THE FINANCE minister’s decision to include an appendix in the state budget listing the salaries commanded by different positions in the civil service, as well as those of state officials from the president down, was welcome. It is important to remind the taxpayer, at every opportunity, of the extortionate salaries being paid to the state sector workers – salaries that are unjustified by the size of the economy and ensure big inequalities in income distribution.

According to the 2015 state budget, the state service will have in its employ 37,019 people (policemen, military, civil servants, teachers, judges and state officials) at a total cost of €1.9 billion, while another €600 million will be paid in pensions and retirement bonuses. On average, a state sector worker costs the taxpayer a little over €50,000 a year, in a country in which the annual GDP per capita is around €21,000 and the average monthly salary just below €2,000, pushed up by the high wages being paid by the state, municipalities and semi-government workers.

There is no economic justification for these salaries as they are not set by the forces of demand and supply and they are certainly not justified by the workers’ productivity or output. They are determined through the collusion of politicians and union leaders, and constitute daylight robbery of the taxpayers, who are largely to blame for never protesting about this outrage.

By what logic are the salaries of senior teachers’ at state schools three times the per capita GDP? Are they being rewarded generously for the high standards of education they provide? Cypriot schoolchildren are among the worst-performing whenever they take part in international tests. On Tuesday, the House finance committee was informed that the average salary of the 30 permanent staff at the Grains Commission, which has no reason of existence since its monopoly was ended in 2004, was €80,000.

These wages are not only economically unjustified but also morally indefensible. How socially just is it that the best-paid workers in Cyprus are those who contribute the least – if anything – to the creation of wealth? They consistently block wealth creation by placing bureaucratic obstacles in the way of businesses simply to justify their obscene salaries, not to mention the fact that the inflated public sector payroll is depriving the state of funds for the development projects that everyone demands.

In countries that are run along rational lines, state sector salaries are on average lower than those in the private sector, but there is still an over-supply of labour, because they offer other benefits such as job security, more holidays, easier work conditions and good pensions.

In Cyprus, they enjoy all these benefits and are also paid salaries two to three times higher than the average. And nobody protests about this outrage because everyone hopes that one day, they or their children will get a state job.

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE Anti-Drugs Council (ADC) said yesterday it wants to combat alcohol abuse by reducing access to alcohol for minors, anti-drunk driving campaigns, raising taxes and stricter regulation of alcohol promotion.

Launching the anti-alcohol week that got underway on Tuesday, the ADC’s policy official Leda Christodoulou presented the findings of a survey on alcohol use during a press conference also attended by deputy Police Chief Andreas Kyriacou and acting Director of the Public Works Department, Chrystalla Mallouppa.

The survey found that one in five people aged 15 to 24 reported having gotten drunk over the last year, while one in four in same age group said they consumed six or more drinks on a single occasion.

Among Cypriots overall, the six-or-more drinks figure was common among one in five.

Perhaps more alarmingly, Cypriots rank among the top European countries whose citizens regard driving after consuming two or more drinks a “low risk.”

In Cyprus, 33 road-crash fatalities were attributed mainly to alcohol, while two in every 100 deaths are alcohol-related.

At the same time, teenagers’ access to alcohol from vendors was measured at 49 per cent, significantly higher than the EU average – 37 per cent.

This year’s week-long campaign will focus on adopting best practices in combating the effects of alcohol abuse, mainly aimed at reducing it among people of non-drinking age – 17 in Cyprus.

According to ADC official Stelios Sergides, international studies have corroborated the link between restricting minors’ access to alcohol and raising the drinking age to 18, with a reduction in the risk of alcohol abuse.

In addition, raising taxes on alcohol, tighter regulation of advertising and increasing access to treatment programmes, was also found to drastically cut the risk of abuse.

Speaking on behalf of Communications minister Marios Demetriades, Mallouppa said that alcohol is by far the single most common cause of fatal road accidents, deemed responsible for a third of them.

“The data from police alcohol tests in relation to speeding tickets issued are equally alarming,” she said. “On average over the last three years, six in 100 drivers are potential kamikazes roaming the streets of Cyprus.”

In order to minimise the risk of such eventualities, Mallouppa said, the Communications ministry has tabled bills to drastically lower the minimum alcohol levels allowed by law to new drivers, motorcyclists and drivers of lorries, buses and taxis, and institute checks for driving under the influence of narcotics.

The anti-alcohol awareness campaign will feature the European Night Without Accidents on Saturday, October 18, which will include free after-midnight bus rides in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca, as well as a “Designated Driver” campaign.

The price reduction in fuel will not make much of a difference to consumers as they will only save 20 to 30 cents on a full tank, head of the petrol station owners association Stefanos Stefanou said on Thursday.

Stefanou told CyBC radio that up to now, three companies had announced reductions in prices of around 2.7 cents per litre.

“I expect that by Monday all companies that will have received new fuel shipments will reduce their prices,” he said.

The issue was raised on Monday when a consumer group prompted parties to question why prices were so high while international prices had fallen dramatically.

The consumer body said it was contemplating a lawsuit against the state saying it had deliberately allowed prices to remain high in order to collect more taxes when prices should be 12 to 15 cents lower per litre.

Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said his ministry would intervene when necessary but at the moment there was no reason to do it since fuel prices had dropped but the value of the euro against the dollar had also dropped, offsetting any gains.

