By Evie Andreou

THE Larnaca district office has been clamping down on illegal caravan settlements along the district’s coast, but former Environment Commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou said having only three registered camp sites on the island is simply not enough to meet growing demand.

Reports this week said that even though crews from the district office had closed off the Meneou-Mackenzie beach to caravans, they relocate themselves to other areas, especially along the Larnaca-Dhekelia coastal road. This, they said, causes problems for the beach-going public.

“Caravans are only allowed to park in licensed camping sites and their presence anywhere else other than such places is considered illegal,” a Cyprus Tourism Organisation official told the Cyprus Mail.

Reportedly, caravan owners that are parked at the Larnaca beachfront have been notified by the police to leave and if they refuse to comply they will be reported and their caravans will be towed.

“According to the law on beaches, for a caravan to be parked at the beach, a licence must be obtained, but no such licenses are issued,” said Theopemptou. He said such ‘settlements’ hindered access to the beach and caused hygiene and other issues since there was no sewage system and waste water from the caravans might end up in the sea or the ground.

But as there are no registered camping sites in the Larnaca region, caravan holidaymakers complain that they have no alternative.

The three registered coastal camping sites on the island are located in Limassol and Paphos; Limassol hosts Kalymnos camping site in Governor’s beach in Pentakomo and in Paphos there is the Feggari camping site in Coral Bay and the Polis Chrysochous camping site.

Theopemptou said new sites need to be created because camping tourism had increased due to the financial crisis. Aside from that, he said existing campsites were not being properly run.

“There must be rules and rules are not applied,” said Theopemptou. He said the way camping sites usually operate in Cyprus was unacceptable and that the government must step up and introduce new legislation that will ensure that camping sites serve the purpose they are supposed to.

“Kalymnos camping in Governor’s beach is the most tragic example; people live permanently there, permanent structures have been erected… unacceptable,” he said.

The property is facing having its licence revoked by the CTO, which is examining whether it still fulfils the criteria of a camping site.

“You cannot erect a permanent structure at a camping site, everyone must evacuate the site once every month that is what usually happens to such places abroad,” Theopemptou said.

He also gave as an example the Troodos camping site, where authorities had to evict permanent squatters in 2012.

POLIS SEEKS INVESTORS

POLIS Mayor Angelos Georgiou responded to reports that the Polis campsite, the island’s most popular one among young people, would be seeking a strategic investor.

He told the Cyprus Mail the municipality was doing its best to secure funding for the long-awaited upgrade to the site, perhaps through the EU and was waiting for government help. If not, they might open the camp to strategic investors but no decision would be made until at least September, he said. He declined to give further details, although the possibility of a strategic investor was mentioned as far back as 2012.

By Elias Hazou

TAXPAYERS are picking up the tab for DIKO deputy Marios Garoyian’s two secretarial allowances, one in his capacity as an MP and the second as a former House Speaker, it has emerged.

According to data released by the Treasury, Garoyian receives €1,025 a month in secretarial allowance as an MP, a perk to which all deputies are entitled. The allowance is incorporated into the MP’s salary, which comes to €6611 gross a month.

On top of that, Garoyian is paid €3019 in secretarial allowance as former House Speaker – a position he vacated in June 2011.

The issue came to the fore after opposition AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou queried the government as to which state officials receive two same-kind allowances.

Asked by daily Politis whether it is not provocative for an official to get two allowances for the same purpose, Garoyian said that he only receives what he is entitled to under the law.

He went on to say that the secretarial allowance is part and parcel of the salary of all MPs – irrespective of whether they have hired an assistant or not – and wondered how many deputies actually have a secretary.

Moreover, in a bid to justify his own perks, Garoyian noted that he employs two secretaries, wanting to say that he does not pocket the additional allowance but that the amount is paid to his extra assistant for work rendered.

The former DIKO leader also said that he would not oppose any legislation slashing or abolishing allowances, provided this concerned all state officials.

Meanwhile, the data released by the Treasury cleared up another matter: Garoyian, who as former House Speaker gets to be chauffeured everywhere in a limo, does not also receive a mileage allowance to which MPs are entitled.

Garoyian travels around in a 55 horsepower Mercedes E500. Defending this perk, the former DIKO party leader said that a year ago he requested from the finance minister that his limo be replaced with a lower-horsepower car.

He has yet to receive a response from the ministry, he added.

An amending law seeking to rationalise the use of limos by public officials has been passed, but its entry into force was suspended until October.

The latest list of eligible officials includes the President of the Republic, the House Speaker, the President of the Supreme Court, the attorney-general and deputy attorney-general, the auditor -general, former presidents, ministers, the government spokesman, the undersecretary to the president, the First Lady, the chief of police, the commander of the National Guard, as well as the head of the intelligence service.

For other officials currently using state-provided limos, the cabinet decided that these officials can keep their vehicles on a personal basis until their term is over, but no later than January 2016.

The cabinet said the use of a state car is allowed only for state business and that transportation to and from the official’s residence is not considered ‘state business’. How this can be verified is another matter.

RESPONDING to a question whether any officials were receiving more than one allowance under the same category, by AKEL deputy Irini Charalambidou, the office of the Accountant-General named former DIKO leader and former President of the House Marios Garoyian. Now, just a deputy, Garoyian receives two allowances for the employment of a secretary – €3,019 per month as a former President of the House and €1,025 as a serving deputy.

Although he is entitled to the two allowances by law and he has done nothing illegal this is still a scandal – a lawful form of theft from the impoverished state that is being kept afloat by assistance from abroad. Does Garoyian actually spend €4,044 a month on secretarial services? No. He is just a deputy – and not a very active one – and the €1,025 allowance he receives should more than cover his needs for secretarial services. This means the remaining €3,000 is part of his income on which he pays no tax because it is an allowance.

We doubt the deputy has offered to return this allowance to the state or donate it to a charity given that it is not being used for the purpose it is paid. Of course, the DIKO deputy is not to blame for the absurd laws, designed to give former top officials as much state money as possible for as long as they are alive. Everybody knows that former presidents of the Republic and of the House do not spend €500 a month on secretarial services, so why are we paying them six times that amount, on top of the fat pension they receive? Garoyian is in his early fifties so we could be paying him for secretarial services he does not use (not to mention providing him with state limo and police bodyguards) for another 30 years.

This squandering of public money is a scandalous provocation at a time when people depend on food handouts to survive. Former presidents of the Republic and of the House receive very generous state pensions which are more than adequate to cover the cost of occasional secretarial services they might require. Of course all our elected officials are at it. Does the average deputy spend a grand a month on secretarial services? No, but the allowance for secretarial services was thought up by deputies as a way of boosting their monthly remuneration, without paying any income tax on the amount.

It is a lawful form of theft, a lawful way of receiving money from the state under false pretences. Somehow, we doubt deputies would be rushing to change the law that allows Garoyian to collect €4,000 for secretarial services he has no need for every month, because the secretarial services scam benefits them as well.

By Evie Andreou

THE cost of a cool beer and a burger at some of the island’s five star hotels could set you back a good €50 per couple, while water in a small bottle seems to be more expensive than a litre of petrol, a government study has shown.

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has said it is ready to respond and investigate all holiday complaints as it published its survey of food and drink items at main resorts.

The CTO said that the organisation’s inspectors were at the service of the public and were ready to investigate any complaints on site.

In 2013, CTO received 153 complaints for poor sanitation, bad behaviour, hotel establishments and profiteering.

The tourism authority said that in serious cases where the complaint concerns one of the establishments registered with the CTO, the organisation may proceed with legal action.

The organisation said it could not interfere if there were complaints regarding reservations made online through a company registered in another country.

The CTO’s pricelist list – the Greek version of which was published last month – reveals prices for food, water and coffee in 157 coastal bars, restaurants and hotels.

As may be expected, four and five-star hotels are the most expensive, although some are pricier than others.

A bottle of water is usually the most basic item purchased. The cheapest price for a small bottle of local mineral water, 500 ml, can be found at Melanda Beach restaurant in Avdimou Limassol for 75c, followed by Limni Family restaurant in Ayios Theodoros, Larnaca with 80c. The Four Seasons Hotel in Limassol is the most expensive with €4.75, but on average prices for a small bottle of water range between €1 and €2.

Orange juice (250ml) on average is sold €1.50 to €3 with the cheapest at Goody’s restaurant Limassol No2 where 400ml of juice can be bought for only €1.80 and at Limni Family restaurant for €1.40. For those who want to splurge, Limassol hotels Four Seasons and the Le Meridien offer orange juice at €6 and €5, respectively.

The cheapest frappe iced coffee is sold at Goody’s restaurant Limassol for €1.80 and the prices rise to €5 and €6 in various five star hotels in Limassol. The average price of frappe in coastal establishments is between €2 and €4. The list, however, doesn’t indicate quantity.

Several beach restaurants in all the coastal towns sell Cyprus coffee for €1, which is the lowest price. The most expensive cup of coffee in the list can be found at H.H. Grand Resort in Limassol for €4.50. Most establishments sell it between €1.50 and €3.

A can of soft drinks – 330ml – on average is been sold between €1.50 to €3 with the most expensive being at the Four Seasons hotel  for €4 per 200 ml, and Amathus Beach hotel for €4 per 250 ml, followed by a few other hotels at €4.

Akroyialli Beach Restaurant in Mazotos has the cheapest price for soft drinks on the list with €1.30.

