By George Psyllides

CONCERNS WERE expressed on Monday over the appointment of a tax commissioner who will head a single authority after the integration of the VAT and income tax departments (IRD).

The House finance committee wants safeguards to be put in place to ensure the appointment of the commissioner would be done with technocratic criteria. Civil service union PASYDY said it would be unconstitutional for the cabinet to appoint the commissioner.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said ways will be explored to allay the parliament’s concerns, adding that the attorney-general has ruled that the relevant legislation was constitutional.

Creating a single tax authority is part of the structural changes included in the terms of Cyprus’ bailout.

The task entails integrating the VAT service with the IRD, but also strengthening the legal framework, simplifying procedures and optimising IT systems, the finance ministry said previously.

There is “better use of staff, better use of IT, and better operation in general,” Georgiades said.

The government bill provides for a five-year term for the commissioner and four years for a deputy. Their terms can be renewed once.

Finance committee chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos said one of the basic reservations concerned the risk of politicising the position.

“It raises concern at a time when there is heightened sensitivity about conflict of interest, about the dependence of political parties, and politics in general, on financial interests,” Papadopoulos said.

Papadopoulos said public interest would be better served if the term was limited because it curbed the risk of corruption.

PASYDY head Glafcos Hadjipetrou suggested that the commissioner could not be appointed by the cabinet; it was the job of the public administration commission, he said, adding that their legal adviser, former attorney-general Alecos Markides had ruled the bill unconstitutional.

“Everything will fall at the Supreme Court but the damage would have already been done,” he said.

Approving the bill by June 10 is a precondition for Cyprus to receive the next tranche of financial assistance.

Full integration is expected early in 2016. The unit dealing with big taxpayers should be up and running by the end of this year.

The reforms include a programme of short-term measures to enhance compliance, efficiency and effectiveness as well as a comprehensive long-term reform covering risk management and the establishment of a new integrated function-based tax administration structure, integrating the existing IRD and VAT services.

Short-term measures, to be in place by the end of this year, include enacting legislation to enhance tax collection and voluntary compliance by attributing personal responsibility for payment of company taxes, harmonising legislation among tax types so that not paying taxes is a criminal offence, and strengthening powers by the tax authorities to ensure payment of outstanding tax obligations, by having for example, the authority to seize corporate assets, and prohibiting alienation or use of assets, including property and bank accounts, by the taxpayer.

By George Psyllides
PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades made it clear to Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu on Monday that there must be proposals from both sides on all core issues of the Cyprus problem, as the two sides agreed to conclude the current phase of talks as soon as possible.
The proposals must then be discussed and convergences achieved before the ongoing reunification talks can move to the third phase.
Eroglu said the two sides disagreed on matters previously agreed with former president Demetris Christofias.
Unnamed sources cited by the Cyprus News Agency said that the meeting which lasted over three hours was “difficult”.
Anastasiades, they said, made it clear that there was no chance talks would enter the third phase if proposals on all aspects of all the core issues were not submitted reviewed and common ground was found.
The president said he was ready to submit proposals by August.
Anastasiades referred in particular to territory, noting that it constitutes one of the most important aspects for Greek Cypriots.
The same sources say that the greatest part of the meeting was spent discussing this as well as the EU`s role in the process.
The Turkish Cypriot side appeared negative on territory until, with the UN’s contribution, it was agreed to include in a statement read after the meeting by UN Special Representative Lisa Buttenheim, a phrase that states that the two leaders agreed “to submit and to continue submitting proposals on all core issues, as well as to conclude this phase as soon as possible”.
President Anastasiades also proposed to establish four new technical committees, namely, a committee on commerce and industry, a trade unions committee, a committee on reconstruction and resettlement and an EU committee.
The Turkish Cypriot leader said that he would rather that existing technical committees resume their work.
As regards the establishment of new ones, he said he would discuss the matter with his side before replying.
The sources said Greek Cypriot members of all technical committees, headed by Ambassador Andreas Pirishis, will be announced within the next few days.
The Turkish Cypriot side was negative on the creation of an EU technical committee, a matter which was discussed at length during the meeting, the sources said.
President Anastasiades is said to have explained that the leaders would not be bound by the technical committee, but rather that it would be helpful if they were aware of whether certain proposals were in line with the EU acquis communitaire.
Eroglu said the two sides had differences on issues where there was agreement before.
The Turkish Cypriot leader said Greek Cypriots have a different view as regards the election of the president, governance and division of power.
The Greek Cypriots, he said, want the president to always be Greek Cypriot and the vice president Turkish Cypriot.
It is understood that Eroglu was referring to the rotating presidency, which Christofias had tabled on condition that Turkish Cypriots also accepted cross-voting, which they did not.
The two leaders will meet again on June 23 and July 7.