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau

VENEZUELA, Malaysia, Angola and New Zealand won seats on the United Nations Security Council on Thursday for two years from January  1, 2015, while Spain beat Turkey in a third round of run-off voting.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly elected Venezuela with 181 votes, Malaysia with 187 votes, Angolawith 190 votes.

All three countries campaigned unopposed for their seats after being chosen as the candidates for their respective regional groups, but still needed to win the votes of two-thirds of the General Assembly to secure their spots.

The only contest was between New Zealand, Spain and Turkey for two seats given to the Western European and others group. New Zealand won a seat during the first round of voting with 145 votes. Run-off voting was taking place to decide the final spot.

Venezuela last tried to join the 15-member council in 2006, but failed to win the required two-thirds support of the General Assembly during dozens of rounds of voting after the United States successfully campaigned against its bid. Washington did not stand in the way of Venezuela’s bid this time.

“This is the victory of Hugo Chavez Frias. Chavez keeps winning battles in the world … It’s a day in which the world has supported our fatherland,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said minutes after the vote in a nationally televised address.

The U.S. campaign against Venezuela’s 2006 bid came after the late socialist leader Chavez compared former U.S. President George W. Bush to the devil, saying on the podium of the 2006 U.N. General Assembly that he could still “smell sulfur” a day after Bush addressed member states.

Venezuela will likely use the council seat as a platform to aggressively back allies such as Syria and Russia in their diplomatic wrangling with the United States, part of its broader effort to continue the anti-Washington foreign policy of Chavez.

It has even named the Chavez’s daughter, Maria Gabriela Chavez, as its deputy ambassador to the United Nations.

The OPEC nation of 29 million has consistently opposed U.S. diplomatic initiatives. It backed Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which was formerly part of Ukraine, and it provided fuel to Syria amid its battle against insurgents. Venezuela has also built up cooperative ties with Iran despite strict sanctions imposed by Western nations.

Ten countries abstained in the secret General Assembly ballot to elect Venezuela.

“The Latin American and Caribbean countries have done a great disservice to the cause of international peace as well as helping a rogue military-civilian dictatorship gain a world stage,” said Venezuelan opposition figure Diego Aria, who was the country’s U.N. ambassador in the early 1990s.

THE Co-operative Central Bank said yesterday it had made a net profit of €85.6m in the first half of the year.

Chairman Nicolas Hadjiyiannis said non-performing loans (NPLs) totaled 53.1 per cent of total loan portfolios in the first half of the year.

He added that the Group`s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 13.6 per cent “showing a very robust image” of the sector.

Hadjiyiannis said the messages coming from the NPLs management division “are quite positive as borrowers are cooperating”.

“The co-operative Credit Sector currently has a very robust balance sheet and we are cautiously optimistic,” he added.

Asked about the stress tests, taking place as part of the formation of a European Banking Union and more specifically of a Joint Supervisory Mechanism,
Hadjiyiannis said “our balance sheet is strong and we expect that the work done will have a positive reflection on the results, rendering them manageable”.

Following banking crisis in March 2013, the subsequent bailout included a €1.5 billion recapitalisation package for the co-ops.

The European Commission requested on Thursday that Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia fully implement Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 26 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC.

A Commission statement said the prudential requirements for institutions established in the European Union are laid down in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (also known as the Capital Requirements Regulation or CRR) and in Directive 2013/36/EU (also known as the Capital Requirements Directive or CRD).

The CRR lays down the rules on the amount of capital that institutions must have in order to cover potential losses due to the risks they are exposed to, on liquidity, on leverage and on disclosure. The CRD lays down the rules on the licensing of institutions, on the supervision of institutions, on supervisory cooperation, on risk management, on corporate governance (including remuneration) and on capital buffers.

The deadline for the implementation of the Directive in national law was 31 December 2013. However, Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia have so far not notified implementing measures to the Commission. The Commission`s request takes the form of a reasoned opinion, the second stage of the EU infringement procedures. If the measures to fully enact Directive 2013/36/EU are not notified within two months, the Commission may decide to refer Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia to the EU Court of Justice.

CNA

By Stefanos Evripidou

THE SENTENCING of former Central Bank governor Christodoulos Christodoulou in relation to tax offences covering a €1 million undeclared cash transfer from a Greek shipowner has been set for October 27.

Christodoulou pleaded guilty last month to six charges of tax offences after the state went after him over the transfer of €1m to the company managed by his daughter in 2007, just a few months after his term as governor expired.

His daughter Athina and her former husband, Andreas Kizourides, were acquitted.

The prosecution later suspended seven lesser charges.

State prosecutor Andreas Aristides yesterday presented the facts of the case in court, noting that on July 27, 2007, Focus Maritime Corp gave €1m to A.C Christodoulou Consultants Ltd.

On November 25, 2008, when filing the company’s tax form for the year 2007, Christodoulou left out the €1m payment for the company, declaring total revenue of €335,082 instead of €1,335,082

As such, the company paid €26,802 in tax instead of €127,015, resulting in a loss of €100,213 in collectable taxes for the state.
The prosecutor listed a number of other occasions where Christodoulou submitted incorrect tax forms for the company, charges for which the former governor has pleaded guilty.

In one case, he declared that the company’s shareholders received €167,060 in dividends, when the real sum was €1,128,000.