The cheapest can of local beer, 330ml, is sold at Argakiko Restaurant in Argaka, near Polis, for €1.80, followed by several other restaurants at €2. H.H. Grand Resort in Limassol is the most expensive on the list with €6, followed by Le Meridien, Amathus Beach and the Four Seasons with €5.50. On average, local beer is sold between €2.50 and €3.50.

Burger with fries can be found on average between €5 and €7.50. At €1.80, Goody’s Restaurant in Limassol is the cheapest, although it doesn’t specify if the price is just for a burger or with fries. A beef burger with chips costs €4 at Nissi Bay restaurant in Ayia Napa and burger and fries at the kiosk of the Paralimni fishing shelter costs €4.15. The most expensive burger and fries are served at Almyra and Annabelle hotels in Paphos for €16.50.

The list in English can be found at www.visitcyprus.com, under Cyprus Facts. The list is called ‘Prices for popular food and drink items in beachfront catering establishments – 2014’.

With regards to the investigation of complaints, the tourism authority is urging the public to call their offices if they have any complaints they want to report on 22691100.

http://www.visitcyprus.com/wps/portal/getting_to_cyprus/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3hXN0fHYE8TIwN3A2MDAyNXI2cPE48gA28jA6B8JG75YCMCusNB9pnFG-AAjgYQeXzmo8hbGHpZAOW9Tb28jEyMDC2M9P088nNT9YNT8_QLciMMMgPSFQFG4zxE/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfRUZBQVNJNDIwRzAzMDAyRTJDSDRIUjBLMjA!/

By Nick Carey

Missouri’s governor moved to ease tensions on Thursday after days of racially charged protests over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, putting the African-American captain of the Highway Patrol in charge of security in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

Captain Ron Johnson, who grew up in Ferguson, told reporters he would take a “different approach” to policing after complaints that officers used heavy-handed tactics, arresting dozens of protesters and using teargas and pepper pellets to break up crowds.

Protesters filled the streets for a fifth night on Thursday in the mostly black suburb of Ferguson and also assembled in other U.S. cities following the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown last weekend.

The mood was boisterous but peaceful, even festive at times, in sharp contrast to tense nightly standoffs between heavily armed riot police flanked by armored cars and angry protesters, as well as episodes of looting, vandalism and violence.

Thousands of demonstrators, including more white protesters than on previous evenings, gathered late into the night near the site of Saturday’s shooting.

In sharp contrast to Wednesday night’s heavy deployment by riot police, Captain Johnson and a handful of African-American officers without body armor walked among the crowd.

“We just want to be able to come and demonstrate together without the fear of being shot. It’s that simple,” said 53-year-old protester Cat Daniels, an Iraq veteran. “What you see tonight is people coming together. When that kid was killed the hurt and the pain was real.”

In the forecourt of a gas station burned out during rioting earlier this week, a cowboy rode a horse and a group of children danced on pavement covered in chalk drawings with the words: “Now the world knows your name, RIP Mike.”

Elsewhere drivers honked horns and waved signs in solidarity and one group of demonstrators even took to the streets on a car-sized replica of the fictional steam locomotive Thomas The Tank Engine.

“It’s because of this young man right here,” Captain Johnson told a CNN reporter, holding up a picture of Brown to shouts of approval from protesters around him. “It’s about the justice for everyone.”

The protests have cast a spotlight on racial tensions in greater St. Louis, where civil rights groups have complained in the past that police racially profiled blacks, arrested a disproportionate number of blacks and had racist hiring practices.

Brown’s shooting galvanized a national moment of silence and rallies in other U.S. cities.

In New York, a large crowd briefly overwhelmed a small police presence in Union Square park, forcing officers to scramble to close one of Manhattan’s major thoroughfares. Local media showed a handful of protesters being arrested.

In St. Louis, CNN footage showed hundreds of people peacefully assembled in the shadow of the iconic Gateway Arch, Brown’s mother and other family members among them.

Seeking to defuse the situation earlier on Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama had called on police to respect peaceful demonstrations.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said Ferguson lately “has looked a little bit more like a war zone, and that is unacceptable.”

Police have pledged to do better but have also justified the tough tactics, saying they have responded to the threat of violence during protests.

“WHAT’S HIS NAME?”

Protesters have decried what they say is a lack of transparency by police investigating Saturday’s shooting, including the refusal to release the officer’s name.

On Thursday night in Ferguson, around 200 demonstrators chanted, “what’s his name? what’s his name?’” at Johnson and the St. Louis County police chief, Jon Belmar.

Police said they plan to release on Friday the name of the officer who shot Brown, according to CNN and Los Angeles Times reports.

Some critics have also called for St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCullough to be removed from the case.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that police had accepted an offer of technical assistance from the Justice Department “to help conduct crowd control and maintain public safety without relying on unnecessarily extreme displays of force.”

The Justice Department, the FBI and the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office are all investigating Brown’s death.

A law enforcement official told Reuters that Holder spoke with Michael Brown’s parent’s by phone as they and their lawyers visited the U.S. attorney’s office in Missouri.

Holder expressed his personal condolences for their son’s death and promised the department would conduct a full, independent civil rights investigation, the official said.

Early on Thursday, a member of the Anonymous hacker activist collective tweeted the name of a person alleged to be the police officer who shot Brown. But police and other Anonymous tweeters said the activist had named the wrong person.

There is little clarity on what occurred during Saturday’s incident. Police have said that Brown struggled with the officer who shot and killed him. The officer involved in the shooting was injured during the incident and was treated in a hospital for swelling on the side of his face, they said.

But some witnesses have said that Brown held up his hands and was surrendering when he was shot multiple times in the head and chest. (Reporting by Nick Carey; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, David Bailey in Minneapolis,

By Dmitry Medorsky and Maxim Shemetov

Dozens of heavy Russian military vehicles massed on Friday near the border with Ukraine, where a huge Russian convoy with humanitarian aid came to a halt as Moscow and Kiev struggled to agree on border crossing procedures.

Russia says it is carrying 2,000 tonnes of water, baby food and other aid for people in east Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists are fighting government forces.

Kiev and some Western officials have said they believe the convoy could be a cover for a Russian military incursion – a claim Moscow has described as “absurd”.

On Thursday, the convoy of some 280 trucks stopped in open fields near the Russian town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, about 20 km (12 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

It was still stationed there on Friday morning and a Reuters reporter at the scene saw a dozen armoured personnel carriers (APCs) on the move not far from the convoy.

Another Reuters reporter saw two dozen APCs moving near the border with Ukraine on Thursday night.

The Guardian reported on Friday its reporter saw several APCs crossing the border with Ukraine. (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/russian-military-vehicles-enter-ukraine-aid-convoy-stops-short-border)

The newspaper said the move was unlikely to represent a full-scale official Russian invasion, but it was clear evidence that Russian troops are active inside Ukraine’s borders.

Kiev and NATO have said they fear Russia will invade east Ukraine after massing more than 40,000 troops near the border. Russia says it is conducting military exercises and has no plans to invade. It also denies supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine with arms and funds.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over its role in east Ukraine and the earlier annexation of Ukraine’s region of Crimea, in what has become the worst crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

Kiev has said if the humanitarian convoy enters Ukraine without the consent of the authorities, the Ukrainian government would view that as an illegal Russian incursion, further heightening tension.

However, there is still a possibility that a deal could be brokered. Russia’s foreign ministry said it was in intensive negotiations with the Ukrainian government and the Red Cross.

A senior official of the Red Cross arrived in Kiev on Thursday for talks on aid.

Relief agencies say people living in Luhansk and in Donetsk face shortages of water, food and electricity after four months of conflict, in which the United Nations says more than 2,000 people have been killed.

Kiev blames Russia and the separatists for the plight of the civilians, but their situation has grown more acute as the Ukrainian military has pressed its offensive – including in areas where civilians live.

Artillery shells hit close to the centre of Ukraine’s separatist-held city of Donetsk for the first time on Thursday.

By Martyn Herman

MANCHESTER United’s pre-season performances have been encouraging but rehabilitation under new manager Louis van Gaal begins in earnest on Saturday when they kick off the new Premier League season at home to Swansea City (2.45pm).

Dutchman Van Gaal, whose managerial haul includes league titles in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, faces arguably his toughest task to date in restoring United quickly back to the top of English football’s pecking order.

United’s 20th league title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s farewell season was followed by a slump to seventh – their worst showing in recent years as Ferguson’s successor David Moyes found himself horribly out of his depth.

The only way is up, it seems, under van Gaal, though how fast and how high depends on him quickly implementing his own style on a squad that still looks thin on a quality in several areas despite 56 million pounds of spending.

A home clash with Swansea, starting their fourth season in the Premier League with long-serving defender Gary Monk now in charge, should give United temporary leadership of the table although champions Manchester City and Chelsea will be determined to put down early markers away from home.

City face Newcastle United on Sunday (6pm) while Chelsea, with a parade of new signings including Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, have to wait until Monday to launch their assault on a first league title since 2009-10 away to promoted Burnley (10pm).
Like Van Gaal and Costa, Chile striker Alexis Sanchez will also get his first taste of the Premier League as Arsenal begin with a Saturday evening London derby against Crystal Palace (7.30pm).

Liverpool, runners-up last season, begin life after striker Luis Suarez at home to Southampton on Sunday (3.30pm) from whom they signed Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren with a chunk of the cash they received from Barcelona for the controversial Uruguayan.