A FIRE near the Limassol-Nicosia motorway close to the GSP stadium destroyed approximately 1,500 square metres of scrubland before being put out, the fire department said on Monday.
Three fire engines and seven firemen were immediately dispatched to the scene shortly after midday on Monday and were able to control the fire twenty minutes later.
Smoke from the fire prompted the dispatch of police officers to the scene, in order to address any traffic issues on the motorway. The causes of the fire are still being investigated.

FIRE FIGHTERS were still struggling on Monday night to put out a fire in the Mangas factory-department store in the Linopetra industrial area.
The fire broke out at 14:40pm on Saturday after an accident in the production department. Employees had tried to extinguish the fire without success and the fire spread rapidly.
The fire has destroyed the department store which sells home equipment and sanitary ware, causing millions of euros damage.
Strong winds blowing in the area have made the fire fighting task even harder. Due to black smoke and fumes caused from the burning of chemicals, two neighbouring premises on the estate remained closed on Monday and the police and civil defence evacuated nearby buildings and residences out of precaution. Fifteen fire trucks were at the scene.
Yiannis Loizou, assistant manager of the fire department, said that the situation on Monday was better than the two previous days where the temperature had risen up to 800 degrees Celsius and melted aluminium doors.
He added that they had tried to control and put out the fire externally because inside the building, there were many items stacked up to the ceiling which could fall and trap the firemen.
Smoke and skin irritations caused by the burning chemicals have made the fire fighters’ task more difficult he said.
Kypros Kyprou, senior officer at the Limassol district labour office, said measurements showed the smoke posed no danger to the area’s schools but that B Yermasogia elementary school students remained inside the school building on Monday.

By Allison Williams and Pritha Sarkar

Seemingly undiminished by his marathon two-day five-setter in the previous round, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray beat left hander Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-5 7-6(3) to reach the French Open quarter-finals yesterday.

Both players completed their delayed third round matches on Sunday and while neither appeared to hit top gear on Monday, Murray showed enough speed and touch, particularly in the closing games of the second set, to send the 24th seed home.

Verdasco’s foul-mouthed blast at the umpire over a contested line call, that in the end Murray conceded, had fired up the Spaniard to break in the third set and peg back the Briton but the seventh seed regrouped to prevail.
Asked if it was his best performance of the tournament, Murray said courtside: “I think so. (It was an) unbelievable atmosphere today, I really enjoyed myself on the court. We played some great points and he fought extremely hard in the third set.”

Murray, still without a coach since splitting with Ivan Lendl in March, will play French showman Gael Monfils for the chance to reach the semi-finals at the clay grand slam for the first time since 2011.

Earlier in the day, concerns that Rafa Nadal’s reign as king of Roland Garros might be in jeopardy due to an aching back proved wide of the mark as the world number one led a mini Spanish charge into the quarter-finals.
On the day that Spanish King Juan Carlos abdicated his throne, there was no danger of his compatriot doing the same in Paris as the eight-time champion produced a 6-1 6-2 6-1 demolition job on Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

Next up will be a man who beat Nadal the last time they faced each other across a net – fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.
Ferrer stalled Kevin Anderson’s bid to become the first South African man in 47 years to reach the last eight of the claycourt major with a 6-3 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 win.

The top half of the men’s draw could have become an all-Spanish affair if Murray and Monfils had not played spoil sport.
But no one feels more at home at Roland Garros than Nadal.
The top seed, who said he had to slow down his serve in his previous match after being troubled by back pain, left Lajovic with a sore head and aching joints as he went on a rampage to go 5-0 up in the first set before rattling off 17 straight points at the start of the second.

The winners flying off Nadal’s racket appeared to leave everyone in such a trance that the umpire even fluffed his lines at one stage – telling the players ‘to replay the point’ in English before sheepishly repeating the instruction in French – drawing a rare smile from Lajovic.
With enigmatic American pop singer Prince watching from the stands, it did not take 83rd-ranked Lajovic too long to discover why beating Nadal at Roland Garros is one of the hardest riddles to crack.

On the eve of his 28th birthday, a screaming forehand winner allowed Nadal to take his formidable French Open win-loss record to 63-1 and just three wins away from again sinking his teeth into the Musketeers’ Cup.

While three of the world’s top five men are still alive, Romanian Simona Halep was the only seed among the top six women to reach the last eight with a 6-4 6-3 win over Sloane Stephens, whose exit ended American interest in the singles.