After criminal proceedings were launched, in August 2013 the accused submitted new revised tax statements for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009, declaring real income, and subsequently paying the full tax owed to the state.

Christodoulou’s defence lawyer Constantinos Kallis pleaded for leniency in sentencing, citing mitigating factors.

Kallis referred specifically to his client’s subsequent compliance with his tax obligations, noting the practice of Inland Revenue to go after owed taxes rather than pursue criminal responsibilities that may arise. He also argued that a large number of citizens do not even have a tax file.

Kallis referred to Christodoulou’s serious health problems; to the time passed between the offences and the launch of criminal proceedings against him; his clean criminal record; the fact he pleaded guilty to six charges, showing in practice his remorse; his participation with EOKA in the anti-colonial struggle in the late 1950s; and his contribution to society as a minister and governor, posts he served with zeal, selflessness, skill and competence, argued the lawyer.

Kallis also referred to his client’s age, 76, and the fact he suffered embarrassment, denigration and vilification from the media over the case.

The lawyer proposed a monetary penalty as an appropriate sentence, arguing that his client, at 76, cannot be rehabilitated with a custodial sentence.

Meanwhile, Aristides highlighted that the sentencing will only relate to the deliberate omission to declare the full amount of revenue to the taxman in a bid to avoid taxation.

He clarified that the Legal Service will continue investigations into a second aspect of the case, concerning the manner in which the amount was obtained, as well as its transfer from an account in Marfin Egnatia Bank in Greece, to Marfin Laiki Bank in Cyprus.

Data sent by the Greek authorities is currently being examined by the authorities.

He warned that the offences under investigation are usually committed by reputable people of high socio-economic status within the context of their work, making criminal prosecution difficult as offences are very often hidden under the “cloak of legality”.

The former CBC boss has previously claimed that the money was a down payment for consultancy services that would have been provided over ten years to Focus, a company belonging to Michalis Zolotas.

Speaking after he pleaded guilty to six charges last month, Christodoulou said: “My conscience is clear; I did my duty. I was honest and I have given this country more than I have taken.”

He said the whole affair was a smear campaign and half the island should have been charged with the same offences.

PAPHOS police are investigating a scrap that broke out at a high-school involving at least two groups of students and apparently sparked by school elections.

Five students sustained minor injuries, received treatment at Paphos general hospital and were discharged.

The victim or victims of the assailants have filed a complaint to police, but details of the incident were not clear.

Later in the day, the ultra-nationalist outfit ELAM released a statement claiming that one of the students attacked is a member of its group and that he was assaulted after having won the student elections.

The group said their member was attacked by a gang of about 15 youths while leaving the school premises after the elections.

ELAM condemned the incident, and claimed the assailants were members of the AKEL youth branch known as EDON.

EDON denied the allegation, and accused ELAM and the DISY-affiliated student organisation of collaborating in the elections to ensure victory for the ELAM member.

In turn, the youth organisation of DISY denied that the youth who was attacked is a member of ELAM, saying he was running as an independent candidate.

Earlier yesterday, opposition AKEL’ Limassol district committee slammed an attempt by arsonists to burn the offices of the AKEL youth branch in the coastal city.

The fire service was called to the offices of the party’s youth headquarters EDON in the city early in the morning to put out a fire believed to be caused by arson.

The fire resulted in minor damage to the door of the building.

AKEL’s Limassol district committee issued an announcement saying: “Once again, people of the night showed their extreme side, their fascism and their hatred.”
The communist party’s youth branch in Limassol also condemned the “detested” attempt at arson of EDON offices, pointing to political motives behind the move.

Ruling DISY party yesterday strongly condemned the attempted arson, saying this could not be considered a political act but a criminal offence, for which the guilty must be punished.

PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades yesterday met a host of foreign leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Milan, briefing them on progress in the Cyprus peace talks as well as the latest Turkish provocations in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Anastasiades held separate meetings with the prime ministers of Singapore and Malaysia, discussing bilateral relations and economic cooperation. Both leaders accepted an invitation for an official visit to Cyprus; the dates of the visits are to be announced.

Also on the ASEM sidelines the President met with the German Chancellor, the Austrian Chancellor, the prime ministers of China, Holland, Croatia and Ireland, the presidents of South Korea and Bulgaria, and the Russian foreign minister.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said these leaders had been aware of the situation arising from the Turkish actions inside Cyprus’ EEZ, adding that the leaders expressed their “displeasure” at the violation of the island’s sovereignty.

Anastasiades was also seeking some face time with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was expected to arrive in Milan later last night.
The President is also set to meet with the outgoing President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.

Anastasiades also had a telephone communication with the Emir of the Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

According to a written statement by the government spokesman, during their conversation the President and the Emir discussed bilateral issues and financial relations, as well as the current phase of the Cyprus problem, with emphasis on the latest developments.

The conversation between the two leaders was “most friendly” and the President invited the Emir to Cyprus for the upcoming football match between APOEL and Paris Saint-Germain.

The Emir of Qatar reiterated his intention to pay an official visit to Cyprus at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, according to the same statement.

Anastasiades returns to Cyprus on Friday night.

By Gwynne Dyer

IT’S a slow process, this business of getting recognised as an independent state, but the Palestinians are making progress. In September of last year, Mahmoud Abbas, the long-overdue-for-an-election president of the Palestinian National Authority, was given permission to sit in the “beige chair”, the one that is reserved for heads of state waiting to go to the podium and address the UN General Assembly.

