WITH great interest I have just read Elias Hazou’s article, Academics question point of EU funding for peace, (Sunday Mail, October 28). In the article he focuses on a report, written by Dr Kate Flynn and Dr Tony King, “Reconciliation and peace economics in Cyprus”. I have recently studied the report and it’s informative, useful, interesting and - frightening. But not surprising. Among other things, Flynn and King question the effectiveness of all the reconciliation and development programmes, funded by the EU and others.
As a museum curator and archaeologist, I worked with Cypriote antiquities for 30 years in Sweden. I have also visited Cyprus several times, lecturing and presenting my books. I have also written articles in Swedish newspapers about the Cyprus Problem and the destruction of our common cultural heritage in the occupied areas. Earlier this year I felt that I had the time and opportunity to make a more manifest contribution to Cyprus and perhaps do some work for the many bicommunal groups in Cyprus.
I made an application to a bicommunal organisation, funded by USAID (United States Agency for International Development). The application was extensive; they wanted to know exactly what I wanted to do, at what time I could work, my qualifications etc. From the beginning I told my contact that I’m rather old, but that I have extensive experience as a museum curator, including knowledge about climatic conditions in museums and store-rooms and conservation. I also know many languages, including fluent Greek. We corresponded for several months and my contact promised to find a project for me. I was very optimistic when I arrived in Lefkosia in September, eager to start working.
But when I arrived at their office nothing was prepared. Two young persons were very friendly and spoke excellent English, but there was nothing for me to do and they hadn’t prepared anything. I was told to try to find EU funds and make applications for money. If I could find money for a project, I was told, then I could start working as an advisor. It was quite obvious that they didn’t have the slightest idea about anything related to the national heritage, for example museums or restoration. In my application I had, however, also mentioned that I would also be happy to work with environmental problems or the peace process. I was told that it was difficult to find something for me since I had already finished my academic career and didn’t need any practice.
I understand this, but why didn’t anybody tell me this from the beginning? On their website they are still looking for volunteers. I felt humiliated, stupid and left after a few days.
Since I had decided to stay for a month, doing my own research as well, I spent some time at the comfortable and pleasant Home for Cooperation (H4C), in the UN buffer zone, Lefkosia. I listened to lectures and met friends at H4C, where the staff is always friendly and helpful. After the lectures and discussions, there were often abundant buffets and refreshments. What do these enormous expenses have to do with reconciliation? Different NGOs often organise fairs, festivals and parties, where lots of material is distributed – T-shirts, books, pens, pamphlets etc. In what way does all this have any influence on the peace process?
A more obvious and serious problem is the complete absence of listeners who really should be there - ordinary Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Where are they? Instead we always met the same faces - foreign diplomats and businessmen, students, a few intellectuals. A Turkish Cypriot friend of mine has one theory about the absence of the Greek Cypriots, at least. According to her, they refuse any contact with Turkish Cypriots and anything which has to do with the UN, since the Greek Cypriots consider the UN to be ”bought” by Turkey.
A quotation from Dr Kate Flynn and Dr Tony King’s report: ”There is notable societal mistrust both within as well as between communities. There is suspicion about political leadership and the direction of the talks.”

Marie-Louise Winbladh, archaeologist, author, researcher, 1971-2001 curator of the Cyprus Collections in Stockholm, http://cypernochkreta.dinstudio.se.

TOURIST arrivals were up by 0.8 per cent in October compared with October last year, recording an increase for the sixth month in a row, Cyprus Statistical Service data show.
According to the data, tourist arrivals reached 2,326,116 in the period between January and October, compared to 2,234,011 in the same period last year, recording an increase of 4.1 per cent.
In total, 46,690 Russian tourists arrived in Cyprus in October 2012 compared to 32,995 the previous year, recording an increase of 41.5 per cent.
Austrian tourists choosing Cyprus as a destination in October came to 3,539 from 3,318 in the previous year, recording an increase of 6.7 per cent.
In contrast, tourist arrivals from Britain fell with tourist arrivals in October 2012 at 107,046 compared to 113,205 in October last year, a drop of 5.4 per cent.
Similarly, a small drop was recorded in tourist arrivals from Sweden (4.4 per cent), Germany (14.3 per cent) and Greece (3.2 per cent)

A NEW landscape at Vasilikos is taking shape as construction continues on the VTT Vasiliko Ltd’s fuel terminal which is currently employing 206 people.
Work started last April and is expected to be completed in 2014.
To begin with, the terminal should be able to store 357,000 cubic metres of oil (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, gasoil and mazut). It is eventually due to have a capacity of 643,000 cubic metres.
Plans include a marine jetty with four berths to extend offshore for 1,200 metres and to include two loading arms per berth per product. About 550 ships are expected to be served a year.
The company has said that the ports authority is expected to make €18 million a year from port duties, with customs duties and taxes bringing in additional revenue for the state. The overall investment is in the range of €300 million and the project is expected to considerably boost the island’s ailing economy.
According to VTT Vasiliko’s managing director George Papanastasiou, Cypriot consumers would also benefit, due to reduced fuel prices, as the VTT Vasiliko terminal is expected to reinforce competition as it will be used by companies that currently don’t operate in the Cypriot market.
Last November, VTTI (to which VTT Vasiliko is a subsidiary) was forced to respond to reports suggesting there was a conflict of interest from the potential participation of the company in the construction and management of the oil storage terminal at the Vasilikos Energy Centre.
VTTI said that oil storage terminals, by nature, do not affect competition in a market as the owner/operating company of the terminal is in control of the storage infrastructure rather than the oil stored within it.
“The aim and priority of VTT Vasiliko Ltd is the development and operation of its private terminal that will be erected in Vasilikos and not any other similar project in Cyprus,” a statement said.
It said the main activity of the private terminal would be storing fuels for companies, the majority from abroad, which do not have commercial operations in Cyprus and are competitors to each other. 
VTT Vasiliko Ltd is a company registered in Cyprus, a subsidiary of VTTI B.V. 
With interests spanning over 11 countries and 5 continents, VTTI is considered one of the top ten independent oil terminal operators in the world. Major terminals are located in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Fujairah in the UAE and Port Canaveral, Florida, USA. 
VTTI’s shareholders are the Dutch energy giant Vitol, one of the world’s largest energy trading companies, and MISC, a leading international shipping company, registered in the Malaysian stock market and owned by the state oil company Petronas.