By Constantinos Psillides
HEAD of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) Costakis Koutsokoumnis found himself in hot water on Tuesday following a visit to the occupied north, where he awarded the championship trophy to the winning team.
While Koutsokoumnis’ visit was not a secret, reactions raged after a picture of him smiling was tweeted by Deniz Birinci, the International Relations Coordinator of “Cyprus Turkish Football Association” (KTTF).
The picture went viral and garnered a lot of negative response from sports websites, since Koutsokoumnis wasn’t present on Saturday May 31 to award the championship to APOEL.
“I don’t know who’s Koutsokoumnis’ personal secretary but I fear for her position, since that little Turkish girl Deniz Birinci might be Koutsokoumnis’ new secretary,” read an anonymous report by Super Sport FM, attaching the picture in question.
At first Birinci responded to the news report in jest, saying she was way too qualified to be working as a personal secretary but she might considerer Secretary of State.
She had to follow up with a more serious response though, when the criticism started piling up. Birinci’s second response followed a comment made Marios Charalambous, deputy head of football club Digenis Morfou.
“The man is simply unbelievable. In two years he hasn’t given us a single cent. We are struggling to get by and all he cares about is going to the north and having a good time with his little Turkish girlfriends,” Charalambous reportedly said, prompting an immediate reaction by Birinci.
“We need the culture of peace not the culture of hatred on this island. I have nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Koutsokoumnis on a personal level. We are cooperating with KOP in order to reunify Cypriot football and he is the President of KOP. If you will elect someone else as the President of KOP tomorrow, we will continue to have professional relations with him (or HER! :)). Therefore please do not make the mistake of confusing apples with oranges. We struggle for the reunification of our island and football is a part of the big picture,” said Birinci, adding that if Charalambous knew her on a personal level he wouldn’t have made that comment.
Following criticism by sports websites, fan clubs from five different clubs issued a joint statement condemning Koutsokoumnis for his action and demanding that he resign. Fans from APOEL, Anorthosi, AEK, Olympiakos and Paralimni-based ENP promised they would organise marches against Koutsokoumnis.
Football clubs, Koutsokoumnis and the CFA have not yet officially responded to the criticism.
CFA’s association with KTTF is not something new. The two football federations have been in talks for years to find a way to unite. In November 2013 they signed an initial agreement in Zurich.
The landmark agreement would see the KTTF become a member of the CFA as an association in accordance with CFA rules.
Both parties agreed on the setting up of a steering committee to work towards implementing the agreement.
The agreement also had the full support of President Nicos Anastasiades, who had said in a November statement that the agreement was “a positive outcome that gave hope for the future”.
Birinci and Koutsokoumnis found themselves in the spotlight recently but for completely different reasons. Koutsokoumnis was blamed by both the teams and fans of APOEL and AEL for last week’s CFA decision to repeat a championship game between the two. The initial game was interrupted when an AEL fan threw a fire cracker at the APOEL bench injuring a player.
Birinci, on the other hand, was an MEP candidate with the first bicommunal party Drasis/Eylem which resorted to the authorities after a mix-up by the Interior Ministry left several thousands of Turkish Cypriots unable to vote.
Birinci protested fervently, prompting a response by Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos saying that “everything was done by the book”.

By George Psyllides
BEFORE moving on to the give and take phase of reunification talks the two communities must submit their positions on all core issues, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said on Tuesday, as the Turkish Cypriot side insisted that no concession could be made on the rotating presidency.
Christodoulides said the second phase of the talks aimed at finding common ground between the two sides and minimising differences in a bid to move on to the give and take phase of the talks.
A statement by the UN special representative after a meeting between President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu on Monday, said the two sides had agreed to “submit and to continue submitting proposals on all core issues, as well as to conclude this phase as soon as possible”.
Christodoulides said it satisfied the Greek Cypriot position of discussing interrelated matters at the same time “and not just focus on issues like governance that mainly interest the Turkish Cypriot side.”
On Monday Eroglu said the two sides had differences on issues where there was agreement before.
The Greek Cypriots, he said, want the president to always be Greek Cypriot and the vice president Turkish Cypriot instead of having rotating presidency.
Rotating presidency had been put on the table by former President Demetris Christofias on condition that Turkish Cypriots accepted cross-voting.
Eroglu rejects cross-voting but he reiterated on Tuesday that rotating presidency was necessary for his side and no concessions could be made.
Toumazos Tselepis, former ruling party AKEL’s head of the Cyprus desk, said Eroglu’s reaction was laughable.
It was a fact that rotating presidency had been on the table since the beginning of the 90s and it was also a fact that it was among the agreements between Christofias and former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat “as a package with cross-voting.”
“It was Eroglu himself who then rejected cross-voting,” Tselepis said.
The AKEL official said the results of Monday’s meeting were not encouraging: Eroglu on one hand declaring that he was in a hurry and on the other hand being unable to realise what is self evident.
“For the negotiating process to proceed to the third phase all chapters and their aspects must be first discussed in detail, including territory, settlers, and security,” Tselepis said.