And now, another Great Leap Forward. On Monday, the British Parliament voted by 274 to 12 to recognise Palestine as a state. It was a private member’s bill, however, and ministers in Prime Minister David Cameron’s cabinet were ordered to abstain. The bill cannot compel Cameron to actually recognise Palestine, a decision which the British Government will only take “at a moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace.”

More hot air and empty symbolism, then, or so it would seem. But the parliamentary vote is better seen as a very large straw in the wind. After half a century when Israel could count on reflexive support from the United States, Canada and the big Western European countries no matter what it did, public opinion in the countries of the European Union is shifting.

Until recently, the only EU members that recognised the State of Palestine were ex-Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe that had done so when they were Communist-ruled. But early this month the newly elected Swedish government declared that it would recognise Palestine, and other parliamentary votes on the question are coming up in Ireland, Denmark, Finland and, most importantly, France.

They will probably all vote yes. As Matthew Gould, UK ambassador to Israel, said on Israeli radio after the vote in London: “I am concerned in the long run about the shift in public opinion in the UK and beyond towards Israel. Israel lost support after this summer’s conflict (in Gaza), and after the series of announcements on (expanding Israeli) settlements (in the West Bank). This parliamentary vote is a sign of the way the wind is blowing.”

Official Israel is busily pretending that this does not matter, but it does, in two ways. One is the diplomatic reality that soon nothing may stand between Palestine and full membership of the United Nations except a lone, naked US veto in the United Nations Security Council, which may have to be repeated on an annual basis.

That will be one consequence of the way the wind is blowing, but much graver for Israel is the reason why it is blowing in that direction: patience with Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu’s perpetual delaying tactics is close to exhausted in most Western electorates. Among the young it has already run out completely.

Most people in Israel believe that Netanyahu has absolutely no intention of allowing the emergence of a genuinely independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the one-fifth of colonial Palestine that was not already incorporated into Israel at the end of the 1948 war. Indeed, much of his electoral support comes from Israelis who trust him to prevent such an outcome.

Netanyahu can never state his purpose openly, of course, because that would alienate Israel’s supporters abroad, who generally believe that peace can only be achieved by the “two-state solution” that both sides signed up to 22 years ago in the Oslo Accords. Those supporters used to be willing to turn a blind eye to his actions so long as he gave lip-service to the Oslo goals – but that faith is now running on fumes in the British House of Commons.

Sir Richard Ottaway, the chair of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and a lifelong supporter of Israel, told the House: “Looking back over the past twenty years, I realise now Israel has been slowly drifting away from world public opinion. The annexation of the 950 acres of the West Bank just a few months ago has outraged me more than anything else in my political life. It has made me look a fool and that is something I deeply resent.”

The erosion of support for Israel has been slower in the United States, where open criticism of Israeli actions in the media is rare and Congress is still (in the crude phrase of Washington insiders) “Israeli-occupied territory.” But it is happening even there – and among the younger generation of Americans the decline has been very steep.

In a Gallup poll conducted last July, in the midst of the most recent Gaza war, more than half of Americans over the age of 50 said that Israel’s actions (which eventually killed over 2,000 Palestinians) were justified. Just a quarter of those between 18 and 29 years old agreed.

In both cases these generations will probably stick to their convictions all of their lives – but generational turnover will ensure that the opinions of the younger group ultimately prevail. It was presumably Israel’s actions and positions over the past ten years that shaped the opinions of the younger Americans. Another ten years like that, and even the United States may have a majority that wants to recognise Palestine.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries

A CAMPAIGN by the media about the failure of oil companies to lower petrol prices despite the fall in the world price of crude oil has rekindled a debate that has been going on inconclusively for decades, regarding pricing. Despite the on-off debate, frequent discussions at the House commerce committee, an investigation by the Commission for the Protection of Competition, protests by consumer groups and the passing of legislation allowing the imposition of a ceiling price the issue remains unresolved.

The main complaint is that petrol prices are generally too high while consumer groups point out that when the world oil price rises, companies immediately pass the hike on to the consumer but when it falls they take their time, claiming that they are waiting for the cheaper shipment to arrive. It is a valid point, but all businesses exploit price fluctuations to their advantage and nobody can stop that.

The real problem is the antiquated formula that is used to determine petrol prices. The formula is weighted in favour of the oil companies as it is based on a cost plus profit calculation that leads to high prices because the supplier has no incentive to keep costs under check.

This may be the reason why we have so many petrol stations – sometimes two on the same stretch of road – a number that cannot be justified by the size of the population. Then again oil companies do not have an incentive to restrict the number of stations as this is part of their cost and does not affect their profits.

The use of the formula dates back to the years when the state felt it was obliged to set prices, allegedly to protect consumers. In effect, it was the suppliers it was protecting while at the same time creating work for public employees. It is questionable whether prices would be any lower if the formula was scrapped and prices were left to fluctuate freely because of the danger of collusion. Cyprus is a very small market in which conditions for real competition in several sectors are non-existent.

The Commission for the Protection of Competition found the four major oil companies guilty of price collusion and unfair trade practices in 2009 and fined them €43 million, but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court on a legal technicality. The Commission also found the major banks guilty of fixing interest rates several years ago. In other words, even without the ministry price formula, there is no guarantee that there would be real competition among the oil companies and that prices would come down.

