 years. This is where we will focus our efforts,” party leader Andros Kyprianou said.

He said verbal pledges were not enough and the party wanted to see tangible action.

Kyprianou was speaking to reporters after a meeting with Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades.

He said his party was briefed on the details concerning the co-op deal and the discussion will continue with President Nicos Anastasiades, with whom AKEL has already spoken.

“I have to say that the president has repeated his pledge that the co-operative movement’s character must be maintained, but we want to see this on paper. Verbal pledges are not enough,” Kyprianou said.

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