Zagrosjet Airlines yesterday launched flights to Cyprus from the Iraqi town of Erbil.
The Larnaca-Erbil route will be carried out once a week and will be operated with Airbus 320 and 321 aircraft.
Chief Executive Officer of Hermes Wes Porter, welcomed Zagrosjet to Cyprus, adding the airline “is reconnecting Cyprus with Iraq, which creates new prospects for co-operation in all fields such as enterprise, tourism and the cross-cultural exchange of ideas and culture.
“I am confident that travellers in Erbil will quickly recognise that Cyprus, besides being an amazing tourist destination, is also a portal through which Iraqis can travel to the rest of the world such as Europe and North Africa. At the same time the travelling public of Cyprus has a unique opportunity as of today to travel to Erbil and get to know the diamond of Northern Iraq and the Middle East,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of Zagrosjet, Dr Kregar Gardi, Commercial Director and Member of the Board of Directors, stressed that Cyprus is a developing tourist destination for Iraqis.
To welcome the first flight from Erbil, Hermes Airports offered arriving passengers traditional Cypriot delicacies and drinks.

By Evie Andreou
Turkish Cypriot mufti Talip Atalay recited a prayer on Tuesday in the Taht-el kale mosque in Nicosia, which has been closed for 51years.
Atalay visited the mosque after an invitation from Archbishop Chrysostomos as part of the Religious Trust for Peace Process initiative supported by the Swedish government.
“After 51 years we are going to offer our prayers in this mosque. Although some facilities are missing the most important thing is to be here,” Atalay said, adding that his presence there was a proof that negative feelings can be healed.
He said permanent peace in Cyprus would be a good example for the whole region and that Cypriots lived peacefully in the Ottoman era and they can live peacefully in the future too and this occasion is a first step toward that direction.
The mufti was accompanied by the EVKAF Foundation’s Chairperson Rauf Ersenal, Father Savvas, standing in for Archbishop Chrysostomos who was abroad on a formal visit, Swedish ambassador Klas Gierow and the facilitators of the Swedish led interreligious dialogue, Salpy Eskidjian and Peter Weiderud.
Father Savvas said through dialogue freedom of religion has been achieved and that based on this principle the Church is aiming at free access to religious monuments, their restoration and their use for the purpose they were built.
He said the restoration of several monuments has been achieved by EVKAF and that there has been cooperation between EVKAF and the Cyprus Church for the restoration of monuments throughout the island.
Ersenal said he was born in the That-el kale neighbourhood and was four years old when his family fled in 1963 never to return.
Swedish ambassador Klas Gierow called the event important and historical and said it was a concrete proof that confidence building is possible. He said there is still some way to go but the religious track and all the people involved have shown that we can work and continue to work and make continuous progress.
The mufti recited a prayer in the mosque and performed a religious ceremony in the presence of a few Muslim believers and a group of tourists who happened to pass by and joined the group.
Father Savvas told Cyprus Mail that through meetings between religious leaders, the Church is trying to form a simple programming mechanism which would make liturgies and other organised visits to the north easier and less time consuming.
Weiderud said religion is a victim of the Cyprus conflict and that religion can be a mechanism for reconciliation, something that has not been attempted in Cyprus before.
Weiderud said that until 2009 there had been no contact between religious leaders for 50 years and that the initiative aimed at facilitating meetings between the two religious leaders.
The Taht-el kale or Tahtakala mosque took its name from the eastern quarter of Nicosia it is located in.
Tahtakala is a corruption of the phrase Taht-el-Kale which means “under the
Castle” (meaning the close by Famagusta Gate).
The mosque was built in 1826 by the Ottoman Governor Es-Seyyid Mehmet Agha in the place of an older mosque. The minaret was re-built in 1948.

By Orhan Coskun

Turkey’s telecoms regulator removed an official order blocking access to YouTube from its website on Tuesday after the country’s top court ruled last week that the ban was a breach of human rights.

The video-sharing website will be accessible in Turkey later on Tuesday, an official at Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s office told Reuters. “As the Constitutional Court verdict was received today, YouTube will be open to access later today.”

Blocks on access to YouTube and Twitter were imposed after illict audio recordings, purportedly revealing corruption in Erdogan’s inner circle, were leaked on the sites. The block on access to Twitter was lifted in April.

The ban on YouTube was imposed on March 27 in the build-up to local elections after a tape of top security officials discussing possible military intervention in Syria was leaked.

Erdogan condemned the tape recording, which followed a series of other leaked wiretaps, as an act of treason. He subsequently emerged from local elections on March 30 with his popularity largely intact.

Turkey’s highest court, deliberating appeals submitted by individuals challenging the ban, last week ruled that the block was a violation of the right to freedom of speech.

