By Stelios Orphanides

Business and consumer confidence rose in November 3.11 points compared to the month before and reached its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2008, the University of Cyprus said.
Business confidence rose in all sectors except manufacturing, the Economic Research Centre of the university said in an emailed statement today.

Twenty-four flights to and from Larnaca and Paphos airports are expected to be affected by the Greek air controllers’ 24-hour strike starting at midnight Wednesday.

The strike will affect nine arrivals and nine departures at Larnaca airport and three inbound and three outbound flights at Paphos.

“All flights in both airports are either cancelled or rescheduled. This would either mean a delay or bringing the time forward,” airport operator Hermes spokesman Adamos Aspris said.

Aspris urged travellers to be in touch with the airlines and agents to avoid any inconvenience.

By George Psyllides

POLICE yesterday arrested Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas for the third time in two months, only this time two others were also held in connection with alleged mismanagement at the town’s sewerage board.

Along with Vergas, 49, police arrested the board’s manager Eftihios Malekides, 58, currently suspended, and former DISY municipal councillor Giorgos Michaelides, 58.

Police have also issued an arrest warrant for Christos Drakopoulos, a Greek national who owns the company involved in the construction of a waste treatment plant in the district.

Drakopoulos was nowhere to be found in Cyprus and it is understood procedures were underway to issue a European arrest warrant.

A probe by Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides into the workings of the sewerage board – chaired by Vergas – revealed several suspected cases of mismanagement of public funds.

Reports said initial estimates for the construction were €15m, but it cost €17m.

The contractor claimed an additional €9.0m but eventually settled for €1.5m.

The whole sewerage project was meant to cost €78m but taxpayers have so far paid €109m with contractors claiming around €25m more.

Despite the high cost, the project is riddled with problems and a lot of roads have been left in ruins.

Reports suggested more arrests were on the way, as authorities were looking into suspicious contributions made to various outfits, including political parties.

It is the third time police arrest the Paphos mayor who refuses to resign despite being connected to several cases of alleged corruption.

Vergas has already been charged in connection with threatening text messages sent to two witnesses in a suspicious land zoning case involving prominent developer Theodoros Aristodemou.

He was also arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the organisation of a music concert held in August. The judge however, refused a police request to remand him in custody due to insufficient evidence.

Together with Vergas, police have charged his close associate Maria Solomonidou in connection with the threatening text messages.

She was also implicated in the concert case since the company that organised the event is registered to her husband.

Solomondou was sacked on Tuesday, ostensibly because her services at the municipality’s cultural department were no longer required.

However, she was back in the spotlight yesterday after reports claimed she was questioned by police in connection with a bomb explosion near the town hall on Tuesday evening.

The low intensity device had been placed in the public garden and police were investigating the possibility of the incident being linked to Solomonidou’s dismissal.

By Mike Collett

Arsenal qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 15th successive season when they ended Borussia Dortmund’s 100 per cent record in Group D with a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

The hosts needed only 73 seconds to take the lead with 21-year-old French striker Yaya Sanogo scoring his first goal for the club and the Gunners sealed victory when Alexis Sanchez curled in a wonderful strike from 20 metres.

It was his third goal in five Champions League appearances in the competition proper for Arsenal, the same total he managed in 24 games for Barcelona.

Borussia, who had already secured their place in the last 16, top the table with 12 points from their five games, but Arsenal can now pip them to first place if they win their last match at Galatasaray and Borussia fail to beat Anderlecht, who like Galatasaray, are eliminated.

By Angel Krasimirov

A late header from defender Georgi Terziev earned Ludogorets a 2-2 Champions League draw with an unimpressive Liverpool on Wednesday that left the English side facing a winner-takes-all final match with FC Basel.

Ludogorets went ahead in the third minute when Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet failed to deal with an awkward bounce following Marcelinho’s long-range effort and Dani Abalo was on hand to tap in from close range.

Liverpool levelled five minutes later when Rickie Lambert netted a header from close range following farcical defending by Romania centre back Cosmin Moti.

Jordan Henderson made it 2-1 eight minutes before the break, making no mistake at the back post from Raheem Sterling’s precise left-wing cross.