A PAPHOS councilor has suggested municipality staff in Paphos have overtime and bonuses reduced, a move that would save €200,000 a year.
“In 2011, we paid far too much in overtime and bonuses - it was close to €400,000,” Nikos Konnikos said this week.
He stressed it was important for the municipality to cut these costs, which last year reached €370,000.
“I am suggesting on the issue of overtime 50 per cent would be given to staff as a day off and fifty per cent would be with pay. This is on top of the twenty five percent cut in overtime across the board, which we have decided to implement.”
The councilor has also proposed the notion of outsourcing some jobs, which he says will help to give more people employment, such as parking stewards for events at the harbour who are usually municipality staff. “Anyone can do this job,” he said and most of those doing so at the moment are paid overtime for it.
He said there are other “bad practices” which need to be stamped out, such as when the municipality employs staff, they are supposed to carry out their specific work but are also required to help in other departments if needed. “Staff shouldn’t get paid extra for this. If I had a large store, I wouldn’t pay a staff member on top of his salary to work in a different section, during working hours. It’s very silly.”
“Things need to be fair for everyone involved,” he said.
A vote on the proposals will be taken at the next meeting of the personnel committee of the municipality of Paphos in the coming weeks.

THE government has repeatedly said it was not going to default, but there are growing signs it is only paying salaries and leaving other debts unpaid.
Companies that have completed government jobs are still waiting for payment; others are still awaiting VAT refunds.
One big construction firm which built a road in Nicosia is still waiting for more than a million euros, despite completing the project 18 months ago.
The government found a pretext relating to the technical specifications to avoid payment and even after a compromise deal was reached, the state has still refused to pay.
But it seems to make no difference if a finished project complies with all requirements.
Work on the Paphos sewage project was completed and the government took delivery but it is still refusing to pay the contractor the final 5 per cent, it owes.
The authorities have told the company that it has no money and will settle the debt, with interest, when funds are available.
“The interest we will receive at some time in the future is no consolation,” said the company’s executive. “Our problem is cash flow. We need the money now to pay wages and our suppliers. Non-payment causes us huge problems.”
A smaller contractor that has been working on a government project in Dhali is now looking to secure a bank loan in order to complete it because he has run out of money and has received no payment from the government.
As a result he has been unable to pay his sub-contractors who had done part of the electrical engineering work.
The sub-contractor, who is owed €15,000 by the government, is now unwilling to run the risk of buying the electrical units he was contracted to install because he does not know when he will be paid for them.
“If tomorrow I am obliged to make redundant my three employees, because I have no money to pay their wages, whose fault will it be,” he asked.
Companies are also complaining about significant delays in getting VAT refunds.
The VAT service did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
In mid-October, court bailiffs seized seven vehicles belonging to the government at the behest of people owed money by the state for land appropriations it has yet to pay.
The application for the writs was filed by owners of land earmarked for the construction of the Paphos to Polis highway that has been put on hold by the cash-strapped state.
Bailiffs seized three vehicles belonging to the district’s public works department, one each from the forestry department and the land registry and two belonging to the electromechanical services. 

BAILOUT talks between the troika and Cypriot officials continued yesterday amid reports that the lenders are asking for deeper cuts.
Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly and Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades met with the heads of the troika team in Cyprus to discuss issues that concern the island’s banks.
The meeting took place amid reports by state broadcaster CyBC  that lenders have demanded deeper spending cuts worth €1.2 billion instead of €975 million sought initially.
The troika delegation, in Cyprus since last Friday, was scheduled to leave the island on Sunday, but has now extended its stay to at least Wednesday due to divergences between the two sides on major issues, state television said.
House President Yiannakis Omirou said yesterday the troika’s demand would lead the country’s economy back to “Dark Ages” and will abolish the sovereignty of the Cypriot state.
"There’s an attempt to abolish the sovereignty of the Cypriot state with specific demands and furthermore there’s an attempt for a complete disintegration and dissolution of the social fabric," Omirou said.