Tottenham Hotspur begin yet another ‘new chapter’ at West Ham United (5pm) with former Southampton boss Mauricio Pocchetino in charge while Everton, unlucky to miss a top-four spot last season having gleaned 72 points, visit promoted Leicester City (5pm).
United enjoyed wins against European champions Real Madrid and Liverpool during their north American tour and added a 2-1 victory against Valencia on Tuesday in their final warm-up fixture, after which striker Wayne Rooney was named as the club’s new captain in the wake of Nemanja Vidic’s departure.

With the onus on Rooney and fellow forward Robin van Persie to score the goals, United’s lack of central midfield flair, so apparent last season, could be solved by the quick feet of Ander Herrera who has signed from Athletic Bilbao.
Van Gaal knows a fast start will be vital to challenge last season’s top four and believes confidence is high as Swansea loom, although he also offered a cautionary note to the fans.

“They expect a lot and you can’t change everything in three or four weeks,” he said of the Old Trafford faithful who will have no European football to distract them this year.
“And the players can’t change either. We have to wait and see and develop. We need time but we have won every game up until now and that’s fantastic when you see our opponents. We have great confidence to play against Swansea City.”

While United are still expected to add to their ranks before the transfer window closes on Sept. 1, Chelsea and City appear to have concluded their main business.

Costa, whose goals fired Atletico Madrid to the Spanish title last season, scored twice in a 2-0 friendly win over Real Sociedad on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge in which Jose Mourinho played his likely starting team to face Burnley on Monday.

Mourinho, in the second season of his second spell in charge, believes Brazilian-born Spain international Costa will relish the physicality and pace of English football.

“It’s about his defensive work, mentality and ambition,” said the Portuguese coach, whose side shot themselves in the foot during the run-in last season.
“This is the player we bought and we were waiting for since last season. This is why we didn’t buy a striker in the winter market. We were waiting for him, we have him and hopefully everything goes well.”

One player who will not be pulling on a Chelsea shirt is midfielder Frank Lampard, who instead will feature in the light blue of Manchester City after one of the stranger pieces of transfer activity in the close season.

Lampard left Chelsea after 13 years in July to join MLS club New York City FC before being loaned to City for six months.
City, who also signed France centre back Eliaquim Mangala this week for 32 million pounds to go with his Porto team mate Fernando and Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna, will take some shifting from their perch.

“I am happy with the squad because I think we have a stronger squad this year than last year,” said manager Manuel Pellegrini, who side started slowly last season.

By Natalia Zinets and Richard Balmforth

Ukraine said its artillery partly destroyed a Russian armoured column that entered its territory overnight and said its forces came under shellfire from Russia on Friday in what appeared to be a major military escalation between the ex-Soviet states.

Russia’s government denied its forces had crossed into Ukraine and accused Kiev of trying to sabotage deliveries of aid. NATO said there had been a Russian incursion into Ukraine, while avoiding the term invasion, and European capitals accused the Kremlin of escalating the fighting.

Kiev and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Russia of arming pro-Moscow separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, and of sending undercover military units onto Ukrainian soil.

But evidence of Russian military vehicles captured or destroyed on Ukrainian territory would give extra force to Kiev’s allegations – and possibly spark a new round of sanctions against the Kremlin.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military, told a news briefing that Kiev’s forces had picked up a Russian military column crossing the border under cover of darkness.

“Appropriate actions were undertaken and a part of it no longer exists,” Lysenko said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko briefed British Prime Minister David Cameron on the incident and told him a “significant” part of the Russian column had been destroyed, according to statement from Poroshenko’s office.

Britain summoned Russia’s ambassador to ask him to clarify reports of a military incursion into Ukraine, and European Union foreign ministers said any unilateral military actions by Russia in Ukraine would be a blatant violation of international law.

NATO

Earlier on Friday, responding to reports that a Russian column had entered Ukraine overnight, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance had seen what he called a Russian incursion into Ukraine.

“It just confirms the fact that we see a continuous flow of weapons and fighters from Russia into eastern Ukraine and it is a clear demonstration of continued Russian involvement in the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine,” the NATO chief said.

A spokesman for Russia’s border guard service was quoted by Russian news agencies as denying that any Russian military units had entered Ukraine.

In a statement issued by the Russian foreign ministry, Moscow accused Ukrainian forces of intensifying the fighting against pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to sabotage Russian efforts to get aid into rebel-held areas.

After Ukraine reported the clash, Russia’s rouble currency weakened against both the dollar and the euro. Russian shares were also dragged lower.

The dollar hit a three-week low against the safe-haven Swiss franc, benchmark German 10-year Bund yields fell about 4 basis points to a new record low of 0.962 percent and European stocks sold off, led by the Russia-exposed German DAX index.

By George Markides

Co-op banks were nationalised in December 2013 with the state injecting €1.5 billion in taxpayer money – part of €2.5 billion earmarked for banks in Cyprus’ €10 billion bailout.

Before signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) co-ops were supervised by the Authority for the Supervision and Development for Cooperative Societies (ASDCS). ASDCS is a government department (not independent like the Central Bank) that is under the ministry of commerce. As per the MoU, co-op supervision was transferred to the Central Bank in August 2013.

Unlike commercial banks, co-ops escaped public scrutiny, despite them holding approximately 25 per cent of all deposits and 20 per cent of all loans in Cyprus.

At the end of June 2014, co-op banks produced their audited financial statements for 2013 adhering for the first time to Eurosystem standards.
Looking at their Profit and Loss statement for 2012 we find that co-ops had set aside an additional €174 million as provisions – an expense that reflects the bank’s estimate on how much money it stands to lose on its loan portfolio from customer defaults, revaluations etc.

In 2013 provisions increased by €1.9 billion, more than ten times the increase for 2012, with total provisions standing at €2.6 billion at the end of 2013.

This is a clear indication that co-ops underestimated risk prior to 2013 and speaks volumes about their lending practices.

Even more alarming is the sector’s Non Performing Loans (NPLs) reporting.

By the end of 2012 co-ops reported a mere 17 per cent of total loans as NPLs, and by the end of 2013 they reported 46 per cent.

There is no way NPLs increased in such a dramatic fashion in just one year, therefore it is obvious that prior to 2013 co-ops deliberately refused to acknowledge the full extent of losses to their loans portfolio and did not adhere to industry standards on NPL reporting.

Looking at their loan portfolio, 38 per cent of all loans are housing loans to natural persons (not real estate developers) and the overwhelming majority of those housing loans (89 per cent) are for building/purchasing primary residences. Another 32 per cent represent consumer credit.

More than half of consumer loans were non performing and 39 per cent of all housing loans were reported as NPLs by the end of 2013.

Since co-ops do not publish quarterly results there is no way of knowing if the situation has improved – highly doubtful – or how much it has deteriorated in 2014.

Unlike commercial banks, such as the Bank of Cyprus or Hellenic, where something close to one quarter of all NPLs are loans to a handful of real estate developers, almost all NPLs reported by co-ops are loans to natural persons.

Even under more favourable repossession legislation co-ops will find themselves falling out of favour with the public if they decide to call in on bad loans or foreclose on properties.

Setting the moral and societal aspect aside, going forward there is no way for co-ops other than to repossess properties.

In the notes accompanying the co-ops’ financial statements, under the section of uncertainties, we find a cautionary warning that says quite explicitly “The (co-ops) management is not a position to accurately foresee all developments that could have an impact on the Cypriot economy and on co-ops performance in the upcoming Asset Quality Review and Stress Tests (by the European Banking Authority and the European Central Bank respectively).” This is nothing more than an outright admission they will need additional capital after stress test/AQR results are in.

As mentioned above, Cyprus’ €10 billion bailout package includes €2.5 billion for future bank capital needs. The government and the central bank have already disbursed €1.5 billion to co-ops so there is another €1 billion left in the kitty, which should be enough to cover any capital shortfalls the tests may reveal.

However, if co-ops do not proceed forthwith with property repossessions including primary residencies, they will soon see their capital position depleted.

If the government kowtows to populist voices calling for the protection of primary residencies, there is a real danger that co-ops will request a second bailout since most of its NPLs will be unrecoverable by law.

George Markides, BSc and MBA, is an economics researcher

By Hermes Solomon

BAN KI-MOON, Secretary General of the United Nations finally lost his temper and uttered contemptuously, ‘This is disgraceful! This nightmare of the past four weeks must stop and not be allowed to continue!’

Immediately after that uncharacteristic outpouring he was ‘spoken to’by his superiors, whereupon his tone mellowed and he returned to regurgitate the UN ‘party line’, which was that effectively, Hamas must stop firing rockets or Israel would continue massacring innocent civilians, destroying entire neighbourhoods and families, and in particular, schools crowded with the homeless policed by the United Nations.

We lily livered, full stomached hypocrites succumbed to his forcibly mellowed tone and remained silent. But I can no longer contain my outrage… Exodus 21:24, the second book of the Old Testament states that a victim of violence can take an eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. That is followed in 21:25 by a burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise, etc.

Exodus tells how the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, the God who has chosen them as his people.

Led by their prophet Moses, they journeyed through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh offered them Canaan, the ‘Promised Land’ and a peaceful existence in return for their faithfulness to Yahweh’s laws and instructions for the Tabernacle.

Today’s Israelites, among the world’s best educated, most sophisticated and cultured of peoples, have sunk to depths of heartless and imprecisely targeted retaliation that outrage even their own supporters.