Yet the home side refused to surrender and Terziev headed home with four minutes remaining.

Liverpool, who were beaten and failed to score in their previous three games in Group B, kept alive their hopes of advancing to the Champions League knockout stage.

The Reds are third in the standings on four points, two behind Basel, and need to beat the Swiss side at Anfield in the final round of Group B matches to secure qualification for the last 16.

Ludogorets visit runaway leaders Real Madrid in their final match.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers made three changes to the team that were beaten by Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday, but his side were still shaky at the back and devoid of creativity.

By Constantinos Psillides

The 17-year old from Larnaca who killed 22-year old British Cypriot Michael Antony Louis Mina on November 16, will be held at the Central Prisons until the conclusion of the trial, Larnaca District Court ruled on Wednesday.

The judge noted in her decision that “there is a high probability of conviction, paired with a high probability of the 17-year old not showing up for the trial if released.”

The murder trial is set for January 15, 2015. The District Court referred the teenager to the Criminal Court, where he will be charged with premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence.

The 17-year-old admitted to stabbing the British Cypriot outside the victim’s apartment in the Makenzie area, in the early hours of November 16. The two had personal differences and the teenager had been dating the victim’s former girlfriend.

He maintains that he killed the victim in self-defence, telling police that Mina called him and arranged for a meeting so they could settle their differences. He told investigators that the victim also pulled a knife on him and that he was only defending himself.

By Evie Andreou

AMONG the 1,000 paedophiles identified during the ten-week project dubbed ‘Sweetie 1000’, was a person from Cyprus, the head of the project Hans Guyt said on Wednesday.

The project, that ran in 71 countries last year by the international children’s rights group Terre des Hommes, used a virtual character ‘Sweetie’, a 10-year-old girl from the Philippines to identify internet sex offenders that were reported to Interpol.

According to Guyt, more than 20,000 visitors attempted to get in contact with 10-year-old virtual Sweetie, while the 1,000 identified were ‘casual paedophiles’ meaning average people with families and children from various age groups. Among them was one woman.

He said that the website’s visitors knew Sweetie was a 10-year-old child and that all the people identified wanted to pay for the sex-show the girl would provide.

Guyt said that sex crimes against children must be fought at the level of demand and that the next step for the organisation, Sweetie 02, will seek out the reasons that lead paedophiles to crime and especially internet crime.

He said that it was easy to identify the 1,000 sex offenders through the social media and Facebook.

“It was easy because they thought no-one would catch them,” he said.

He added that studies show that one in four people that seek cyber sex with minors, will exercise physical sexual violence. The first conviction of one of the 1,000 sexual perpetrators that attempted to buy sexual services from Sweetie has already taken place in Australia.  According to FBI data, Guyt said, 750,000 paedophiles are online at any given moment, while 40,000 chat rooms are “phishing” children for paedophiles.

Other forms of child sexual exploitation is the ‘cottage industry’, he said, where the parents push their children to crime from their own homes, and it is more difficult to clamp down on ‘cybersex dens’ which lie in the sphere of organised crime.

He said that among the countries where children are exposed to this crime are Cambodia, Indonesia and African counties.

Guyt urged everyone to “frighten paedophiles into feeling vulnerable” by signing the online petition to gather 1,000,000 signatures as a form of pressure to governments to activate prosecuting authorities to clamp down on webcam child sex tourism.

The presentation was organised by the non-governmental organisation “Hope for Children” as part of the European ‘One in Five’ campaign to raise awareness against child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Antonis Stylianou, spokesman of Hope for Children, said that the goal is to reduce the number of children that are sexually abused from one in five to none.

The petition can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/sweetie.

By Constantinos Psillides

BANKS may file mass lawsuits against debtors if the House enacts a statute of limitations bill, AKEL MP Aristos Damianou said after discussion at the House Legal Affairs committee.

The legislation was passed ten years ago but was never enacted, since it has been strongly contested by commercial banks. It provides that once a set period of time passes a claim can no longer be validly filed and is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2015.