There is no easy answer to the problem – it is not the imposition of ceiling prices which the Christofias government unsuccessfully toyed with – which is why the debate about petrol prices is unlikely to ever end.

By Staff Reporter

THE island’s medical services sought to assure MPs yesterday that all necessary steps were being taken for the timely detection and handling of potential Ebola cases on the island.

The House health committee got a briefing from a range of government agencies, including the ministries of health, foreign affairs and education, as well as the Ports Authority, civil aviation and Hermes, operators of the two airports.

“There is coordination among all the agencies, they have been briefed on the measures and the protocols,” DISY MP Stella Kyriakides said later.

“There is collaboration as regards awareness, that is to say, officers at airports, at universities and at the ministries of education and health have received the appropriate training, so that should the need arise to deal with a possible case of hemorrhagic fever then we shall know what preventive actions to take.”
Kyriakides said also that MPs got assurances that all hazmat suits and other supplies which may be needed comply with [disease control] standards set by the World Health Organisation.

“We hope that we shall not have to deal with any such case, but at the same time I think it important not to create panic and excessive alarm concerning this virus. From what I heard today…I did not sense complacency,” she added.

Politicians were told that thermal cameras are available for installation at the airports. It’s understood the cameras were purchased in 2009 during the avian flu scare.

Authorities are also in touch with the north, monitoring travel at the crossing points. A plan has been devised allocating space at the Nicosia general hospital, the Makarios Hospital and Limassol general hospital for the treatment and monitoring of possible Ebola cases.

It’s also understood that Cypriot authorities have concluded an agreement with a laboratory in Germany to send blood samples to check for possible contamination by the Ebola virus.

But AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou raised a number of flags which she said showed Cyprus was not adequately prepared.

She cited a spat between the director of Nicosia general hospital and a senior officer of the Public Health Services over the inadequacy of hazmat suits for medical staff.

Charalambidou said that to date Cyprus has no access to experimental vaccines for the potentially deadly virus, and noted the lack of a national centre for disease control.

In addition, no emergency simulation drills had been carried out, although one is being planned, she noted.

“As far as public awareness goes, there has been no effective or comprehensive move, be it at the schools or in general. People need to have the information.”

“Unfortunately in this country we are afraid of informing the public lest we cause a panic…but there are ways of informing people about this virus in order to help them protect themselves as best we can,” added Charalambidou

So far no confirmed Ebola cases have been recorded in Cyprus. A couple of suspected cases in the north proved to be a false alarm, with those patients found to have contracted typhus and malaria.

By Bejay Browne

THE father of a baby girl, who was treated in Israel in a life saving operation after the minister of health stepped in, is still behind bars since his arrest during an immigration swoop 20 days ago.

John (Sanjeev) Dhull, 32, from India, was arrested in Paphos when he was volunteering for the cancer patients’ charity PASYKAF and is still being held at Paphos police station.

Distraught wife Virginia Taguinay, 33, from the Philippines, is appealing to the authorities to release him before their daughter’s next scheduled appointment at Nicosia general hospital at 9.15am on Monday.

“I have been told by the ministry of the interior that they have more than one hundred cases to go thorough and that it will take time. I’m trying to be patient, but I hope my husband will be released in time for Zoe’s appointment.”

Although the parents’ visas have expired, they say they had been told by the authorities that they could remain in Cyprus at least until baby Zoe’s treatment was completed.

Zoe Dhull was born at Paphos general hospital on June 25 last year. She was a healthy three kilos and the family planned to leave Cyprus shortly after her birth. Two days later she experienced severe breathing complications caused by a heart defect which had gone undetected during pregnancy.

The baby was rushed to the Makarios hospital in Nicosia. Her parents had less than two weeks to raise the €15,000 needed to pay for a vital cardiac catheterisation in Israel, as the operation could not be done in Cyprus. The couple had no private medical insurance and was unable to obtain a state medical card, which would have covered the medical expenses, as their visas had expired.

Recently, the family turned for help to Caritas, an agency that provides legal and social advice, counseling and assistance through volunteers and other non-governmental organisations.

Taguinay said she was shocked to find out that information contained in both her and her husband’s immigration files was incorrect and incomplete.

“It said that my husband broke an agreement and didn’t hand in his passport after he arrived back from Israel with Zoe. This isn’t true; he handed it in at Nicosia. It also said that we refused to co-operate by giving a date of when we were leaving Cyprus. This isn’t true either, when the migration department called us after Zoe’s operation, we said that we couldn’t give an exact date because Zoe was still receiving treatment and that she was in and out of hospital with an infection.”

Taguinay said that the couple’s legal representative has forwarded a letter to the interior ministry disputing these points along with a letter from Taguinay requesting the couple be allowed to remain in Cyprus for a further twelve months until Zoe’s health stabilises.

When the Cyprus Mail reported on Zoe’s desperate situation on its front page last year, the health ministry stepped in and offered to pay the costs of the heart operation.

At just three weeks old Zoe underwent the operation on July 7 at the Schneider Children’s Medical Centre in Israel.

The family had hoped that the ministry of health would grant Zoe a medical card to cover other costs of almost €7,000.

Her mother said that although Zoe is now doing well, she may have to undergo a further procedure to keep a valve to her heart open. The one-year-old still has to visit the Makarios hospital in Nicosia periodically.