What does Exodus have to say about insatiable carnage? Were not thousands of Ashkenazy Jews imprisoned in Cyprus after their own sorry exodus from Europe, awaiting entry into the Balfour declared expropriated Promised Land of which Yahweh knew little?

How many Palestinian eyes have been gouged out this past month? How many more before this Israeli/Hamas madness stops for good?

The world’s media usually draws the line when it comes to the slaughter of children? But not this time; Ban Ki tried but was silenced.

Mass slaughter throughout the Near East continued unabated last week with Barack bombing the jihadists, purportedly in response to massacred Yazidis, (recent arrivals on the media scene) deflecting the spotlight momentarily away from Israel.

Why has Barack not yet reprimanded Israel? Or is the bombing of jihadists primarily intended to secure US/EU owned fossil fuel installations?

And just who is arming those murderous double-cabin cowboys – Saudi Arabia or Qatar?

The Gaza Strip has been imprisoned by world powers this past 60 years.

It is a mere 40 clicks long by an average of nine wide. The population stands at around 1.8 million on a strip of the land one twenty fifth the size of Cyprus. There is no natural source of fresh water and most essential commodities are imported via Israel.

Five thousand Palestinians are packed into one square kilometre as against 140 Cypriots in Cyprus. Wouldn’t we be screaming to break out if packed in like that?

The Strip’s coastline is blockaded by the Israeli navy and inaccessible to aid worker ships, thus today’s 450,000 homeless are unable to escape the horror and take refuge in places like Turkey or Cyprus (Interior Minister, Hasikos proposing we assist Near East asylum seekers when our migration department persistently abuses the human rights of those few we already have).

Can we not empathise…a little at least? Is man’s compassion for his fellow man to be found in his wallet rather than his heart?

Gaza Palestinians do not possess a well-equipped army to defend their towns against barbarism, a voice in the world other than home-made rockets (domestic gas bottles) 95 per cent of these ‘toys’ shot down by the US/Israeli Iron Dome missile defence system, while Israeli tanks despatch super shells from the Israeli/Gaza border which perforate walls and explode from the inside of a building out; reinforced concrete columns buckling as flat roofs cave in crushing cowering inhabitants.

In just a few weeks, twenty five per cent of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to ruins.

How do the inhabitants remain rational and sane when living in such slaughterhouse conditions, and in the same breath watch Israelis illegally build yet more settlements into the Strip and on the West Bank?

The Gaza casus belli might be flawed, but their plight, as that of Syrians and Iraqis, shamefully incriminates western powers, which hide their collusion with Israel behind platitudes, aid helicopters and unworkable resolutions.

Responding to Hamas’ ineffective rockets by annihilating civilians is hardly just – three Israeli civilian deaths against nearly 2000 Gaza men, women and children, never mind the 10,000 seriously injured.

Agreed, action by Israel to stop the rockets must be taken, but there is revenge and fanatical revenge.

Is it not written in Romans 12:19, “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord,” that proverb taken from the sixth book in the New Testament?

During this holy Christian week of Assumption, I only wish all Christians, Jews and Muslims practised what their priests/rabbis and teachers of the Koran preached. But perhaps religion, like art, is dead…and if not, then distorted to accommodate man’s evil intent against his fellow man.

The Israelites might be God’s ‘Chosen People’, but as many said after the Holocaust, ‘It’s time God chose somebody else!’

Unbeknown to them He did, and chose Barack and Vladimir. And by their leave, the Near East and Eastern Ukraine have become The Waste Land(s) of death and fossil fuels.

The 434 line poem, The Waste Land was published in 1922. Its first section, The Burial of the Dead is followed by A Game of Chess (between the gods I would like to think). TS Eliot uses the idea of a sterile wasteland as a metaphor for a Europe devastated by war and desperate for spiritual replenishment but depleted of the cultural tools necessary for renewal.

By Loucas Charalambous

THIS time every August, the mayor of occupied Morphou Andreas Pittas drafts a petition and, accompanied by a few others, visit the embassies of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, handing it to embassy employees.

This annual activity is an emphatic demonstration of our limitless hypocrisy, stupidity and irrationality, the key features that have marked our handling of the Cyprus problem and led us to the position we are in today.

This year, Pittas and his entourage’s first stop was the presidential palace. There, the deputy government spokesman assured them that “the president would not accept, nor would he agree to any settlement if the town of Morphou is not returned. Without Morphou there is no settlement.”

I really like the threatening tone of our political dwarfs who keep saying that if this or that does not happen we will not accept a settlement. They have been setting conditions for 50 years now, always employing an attitude of vindictiveness that verges on the triumphant.

It’s as if it is Turkey that would suffer from the lack of a settlement and we are punishing Turkey by rejecting an agreement. It’s as if it is our army that occupying half of Turkey and we were sending settlers to Asia Minor and buying off the properties of Turks. And of course Tayyip Erdogan must be having a good laugh at us thinking, may Allah help you never to accept a settlement.

But why did the Morphites go to the presidential palace to give their petition. We should be fair on President Anastasiades. He may have committed countless blunders, but if Morphou is still under Turkish control – and it looks like it will remain so forever – it is not his fault.

It is Nicolas Papadopoulos, Omirou, Perdikis and Lillikas that Morphites should be taking their petition to. They were the people who urged them to vote the ‘heroic no’ in 2004 and thus leave Morphou in Turkish hands. Had they listened to Anastasiades and voted in favour of the plan, Morphou would have been under Greek Cypriot control for the last seven years since October 24, 2007.

That is why Mayor Pittas and his entourage should leave aside the silliness, hypocrisy and crocodile tears for the loss of Morphou and look at who is to blame for the fact that “today we count 40 years of illegal Turkish occupation of our town”. He said this after handing over his petition to the US embassy, adding that “in these 40 years we are counting Turkish intransigence, we are counting Turkish provocativeness.”

This is complete nonsense. We gave away Morphou. Had he been sincere, he would have started counting from 2007 and would have said, “in these seven years we are counting our stupidity, because if we had agreed to take back Morphou in 2004 when it was offered to us, instead of uttering the ‘resounding no’, we would not be touring the embassies today with our petition. It serves us right that we lost it.” This is what Pittas should be saying instead of participating in this theatre outside the embassies every year.

I said that Morphou has probably been lost forever and I need to back up my claim. I do not know if Pittas has read the comments by Turkey’s minister for water resources about the plans for the distribution of the water that would be brought to the north from Turkey. He said that half the quantity would be supplied to all municipalities while the other half would be used for the irrigation of the Morphou plain.

Under the Annan plan, this plain – from Limnitis to Larnaka Lapithou on the Pentadakytlos range – with the exception of a narrow strip in the north giving Turkish Cypriots access to Lefka, would have been returned to us.

I just don’t think the Turks are ready to flood the Morphou plain with water and then give it to us. It is looking more likely that even the grandchildren of Pittas’ grandchildren will be passing by the embassies every August to deliver their petition.

By Evie Andreou

NICOSIA will probably have not one but two beer festivals this September because of a dispute between the organisers of the Septemberfest beer festival that dates back to 2011.

The dispute has lead to a court case, which begun on Tuesday, in which the man who claims that he was the driving force behind the capital’s beer festival is seeking compensation for violation of use of the logo and for unfair competition from his former partners.

Savvas Nicolaou, head of Display Art Company, who has been co-organising the Septemberfest event in Nicosia, has brought legal proceedings against the consortium organising this year’s event after he was told he would not be included in this year’s festival. This includes the Nicosia municipality, Nicosia Tourism Board, the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) and CK Matrix.

“It was my vision; I had the idea in 2008 and I approached the then Nicosia mayor Eleni Mavrou in 2010 and told her about it and she said that the municipality could only provide the space, since they had no funds,” Nicolaou told the Sunday Mail.

He added that Mavrou urged him to also speak with other organisations that could help, so he approached the Nicosia Tourism Board (ETAP).

Niovi Parissinou of ETAP said Display Art had been replaced by another company, CK Matrix, this year because Nicolaou had complained in the past that he had suffered financial losses from the festival and that he was no longer interested in taking part. He had also refused to give a portion of the festival’s proceedings to the municipality’s food bank and to ‘Angaliazo’ Foundation.

But Nicolaou said he was told, without any prior notice, that his company had been replaced only when he contacted ETAP to make arrangements to reserve the Costanza moat, the place where the festival has been taking place since 2011.

“They told me that I had been replaced by CK Matrix because I had complained that I was losing money from the event, just like that,” Nicolaou said.

He added that the municipality had asked him last year to raise the entrance ticket to the festival by €1 so that the extra money would be given to the food bank and the foundation, but he objected and came up with another idea, which the municipality had rejected.

“I did not want to raise the entrance fee because my vision is to provide quality affordable entertainment to the visitors. We charge €5 entrance fee and we give €2.50 back by offering a pint of beer,” Nicolaou said.

He added that he proposed that they find sponsors instead that would offer food and other necessary items to the food banks but the municipality objected.

“Last year I found a company that donated €2,000 worth of food stuff and I donated €1,000 worth of products too,” Nicolaou said.

Nicolaou has decided to go ahead and organise his own festival using the registered name – Septemberfest: Nicosia Beer Fun Festival – in Aglandjia at the Akadimia park between September 5 and 10, but said there was an effort underway to keep his festival from taking place.