Damianou said that bank representatives told MPs that if the law is enacted then the banks will have no other option than to move swiftly to ensure that they don’t lose any money.

The committee met with representatives of the commercial banks yesterday to try and sort out the problem, but the discussion came at a dead end.

“Unfortunately, we are still in disagreement. We are faced with the threat that, in case the law is enacted, the banks will flood the courts with mass lawsuits,” said Damianou, adding that this behaviour is unacceptable, but that the matter will probably be resolved by the end of the year.

“We will try to find a solution since this is a problem that concerns many individuals and businesses. A positive outcome will also contribute to maintaining the fragile social balance,” he said.

The Justice Ministry tabled a proposal saying that the statute of limitations should only affect future cases. The proposal was shot down by MPs.

“An unofficial proposal by the Justice Ministry finds us in disagreement, since it primarily aims at serving the banks’ interests. The time has come to secure what little rights the people are left with,” said the AKEL MP.

Financial news portal Stockwatch reported that the Association of Cyprus Banks and the Co-op bank requested that the legislation go into effect on June 30, 2015, so the banks have enough time to settle outstanding debts with debtors.

By Angelos Anastasiou

THE Church of Cyprus has no interest in participating in Hellenic Bank’s planned capital raising and will be selling the rights that it owns, Archbishop Chrysostomos announced on Wednesday.

Last month, Hellenic announced it plans to raise €220m in fresh capital, more than double its capital needs, according to European Central Bank stress-testing.

At a little over 7 per cent, the Archbishopric is Hellenic’s fourth-largest shareholder and would require nearly €16m in order to maintain its stake.

“If we had the money, we might have invested it,” Chrysostomos told news site ant1iwo.

“We don’t, so we will probably have to sell the rights we own. We are not going to keep our stake, and we have no interest in stakes anymore.”

Formerly Hellenic’s largest shareholder, the Archbishopric was forced to introduce new shareholders after its own cash-flow issues and urgent recapitalisation needs for the lender painted a bleak picture in the fall of 2013.

A last-minute offer by online-gaming giant Wargaming.net, hedge fund Third Point, and local investment vehicle Dimitra Investments saved the bank from nationalisation, but also meant the Church could no longer call the shots.

Earlier, the Archbishopric was hit even worse after its holdings in the island’s two largest banks – Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Popular – were wiped out when the Eurogroup decided Bank of Cyprus would have to absorb Laiki and recapitalise through a conversion of uninsured deposits, in exchange for a €10bn rescue loan to the Cyprus government.

“We have spent enough money on banks, and have suffered enough damage from all banks,” said Chrysostomos.

“I think it would be wise, at this point, to look towards other opportunities.”

Asked what “other opportunities” meant, Chrysostomos explained that the Church would seek to strengthen its businesses in other sectors.

“We have invested in the hotel industry, we hold a stake in [cement factory] Vassiliko Cement Works, another in [alcohol beverage giant] KEO, as well as plastic and metal piping factories,” he said.

Chrysostomos said the Church will focus on diverting its financial resources to its other companies, some of which are facing problems.

“The Church needs adequate financing to do its work,” he said, presumably referring to charities and helping those in ne

By Marie Kambas

CYPRUS must make the most of its mild winter climate during winter by enhancing niche sectors of tourism, a survey conducted by PwC released on Wednesday said.

Enhancing special forms of tourism, such as agrotourism, religious and conference tourism in order to provide incentives for visiting during the winter months was essential, according to the survey, conducted among 500 tourists who visited Cyprus during February and March using structured questionnaires.

“The survey aimed to record the travel motivation of tourists who had selected Cyprus as their destination for their winter vacations and to compare Cyprus with other markets,” said Petros Petrakis, partner in charge of Hospitality and Leisure at PwC.

Petrakis said “89 per cent of the tourists who were questioned said that the main reason they come to Cyprus is because of the sunshine, secondly, 53 per cent said they come to see and taste the Cypriot culture and 42 per cent said that they come for health and leisure.

From the answers given, there is clearly an interest in sustainability in so far as the tourist destination and the quality of service is concerned, the report said.