A spokesperson for the ministry of health confirmed that Dhull’s files had been sent to the secretary general of the migration department.

“We are waiting for her reply; we will contact her again today,” the spokesperson said yesterday.

By Stelios Orphanides

THE Cooperative Central Bank (CCB) is receiving encouraging signs from its restructuring operations, its chairman said a day after the bank posted profits of €85.6m for the first half of the year.

“More emphasis will be placed on the organisation and operations, but restructurings are a critical topic,” Nikolas Hadjiyiannis told state radio CyBC in an interview yesterday.

“As a board we made available all resources needed, such as human resources or computer systems. We monitor this and see encouraging messages such as borrowers’ cooperation and their eagerness and willingness to service their loans as best as they can”.

The chairman of the CCB, which serves as an umbrella company for the 18 cooperative saving banks and received €1.5bn in taxpayer’s money in March as part of a bailout, added that “we see an increase in what we collect and we are cautious that restructurings are not only economically viable, but also fair and balanced”.

Hadjiyiannis said that based on past experience of other banks which agreed to the restructuring of non-performing loans just to see the owed amounts double, the CCB will also take their economic viability into account.

The CCB, whose loan restructuring and management unit became operational on June 1, saw its non-performing loan ratio rise to just over 53 per cent in June from below 46 per cent six months earlier.

“Challenges persist; the environment is difficult having experienced a strong shock,” he said, and added that while the lender, which is one of the four systemic banks participating in the European Central Bank’s asset quality review, has a “long road ahead” even as it is now “standing on solid ground”.

Results will take time to become visible, Hadjiyiannis said, mainly due to new regulations which rule that a previously non-performing loan has to be serviced for six months before it is considered as performing. “Sudden action won’t help,” he said.

The ECB stress tests, as the review is also known, comprise an analysis of each bank’s balance sheet as at the end of 2013, allocating risk-weighted value to its holdings, and a subsequent estimation of recapitalisation needs under normal economic circumstances, considered as the baseline scenario, and under extreme economic conditions, deemed the adverse scenario. They aim at a establishing a bank’s capital adequacy before it is subjected under the ECB’s direct supervision.

Banks deemed undercapitalised in the base scenario will receive a six months deadline to raise their core tier 1 capital ratio to 9 per cent while those found undercapitalised in the extreme scenario will receive a nine month deadline to increase it to 5 per cent. The CCB’s core tier 1 capital stood on June 30 at 13.6 per cent.

By Angelos Anastasiou

FORMER Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) governor Panicos Demetriades has found himself in hot water again as the New York Times reported yesterday that he had played down concerns raised over the granting of some €9bn in emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to now-defunct Laiki Bank in a series of 2012 sessions of the European Central Bank’s governing council.

ECB rules stated that ELA funding, available to solvent but illiquid commercial banks only against collateral, was the responsibility of national central banks, with the governing council holding effective veto power.

According to governing council minutes cited by the paper, late in 2012, and as Laiki’s ELA lifeline mounted, German centralbanker Jens Weidmann started raising objections about the extent of the ECB’s exposure to the woefully undercapitalised bank.

“It was not the governing council’s job to keep afloat banks that were awaiting recapitalisation and were not currently solvent,” Weidmann was quoted as saying in a December 2012 meeting.

And in January 2013, two months before the dramatic Eurogroup decisions that wound Laiki down and converted roughly half of uninsured deposits into Bank of Cyprus equity, Weidmann claimed that the value of the collateral posted by Laiki for ELA had been inflated by about €1.3bn.

This, the New York Times said, was a powerful charge against then-CBC governor Panicos Demetriades, as it implied he had played down the bank’s problems in order to keep it alive.

In June 2013, Demetriades admitted that Laiki had been kept “on a ventilator” until Cyprus’ February 2013 presidential elections.

According to the governing council minutes, Demetriades rejected Weidmann’s claim and said that his risk experts had a better understanding of the assets in question than their counterparts in Frankfurt.

Christian Noyer, the head of the French central bank, said that he was “very much concerned” by the aggressive way that the Cyprus central bank was valuing the collateral, adding that it “doubled the risk” for the ECB.

Klaas Knot of the Dutch central bank also chimed in, saying the collateral issue made him feel “very uncomfortable.”

“If ELA was provided without adequate collateral, this would be a grave issue,” Weidmann concluded, according to the minutes, as he pushed for the loans to be withdrawn.

But despite having received a draft report from the asset-management company Pimco that said the bank needed about €10bn in fresh cash — or about ten times its capital at the time – the governing council decided “not to object” to the continuance of the lifeline.

In a statement, the ECB once again pointed squarely at Demetriades, arguing that national banks, and not itself, are responsible for authorising ELA disbursements, and that in the case of Laiki, the governing council had relied on Demetriades’ assurances as to the bank’s solvency.

“The ECB neither provides nor approves emergency liquidity assistance,” the statement said.

“It is the national central bank, in this case the Central Bank of Cyprus, that provides ELA to an institution that it judges to be solvent at its own risk and under its own terms and conditions.”

“In this specific case, there was full consensus in the governing council on the need to get assurances from the Central Bank of Cyprus that this bank was solvent. The solvency was confirmed explicitly by the Central Bank of Cyprus, which also confirmed the proper valuation of collateral after an intense dialogue between it and the ECB.”