“The education ministry is objecting to us having the festival in a park close to a school because they claim that such events may negatively influence the students,” Nicolaou said, adding that the school would not even be open during the festival.

“If that’s the case then why doesn’t the ministry object to the festival the municipality is organising, since the moat is right across the street from an elementary school?” Nicolaou asked, adding that many events where alcohol is served take place in school yards throughout the island.

The court hearing was postponed until August 27 and Nicolaou said that the judge said that he would have a ruling before the beginning of the festivals in September.

Meanwhile, the Nicosia Beer Fest, organised by the municipality, ETAP, CIIM and CK Matrix is due to take place between September 10 and 14 at the Constanza Moat.

By Maria Savva

A FEW THOUGHTS that might go through your head when thinking about your summer holiday this year may include beaches, relaxation or sightseeing. They might also include flight delays, cancellations, overbooking and lost luggage that could spoil any holiday, and which most people just take lying down as they are herded from one place to another under the guise of ‘air travel’.

Although it’s a small comfort for having missed your connecting flight or sleeping rough in an airport overnight, there is a mechanism to at least make the airlines pay for your discomfort.

Most people however, when asked what they think they’re entitled to usually think compensation extends to a drink and a sandwich and in extreme cases a paid night in a hotel.

In fact, you can be entitled to monetary compensation, but even if the inconvenienced traveller knows about it they must be prepared to deal with a maze of bureaucracy. To receive compensation one must first file an Air Passenger Rights EU Complaint Form, which is seven pages long, with an airline and/or a national enforcement body. And that’s just the beginning.

What people are not aware of is that there is help out there – those who will navigate that maze of bureaucracy for you… for a share of the spoils. Compensation may not amount to more than a couple of hundred euros in the end, but the more people that succeed, the more airlines will be forced to think twice before inconveniencing passengers.

In the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual Review 2014 it states that the EU’s 2004 regulation on passenger rights creates an estimated $4 billion in potential liability for airlines every year.

This regulation entails that if your flight is delayed by five or more hours, you are entitled to a refund. If denied boarding, or if your flight is cancelled or if it arrives more than three hours late to your final destination you are entitled to a compensation based on the distance of the flight and whether you are travelling within the EU or between an EU and non-EU airport.

Compensation ranges from €250 up to €600 depending on the distance to your destination.

Companies such as ‘AirHelp’ and ‘Green Claim’ can determine whether a person is eligible for compensation and assist with filing claims.

These companies help thousands of people file claims each year.

Tom van Bokhoven, co-founder of ‘Green Claim’, explains the process of figuring out if you are eligible to make a claim.

“Flight data is collected from flights all over the world. Furthermore, we collect weather data, court rulings and information from airlines and passengers. These sources combined make us able to make a good assessment.

Passengers only have to fill in their flight details and date of flight, answer a few questions and within seconds we are able to tell if a claim is eligible. After the claim is filed we will do an extra manual check,” he said.
According to Chrystel Erotokritou, a Cyprus official at ‘AirHelp’: “Filing a report takes passengers only a few minutes. On average it takes about two months to receive compensation.”

‘AirHelp’ keeps 25 per cent of the compensation, including VAT but charges nothing if the claim is rejected.
“AirHelp wants to close the gap between what legislation said people were owed and the ability for passengers to actually collect that money. They set out to streamline the process using data they collected,” she added. Since it launched in May 2013, AirHelp has helped about 45,000 passengers, it said.

There is also help available locally at the European Consumer Centre Cyprus’ (ECC Cyprus) at the ministry of commerce, industry, tourism and energy. According to its 2013 annual report the transport sector is the number one source of cross-border complaints, accounting for 28 per cent of the total.

According to its website, an example of a successful compensation story involved a Cypriot traveller who was flying from Larnaca to Sofia with his wife and baby. On arrival at the airport, they were informed that their flight would be delayed and they were not allowed to check in and were told that they had to do so in the morning. As a result they missed their flight. The couple had contacted the airline but had no success. After the intervention of ECC Cyprus and ECC Bulgaria, the consumer was fully compensated and was also offered a 50 per cent discount on a future flight, the ECC said.

ECC Cyprus: http://www.ecccyprus.org/index.php/en/ Tel 22867167
AirHelp: http://www.getairhelp.com/
EU Passenger Rights: http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

By Bejay Browne

BUYERS of properties at an unfinished development in Paphos are appealing to the authorities to step in and find a way to reach a solution which will allow them to retain and complete their homes after the developer went bust and is believed to have fled to the UK.

However, the future looks bleak, as the company – MDB properties – is now in provisional liquidation.
Buyers at the mis-named Paradise Hills estate in Marathounda are desperate to save their homes. They told the Sunday Mail that they hoped the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) the holders of the company’s loans, would communicate with them and lift lien, which they say has been placed on the development by the bank at the land registry.

However, BoC spokesman Costas Archimandrites said that there was nothing the bank could do, as legally, all communication in such cases, must be made through the company’s administrators or liquidators.

The Cyprus Mail first covered the owners’ plight four years ago and it was subsequently filmed for a UK TV show- ITV’s Holiday Homes from Hell. One of the site’s few residents, Lance Hames, said that since then buyers have remained in a state of limbo.

Lance and Tracey Hames sank all of their money into their ‘dream home’ and paid the equivalent of around €240,000 for their villa. MDB Properties Limited was dissolved in 2009. The couple paid their last installment just a few months before MDB went into administration.

Lance and Tracey Hames sank all of their money into their ‘dream home’

Hames said the levels of stress which buyers have been forced to face along with shattered dreams and an effective loss of huge amounts of cash has had a profound and negative impact on everyone.

“This is a ridiculous situation and we just want a solution; we need the bank to negotiate. Everything I have is invested here and the problems are always at the back of our minds. Two or three families have already broken up because of the strain. It’s putting a tremendous financial hardship on everyone.”

Owners at Paradise Hills waited for almost two years for MDB’s then administrator – One World – to come up with a rescue plan which included property owners coughing up on average an extra €10,000 each to finish the site, but they were subsequently informed that the bank has decided not to go ahead with the deal. One World informed the Cyprus Mail that it has since withdrawn itself.

A spokesman for the bankruptcies and liquidations section at the Registrar of Companies, confirmed that they were the provisional liquidator for MDB developers.

John Rowles is the sole resident of the apartment block on the estate

He said: “An official liquidator will have to be appointed, this will probably be a private company and will take some time as it’s a complicated case.”

He noted that a meeting of creditors and shareholders must be held first, which could take as long as the beginning of 2015 to occur. “It will be down to the bank to decide how much they need for the loans and all the owners can do is wait,” he said.

Hames said leaving buyers in limbo was illogical and that the best solution for everyone would be for the bank to release the charges and let them get on with finishing the site.

“There are two non performing toxic loans and the developer has gone bust, the current impasse doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Although 33 of the 46 or so units have been sold, only three are now permanently occupied, according to 77-year-old resident John Rowles. The ex-British Army serviceman, who once served in Cyprus, is the only resident in his block of flats and the lower part of the development.

“Some people have had enough and walked away. The prospect of getting our title deeds seems even further away.

Even though I love Cyprus and I love living here as it’s bright and I have wonderful views of the countryside, the development needs an enormous amount of work to put things right,” he said.

“I’m from a generation that was brought up to make the most of a bad situation and that’s what I’m trying to do. I have a roof over my head, but we have been well and truly shafted.”

Rowles paid the equivalent of around €90,000 for his apartment in 2006.

“I can’t see how this can be resolved. This wasn’t the way I imagined myself living when I retired,” he added.

The ghostlike estate is deteriorating badly in many parts, with staircases collapsing and dozens of properties lying empty.

Lance Hames has done his best to keep his property in good condition

Last October, the BoC petitioned a bankruptcy order which was issued against company director Martin Dean Bissenden, which was made at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent. This followed a statutory demand made by the bank on Biessenden for £2.4m in October 2012.

Hames said he is angered by the situation and believes both the BoC and government legislation is preventing him and others from selling his own property- through no fault of his own- and says they have all been badly let down.

We are stranded and trapped in a nightmare which was once a dream. The bank should never have given these loans out. The surety of only eight properties isn’t enough to cover it. The rest were already been bought and paid for.”
Hames says that although he tries to maintain the estate as best he can, it’s an uphill struggle. The entrance road was recently concreted, at a cost of €2,000. This was paid for by a number of the owners. Overgrown weeds were also cleared at their expense.

The disgruntled buyer said that he understands that an alternative outcome could see the bank attempt to auction the project off to a developer as they own the land, but as the buyers own most of the properties, the developer would have to reimburse them with the entire amount they paid for their homes.

“All the properties would be able to claim and it would be very expensive, no one in their right mind is going to do that,” he said.

By Constantinos Psillides

JOE Public doesn’t really care about politics on an international scale, no matter how many petitions he shares on Facebook. Out of sight is most certainly out of mind and the majority of us are usually more concerned with immediate problems and not whether Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.

Usually.

Because in this case their problem became our problem. After the EU imposed further economic sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis, Russia retaliated by announcing that it would stop food from the EU, the US Australia, Canada and Norway for a full year.

In Cyprus the embargo largely affects citrus farmers, since out of the €13.5 million in Russian exports €10.7m relates to citrus fruits, specifically an exclusively Cyprus variation called the mandora. Mandoras are described as a cross between an orange and a mandarin, used by Russian businesses to produce juice.