Charalambos Tsouris, a former board member at the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) was instrumental in striking the Dromolaxia land deal that cost the organisation €4m, a witness testified yesterday in the ongoing criminal trial.
Lead police investigator Christodoulos Mavrommatis told the court it was Tsouris who drafted a report for CyTA which led to a follow-up agreement to buy into a development project in Larnaca.
He said Tsouris’ report advocated the purchase of additional surface area, which raised the overall purchase price for the investor, the CyTA pension fund.
According to the witness, the report was misleading because police later discovered there was no extra surface area. CyTA made another offer for the same parking lots and verandas in the development project.
As a result of the updated deal, CyTA’s pension fund sustained losses of about €4m, he said.
The witness was being grilled by Tsouris’ defence attorney. The lawyer submitted that the charges against his client were politically motivated.
The attorney went on to say that police charged Tsouris only because the latter had publicly come out against the intended privatisation of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus – of which Tsouris was chairman at the time he was indicted.
Mavrommatis denied the imputation, as well as the suggestion that he had tampered with Tsouris’ deposition to make Tsouris look guilty.
The officer was also put through his paces by the defence attorney of Stathis Kittis, former chairman of CyTA.
Kittis’ lawyer repeatedly tried to demonstrate that the prosecution’s key witness – businessman Nicos Lillis – had fabricated much of his testimony to police and that therefore the police had either been misled or else it colluded with Lillis to make a case out of nothing.
Kittis is one of the persons alleged to have received kickbacks.
Lillis and his company, Wadnic, are key players in the case concerning the financing of a multi-million development project – the Aero Centre – in Dromolaxia from the CyTA pension fund, where hundreds of thousands of euros in kickbacks allegedly greased political wheels to make the deal happen.
The land was sold to Wadnic Trading, which managed to upgrade the coefficients, built on it and sold it on to the CyTA pension fund for some €20 million – several times its going market price.
Kittis, Tsouris and five others – AKEL official Venizelos Zanettou, director of CyTA’s pay-TV arm, union rep Orestis Vasilliou, CyTA employee Yiannis Souroullas and his brother Gregoris who works at the land registry, and businessman Antonis Ioakim, a shareholder in Wadnic – are being tried separately by the Larnaca Criminal Court in connection with the case.

By George Psyllides
Cyprus Airways (CY) pilots were up in arms on Tuesday over the company’s intention to sell its last timeslot at London’s Heathrow airport, saying it would be catastrophic.
In a resolution that followed a general meeting of their union PASYPI, pilots said they no longer trusted the board, considering its members “incompetent and dangerous”.
The union urged the government to immediately hire suitable people from abroad to manage the ailing airline.
PASYPI also condemned the board’s intention to sell the company’s last timeslot at Heathrow airport.
“Selling the timeslot would be catastrophic for the company’s future,” the union said, holding the ministers and board responsible for the lost revenue and reduction in tourist arrivals.
The meeting authorised PASYPI’s board to prevent such an event, not ruling out strike measures.
In March, CY sold its night slot at Heathrow airport for €6.3 million to Middle East Airlines.
Tony Antoniou, the airline’s chairman, said the sale was included in the restructuring plan the company submitted to the EU for approval.
Antoniou said the intention was known.
“Both timeslots must be sold for the company plan to be viable,” Antoniou said.
He said a lot has been done so far and voiced hope that come October, the board would successfully argue its position before the EU.
“I don’t know why the issue was raised today when it has been on the table for the past year,” he said.
He also responded to a report in Haravghi, the mouthpiece of main opposition AKEL, which claimed that CY staff were being sacked over the phone at 10pm.
“It is not the first time the particular publication says things that are 100 per cent unfounded,” he said.
Antoniou said the company had to make staff redundant, as part of the restructuring plan, to cut numbers down to 490.
The ailing carrier is seeking ways to survive, which include implementation of a restructuring plan, the latest in a series.
It is also faced with more turbulence since the European Commission decided to look into whether capital injections from the government constitute state aid, forbidden by EU competition rules.
The EC’s ruling, expected near the end of 2014, will decide whether CY will need to return any capital received from the government.

By Pritha Sarkar

There was no Serena Williams standing in her way but the absence of her American nemesis did not stop Maria Sharapova from almost fluffing her lines on Tuesday before she set up a semi-final date at the French Open with Canadian Eugenie Bouchard.

At 6-1 5-4 down, the Russian was on the verge of being toppled by the same Spanish gale force that had blown away Williams in the second round.
Just when it seemed that Venezuelan-born Garbine Muguruza would pull off a Williams-Sharapova double at Roland Garros, the 2012 champion’s fighting instincts kicked in and she raised the decibel levels to shriek her way to a 1-6 7-5 6-1.
It was a performance that led Andy Murray’s mother Judy to tweet: “Sharapova is like a tea bag. Put her into hot water and you’ll find out how strong she is.”
While that observation left the Russian seventh seed rather bemused, her own assessment was more straightforward.

“If I lost that match, I would be kicking myself in the bottom,” Sharapova said after reaching the Paris semi-finals for the fourth successive year.
Blocking the former world number one’s path to a third final in a row is a young Justin Bieber fan who is aiming to become the first Canadian to reach a grand slam final.

She may be a ‘Belieber’ but there is nothing immature about Bouchard’s game as she stormed back from behind in both the first and third sets to beat Muguruza’s doubles partner Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(4) 2-6 7-5 to reach the last four of a second successive grand slam having also done so in Australia.