“The ECB was not the supervisor and fully relied on the assessment of the Central Bank of Cyprus.”

By Stefanos Evripidou

THE number of students enrolled in tertiary education in the occupied areas is expected to top 70,000 this academic year, it was reported yesterday.

Last year’s figures reveal Turkish Cypriots were a minority in the north’s education institutes.

According to Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen, the number of students enrolled in the eight universities operating in the breakaway regime reached 62,726 for the academic year 2013-2014.

The number of newly-registered students in the north has seen a year-on-year increase since 2008.

Education official Ziya Ozturkler told the paper that the total number of students during the academic year 2014-2015 is expected to reach 70,000.

Based on the academic year 2013-2014, Ozturkler said 13,000 registered university students were Turkish Cypriot, 15,000 were from third countries while the vast majority, or 35,000 were from Turkey.

Meanwhile, in a separate article in Vatan newspaper, Ankara’s representative in the north Halil Ibrahim Akca predicted that the number of university students this year will reach 73,000.

He was quoted as saying that the economy of the Ankara-financed regime depended to a great extent on the revenue from tertiary education.

“At the moment, 30 per cent of the gross national product consists of higher education revenue together with the direct and indirect effects,” said Akca.

By Evie Andreou

MORE than a hundred cases of corruption and abuse of power in public service have been reported to Transparency International Cyprus in the last 15 days, the non-governmental-organisation (NGO) announced yesterday.

“Until yesterday noon we had received more than 130 reports and of those we consider 102 to be cases of corruption,” Nicolas Nicolaides, executive manager of the NGO said on CyBC radio.

He said that the cases concern abuse of power and bribes in local government and government departments.

“A bribe is what people know as payments under the table, for example in order for someone’s affairs to be sorted out they have to pay money; this is bribery,” Nicolaides said.

He added that even though people assume that bribes more often occur in the health sector and at the land registry, such cases numbered only one or two.

Nicolaides said that as soon as the group receives a report, it is evaluated by a legal team and the next day they already know if the case reported is corruption or not.

He added that citizens are informed either way and they are advised on how to proceed.

“People have started to wake up and are now coming forth to talk to authorities and organisations beyond Transparency International Cyprus,” Nicolaides said.

By Evie Andreou

A 28-year-old woman from Morocco, arrested at the ‘Aphrodite’s Temple’ high end brothel in Palodia, near Limassol, was set up by the police who placed her there to prevent her from being deported from another unrelated case, the defence lawyer for the establishment’s manager claimed yesterday.

Marios Georgiou, defending the 45-year-old who appeared as the manager of the brothel when it was raided in July, cross examined the woman, who has turned prosecution witness and is currently staying in a shelter for victims of human trafficking.

Georgiou reportedly kept repeating this information in court and said that the proposition was made to the Moroccan woman after she was arrested along with a friend after a fight that broke out at the bar she was working in Nicosia. The lawyer claimed that the arresting officer handed her over to the head of the Nicosia crime prevention unit, who together with the head of the Limassol crime prevention unit, arranged that she seek employment at Aphrodite’s Temple so as not to be deported.

The woman, however, denies this allegation.

Georgiou claimed in court that the Moroccan woman was deported in 2011 and that her name was on the police stop-list, but returned to the island with fake documents and had changed her name, a fact she denied and presented her passport in court to prove otherwise.

Georgiou also said that the woman had been calling the 45-year-old manager asking for a job and he tried to present the defendant’s mobile phone as evidence.

The prosecution refused to accept the phone as evidence, since it was not submitted earlier and was only presented yesterday by the lawyer, who had gone to prison to get the defendant’s phone. The prosecution argued that there was no evidence that the phone belonged to the defendant.

The cross examination of the 28-year-old woman will continue at October 31 and Georgiou reiterated in court his intention to reveal names of high-profile individuals that frequented the brothel.

“If there is any evidence, this must be presented by the lawyer,” said police spokesman Andreas Angelides told CyBC and added that it is not right to stigmatise police officers and the whole force because of a claim in court by some lawyer.

He added that the same person has done the same in the past and that he was repeatedly asked to stop using this tactic.

Georgiou had sent a confidential letter to the Attorney general at the beginning of the month saying that if the case reaches the court, then he would have to proceed with this line, since he would have to use all testimonies and facts available and that if he did that, certain high profile people may get hurt.

The 28-year-old woman is the only one along with a woman from Moldavia who confessed they were hired to have sexual relations with clients and therefore were considered as victims of sexual exploitation.

In all, 21 persons were arrested at the police raid at ‘Aphrodite’s Temple’ including 17 girls working there and the 45-year old who at the time identified himself as the establishment’s manager. In the end, only 13 girls were remanded in custody, along with the manager, while two security guards, a DJ, kitchen staff and a cleaning lady were released. Police investigators then asked the girls to turn prosecution witnesses, so that they could build a case against the 45-year old.

By Borys Humeniuk

ON SEPTEMBER 5, the Trilateral Contact Group of official delegates of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE met representatives of Russia-backed militants from Donetsk and Luhansk in Minsk and signed a protocol on joint steps aimed at implementation of the Peace Plan of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. In a follow-up meeting on September 19, the contact group issued a memorandum to facilitate implementation of the protocol.