According to the survey, there were special forms of tourism such as agrotourism, religious tourism, conference tourism and mountain tourism which appeared to lag behind other destinations as a favourable destination over winter months. There was also a problem meeting that expectation of visitors.

On the other hand the report stated that the mild winter climate, the number of days of sunshine and higher temperatures compared to other destinations, particularly of central and Eastern Europe, was the main incentive for visiting Cyprus over winter months.

“The Cypriot tourism product has the ability to be enriched from activities in special forms of tourism and health tourism,” Petrakis stated.

Tourist who had an opportunity to see this developed a brand loyalty during the winter season, he concluded.

The government on Thursday denied a report that President Nicos Anastasiades’ law firm represented Ryanair in talks to take over national carrier Cyprus Airways (CY).

The firm also denied the report in the island’s biggest newspaper, Phileleftheros, which quoted a report drafted by CY’s financial advisers KPMG.

Nicos Chr. Anastasiades and Partners said it had initially represented Ryanair during the submission of interest back in August.

“Our initial response was positive and that is why our firm was named as the legal representative during the submission of the documents to KPMG,” it said.

However, the firm said it had second thoughts and informed the airline in September that it could not represent it “in light of the fact that our office’s involvement in the procedure could be misinterpreted as being favourable for Ryanair, due to its indirect relation with the President.”

The fact that Ryanair was not represented by Anastasiades’ firm had been mentioned in parliament on November 11. In fact, MPs were told that the airline was represented by Soteris Pittas and Co.

Deputy government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos said any criticism would be unfair.

Papadopoulos said Anastasiades was no longer involved in the firm, which had not represented any banks, semi-state organisations, or companies doing business with the state since 1995.

By Robin Emmott

The European Commission will tell France, Italy and Belgium on Friday their 2015 budgets risk breaking EU rules, but it will defer decisions on any action until early March.

At that point, France could face a multi-billion euro fine and Italy and Belgium be put on a disciplinary programme.

Draft documents seen by Reuters show the three countries are part of a group also comprising Spain, Portugal, Austria, and Malta at risk of busting budget limits.

By Daniel Wallis and Edward McAllister

Tensions eased in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson on Thursday after two nights of violence and looting sparked by racially charged anger over a grand jury’s decision not to charge a white police officer for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager.

Protests also dwindled elsewhere in the United States as the Thanksgiving Day holiday and wintry weather kept many indoors. But in California, about 500 people were arrested in rallies over the past two days that shut highways in major cities.

Ferguson became the focal point of a national debate on race relations after officer Darren Wilson shot dead Michael Brown on Aug. 9. The U.S. Justice Department is probing possible civil rights abuses, and President Barack Obama has called for reflection on the difficulties minorities face in the country.

Police said two people were arrested in overnight protests in Ferguson and no major incidents were reported. The grand jury’s decision on Monday not to charge Wilson sparked angry protests, and more than 100 people were taken into custody on Monday and Tuesday nights as buildings were torched and stores looted, with police in riot gear using tear gas to disperse crowds.

A small but spirited congregation assembled at the Greater St. Mark Family Church, a gathering point for protesters and religious leaders, for a Thanksgiving service where many offered appreciation for their blessings after a tumultuous week.

“My prayers go out to the Brown family. My prayers also go out to the Wilson family,” said pastor Tommie Pierson. “We live in a country of laws. But there has to be a law that governs us all.”

Ferguson is a predominantly black city where almost all of the political leaders and police are white.

In Los Angeles, a city rocked by racial violence in 1992 after the acquittal of white police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, about 145 protesters were arrested on Wednesday evening. Most were taken into custody for failing to disperse, police spokesman Commander Andrew Smith said on Thursday.

The latest arrests bring to more than 300 the total number of people taken into custody in Los Angeles in demonstrations related to the grand jury’s decision. About 170 have been arrested in Oakland protests.

In New York, protesters outraged over the Ferguson decision said on social media they would disrupt the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade through Manhattan. At least seven people were arrested during the event, said New York Police Detective Annette Markowski.

Details on the arrests, including the charges, were not immediately available, she said.