Novak Djokovic prevented a double celebration for Canada when he thwarted big-serving Milos Raonic’s bid to become the first man in 91 years from his country to reach the semis of a major.
The Serbian rolled closer to what seems an inevitable final showdown with eight-times champion Rafa Nadal with a 7-5 7-6(5) 6-4 win over eighth seed Raonic.

While Bouchard and Raonic are helping put ice hockey-obsessed Canada on the tennis map, Ernests Gulbis is doing the same with tiny Latvia after following up his victory over Roger Federer with a straight sets defeat of Tomas Berdych.
Gulbis proved that his win over 17-times major winner Federer was no fluke as reached the last four of a grand slam for the first time, demolishing sixth seed Berdych 6-3 6-2 6-4 to set up a clash with childhood friend Djokovic.

“Forget about the money. Forget about fame. It’s just about my inner comfort. That’s it,” Gulbis, who is finally beginning to back up the potential he showed in 2008 by reach the French Open quarter-finals, told reporters explaining his motivation.
For almost 90 minutes on Tuesday, it seemed as if Sharapova would go the same way as Williams with Muguruza making light of her heavily strapped left thigh as she romped to a 4-0 lead before taking the first set.

While the Spaniard lit up an overcast Philippe Chatrier Court by blazing winners left, right and centre, Sharapova’s misfiring serves were at times so long that it seemed as if she aiming for the Eiffel Tower across town.
But she was not ready to leave her day job behind to become a Parisian tourist and reined in the errors at 5-4 down in the second set to win three games on the trot to level the match.

Muguruza, who had surrendered just four games in her win over Williams, refused to wave the white flag and had her rival screaming in frustration during the fourth game of the decider.

A game that lasted 12 minutes saw Sharapova stretched to six deuces, survive five break points and then let out an almighty roar of ‘Come ooooonnnnn” when Muguruza netted a service return.
From then there was no more sightings of Muguruza’s dimpled smile as the Russian rattled through the next three games.

By Elias Hazou
Lawmakers have preliminarily given the nod to the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) budget but have voiced concerns over the fund’s long-term viability.
MPs will study the 2014 RES budget submitted by the energy ministry yesterday. The budget is to be put to a vote at the plenum next week, and is likely to pass.
However, at a joint session of the House finance and commerce committees, MPs cited fears that within the space of three years it may not be possible to balance the RES budget.
For 2014, expenditures are estimated at €38m, of which €23m will be covered by the special RES fee of €0.50 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) charged to consumers. The remaining €15m is to be essentially subsidised through the fund’s surplus, which currently stands at €22.5m.
Following a briefing by energy ministry officials, finance committee chairman Nicholas Papadopoulos (DIKO) said that in 2015 the fund’s revenues are expected to be €20.2m and expenditures €23m; and €20m and €22m, respectively, the following year – meaning that in three years’ time the fund’s surplus will have vanished.
Thereafter, the fund will in all likelihood operate on a deficit.
“For the next 20 years we will be tying down consumers to prohibitive tariffs,” DISY MP Lefteris Christoforou said.
The fund has prior financing obligations for RES projects, and as the electricity utility’s cost of production drops, the financing burden shifts to the RES fund. Currently the EAC’s production cost is 11.5 cents per kWh, whereas overall production costs for RES are 33 cents per kWh. The difference will have to be paid out of the RES fund.
As AKEL MP Costas Costa explained to the Cyprus Mail , the government – and ultimately consumers – are “stuck” with the old contracts awarded to wind farms and photovoltaic parks.
The contracts were struck when the avoidance cost was much higher; it has since dropped considerably. For example, investors in wind farms had secured 24 cents per kWh, while photovoltaic parks (not net metering) got a guaranteed price of 31 cents per kWh.
The long-term contracts did not include a tariff renegotiation clause, so the government still has to pay the agreed price despite electricity production costs going down since.
“We’re paying for mistakes of the past,” Costa said.
Indicatively, it’s understood that out of the entire RES budget for this year, the lion’s share – some €22m – is tied to such old contracts. And €12m has been allocated to wind farms alone.
At least MPs got reassurances that domestic net metering systems are not being scaled back, as it initially appeared.
For 2014, the energy ministry has allocated 15MW to household net metering, the same capacity as last year. In addition, 5MW goes to net metering for small businesses (these do not sell the electricity to the power utility), and another 5MW to small-scale photovoltaic parks (20kW to 150kW capacity range).
A new net metering scheme is to be launched this week, with the government accepting applications as of Thursday, MPs were told.
However the amount set aside this year for financially vulnerable households has been slashed to €1m, from €4m allocated to the first net metering scheme in 2013.
Last year’s scheme subsidised vulnerable households to the tune of €900 each. Some 2,000 households were targeted, but only 400 applied.
The reduction in the amount for 2014 took into account this poor response as well as the fact that already half the year has gone by.
Meanwhile it’s as yet unclear whether the licenses for two solar thermal parks will be granted. The energy regulator is still considering its position.
Recently the government informed the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA) that it had revised its RES plan, by downgrading the total capacity of PV systems for homes and small businesses to 13.5 megawatts (MW) from about 30MW as initially planned for 2014.
The reason cited for the policy change was a recent decision by the cabinet approving the construction of two solar thermal parks of a combined capacity of 100MW. It was feared that the increased penetration of solar thermal energy would crowd out domestic net metering systems.