As of today, Ukraine has implemented all provisions and has undertaken tangible steps to fulfill provisions of the memorandum. At the same time, Russia and pro-Moscow terrorists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine continue mostly neglecting the implementation of the Minsk arrangements.

Without any doubt, a immediate bilateral ceasefire is the core element of the memorandum. Ukraine is doing everything possible to de-escalate the situation and find a peaceful solution. Its forces adhere to the ceasefire regime doing their best to avoid full-scale military actions and using weapons only to defend themselves. Ukrainian military have prepared positions for withdrawal of heavy munitions at least 15km away from the contact line, while Russia-backed mercenaries continue shelling positions of Ukrainian military as well as civilian targets.

Thanks to the Minsk Protocol, approximately 1,000 Ukrainian military and civilians have been released by Russian regular forces and terrorists. Although there is some progress, nearly 500 Ukrainian citizens are still held captive and Russia refuses to release illegally detained Ukrainian political prisoners.

The second core element of the Minsk arrangements is implementation of monitoring and verification of the ceasefire by the OSCE. Ukraine has rendered all necessary assistance for initial deployment and further expansion of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine to ensure proper monitoring and verification of the ceasefire. It is very important to promptly increase the number of monitors in the mission up to 1500.

Establishment of a strict control at the Ukrainian-Russian border to prevent inflow of heavy weaponry, armed vehicles, armament, military equipment and personnel from Russia is critical for achievement of sustainable de-escalation of the situation. Ukraine’s ultimate goal is to return all the checkpoints temporary occupied by the illegal armed groups under control of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. The OSCE should play a critical role in monitoring implementation of the Minsk provisions.

Decentralisation of powers in Ukraine is the next core provision. On September 16, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law on interim local self-government in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Under this law, regional authorities received additional budget, taxation, cultural and other powers.

At the same time, Russia intensified its efforts to promote statehood of the self-proclaimed entities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukraine is consistently working on promoting an inclusive national dialogue. Respective roundtables were held in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolayiv. To secure due representation of Donbas residents in the national legislative body and, thus, to ensure their active participation in political processes and democratic reforms in Ukraine, it was decided to hold early parliamentary elections on October 26.

The Ukrainian Government estimates that damage to infrastructure in Donbas region amounts to almost $2 billion. To address this situation, the Government of Ukraine has prepared the Plan for Economy Renewal and Growth 2014-2016 and called an international donor conference.

Ukrainian authorities count on comprehensive support of our foreign partners, including the Republic of Cyprus, in the course of reforms. The upcoming donor conference and financial assistance are of utmost importance for our state under current circumstances. In this regard, it remains critical to show solidarity of the world community in the face of Russia’s barbaric behavior.

And, of course, I cannot but mention the tremendous importance of this solidarity. The Ukrainian government and nation deeply appreciate
any assistance to our tireless efforts to restore peace in the country and to start conducting vitally important reforms. In this respect, the friendly, objective and instrumental position of Nicosia towards Kyiv is highly recognised and welcomed.

Borys Humeniuk is Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Cyprus

By Johan van den Kerkhof

REMEMBER the fishing trawler that was transporting the Syrian refugees? Here’s a thought: we impound it, haul all the blabbermouth politicos in there and send the vessel forth into the sea to interdict and engage the Turkish gunships. Maybe even hoist a replica ISIS flag; that’ll scare the pants off the Turks.

To the local super-patriots, the past fortnight’s been a wet dream. Yes, the Turks are acting like pirates of the Mediterranean, of that there is no doubt. But the unfortunate spin-off is that it’s allowed the cheap demagogues and mediocrities to pollute the airwaves.

Listening to DIKO jefe Nicholas, you’d think that the Apocalypse was upon us. A soapbox orator on steroids, that one. And EDEK general manager and windbag extraordinaire Johnny Homer (no relation to the Simpsons) proposed a slew of actions to put Turkey in her place. I sometimes wonder if he believes his own BS.

If nothing else, this is my beef with Ankara: you’ve lent a platform to the populists here, and for that we shall never forgive you. Mr Erdogan, kindly cease and desist all actions lest we hear another word coming out of their mouths. For the love of Allah spare us.

Yep, for the non-entities it’s like the Cyprus Problem Reloaded. Sexy stuff, you gotta admit: frigates, gunships, and we even got to learn what acronyms like NAVTEX stand for.

As for the racket over Anastasiades suspending the peace talks, chill out guys. It was the correct thing to do, in the sense that it was the logical course of action – after all, how can you keep talking to the other side when they’re behaving like rogues? But much ado about nothing, really. It’s all the Prez can do anyway, and he had to be seen as doing something, so cut him some slack on that one.

Meanwhile, the media and the politicians’ overkill has actually got some people fretting that war might break out. For that alone, those rascals deserve a right old hiding. Talking with some of these worried folks, I’ve tried to explain that it’s not as if Cyprus even possesses the means to wage war, even if it were insane enough to consider it.

Unless, that is, we deploy the aforementioned fishing boat. Let Omirou, Papadopoulos and Lillikas don combat fatigues, paint their faces black like US Navy Seals and sail off into perilous waters. It’s a win-win: if they drive the Turks away, great. And should the heroes not make it back, well, you get the idea. On second thoughts, scratch that. What if they’re captured and the Turks demand ransom for their release? Then we’d actually have to spend taxpayer money to get them back. The horror!