WITH no end in sight to the bailout negotiations, and economic problems piling up, the cash-strapped government appears poised to raid once more the coffers of profitable semi-state companies (SGOs) in a bid to secure the necessary money to pull it through the next month.
At the same time, there appears to be a concerted effort to create a negative climate against the international lenders and anyone who supports accepting their proposed measures for a bailout agreement.
The delays were the reason given by ratings agency Moody’s on Friday for placing Cyprus’ B3 government bond ratings on review for possible downgrade.
The agency cited two factors for its decision: the slow pace of negotiations with the troika and the resulting uncertainty regarding the likelihood and timing of a support package which raises liquidity risks, and evidence that Cyprus' budget deficit will be significantly larger than expected, which further increases liquidity risks for the government.
“This is a new risk factor that was not present when Moody's downgraded Cyprus' bond ratings to B3 from Ba3 in October 2012,” the agency said. “The rating action in October focused on the profound difficulties in the Cypriot banking sector, which creates both a macroeconomic risk and a solvency risk for the government.”
Cyprus applied for assistance for its Greece-exposed banks at the end of June. A month later, and after two fact-finding missions, international lenders submitted their proposals on the island’s adjustment programme.
They were rejected by Cyprus, which took three months to prepare its counter-proposals.
Substantive negotiations only started last week when international lenders returned to the island.
Moody’s said there was a risk that negotiations would be prolonged.
“Even if negotiations were to be concluded in 2012, Moody's considers it unlikely that any assistance will be disbursed in 2012 because of the length of time that it takes for euro area national parliaments to agree to any new assistance programme,” it said.
It added that the presidential elections in February also raised the risk of delay in agreeing the conditionality and disbursement of assistance until late in the first quarter of 2013.
Moody’s said the extent of deterioration in the country’s fiscal position in a short period of time is further heightening liquidity risk given the government's limited market access.
“The extent of the deterioration is sufficiently material not just to pose further challenges to the government's fiscal consolidation programme, but to materially heighten liquidity risk given the government's very limited market access,” Moody’s said.
Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades has emphasised in recent days the urgency of signing a bailout deal as soon as possible so that banks receive the necessary capital and in turn start supporting the economy.
The government has so far dealt with its cash flow problems through short-term borrowing from banks and SGOs.
Most banks can no longer finance the state, which according to daily Politis yesterday, was once again preparing to go cap in hand to the telecommunications company, CyTA and the ports authority, in order to cover its needs for the next month or so, which amount to some €400 million.
The government has said repeatedly it was not prepared to privatise profitable SGOs as is the troika’s demand.
To complicate matters further, unions are strenuously resisting certain troika proposals that they say would change the pension system.
The troika proposed gradually - by 2060 - doing away with a 4.3 per cent contribution paid by the state for all workers and writing-off some €7 billion owed to the social insurance fund by the state.
Unions also oppose scrapping wage indexation or CoLA, the 13th salary and privatisations.
Critics suggest that union utterances regarding workers’ rights only apply to employees of the wider public sector as private sector workers are already bearing the brunt of the crisis with 40,000 jobless and widespread pay and other benefit cuts.
On Friday, President Demetris Christofias paid tribute to the union movement and slammed those “coming from overseas” who have the workers rights and conquests in their crosshairs.
“I hope - and I promise we will fight to the end - that we will successfully defend these workers’ conquests so that our country and the living conditions of its people … do not return to the 40s and 30s,” Christofias said.
Christofias, who has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the island’s economic hardship, suggested that a lot of people “inside and out of Cyprus” were uniting their forces to hurt the Left.
He said this came to a peak when the Left decided to run in the elections with its own leader “but it should not be accepted”.
Christofias has been accused by the opposition of dragging his feet in the bailout negotiations until after his term ends in February in a bid to avoid being the one signing the painful agreement.
The administration has denied that, but lately there appears to be a concerted effort to create a negative climate against the memorandum and anyone who speaks in favour.
Some say its reminiscent of 2004 when anyone supporting the UN reunification blueprint known as the Annan plan was vilified and branded a traitor.
Like then, the target once more appears to be DISY chief Anastasiades, so far tipped to win February’s presidential poll.
“Mr Anastasiades, DISY and their neoliberal companions continue to undermine the Cypriot side in its negotiation with the troika, intensifying their pressure to surrender to the troika’s appetites by signing a memorandum now, irrespective of contents,” was the response of AKEL to opposition criticism on Thursday.
AKEL went on to ask whether DISY was prepared to sign a deal handing over Cyprus’ natural gas to the troika or privatising SGOs to pay off the losses of the banks.
Stavros Malas, the candidate backed by AKEL in next year’s election, also took a shot at Anastasiades yesterday.
He said Anastasiades wants the government to sign a memorandum before the elections so that the austerity measures he planned on imposing if elected would be blamed on others.

Nicos Anastasiades criticised for urging the signing of a bailout

ALL THE TIME the troika was avoiding announcing an arrival date, our political demagogues were wondering why it was taking so long, worrying about the delay and stressing whether a bailout agreement would be ready for the November 12 Euro Group meeting.
They were praying and lighting candles in church in the hope that Divine help would speed up the arrival of the troika. A desperate President Christofias contacted EU leaders and the top brass of the European Commission imploring them to push the troika to come to Cyprus as soon as possible. “What have things come to, we are in discussions regarding inviting the troika to come,” said Christofias after a meeting with the party leaders.
The troika eventually arrived, but the November 12 deadline had been missed. But as soon as its representatives set foot on the island, the demagoguery and defiant posturing commenced. Even at this hour, with everything collapsing, our political jesters - the very people who brought us here - refuse to act responsibly.
We have reached the limits of humiliation and ridicule. What else could you say when we pseudo-proud Cypriots, who until recently were loaded with money are today begging Romanians, Bulgarians, Lithuanian and Slovenians that live on monthly wages between 300 and 500 euro, to lend us money so we do not starve. What have things come to indeed?
But even faced with the chaos they created, our politicians carrying on singing the same tune. They have now become the champions of resistance against the troika. “Some must declare whether they are with the troika or society,” says AKEL presidential candidate Stavros Malas wherever he goes, showing that he is just another demagogue like all the others.
Personally, I would like to declare that I am on the troika’s side, Mr Malas. And I believe that one troika is not enough. You lot need 10 troikas to come to your senses.
Then we have Christofias, Kyprianou, Omirou and Lillikas getting stressed out because, as they say, our national sovereignty would be threatened if we allow our budget to be decided by the troika. And they draw red lines, trumpeting that they would never agree to the “mutilation of our national sovereignty”.
And they make out that they have nothing to do with the chaotic mess we are in today. When they were voting in the House for the ‘restructuring of the public service’, the super-privileges of the public employees and the squandering of the taxpayer’s money on scandalous allowances and welfare benefits of hundreds of millions did they not think they were leading us to bankruptcy?
All of a sudden they remembered our national sovereignty? But now we have become beggars and we have our politicians to thank for this. And beggars have neither national sovereignty nor national dignity. They sit on the pavement and open their hand asking for spare change from passers-by. This is what we have become.
AKEL deputy Bambos Papageorgiou stole the show of political lunacy of the past week. “When your man is in the ring fighting, you cannot be pulling his shorts,” he said, commenting on opposition criticism of the president. As you have gathered, our man in the ring is Christofias who is fighting against our enemy (the troika) and we are not helping his fight strategy by pulling at his pants.
But in what ring has Papageorgiou seen Christofias? The only rings Christofias climbs into are the armoured Mercedes, the private jet we lease for him and the comfy chair in the presidential palace office. And has he got on any shorts for us to pull?
Has Papageorgiou not realised that after all those fights Christofias has taken part in, in the ring of the presidential palace, he has no shorts, nor a bottom to put inside them.   