Cyprus’ economic adjustment programme remains on track and progress has been made in all key objectives, the European Commission said on Tuesday, though challenges still exist.
According to an EC paper that evaluates the island’s programme, despite its severity, the recession was less pronounced than expected in 2013 (5.4 per cent), thanks to tourism and professional services, and the less than expected decrease in private consumption.
Unemployment levels increased significantly but the labour market proved flexible, while the gradual adjustment of wages helped to contain the fall in employment, the report said.
However, the need for private and public debt adjustment from the current high level will continue to act as an obstacle to economic growth.
GDP is expected to decline by a further 4.2 per cent in 2014, and the economy is expected to return to modest growth of 0.4 per cent next year.
Improvement would be gradual as domestic demand is burdened by the need to reduce the high debt levels, but the Commission thinks these challenges are following a downward trend.
The risks stem mainly from slower than anticipated recovery of non-performing loans, a possible prolonged period of tight lending conditions, a slower than expected deleveraging process for households, further deterioration in the labour market and worsening tensions in Russia and Ukraine.
According to the Commission, the budgetary targets for 2013 have been achieved to a remarkable degree, both because of continued prudent budget execution and the less severe recession.
The public deficit in 2013 was about two percentage points below the target set, while the government deficit in 2014 is projected to be about half a percentage point lower than expected, at 5.3 per cent of GDP.
Regarding the banking sector, the Commission notes that there are emerging signs of stabilisation, although there are still significant challenges.
The challenges have to do with the need for consolidation of the balance sheets of banks from the high level of non-performing loans and to reduce the debt of the private sector so as to restore credit and sustainable development.
A key element to this purpose is the development of a suitable framework for debt restructuring, the Commission said, adding also the need to continue work on the implementation of the restructuring plans of domestic banks.

The government said on Wednesday that only 17 state officials, including the 11 ministers, were entitled to business class travel, after the uproar caused by a cabinet decision to reinstate the privilege after 16 months.

The clarification was deemed necessary “because the May 19 cabinet decision was misinterpreted,” a government statement said.

The eligible officials, when the trip exceeded five hours including stopovers, were the president of the Republic, House president, Supreme Court president, attorney-general, government spokesman, undersecretary to the president, and the 11 ministers.

The statement said that officials will fly economy on trips that did not exceed five hours unless the cost was covered by an international organisation.

The provision covered state officials and public servants.

It is understood that the president of the Republic, House president, and Supreme Court president are exempted.

The announcement came a day after main opposition AKEL tabled the matter for discussion in parliament following the uproar caused last week when it was reported that the government had reinstated business class travel for state officials around 16 months after it had been scrapped for austerity reasons.

The measure banned business or club class travel for various state officials with the exception of long-haul or “transatlantic” flights as they were called.

However, a circular issued by the treasurer in May, said that the term ‘transatlantic’ meant flights over five hours including stopovers.

This meant shorter trips, like Brussels, which is not served by a direct flight, were now added to the list.

The government said it concerned ministers only, an argument that was strongly disputed.

Critics rejected the government’s position, arguing that it could not be ministers only when a circular sent by the treasurer, to inform of the decision, was addressed to a large number of state officials.

By Andreas Vou

PETROS Chrysochos’ run in the boys’ singles at Roland Garros was brought to an abrupt end after the young Cypriot lost 6-1 6-2 in his third round matchup against Andrey Rublev.

The 18-year-old from Larnaca went into yesterday’s match on the back of some impressive showings in the previous two rounds where he defeated Theo Fournerie of France and Nino Serdarusic of Croatia.

However, he was rapidly brought back down to earth with a ruthless display from Rublev as the Russian raced into a 4-0 lead before polishing off the first set 6-1 in just under 25 minutes.

Along with Stefan Kozlov, Rublev had defeated Chryochos and his partner in the second round of the doubles tournament the day before, and it seemed to have given the Russian a psychological edge over his opponent.
After Rublev claimed the first game of the second set, Chrysochos was given a chance to recollect his thoughts and regain focus as the match was suspended for several hours due to rain.

It served as little help, however, as the Russian star, ranked No.4 in the junior rankiings, continued in the same manner as he had in the first set.
The second set ended 6-2, in just a minute longer than the first set had taken, sending Chrysochos out of the tournament in an unexpectedly one-sided affair.

Despite the manner of the defeat which is certain to disappoint a self-demanding competitor, Chrysochos can leave the tournament with his head held high and takes the vital experience into his upcoming challenges.