Cypriot citrus farmers reacted to the embargo by asking the government to separate its position from the rest of the EU and ask Russia for exemption. While the government isn’t probably considering open rebellion against EU’s foreign policy – since the country is completely dependent on the troika of lenders, the European Commission and European Central Bank being two of those three, along with the IMF, Cyprus is leading the charge in assessing the embargo fallout.

The latest news is that the extraordinary Agriculture and Fisheries Council that will decide on measures regarding Russia`s ban on EU food products, will probably take place on September 5.

“We and other countries ask for this Council to take place the soonest possible,” said Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis on Friday.

Time is not yet a factor in coming up with a solution, since according to the Cooperative Growers Marketing Union (SEDIGEP) head Andreas Christoforou citrus farmers don’t start picking their fruits till October. “That’s the grapefruit, orange and grapefruit producers, which makes up for 30 per cent of our citrus exports. Mandoras, our main product, are picked on January. If by then we don’t have a solution, this year is wasted,” Christoforou told the Sunday Mail.

Asked to comment on the government’s proclaimed attempt to find alternative markets, Christoforou laughed.

“Other markets? Where? On Mars? We exhausted every market there is. We even went to China. There are no other markets. Do we really think that other member states haven’t thought about that? Of course they did. And they are going to flood the markets with their products, forcing us to sell at ridiculous prices. Finding alternative markets isn’t an option. It’s the government’s wishful thinking.”

Christoforou estimates that around 2,500-2,000 families will be affected by the food embargo, losing their main – or perhaps only- source of income. “And Im not taking into consideration the 1,500 workers in packaging factories or the seasonal workers. It’s a domino effect and it will hurt us all in the end.”

Andreas Papaetis, 80, one of the biggest mandora farmers on the island, says that he just had about enough. “I planted every single one of my trees and if this goes on I will uproot them all myself,” said Papaetis, adding that in the last two years farmers were barely scraping by. “From the one hand we are plagued by the drought and now this comes along. The farming sector is in a tough spot and many of my fellow farmers are either uprooting their trees or dropping out of farming all together. If we lose the Russian market, it will be the end of us.”

Papaetis might blame the embargo but the state is not excluded from his angry rant either. “They don’t care. They simply do not care. The ministry should have suggested a new variation of fruit to grow by now so we can be ready when a restriction is put on mandoras. EU gave us  seven years more of growing them. What happens after that? It takes around seven years to grow trees to a point that they bear enough enough fruit to sustain the business. The ministry does nothing on the matter when they should be scrambling for new ideas. Why on earth do we need an agricultural research institute if they don’t try and come up with new fruit variations?”

The citrus farmer lays the blame with what he describes as an extremely high cost of doing business. “We cannot be competitive when our operational cost is one of the highest in Europe. We have a very high cost of labour and we pay through the nose for fertilisers and other farming supplements. The government could step in and talk to the unions and the importers of fertiliser but as I already said, they don’t care.”

According to Papaetis, based on the collective agreements signed with packaging factory workers, each worker is paid a minimum of €89 per day. The work force in packaging factories is predominantly female.

Haridimos Papadopoulos, 62, another citrus farmer, is equally pessimistic. “Chaos is almost upon us. The Russian embargo is the last nail in the coffin,” said Papadopoulos, claiming that citrus fruit prices have gone downhill in the last years, with no end in sight.

“Labour costs are high, farming supplements are expensive and we are just trying to squeeze some profit out of this situation,” he lamented, claiming that Turkish Cypriot citrus farmers are burdened with only a quarter of the cost.

Farmers’ union EKA general secretary Panicos Hambas told the press last week that Turkish Cypriot farmers would seize the chance and re-label their products as Turkish and export them to Russia. A scenario Papadopoulos sees as definitely happening.

“We cannot compete with them. Not in the slightest. Not with such a high cost of business.”

Papadopoulos has also been considering dropping out of farming but he says that it isn’t easy, citing emotional attachment. “It’s not just about the money. Farming it’s a calling, a hobby. I love planting trees and watch them grow. Imagine planting a small tree, the size of a pencil. Imagine watering it, taking care of it and watch it grow to a beautiful tree that rewards you with its fruit. And now imagine an EU bureaucrat or an accountant coming up to you and say that the tree you took care of for so long is worthless and you must get rid of it. It’s not easy for us to do that,” said Papadopoulos, admitting that if push came to shove he would do so.

Papadopoulos demanded of the government to compensate the farmers if their products go to waste due to political decisions but admitted that taking care of the monetary issue was not the main concern.

“Let’s just say that we are fully compensated for this year. What will happen the year after that? And the year after that? How are we going to get back our share of the Russian market now that other countries are racing to fill the gap created by the embargo? If we lose the Russian market, citrus farming is done for.”

By Patroclos

MOTHER Russia did not show any motherly love towards impoverished Kyproulla when it slapped its embargo on agricultural and food imports from the EU. Why would she, considering Kyproulla betrayed her, “identifying,” as Haravghi lamented on Wednesday, “to an absolute degree with the policies of the EU and US against Russia.”

Despite the “understanding publicly expressed by the Russian side for the Cyprus government, the fact that Cyprus products have not been exempted from the embargo, says a lot,” concluded the paper’s leader article on Wednesday. The lament was not restricted to the losses for the citrus fruit, fish farming and vegetable sectors, but extended to the “possible loss for good of a huge market, by Cyprus standards.”

And this was not the worst of it, the paper also worked in a Cyprob angle to its weepy editorial, to give the loss of fish, parsley and lemon sales a more patriotic dimension. The distraught editorial hack wrote:

“For Cyprus the blow is much bigger than the economic aspect. The blow relates to the political relations with Russia, which, as a member of the UN Security Council held positions of principle and supported the Cyprus case. Without this support, perhaps the Cyprus entity might not have existed at this moment…”

The Anastasiades government was squarely to blame for the betrayal of our mum, aligning itself completely with the EU and US from the start of the Ukrainian crisis, “once again turning its back on this country and disregarding Russian support for the Cypriot struggle.”

The lament finished with a sense of foreboding. “The price of this one-sided foreign policy will not be paid just by the farmers, but it will be paid very expensively by the Cypriot people.”

Was it implying that the Cyprus entity would cease to exist in the future without the devoted and principled maternal support?

WE DO NOT share Haravghi’s doom and gloom, because we know that a mother will always forgive her children’s bad behaviour and welcome them back into her warm embrace. Surely Mother Russia will not exhibit any vindictiveness towards her errant Kyproulla.

This slavish gratitude to Russia for her “support for the Cypriot struggle”, for holding “positions of principle” and for her “support for the Cyprus case” are a bit difficult to understand. What has this unwavering support for the Cypriot struggle ever achieved?

It is exactly 40 years since the dividing line was carved by the Turks and nothing has changed since then. Are we grateful because Russia helped us maintain the status quo for 40 years? At least the nasty Yanks and the West have tried to help us find a settlement ending the division, something our mother has never done.

Perhaps the high price, Haravghi fears we would pay, by losing Mother Russia’s support for principles is, God forbid, the end of the 40-year status quo.

THE LOSSES to farmers from the embargo are estimated to be €13.5 million even though government sources reckon it is half this amount. Exaggerating the cost has two purposes – it will allow us to claim bigger compensation from the EU and make claims to victimhood by the farmers and AKEL more believable.

The head of the AKEL farmers’ union Panicos Chambas accused the government of downplaying the big consequences of the embargo and offered a stat to back his self-pitying – proportionally, by population, Kyproulla was the worst-hit by the embargo, which would affect 2,500 families.

Chambas also worked in the obligatory Cyprob angle to his moaning. There was a danger that Russia would start importing Turkish Cypriot products, “baptised as Turkish.” Does Chambas not know that Muslims do not go for baptisms, not even for vegetables? Anyway, the Russians could adhere to their principles and refuse to accept the pseudo-lemons of the north.

OUR GOVERNMENT, to its credit, has been pro-active. The spokesman announced on Wednesday that it had submitted a request to the EU for an urgent meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries ministerial council to assess the negative effects of the embargo.

There was a meeting of the council on Thursday, a day after the spokesman’s request but it discussed the effects of drought on EU countries; it is not only Cypriot farmers who demand compensation from the EU.

However Tass news agency reported that the earliest the council of minister could discuss the embargo was September 5, but our government was pressing for the meeting to be brought forward, presumably because the speedy compensation of our farmers was a matter of the utmost theatrical urgency.

Agriculture minister Nicos Kouyialis publicly pooh-poohed Chambas exaggerations, saying that the consequences of the embargo for us were smaller than other countries of the European south. By September 5, farming unions could play with the stats a bit more and consequences for us could become much bigger.

AFTER the foreclosures bill-inspired theatre of courageous defiance and patriotic grandstanding, staged on Monday and Tuesday at the legislature, the politicians and the parties went silent. We have heard nothing from them since, as if they had given up their noble crusade to protect the poor from the ruthless banks.

They all appear to have lost their voice after Tuesday’s session – until then they were issuing three announcements a day against the bill – at which the Central Bank governor and finance minister explained the catastrophic consequences for the economy of not approving the bill. Suddenly they realised that the price of their heroic resistance to the Troika’s nasty efforts to have people kicked out of their homes, might be a bit too high, and they could not even claim that they had not been warned.

The super-heroic negativity used for the Cyprob could not be employed for the foreclosures bill, because the cost would not just be the maintenance of the status quo. The practical consequences of a resounding ‘no’ to the bill would be evident immediately and our freedom-fighter politicians would not be able to blame anyone else for new disaster.