A POLITICAL atmosphere reminiscent of the period preceding the 2004 referendum on the Annan plan has developed since the arrival of the troika. The troika has taken on the role that Alvaro de Soto’s UN team had in 2004 as the callous foreigners who came here with the sole objective of causing maximum harm to the Greek Cypriots while championing the interests of the Turkish side. The Turks are not part of the equation this time which may explain why public anger is less intense, but the government has been working hard to take it to referendum levels.
Like the Papadopoulos government during the referendum, the Christofias government is selectively leaking information from the negotiations, calculated to rouse opposition to a bailout. Every day another item of alarmist news relating to the bailout is distorted and packaged for media use, as part of the government’s anti-bailout campaign. There is the obligatory, ultra-negative spin, the thinking behind the proposal is never explained and it is presented out of context. Nobody does propaganda and misinformation better than AKEL, and with the troika not remotely interested in engaging in a communications war (it does not care if we do not want to sign a bailout) our communist rulers are free to manipulate public opinion as they please.
Opposition parties are reluctant to challenge the official message for fear of being labelled enemies of the people by AKEL’s spokesmen who accuse anyone that supports the immediate signing of a bailout of siding with the evil troika. The ‘us and them’ mentality that prevailed during the referendum is being cultivated again and opposition politicians are falling into line. Nobody is asking the obvious question: can they trust anything that is said by the government and party of the worst president in the country’s history?
Unfortunately, it is very easy to turn politicians, in a country in which populism is the only political currency, against a bailout. Most of them agree with the government’s red lines and repeat the misinformation being disseminated by the presidential palace. Everyone, for instance, repeats the idiotic idea that the bailout should focus on growth because austerity measures did not work in other countries. But there would be no growth and job creation without drastically improving the economy’s competitiveness, which is what many of the troika’s measures are aimed at. And what growth can there be, after the collapse of the banks, which will be inevitable if a bailout is not signed in the next couple of weeks? 
There is also the breast-beating over the proposed privatisation of semi-governmental organisations without a single rational argument to back keeping them under public ownership. The latest ‘outrage’ is the claim that the troika wants ‘to get its hands on our natural gas reserves’. A non-issue, considering we will not have revenue from natural gas for at least another six to eight years (if we do have any revenue). Nobody has pointed this out, preferring to repeat the myth the troika want to steal our hydrocarbon revenues. 
This crude demonisation of the troika (it is now publicly being referred to a ‘loan shark’) is unrelenting, and stepped up every day. Yesterday, it was reported that proposals regarding the pensions system could never be accepted. Again, there was no information about why the troika made the ‘unacceptable proposals’ and what it was trying to achieve. It was bad because our completely untrustworthy government, which lies as a matter of routine, on a daily basis, said so.
Through the managed control of the flow of information from the negotiations to the public and the negative spin put on everything, the government is quite clearly preparing the ground for the irresponsible demagogue Christofias to utter a ‘resounding no’. He will then claim he is expressing the will of the people, the people he and his party had manipulated into believing that agreeing to a bailout would be catastrophic. Of course none of these political crooks - which include Lillikas, Omirou, Malas and a host of deputies from opposition parties - dare tell the public what will happen if we do not sign a bailout.
Failure to sign will lead to the annihilation of the economy, as the banks will collapse. Those who are able will take their deposits abroad, we will be obliged to leave the eurozone and living standards will fall to pre-1974 levels. Nothing and nobody will be spared. This is never mentioned by anyone, for fear of being labelled ‘supporters of the troika,’ and ‘enemies of the working people’ by AKEL’s henchmen.
It is imperative for politicians, officials, journalists who care about this country to speak up now, warning people of the looming catastrophe. If they do not, they will be accomplices in the crime 

WHILE the government has stepped up its hate campaigning against the nasty neo-liberal loan sharks of the troika, there are reports that our EU partners have set an expiry date for our economy. It might last a few days after the expiry date, like fresh milk does, but the souring will not be avoided.

It has been reported that our Professor Panicos was informed that if the re-capitalisation of our banks was not completed by mid-January, the liquidity tap could be turned off. And when our banks cannot go for funding to the Emergency Liquidity Assistance, from which they have drawn several billions so far, they will have to close down.
For the re-capitalisation to be completed we have to sign a bail-out before January, something that is looking increasingly unlikely under the government of clueless Akelite cretins who are currently waging a merciless media war against the only people who can save us from destitution and abject poverty - the troikans.

TERRIFIED of the consequences of not signing a bail-out and aware that our European partners were not joking, Governor Panicos broke ranks with AKEL refusing to play the anti-bailout tune. Since Monday he has been publicly calling for the immediate signing of memorandum of understanding with the troika. On Friday he was quoted as saying by Phil that “the strength of the economy is at breaking point”. 
On Friday evening, the AKEL defector met the DISY Fuhrer to warn him about the impending catastrophe. The Fuhrer agreed with the Professor that, under the circumstances, a bailout must be signed. He is the only party boss who had the guts to say this, the rest of our lily-livered leaders embracing the comrade’s anti-bailout rhetoric for fear of being accused by AKEL’s intimidators of being on the side of the terrible troikans.

WIND-BAG leader of EDEK, Yiannakis Omirou gave a recital in the hollow defiance he specialises in yesterday, warning that “the information seeing the light of publicity create the picture that Cypriot society is under siege and that there is an attempt to return us to the economic middle ages.”
He had got one over comrade Tof in the hyperbole stakes. On Friday night, speaking at the Educational Club of Engomi (he loves to go to these AKEL-controlled neighbourhood joints and play the great leader to ignorant old age pensioners) he said he would never allow “the country and conditions of life of our people to return back(sic) to the decades of the ‘40s and ‘30s.” 
And there was the hollow defiance that all half-wit politicians love to resort to. “I promise you that we will fight till the end to successfully defend these conquests of the workers.” The “conquests and rights of the workers are the target of many, who come for abroad, exploiting the world economic crisis of capitalism.”
Has anybody exploited the world crisis of capitalism more than the comrade? He has used it to hide his incompetence and ignorance of how to run an economy and his fear of taking an unpopular decision. The crisis of capitalism is to blame that we are broke, not because we have a total incompetent in charge that chose to do absolutely nothing while the country was collapsing.
Note: the people who target the workers are “from abroad” as AKEL always blames evil foreigners for our woes. 