Overseas, protesters held up banners reading “Solidarity with Ferguson” and “Black Lives Matter” outside the U.S. Embassy in London.

In Ferguson, businesses were boarded-up or burned along a mile-long stretch of West Florissant Avenue, which bore the brunt of Monday’s lawlessness, and downtown streets between the police department and City Hall.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, who declared a state of emergency before the grand jury decision, has deployed about 2,200 National Guard troops to the Ferguson area to quell violence.

Wilson, who was placed on administrative leave, has said he acted in self-defense, out of fear for his life, when he shot Brown. Brown’s family said he acted with malice and should stand trial.

By Foo Yun Chee and Philip Blenkinsop

European Union lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a motion on Thursday urging anti-trust regulators to break up Google, the latest setback for the world’s most popular Internet search engine.

Google has been in the EU’s regulatory sights since 2010, and is also grappling with privacy issues, requests to scrub search results to comply with a court ruling, copyright concerns and tax controversies.

The non-binding resolution in the European Parliament is the strongest public signal yet of Europe’s concern with the growing power of US tech giants. It was passed with 384 votes for and 174 against.

German conservative lawmaker and co-sponsor of the bill Andreas Schwab said it was a political signal to the European Commission, which is tasked with ensuring a level playing field for business across the 28-country bloc.

“Monopolies in whatever market have never been useful, neither for consumers nor for the companies,” he said.

Schwab said he had nothing against Google and was a regular user. “I use Google every day,” he said.

Google declined to comment. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said she will review the case and talk to complainants before deciding on the next step.

Her predecessor rejected three attempts by the company to settle complaints that it unfairly demoted rival services and stave off a possible fine of up to $5 billion.

FOUR-YEAR INVESTIGATION

The resolution did not mention Google or any specific search engine, though Google is by far the dominant provider of such services in Europe with an estimated 90 percent market share.

The lawmakers called on the Commission to consider proposals to unbundle search engines from other commercial services.

Some politicians criticised the proposal.

“Parliament should not be engaging in anti-Google resolutions, inspired by a heavy lobby of Google competitors or by anti-free market ideology, but ensure fair competition and consumer choice,” said lawmaker Sophie in’t Veld from the Parliament’s ALDE liberal group.

Google is the target of a four-year investigation by the Commission, triggered by complaints from Microsoft, Expedia, European publishers and others.

Lobbying group Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Google, eBay Facebook, Microsoft and Samsung, said unbundling was an “extreme and unworkable” solution that made no sense in rapidly changing online markets.

“While clearly targeting Google, the parliament is in fact suggesting all search companies, or online companies with a search facility, may need to be separated. This is of great concern as we try to create a digital single market,” it said.

By Constantinos Psillides

PAPHOS mayor Savvas Vergas, the manager of the town’s sewerage board Eftihios Malekides, and former DISY municipal councillor Giorgos Michaelides, were on Thursday remanded in custody for eight days on suspicion of corruption.

Their arrest on Wednesday followed a probe by Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides into the workings of the Paphos sewerage board (SAPA) – chaired by Vergas – which revealed several suspected cases of mismanagement of public funds.

Police have also issued an arrest warrant for Christos Drakopoulos, a Greek national who owns the company involved in the construction of a waste treatment plant in the district. Drakopoulos lives abroad.

According to the police chief investigator, crucial statements on the case have been secured by a high ranking SAPA official and by one of the contractors who filed a competing bid for the project.

The court was told that both witnesses claimed that large sums of money were given to the mayor, the board’s manager, as well as other individuals. The investigator also told the court that some people in the municipality “ran things like a gang”.

He pointed to Malekides as the key person in the case, claiming that he used to visit contractors to ask them for money so he could arrange for them to be awarded a contract and pushed SAPA officials to approve additional work on existing projects.

The investigator noted that Vergas and Malekides demanded a 20 per cent cut of all deals.

One of the contractors told the police that over the years he gave half a million euros in kickbacks.

The three suspects are facing charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, conspiracy to defraud, fraud, bribing a state official, abusing authority, money laundering, acquiring assets through unlawful practices, interfering with a criminal investigation, theft and corruption.