THIS was why after Tuesday, Ethnarch Junior, who been on radio and television attacking the bill with the level of intensity and madness that he last deployed against the Annan plan, disappeared from the airwaves. He no longer wanted to tell us that the consequences of approving bill would be much worse than the consequences of not approving it.

He may have gone on holiday, or his economics advisor may have told him that his sound-bite was pretty dumb, and should avoid repeating it. Rumours were also circulating that DIKO could approve the bill if the government prepared legislation that would supposedly offer greater protection to primary residences and small businesses.

This meant that poor old finance ministry civil servants had to call off their holidays, according to one press report, to prepare a pointless, accompanying, bill that would supposedly address Junior’s deeply-felt concerns and allow him to support the foreclosures bill. Our politicians need an excuse to act responsibly, even though they never need one to act irresponsibly.

The bill being prepared is the face-saving excuse, because the Troika had made it clear that it would not agree to any changes to the foreclosures bill.

THE COMMIES of AKEL were in such a rut over the bill, you almost felt sorry for. They had been banging on for weeks that, on principle, they would vote against the bill. They had been hoping that the bill would be passed with DIKO and DISY votes and they could pose as the champions of resistance to the Troika.

When it transpired that DIKO would vote against as well, the comrades started panicking and fell silent. There were no more fiery announcements against the foreclosures bill and Akelite spokesmen stayed off the airwaves. The populists of DIKO were threatening to ruin the commies’ resistance fiesta by deciding they would be as heroically opportunistic as AKEL.

The atheist commies – whose government had accepted the drafting of foreclosures legislation in the memorandum agreed by Tof – will now be praying that Junior makes an about turn on the bill, because they know the consequences of its rejection would be devastating. But they could not possibly back the bill after the brave fight they put up against it, in the hope that other parties would act responsibly.

SOMEONE had to work in the Cyprob angle into the foreclosures bill and during the debate of the bill. This noble task was undertaken by the deputy of the Alliance of Lillikas, Nicos Koutsou. Koutsou expressed grave concerns that if the bill was passed, banks would become owners of many properties that they would try to sell causing prices to plummet.

The Turks would then come and buy all these houses at dirt cheap prices, warned Koutsou, expressing the certainty that this would happen. Even when it was pointed out by another deputy that Turks don’t buy Greek Cypriot houses, they just take them, he was not convinced – rejecting the bill was a matter of national survival, he insisted.

THE ZEUS group also slipped into Annan plan mode on the foreclosures, having a dig at the American billionaire Wilbur Ross who would be investing some €400 million in the Bank of Cyprus, if the happy bunny fails to block the capital issue later this month.

According to the Zeus-owned Simerini, Ross had a meeting with Prez Nik and allegedly threatened not to make his investment if the foreclosures bill was not passed. He reportedly demanded a commitment for Nik that the bill would be approved. How the intrepid Simerini reporter could have known what was said in a 15-minute courtesy call only she can say.

The source of the story could only have been someone from the happy bunny camp if not the happy bunny himself, who is doing everything he can to stop the capital issue that would bring his ludicrous chairmanship to an end.

The report, quoting sources close to the board, also made an issue of the fact that the mean and nasty, foreclosure-supporting Wilbur would take control of the board, the implication being that he would not be as nice to people with NPLs as the socially caring bunny.

FINANCE minister Harris Georgiades tried to put the record straight telling the House that during his meeting with Wilbur, the Yank never mentioned the foreclosures bill. Only a Russian director of the BoC had ever asked him to get the bill passed ASAP.

This did not stop Simerini’s columnists from using the report to have a go at Wilbur, who is a leading candidate for entry into Kyproulla’s Hall of Infamy. So strident is the paper’s opposition to the foreclosures bill, you’d think the Zeus Group had NPLs.

CITING private conversations of the prez to sell a lie is a bit of a cop-out, but the cunning Yiorkos Lillikas recently resorted to this technique in order to support the myth that he had not asked for a police guard.

He claimed that in a private meeting Prez Nik informed him that he would arrange two policemen to protect him, because he had heard of an incident that posed a security risk to Yiorkos. His fairytale is quite impressive, especially as he knows Nik will not issue an announcement to say that Lillikas was being economical with the actualite.

As if Nik had nothing else to think about other than Lillikas’ need for police bodyguards. And what was the incident that troubled the prez so much that he immediately decided that the uppity Paphite must have two cops to chauffeur him around? Had he been a target of pro-Annan plan terrorists supporting the foreclosures bill?

MARIOS Garoyian, former DIKO leader and former president of the House, has been trying to save the taxpayer some money, but has been completely ignored by the government.

“For a year now, I have been waiting for a response to my request for a car of less horse-power,” he said. His state limo is currently a 4-litre, petrol guzzler, and Garoyian does not want to burden the taxpayer with a big bill.

His concern for public finances, however, is not so deep that he would offer not to take the 3 grand a month for secretarial services he has no need for, as he is also receiving a grand a month for secretarial services as a deputy. The 3 grand, which is tax free because it is an allowance, will be paid to him for the rest of his life because he made the big sacrifice for his country to serve it as House president.

The state limo and police chauffeurs are also for the rest of his life as a mark of our appreciation for his service to the country.

THIS MONTH, the Cyprus courts, in two separate cases, found doctors guilty of medical negligence and awarded damages to the plaintiffs. Although these were not the first such court rulings, they have reinforced the view that things were changing and the days when it was unheard of for one doctor to give testimony against a colleague in medical negligence cases are over.

This had been the attitude for decades, motivated both by professional solidarity and a sense of self-preservation – a doctor who testified against another doctor was in danger of having colleagues testify against him or her in the future. But the code of silence appears to have been broken in the last years and there are more cases being driven to the courts, as long as a plaintiff is prepared to put up with years of hearings – one of the lawsuits mentioned above was filed in 2001.

There has also been pressure on the medical profession from changing social attitudes, people having greater confidence to question decisions by doctors, seeking second opinions and carrying out their own research. The aura of infallibility that surrounded doctors – patients trusting doctors’ judgment and actions absolutely because they were highly-educated and respected professionals – has ceased to exist as people have acquired a more critical mindset and recognised that even doctors make mistakes.

The era of the arrogant, super-confident doctors, who did not feel any obligation to explain decisions and the treatment they prescribed to patients and enjoyed the unequal doctor-patient relationship is coming to an end. This was underlined by the ruling of one judge, this month as he questioned the lop-sided doctor-patient relationship. He noted that the doctor had failed to inform his patient of the risks of the operation he was to undertake and said: “Medical paternalism no longer rules in modern law, and a patient has a prima facie right to be informed by a surgeon of a small but well-established risk of serious injury as a result of the surgery.”

A big step forward, as was the admission by the court of the evidence provided by the son of a patient who had had her leg needlessly amputated, because doctors and nursing staff had failed to diagnose leg embolism, despite being alerted to the black marks on her leg, on her admission to the hospital, by her son. This was another example of an individual not accepting the myth of doctors’ infallibility, seeking justice and winning his case.

It appears that even the Cyprus Medical Council has sensed that times were changing. Last June it issued an announcement urging doctors to testify in good faith when asked to do so. It did not mince its words. “We call on doctors, whose primary duty is to serve patients and protect their health, to overcome the valid, legitimate and natural sentiments of collegial solidarity, and testify their expertise honestly, ethically and professionally, where allegations of medical error or negligence are examined,” it said.

Things are certainly changing. Earlier in the week it was reported that the Attorney-General had ordered a criminal investigation against state pathologist Eleni Antoniou in connection with an alleged cover-up of an alleged medical negligence case. A 52-year-old woman died after a routine spinal surgery at Nicosia General Hospital in 2009, but her family questioned the autopsy results and demanded additional tests. These showed that the cause of death was not what had been given in the autopsy report. Once again, people doubted the doctors’ verdict and they were correct to do so.

Hopefully, these cases will bring about a change of attitude among doctors and they will feel the obligation to explain their decisions to patients; in fairness, many doctors already do so. More important though, has been the breaking of the code of silence and willingness of some doctors to put their professional integrity and honesty above what the Medical Council described as the “natural sentiments of collegial solidarity”. This is a big step forward that could contribute to the raising of healthcare standards.

It could also contribute to a rise in medical litigation, with lawyers trying to cash in on suspected negligence cases, and it would be up to the courts to keep matters under control because there is a strong tendency towards litigation in Cyprus.

By Bejay Browne

QUESTIONS are being raised in the House after officials alleged that harbour police refused a request from Peyia municipality to help remove a number of large boats without permits from an ‘illegal’ harbour. They are also questioning the legal status of the facility.

Peyia Municipality recently undertook a two pronged operation to clear local beaches of operators illegally renting speedboats and other vessels and sun beds and umbrellas, all without paying fees to the municipality.

According to Peyia local councillor, Linda Leblanc, the municipality asked the police and harbour police for support; the harbour police refused. She said that this lack of support and clarity over the legal status of the ‘marina’ meant that the second part of the operation fell flat.

“Parliamentary questions over the incident are now being raised by Green party MP Giorgos Perdikis. These include the port police’s alleged refusal to help with the operation and the actual standing of the illegal harbour,” she said.

The first phase of the operation saw sun beds and umbrellas successfully being removed from Coral Bay after years of permits remained unpaid, amounting to around 100,000 euros.