OUR WISE leaders know what will happen if we agreed to a bailout, but we would expect them to enlighten us about what would happen if we did not, and told the troika to go to hell. If signing would lead the economy to the middle ages, as Omirou has warned, not signing would take it to the stone age, which has its advantages as there would be no use for politicians.
Let’s take a look at the scenario of not agreeing to a bailout, a decision that was taken at the AKEL central committee meeting in early October. There would be a collapse of the banking system, which might not even last until the mid-January deadline. Only one bank has to close its doors to spark a collapse, as people would run to withdraw their money from the banks that were still open. 
The billions of Russian deposits would be transferred abroad in no time and then the rest of the banks would not have the capital to operate either. They might not close down immediately, but they will have to call in all their loans to have capital adequacy to stay in operation, which would mean no business would be able to operate. By March there would be people ready to kill for a loaf of bread to feed their children.
But at least the workers’ conquests and rights would have been preserved and the pension system would have been saved from the troika’s clutches.

PEOPLE who have money in the banks, would have nothing to worry about, because the state passed a law guaranteeing bank deposits of up to 100 grand per person. This meant that if a bank closed down, the state would give the money to the depositor. 
Although an excellent arrangement that protects people, it becomes a bit problematic when you consider that the state is penniless and without a troika bailout it would not be able to pay Christofias’ per diem allowance when he goes abroad in December. 
At present having decided not sign the bailout, the comrade is desperately looking for money to pay the public parasites’ wages this month and next. He has been trying to get his hands on any cash CyTA and the Port Authority have in the bank which would further reduce bank liquidity and then he probably will raid the workers’ provident funds, if he is allowed to do so.
The state’s bankruptcy is also helping boost private sector unemployment, as companies that have done work for the state are unpaid for months and laying off staff to survive. But otherwise, the government will fight till the bitter end to preserve workers’ conquests and rights.

IF ANYONE has spotted similarities with the period leading up to 2004 referendum it is because there are. The government has been leaking maximum negative information, relating to the talks with the troika, to the media in order to create the anti-bailout climate that will allow the cowardly comrade to utter ‘the no that would cement the yes to bankruptcy’.
The latest has been about the Social Insurance Fund and the troika’s suggestion that the €7 billion owed to the fund by the state should be written off. There was also hair-pulling regarding the suggestion that the state stops contributing to the fund (4.5 per cent on wages) for each worker. Nobody knows the details of these proposals or the reason behind them because the government’s leaks only what suits its anti-bailout designs.
We can only speculate that the troika, quite rightly, wants to rationalise the pension system, which pays the lowest pensions to those who contribute towards them all their working life and the highest to those who contributed nothing - public parasites and politicians. Would it be a bad thing if public parasites’ pension were lowered to levels paid to private sector workers?
At present, the 4.5 per cent paid by the state for private sector workers is used to boost the pensions of non-contributing parasites. It is these scams the troika’s proposals would end, but this is not given any publicity.

PAPHITE presidential candidate Yiorkos Lillikas is turning into the Tsipras of Kyproulla, vehemently opposing every government-distorted proposal by the troika, leaked by the government and making empty promises about a future of hope and development.
He always was a cheap demagogue and opportunist. Now he is having sleepless nights because his rival candidates are competing over who “will break the morale and resistances of the Cypriot people”. Lillikas offered people “prospects of development and hope”, through rejection of the bailout. 
He has not yet revealed who would finance the development, given that the banks would either have closed down or have no money to lend, after we bravely reject our only hope of avoiding bankruptcy.

TSIPRAS the Second has also said he would not sign a bailout - if the three candidates were asked to do so - in the event that it had a provision for putting all the proceeds from natural gas in a fund for the repayment of the state’s loans. 
The troika wants to get its hands on our natural gas he said, not knowing if this was actually the case or another morsel of misinformation for the AKEL propaganda office.
But when will there be funds from natural gas? In about six years, at the earliest. Of course there is also the small question of whether we would find adequate amounts of gas to make its extraction a viable enterprise; the steady fall of the world price of gas is not good news for us. So Lillikas might refuse to sign, over a non-issue.
Of course he has another good reason for not signing a bailout if the gas theft fell through - it would cede our national sovereignty. But as our politicians have proved, throughout the years, incapable of running our economy prudently, it would be a good thing to allow foreigners to take over. 
They would not be wasting the taxpayer’s money to buy votes and pay themselves big fat salaries and pensions like our wise politicians have been doing ever since the establishment of the Republic. Ceding our sovereignty would protect us from cheap demagogues like Lillikas, Malas, Omirou etc.

YOU HAVE to admire the greed of the departed Bank of Cyprus CEO Andreas Eliades. The man whose greed and delusions of grandeur singlehandedly destroyed the strongest and most financially sound company in Kyproulla has reportedly sued the B of C, demanding €3.5 million from the pension fund that he claims he was entitled to.
The guy has a nerve. He helped destroy the bank and the economy, not to mention that he impoverished the bank’s shareholders, but he is still demanding €3.5 million. Maybe his lawyer would argue in court that Eliades’ is entitled to his millions because the retirement bonus was a worker’s conquest that must be respected. 

SPEAKING of greed, we have to take our hats off to our permanent representative at the UN Nicos Emiliou, who has succeeded in using the Cyprus Republic as his family business. First he had a diplomatic passport issued for his partner so she could go on an official trip with him, although she was not eligible.
Then he demanded that the taxpayer picked up the 20 thousand buck bill for his partner’s son’s school fees in the Big Apple; he protested when his demand was turned down. Before this, the taxpayer was paying his own son’s school fees abroad, in violation of ministry rules. As Emiliou was based in Nicosia he was not entitled to have school fees abroad paid by the government.
Now we hear that the perm rep’s ex-wife was given a job as a clerical worker at the Republic’s Brussels office. I hope that putting his ex on the state payroll was not a way of getting out of paying her alimony.

We have crossed the 100 days mark. The comrade now has only 98 days left in office, but before anyone starts celebrating, they should remember that it will only take one word - a no - and just a couple of days for him to wreak the economic chaos and destruction from which we would need a couple of decades to recover.

THE government last night handed international lenders a compromise proposal in what seems to be a last ditch effort to bridge differences between the two sides over the conditions of a bailout package as President Demetris Christofias is scheduled to brief party leaders today on the negotiations.