Malekides will additionally face charges of obtaining money through false pretences and forging official documents.

The sewerage project was meant to cost €78m but taxpayers have so far paid €109m, with contractors claiming around €25m more.

Shady dealings in SAPA appear to date back several years, since the head investigator explained how the high ranking official told authorities that in 2004 he was told by Malekides to add half a million on a €2m project.

The official said that in 2007, on the day the contract for the waste treatment plant was signed, he met with Drakopoulos and was told that the company’s owner would give Malekides the sum of £200,000 (around €340,000) to split between Vergas, Malekides and two other municipal councillors. The official told authorities how Drakopoulos left the municipality only to return after a while with nylon bags filled with stacks of money. The official added that the company’s owner stepped into the mayor’s office accompanied by Malekides and the two councillors.

The head investigator presented the court with bank and company statements showing that on November 29, 2007, Drakopoulos received a bank check for £920,000 (€1,5m) which he deposited in an account with Ethniki (National Bank of Greec). On the next day, the sum of £75,000 (€127,000) was withdrawn from the company account. On the same day, Malekides, according to the investigator, visited his safety deposit box at a Bank of Cyprus branch in Limassol.

The investigator added that the official told them that Malekides gave instructions that no information or minutes of meetings should be given to anyone unless he approved them.

CyBC radio reported that the investigator also told the court that Malekides lived a life of luxury, building a home estimated to be worth half a million euros, while the bank account to which his salary was deposited was left largely untouched.

The second key witness, the contractor, told authorities of a different case. On one occasion his business partner was asked to deliver €50,000 in cash to the municipality, €30,000 of which would go to the former DISY councillor Giorgos Michaelides and the rest to Malekides. He said that he pressured his partner into giving him Michaelides’ number so he could call him and bluntly ask him if he got the money or not, to which Michaelides allegedly said “yes, I got it”. He added that shortly after that he met with Malekides and asked him whether he got his cut, which the board’s manager confirmed.

Both Vergas and Malekides are refusing to cooperate with authorities, while Michaelides maintains that he never had that conversation with the contractor, admitting that the phone number given was his, pointing out that he has been using it for years.

Archbishop Chrysostomos also weighed in on the case, telling CyBC radio that many confided in him that something was wrong in SAPA. “From what I was told, kickbacks and extra costs were up to 35-40 million,” said the Archbishop, but that he had no evidence to support the allegations.

Municipal councillor Fedonas Fedonas – one of the three people Vergas is accused of threatening via text in a separate case – told CyBC radio that it took authorities way too long to deal with the case.

“As a result of this delay, we lost millions in settlements paid to the contractors. Around €38m have already left the municipality’s coffers,” he said.

In his annual report submitted yesterday, Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides also refers to SAPA. He noted a number of disastrous construction mistakes, which resulted in the winning contractor “not adhering to the contract’s conditions and specifications.”

Specifically, the report notes that in the Chlorakas area in Paphos, the sewerage system is offline due to either incomplete, damaged or blocked pipes, while a road stretch near the Azia and Laoura hotels in Kato Paphos caved in due to poor repaving. The Auditor General writes in his report that Malekides was called in to report if his employees supervised the project, and why the contractor failed to adhere to the contract specifications and to come up with fail-safes to ensure that it wouldn’t be repeated. Malekides responded that the contractor would assume full responsibility and shifted the blame to the scale of the project, saying that the municipality will henceforth strive to break big projects into smaller ones for more effective monitoring.

The Auditor General wrote that further investigation showed a number of irregularities in the tender and project monitoring process, including a clause in the contract stipulating that SAPA would take on all responsibility for damages caused by work on the project.

“This clause is unacceptable since it absolves the contractor from all responsibility in case of faulty work, as well as putting the municipality into a position of being held responsible in any case filed by a third party,” read the report.

Odysseas Michaelides was asked about the SAPA case after his meeting with President Anastasiades to deliver his annual report.

“Recent developments are a step towards the direction of eliminating the notion that politicians act with impunity. It should be a common effort by all services,” said Michaelides.