The second phase – aimed at removing a number of vessels, including speedboats, which are mostly hired out to tourists, from a small harbour at the next beach along – was described by Leblanc as a ‘fiasco.’

“The owner of the boats appeared to have been tipped off and arrived at the scene and we were unable to extract any of the property as we didn’t have the correct equipment and there was a lack of back up.”

Leblanc says the incident brought to light the fact that the municipality has no legal rights over vessels in the water and the harbour police were unwilling to help.

The councillor noted that this is the first time that any such operation had been undertaken by the municipality and went ahead only after pressure by the central beaches committee.

“The council had recently voted to allow the illegalities to remain as they are for this year but the new national beaches committee refused to accept this and gave us two weeks to sort out the illegalities or face a fine of 1,700 euros. So the municipality then acted.”

Leblanc said that the mayor has been angered by the failure of the operation and the council has vowed to get to the bottom of the issue.

“Every year we discuss action and no one has the courage to enforce the law. There seem to be vested interests and a fear about retribution for enforcing the law at Coral Bay.”

The municipality confiscated around 100-120 sun beds and accompanying umbrellas as part of the operation, according to the head of the Peyia beaches committee Nikkos Konnikos.

“There were about five licences which remained unpaid. This equates to about 1,000 euros a day in income for the municipality. Some of the licences date back to 1985. Some haven’t paid for over a decade.”

He said around 50 per cent of those owing money had now paid the entire amount. He noted that the income generated for the municipality by the permits is over three hundred thousand euros a year.

“From next year the municipality will be responsible for operating the beaches anyway so at least we will know that we will have a regular income,” he said.

Of the failed part of the operation, Leblanc said that even though the ‘marina’ is illegal, it seems as if the municipality doesn’t have any legal redress over boats moored there, despite being responsible for unpaid fees.

“The council has always been presented with the illegalities at Coral Bay and the marina as a package and were given clear instructions by Nicosia. But it seems the beaches committee may have thought the boats were on the beach and not in the water.”

The local council along with the Green party is now investigating and questioning the legality of the harbour area.

“We are now researching the permits and background. There is a distinct lack of transparency. A permit was given for an anchorage, which is not a marina or a harbour.”

By Josh Reich

One moment of attacking brilliance and a late Sergio Aguero strike gave Premier League holders Manchester City a winning start to their title defence as they eased past Newcastle United 2-0 away on Sunday.

Ivorian powerhouse Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko combined to set up Spaniard David Silva before halftime while Argentine Aguero added a second just before the final whistle.

While the performance was far from vintage, City manager Manuel Pellegrini will be pleased with the three points after last week’s 3-0 Community Shield loss to Arsenal indicated his side may have some early season rust.

Earlier, last season’s runners-up Liverpool beat a stubborn Southampton 2-1, goals from Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge either side of Nathaniel Clyne’s thunderbolt ensuring the post-Luis Suarez era at Anfield got off to a positive start.

Chelsea play at promoted Burnley on Monday.

CITY DOMINATE
The match at St James’ Park was preceded by a minute’s silence for John Alder and Liam Sweeney, the two Newcastle fans killed in the Malaysia Airlines crash in eastern Ukraine last month.

After kickoff City quickly began to dominate, with Tim Krul denying Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Samir Nasri within the first 12 minutes.

City’s wealth of attacking options came to the fore on 38 minutes, Toure playing a ball over the top from deep, Dzeko playing a lovely backheel into the path of Silva who placed the ball past Krul.

The hosts offered plenty of industry after the break, in marked contrast to some insipid performances last season, but they generally lacked the cutting edge required to seriously threaten, other than late chances to Ayoze Perez and Moussa Sissoko.

Aguero, who missed much of last season through injury, added some late gloss to the scoreline, beating Krul after his initial effort was parried.

“It was very important for us to start with a win,” Pellegrini told Sky Sports. “We talked to the squad about the ‘two hs’ – we were hungry and humble.

“We need both if we want to continue winning titles and improve on what we did last season. We didn’t have any clean sheets in pre-season but we were very solid in this game.”

LOVREN STARTS
Three players traded the south coast for Merseyside in the off-season but only Dejan Lovren started at Anfield, with striker Rickie Lambert on the bench and midfielder Adam Lallana injured.

Clear chances were in short supply for both sides until Jordan Henderson won the ball inside his own half on 23 minutes.

He split the Southampton defence with an incisive pass, allowing 19-year-old Sterling to calmly shoot past Southampton’s new goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

Liverpool earned plenty of plaudits for the way they tore teams apart last term, but after going a goal up they allowed Southampton to gain a foothold.

Clyne blasted in an equaliser after a neat one-two with Dusan Tadic, the Serb playing a delightful backheel to set up the right back.

Steven Davis missed a chance shortly afterwards, and the Saints were made to pay for the wastefulness when Sturridge, who scored 21 league goals last term, flicked the ball home after the impressive Sterling met Henderson’s cross.

“I’m really happy with that determination and character to win a football match,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. “As the season rolls on, we’ll get better and more fluent. It was very hard-fought.”

Chelsea play at promoted Burnley on Monday.

By Natalia Zinets and Thomas Grove

Ukrainian forces have raised their national flag over a police station in the city of Luhansk which was for months under rebel control, Kiev said on Sunday, in what could be a breakthrough in Ukraine’s efforts to crush pro-Moscow separatists.

Ukrainian officials said however the rebels were fighting a desperate rearguard action to hold on to Luhansk – which is their supply route into neighbouring Russia – and that the flow of weapons and fighters from Russia had accelerated.

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were meeting in Berlin and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said talks would focus on how to achieve a ceasefire and prevent weapons and fighters crossing into eastern Ukraine.

“The news from today shows that we are far from an end to the conflict. People are still dying. We have no ceasefire. We are far away from a political solution,” Steinmeier said before the meeting.

Russia denies helping the rebels and accuses Kiev, backed by the West, of triggering a humanitarian crisis through indiscriminate use of force against Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine who reject the Ukrainian government’s rule.

Andriy Lysenko, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said government forces fought separatists in Luhansk on Saturday and took control of the Zhovtneviy neighbourhood police station.

“They raised the state flag over it,” Lysenko said.

Separatist officials in Luhansk could not be reached by telephone, and a separatist spokeswoman in Donetsk, the other rebel strong-hold, said she had no information about Luhansk.

A photograph posted on Twitter appeared to show a Ukrainian flag on the front of the police station, but it could not be independently verified. pic.twitter.com/fhzEPyUpMp

If confirmed, the taking of the police station is significant because Luhansk has for several months been a rebel redoubt where Kiev’s writ has not run. Separatists still control sections of the border linking Luhansk region to Russia.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced another military success, saying his forces had recaptured a railway junction at Yasynuvata, north of Donetsk, which he said had “strategic significance”.

CRITICAL PHASE

The four-month-old conflict in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking east has reached a critical phase, with Kiev and Western governments watching nervously to see if Russia will intervene in support of the increasingly besieged rebels.

The rebels responded with defiant rhetoric and fighting.

Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday the separatists shot down a Ukrainian warplane.

On Saturday, Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said rebels were in the process of receiving some 150 armoured vehicles, including 30 tanks, and 1,200 fighters trained in Russia. He said they planned to launch a major counter-offensive.

“They are joining at the most crucial moment,” he said in a video recorded on Friday.

The assertion that the fighters were trained in Russia is awkward for Moscow, which has repeatedly denied allegations from Kiev and its Western allies that it is providing material support to separatist fighters.

“We have repeatedly said that we don’t supply any equipment there,” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

CONVOY

The Ukraine crisis has dragged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War and set off a round of trade restrictions that are hurting struggling economies in both Russia and Europe.

Adding to the tensions, Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads for days over a convoy of 280 Russian trucks carrying water, food and medicine.

It was despatched by Moscow bound for eastern Ukraine but has been parked up for several days in Russia near the border.

Kiev has said the convoy could be a Trojan Horse for Russia to get weapons to the rebels, a notion that Moscow has dismissed as absurd. It said the aid is desperately needed by civilians left without water and power and under constant bombardment from the Ukrainian advance.

After days of wrangling between Kiev and Moscow, there were signs of movement on Sunday.

Sixteen trucks separated from the main convoy and drove into a Russian bus depot near a border crossing into Ukraine, a Reuters cameraman said from the scene.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said that Russian and Ukrainian officials had agreed that the cargo could be inspected but had yet to agree on security arrangements.

“We will see this evening if the final obstacles can be overcome,” said Germany’s Steinmeier. “It would be good if this humanitarian aid could arrive where it is needed, in Luhansk, in Donetsk and other cities in eastern Ukraine”.

REBEL ROUT?

Ukrainian officials have painted a picture of a separatist force that is on the run and starting to panic – though rebel fighters Reuters reporters have spoken to in Donetsk say they are determined to stand firm.

In the past week, three senior rebel leaders have been removed from their posts, pointing to mounting disagreement over how to turn the tide of the fighting back in their favour.

The fighting has taken a heavy human toll.

The United Nations said this month that an estimated 2,086 people, including civilians and combatants, had been killed in the conflict. That figure nearly doubled since the end of July, when Ukrainian forces stepped up their offensive.

In Donetsk, which like Luhansk is now ringed by Kiev’s forces, artillery fire has struck apartment buildings, killing and wounding residents, according to Reuters reporters. Officials in Kiev deny they are firing heavy weapons at residential areas.