It follows lengthy negotiations on Monday, which despite some progress failed to find common ground on issues like pensions, privatisations and whether natural gas revenues should be used to repay the country’s debt.

“Convergences were achieved on various matters, but we must say that disagreements remain on serious issues and that is why consultations continue,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said.

But it appears that crunch time has arrived for Nicosia, which now needs to make a decision at a political level on how to proceed – a decision that will be all the more difficult if the troika rejects the compromise proposals.

It was rumoured yesterday that Christofias had talks with a troika delegation in the morning, a meeting that was kept secret.

Christofias, who later in the day reiterated his opposition the privatisation of profitable semi-government organisations (SGOs), will today brief party leaders on the developments but it was not clear if any decisions would be made during the meeting.

Meanwhile, Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades sent the president a letter warning of the risks involved in not agreeing on a bailout or delaying an agreement further.

A similar letter was sent to main opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastasiades. 

Reports said Anastasiades also sent Christofias a confidential letter last Friday, warning him of the dire consequences to the country and asking him to assume his responsibilities.

DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades was quoted as saying that Anastasiades warned the president that he would bear the biggest responsibility for any negative consequences.

“Either we will conclude a loan agreement accompanied by a very difficult memorandum (conditions) or we will face, as a country, an incalculable economic disaster whose effects would be shouldered – as always – by the most vulnerable groups of our society,” Georgiades told daily newspaper Alithia. 

Christofias himself accused neoliberals of trying to abolish the social state as he reiterated his opposition to privatising profitable SGOs.

Speaking at the opening of the community building in the village of Psevdas yesterday, Christofias said people who represented extreme neo-liberalism considered the crisis as an opportunity to reduce or abolish the social state and the role of the state in general.

He said there is a need to maintain the decisive role of the state in critical issues for semi-occupied Cyprus like control of natural gas, electricity, ports and telecommunications.

“We do not agree with the elimination of the role of the state. We perceive the state as the steam engine of growth, defender of the weak and guardian of national and collective interest,” the president said.

In a bid to overcome the troika’s insistence to privatise SGOs, the government has proposed for them to remain public and to use their considerable revenues to repay the public debt.

The government has said it is willing to sell the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) and close down some other organisations which no longer serve any purpose.

There is also disagreement on wage indexation – the troika wants it frozen throughout the adjustment programme and restored afterwards only to 50 per cent. It also wants some items, like electricity, taken out of the list of goods and services basket used to calculate the rate.

The two sides are also at odds over pensions – the troika wants the 4.3 per cent state contribution gradually – by 2060 – scrapped and a debt of some €7 billion to the social security fund written off.

Reports said the government has proposed cutting the 4.3 per cent by half with the rest paid by civil servants.

Both sides agree on extending the retirement age to 65 but the troika wants it linked to life expectancy.

And then there are the proceeds from natural gas, which the troika says should be used to repay the country’s debt.

It is understood that Cyprus has asked the troika to clarify whether they mean the proceeds from the second licensing round or those from exploitation, which are not expected any time soon. 

The Cypriot negotiating team spent the better part of the day yesterday trying to prepare the compromise proposals, which were conveyed to the troika at around 9pm.

Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous met with the leaders of PEO, SEK and DEOK trade unions in the afternoon as well as employers’ organisations. Glafkos Hadjipetrou, the head of central government workers union PASYDY was briefed by the finance ministry permanent secretary.

The head of PEO, the union affiliated with AKEL, expressed his dissatisfaction.

“The troika insists on its known positions, which are not acceptable,” Pambis Kyritsis said.

Archbishop Chrysostomos also entered the fray yesterday, blaming politicians for the country’s economic woes.

“The politicians are to blame, who will never go hungry; but the people are hungry at the moment and they must learn to be careful because respective governments have put us in this condition,” Chrysostomos said after meeting the heads of the troika.

Finance minister Vassos Shiarly personally handed the proposals to the troika

IT SOUNDS like the beginning of a joke: what do Cyprus and Iceland have in common? But the question was discussed in all seriousness yesterday during an EU enlargement discussion at the House of Europe.
In a session entitled ‘Iceland and Cyprus: Lessons learnt in the field of energy and renewable energy sources’, Cyprus’ potential in harnessing renewable energy was placed in the context of EU candidate member state, Iceland.
Iceland’s electricity and heating needs are met almost entirely (99 per cent) through renewable energy sources, said Joost Korte, deputy director general responsible for the EU’s enlargement process.
On the other hand, the EU has set Cyprus a target of powering 13 per cent of its energy consumption via renewable energy sources by 2020.
The EU as a whole has a 20 per cent target.
Iceland “surpasses the conditions of the EU,” Korte said.
It used what Korte called a “handicap” – its small size, its isolation from mainland Europe, no infrastructure in terms of oil – and it turned it into an advantage by using its natural resources – mostly stemming from geothermal power, Korte said.
Cyprus can do the same where it is strong: “there is a huge potential” for solar energy, Korte said.
University of Cyprus rector Constantinos Christofides, who was in the panel, said the technology was there to have an energy independent island by 2030 that relies only on solar energy for its domestic consumption. The Electricity Authority of Cyprus spends €600 million a year to import oil, Christofides said.
“This clearly demonstrates the benefits of alternative energy,” he said.
Rather than rely on natural gas reserves, Cyprus can sell those abroad, and rely on solar power for the island’s demands, Christofides said. “Just one per cent of land is enough to cover our needs,” he said.
The head of the energy regulator CERA, Giorgos Shiammas, said that renewable energy sources were part of a longer term plan for Cyprus but added that “state policy has to be formulated by the government”. This was in response to a few questions by the audience – among them several diplomats and EU technocrats – who wanted to know how come Cyprus does not have electric cars despite its small size and what efforts are being made to increase efficiency and so reduce waste.
Though there was no definitive answer save an acknowledgment of the need to include renewable energy sources in Cyprus’ future plans at least the connection between Iceland and Cyprus was clear: both have renewable energy sources to tap. But in Cyprus’ case, it will take “deliberate policy” over many years to create an energy independent island, Korte said.
The panel discussion at the EU House was a half-day event that included addresses by government representatives and politicians, and a discussion on Croatia, as well as the transformational power of EU enlargement.