Big things had been expected of the Cypriot due to his excellent streak going into the tournament after having won the ITF Futures Tournament in Egypt, his first pro tournament win, as well as the Astrid Bowl in Charleroi in the last month, but it was not to be this time around.

Briton Andy Murray ended home hopes by beating Gael Monfils 6-4 6-1 4-6 1-6 6-0 in front of a roaring crowd on Wednesday night to reach his first French Open semi-final since 2011.

The last Frenchman standing in Paris sent the decibel levels soaring when he stole back the third and fourth sets but Wimbledon champion Murray was in a hurry to take the fifth and ensure the match did not go into Thursday due to the fading light.

Showing few sign of the back injury that kept him out of last year’s tournament, the seventh seed controlled play from the baseline in the first set, although the 23rd seed gave home fans hope with some returns from improbable angles.

The Scot stormed to a 5-1 lead in the second, but took eight set points to close it out after the game was halted when a ball dropped out of Murray’s pocket during play, sending both players to lobby the umpire before Murray conceded the point.
Murray, who reached his 14th grand slam semi-final, will play defending champion Rafa Nadal in the last four.

Nadal survived David Ferrer’s early fury to advance into the semi-finals with a 4-6 6-4 6-0 6-1 win in a repeat of last year’s final.
World number one Nadal, chasing a record-extending ninth Roland Garros title, had no answer to the fifth seed’s pace on court Suzanne Lenglen in the first set.
But Ferrer, one of three men who have beaten the claycourt machine on his favourite surface this year, ran out of steam in the second, which he narrowly lost before Nadal devoured him.
Nadal won 10 games in a row – and 13 of the last 14 – to wrap it up on his first match point

In the women’s draw meanwhile, ‘twisted soul’ Andrea Petkovic joyously planted a kiss on her racket frame after she battled through drizzle and swirling winds to set up an unlikely French Open semi-final showdown with Romanian Simona Halep.

The 28th seeded German came close to turning her back on tennis a year ago after being hobbled by back, ankle and knee injuries but 12 months on she was getting up close and personal with her racket after blowing Italy’s Sara Errani off court with a 6-2 6-2 win.
“I never kissed my racket before in my life. I don’t know what happened to me. I was just overwhelmed by emotion. I had no boy to kiss, so I kissed my racket,” laughed the bubbly 26-year-old after reaching her first grand slam semi-final.

A match featuring 10 breaks and 32 unforced errors was never going to be pretty and a three-hour rain delay left Roland Garros feeling more like a winter wonderland as temperatures dipped to a chilly 10 degrees Celsius. But Petkovic won the points that mattered.
A match that started with spectators huddled under blankets on Philippe Chatrier Court ended with Petkovic beaming in delight as Errani slapped a backhand wide.
After becoming the first German woman to reach the last four in Paris since Steffi Graf in 1999, a player who is influenced by the writings of a number of philosophers said she would now “like to call Freud and ask him what he thinks about… my twisted soul.”

Such a thought is unlikely to trouble Halep, who will be more interested in concentrating on Petkovic’s tennis skills after she too reached her first major semi-final with an equally scrappy 6-2 6-2 win over 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
“It was a perfect day for me,” said Halep, who is bidding to become the first Romanian woman to win the claycourt major since her manager Virginia Ruzici achieved the feat in 1978.

CHRISTODOULOS Christodoulou, a 74-year-old resident of Sia village reported missing from his home on May 30, was found dead Wednesday morning, police have said.

A police spokesman told the Cyprus News Agency that Christodoulou’s body was spotted at 6:40 am in a ravine near Kornos village.

Coroner Sophoklis Sophokleous visited the scene and reported no evidence of foul play.

According to the police, an autopsy will be performed today at Larnaca General.

A FIRE continued to rage throughout the night in the Yerovasa area, between Limassol and Paphos, that has so far burned three square kilometres of wild shrubbery.

Fire service spokeswoman Lisa Kemidji said on Wednesday night that twelve fire engines, three forestry department vehicles, as well as two civil defence and six Limassol district vehicles have so far been engaged to fight the fire.

Eight aircraft, including two from the British bases, were also being used to fight the blaze.

Police said that the roads from Pretori to Filoussa and from Kidasi to Trachypedoula villages were closed as visibility was very poor due to heavy smoke from the fire.

The fire started shortly after noon Wednesday near the village of Dora, near Limassol, and moved toward Arsos, before reaching Kedares, Paphos. Civil defense instructed Kedares residents to assemble at the village square as a precaution.

Reports from the site indicate that heavy winds complicated the firefighters’ efforts, reigniting the fire late in the afternoon after firefighters had nearly brought it under control.

Fire service chief Markos Trangolas said that nighttime’s milder winds would allow his units to try control and extinguish the fire, but operations were made harder due to the rough and inaccessible terrain.

The same area had also suffered a big fire last summer, Trangolas said.