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday received Special Advisor of the United Nations Secretary General on Cyprus ?lexander Downer at the presidential palace to discuss developments surrounding the Cyprus problem.
Downer said the UN would not be involved in February’s presidential elections, “where the people of Cyprus will have a say on who will be their next leader, an issue that involves them and not the international community.”
Right now, the focus is on what can be done with Christofias as president, Downer said.
The UN are interested in candidates’ varied positions on the Cyprus problem but the next president will also have to make his own choices about how to proceed with negotiations, he added.
“We will let things take their course” and engage the winner in a discussion about what has been achieved, and what their understanding is of the Turkish Cypriot stance. The United Nations’ resolutions will be the guiding force in negotiations, Downer said.
Downer – who is in Cyprus for a few days for Cyprus problem meetings – also met Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.
He will also be meeting the bicommunal technical committees to discuss ongoing issues and will relay “brainstorming sessions” that have taken place in New York, he said.
The UN want to see a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem but despite progress over the last few years, there are still unresolved issues and challenges, he said.

Downer meeting President Chrisofias yesterday

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Giorgos Lillikas yesterday dismissed as a cheap political stunt allegations that his election staff includes members of nationalist groups.
Speaking at a gathering in Limassol on Monday night, AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou claimed Lillikas' staff was "dominated by ultra-rightist elements, who have joined forces with him due to his extremist positions on the Cyprus problem."
Kyprianou said these elements consisted of members of the nationalist group ELAM and its Greek counterpart Chrysi Avgi as well as students with far-right leanings.
"Yet at the same time he [Lillikas] is making overtures to AKEL supporters seeking out their vote," Kyprianou said.
Hitting back yesterday, Lillikas challenged Kyprianou to "name just one" person affiliated to ELAM or Chrysi Avgi who is part of his election staff.
Lillikas in turn accused AKEL of trying to mislead its own voters and the broader public. He said the allegations were a desperate effort by the ruling party to create scaremongering in order to "pinch a couple of votes here and there."
The two camps have repeatedly exchanged accusations of vote-pinching.
Polls project a tough battle between Lillikas and AKEL-backed candidate Stavros Malas for second place in the first round of the upcoming general elections.
The latest survey commissioned by state broadcaster CyBC gave DISY's Nicos Anastasiades a comfortable lead with 36.8 per cent, followed by Malas with 22.8 per cent and Lillikas with 18.9 per cent.
Lillikas is officially backed by socialist party EDEK, but his support base is believed to encompass voters affiliated to the so-called 'in between space' - in particular DIKO and the European Party.
Lillikas began his political career as an aide to former president George Vasiliou, who came to power in 1988 with the support of communist AKEL. He was later elected MP on an AKEL ticket and appointed Commerce Minister during the Papadopoulos administration in which AKEL was a coalition partner.
He was later appointed Foreign Minister, a post he held until AKEL left the government coalition to run for the presidency with Christofias as its candidate in 2008.
Lillikas disagreed with the move and left the AKEL fold to support Papadopoulos, who lost the election to Christofias, a development which pushed Lillikas out of the political arena for over two years.

THE HOUSE watchdog committee yesterday asked the Finance Ministry for a list of Greek Cypriots who have money in foreign bank accounts.
The committee also urgently asked for a meeting with Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly to discuss matters involving money invested in foreign bank accounts by locals.
The committee has taken an interest in the matter after it emerged earlier this month that over 100 Greek Cypriots were on a list of potential tax evaders being combed by the British tax authorities.
In a letter to the ministry, the committee also asked if the list of Greek Cypriots who have accounts in Switzerland had been received from the Swiss government which the government asked for during the Swiss president’s recent visit to the island.
The committee also asked if the Cyprus and Swiss governments have come to an agreement about the sharing of information regarding Greek Cypriots with Swiss bank accounts.
Finally the committee also made enquiries about any other accounts owned by Greek Cypriots abroad and asked the ministry to give them any pertinent information.
The British tax authorities reportedly have a list of over 8,000 names, allegedly including 134 Greek Cypriots, of offshore account holders at HSBC bank in Jersey who could potentially be using them for tax evasion or money laundering.

FLIGHTS bound for Tel Aviv are being temporarily diverted to Larnaca airport due to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, the airport's operators said yesterday.
"A number of European airlines have been asking permission to use our facilities at Larnaca due to the unrest in the Middle East," said Adamos Aspris, a spokesman for Hermes Airports.
The extra traffic has not impacted the airport's flight schedule, he said.
It's understood flights began being diverted to Larnaca over the past few days, following an escalation of the conflict in Gaza.
Several direct flights from European destinations bound for Tel Aviv have been stopping over at Larnaca before continuing on to Israel.
Reuters reported yesterday that Egypt had brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It would go into effect later in the day.
Cyprus is frequently used as a stopover for European flights during crises in the Middle East. In August, due to safety concerns in the area around Beirut airport, an Air France flight to Lebanon was diverted first to Damascus and then to Larnaca.

An Air France plane on the tarmac at Larnaca on its way to Tel Aviv

ONE of the oldest luna parks on the island is being forced to close down next month, bringing to an end 45 years of fun for residents of Nicosia.
Tivoli Luna Park will shut its doors on December 20 and although the park is in full working order, it hasn’t operated properly for the past six months.
Next month owner Pericles Christofides will have to vacate the premises. Tivoli opened in 1967 and was originally situated on the Nicosia-Morphou road, near the Nicosia airport, but after the Turkish invasion in 1974 it found a new home next to the Nicosia State Fair. Tivoli was the first luna park to bring go-karts to the island when it opened in 1967.
Christofides believes he is the victim of a consortium of local businessmen who are looking to take advantage of the space he is renting from the government and use it for their own gain.
He believes he is essentially being evicted from the state fair due to a technicality. Christofides believed he had a rental agreement in place but after a court appearance, discovered that he only possessed a permit to work on the premises, which was not renewed for 2013.
“I would like to thank all of the people who have shown their support and love through the hundreds of messages of support that I receive every day,” said Christofides. “The fact that people visit me every day telling me of their sorrow and indignation at the unfair closing because of their memories for the place and for me are unforgettable,” he added.
The luna park is currently being used to stage an unusual version the Chekov play The Cherry Orchard, which takes the audience through several areas of the park. The show will run until November 30.

The operator of Tivoli luna park says he is being squeezed out

A REPORT on the Monchergorsk vessel - whose cargo of munitions that was placed at a naval base had just exploded - contained a document referring to the cargo’s dangerousness that later disappeared, a prosecution witness said yesterday during the Mari blast trial.
Sergeant Elena Demetriou was testifying in Larnaca criminal court during a trial of former ministers and army top brass charged with causing death by want of precaution, and homicide by gross negligence in relation to the deaths of 13 sailors and fire fighters.
On July 11 last year, when Demetriou was on holiday, a set of munitions stored in 98 containers at Evangelos Florakis naval base in Mari exploded causing the 13 deaths.
Demetriou – who works for the defence ministry - told the court that her supervisor called her on the day of the explosion to fetch a file on the Monchegorsk.
Cyprus confiscated Monchegorsk’s cargo in 2009 acting on UN security resolutions and the containers remained on the naval base without a cover to protect them from the elements.
Demetriou handed over the report on the Monchegorsk to her supervisor, Simos Zampas, on July 11 and did not hear about it again until she returned to work on July 18, she said.
When she spoke to the police who were investigating the Mari blast, she realised that a document from May 26, 2010 that described the cargo’s dangerousness was missing, she told the court.
The missing document suggested to Cabinet that the containers be destroyed with help from OSCE, the organisation for security and co-operation in Europe.
Demetriou’s supervisor, air force major Zampas, said that he was asked to pick up a file from Demetriou without being told what was in it.
Sergeant Gavriella Andreou said that on July 11 she was called to help with filing and summarising the contents of reports. They were done by 3.30pm when she shut down her computer and she saw no one tamper with documents or copy any digital information, she said.
The defendants are former foreign minister Marcos Kyprianou, former defence minister Costas Papacostas, former national guard deputy chief Savvas Argyrou, former fire service chief Andreas Nicolaou; deputy fire chief Charalambos Charalambous; and former disaster response squad (EMAK) commander Andreas Loizides.

A MAN with a history of mental illness was yesterday taken into custody over the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Apostolis Athanasiou in Limassol late on Monday.
It later emerged that the suspect, Eleftherios Constantinou, has a track record of violent behaviour.
Constantinou, 22, is set to appear before a Limassol court today, where police will ask that he be remanded for eight days. He faces charges of premeditated murder.
According to police, the incident took place around 10.30pm on Monday in Kato Polemidia, Limassol. The two men were neighbours.
The suspect allegedly got into a row with Athanasiou over the latter's choice of parking. The victim, who had just returned home, had parked his car in a nearby field.
Athanasiou then proceeded to move his car, but in the meantime the suspect had resurfaced from his house brandishing a military knife, with which he allegedly stabbed the victim.
Neighbours hearing the screams reportedly rushed to the victim's aid. The 23-year-old was rushed to Limassol general hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. The suspect had fled the scene.
Police launched a manhunt, releasing Constantinou's photo and physical description to the public. They finally tracked him down around 3pm yesterday. He was found sitting in his car on a dirt road off the Platres-Kyperounda road.
Reports said the suspect's relatives had in the meantime tried to reach him on his cell phone to get him to give himself up.
An autopsy yesterday determined the victim died of massive bleeding as a result of a single stab wound that pierced his chestplate and heart.
State pathologist Nicholas Charalambous said the nature of the blow was such that the victim may have died almost instantaneously.
Police said later the suspect had a history of mental problems. In February 2011 he had stabbed and injured a 48-year-old man, again in Limassol, under "similar circumstances."
Constantinou was at the time examined by a psychiatrist, and then referred to the Athalassa Psychiatric ward in Nicosia, where he remained for a while.
Doctors monitoring him there subsequently declared him fit to appear before court, and the case was set to go to trial in March 2013 - two years later.
Constantinou was then released, though he was being monitored by the Welfare Services. The diagnosis of his mental condition could not be verified yesterday; the Welfare Services could not be reached for comment.
It's understood the suspect was living with his parents.
Police spokesman Andreas Angelides told the Cyprus Mail that law enforcement could not have imposed any restrictions on the man once he had been released from the psychiatric ward and a date set for a trial.

WHILE there seems to have been agreement with the troika over the measures for the banking sector, most parties and presidential candidates are taking the obligatory defiant stand on other issues, based either on incomplete information released by the government or their own populist agenda. We hear that they would never agree to a bailout that would cede our sovereignty, allow the troika to ‘get its hands on our hydrocarbon reserves, lead to privatisation of semi-governmental organisations or radically change out pension system.

It is quite amazing that the parties and individual politicians are taking hard-line, public stances on issues they are not fully informed about. But we should not be surprised considering they are making a big fuss over non-issues, like the hydrocarbons and national sovereignty, as well. Is it possible for any country that is bailed out by international lenders not to cede some of its sovereignty? If it does not, it will get no money because lenders, understandably, are not prepared to give billions in loans, without having a big say over how these would be used by the recipient. Surrendering a part of its national sovereignty to lenders is the sacrifice a bankrupt state has to make to secure a bailout.

As regards the natural gas, everyone is taking a stand, without knowing what the troika has actually proposed. Is all the fuss about the couple of hundred million euro that the state would receive up front for exploration rights? There would be no other revenue from natural gas - assuming we find adequate quantities that we are able to market - for at least six to eight years. Of course it is impossible to draw any conclusions when there is inadequate information.

We assume that President Christofias would give the party leaders the full picture when he briefs them this morning about the discussions with the troika, because much will depend on this meeting. Negotiations with the troika have been wound up and all that remains now is for the government to give its response. Christofias, most probably, would like to secure the backing of the party leaders for his decision, whatever it is. But before this, he would have to brief them about the main contents of the bailout and the information would have to be much more comprehensive than what has seen the light of publicity.

Hopefully, his response would be positive and he would like to secure the backing of all the political parties for the unpopular measures of the bailout; he spoke of the need for national unity yesterday. The alternative, a united front for the rejection of a bailout is too frightening to even think about.