By Alex Lawler, David Sheppard and Rania El Gamal

Saudi Arabia blocked calls on Thursday from poorer members of the OPEC oil exporter group for production cuts to arrest a slide in global prices, sending benchmark crude plunging to a fresh four-year low.

Brent oil fell more than $6 to $71.25 a barrel after OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna left the group’s output ceiling unchanged despite huge global oversupply, marking a major shift away from its long-standing policy of defending prices.

This outcome set the stage for a battle for market share between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, as a boom in U.S. shale oil production and weaker economic growth in China and Europe have already sent crude prices down by about a third since June.

“It was a great decision,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said as he emerged smiling after around five hours of talks.

OPEC said in a statement that members had agreed to roll over the ceiling of 30 million barrels per day, at least 1 million above OPEC’s own estimates of demand for its oil next year.

“It is a new world for OPEC because they simply cannot manage the market anymore. It is now the market’s turn to dictate prices and they will certainly go lower,” said Dr. Gary Ross, chief executive of PIRA Energy Group.

The wealthy Gulf states have made clear they are ready to ride out the weak prices that have hurt the likes of Venezuela and Iran – OPEC members which face big budget pressures, but cannot afford to make cuts themselves. Venezuela and Algeria had calling for output cuts of as much as 2 million bpd.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez said he accepted the decision as a collective one and hoped that lower prices would help drive some of the higher-cost US shale oil production out of the market.

“In the market, some producers are too expensive,” he said.

The OPEC statement made no mention of any need for members to stop overproducing, nor of any extraordinary meeting to reconsider the ceiling before a regular session next June.

BATTLE OVER MARKET SHARE

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries accounts for a third of global oil output.

Gulf producers could withstand for some time a battle over market share that would drive down prices further, thanks to their large foreign-currency reserves.

Members without such a cushion would find it much more difficult, as would a number of producers outside the group. Russia’s rouble, which has been sliding for much of this year, extended losses on Thursday to trade more than 2 per cent lower than the previous close against the US dollar.

Russia is already suffering from Western sanctions over its actions in Ukraine and needs oil prices of $100 per barrel to balance its budget.

A price war might make some future US shale oil projects uncompetitive due to high production costs, easing competitive pressures on OPEC in the longer term.

“Why would Saudi cut production in the current environment? Why would they want to support Iran, Russia or US shale producers? So they must have decided: let the market establish the price. Once the market goes to a new equilibrium, prices will go higher,” PIRA Energy’s Ross said.

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ali Saleh al-Omair said OPEC would have to accept any market price of oil, whether it were $60, $80 or $100 a barrel. Iraq’s oil minister, Adel Abdel Mehdi, said he saw a floor at $65-70 per barrel.

“We interpret this as Saudi Arabia selling the idea that oil prices in the short term need to go lower, with a floor set at $60 per barrel, in order to have more stability in years ahead at $80 plus,” said Olivier Jakob from Petromatrix consultancy.

“In other words, it should be in the interest of OPEC to live with lower prices for a little while in order to slow down development projects in the United States.”

By Elias Hazou

THE House on Thursday night passed a law sparing owners of immobilised vehicles from paying road tax provided they can demonstrate that their vehicles are idle.

The law spells out the cases where motorists are relieved of the obligation to pay road tax in arrears accruing to the period up until July 1, 2014.

It applies to vehicles not used, vehicles destroyed in accidents and vehicles that were bought but the previous owner had neglected to pay the road tax.

Vehicle owners who have not paid their road tax for the last three years, on vehicles they are no longer using, will not be subjected to a road tax if they file an application with the Road and Transportation Department (RTD) or provide a sworn statement in court verifying that the vehicle is no longer in use.

The step was deemed necessary due to the high number of people refusing to pay road tax on vehicles they no longer use. The RTD estimates that around 135,000 owners have an outstanding debt on 143,000 vehicles, which amounts to €53m owed in road tax. The government has so far received a fraction of that amount, just €9.5m, since only 28,000 owners settled their debt.

People who haven’t paid their road tax for over three years are required to both file an application and settle the excess debt. A chunk of the tax owed comes from vehicle owners who haven’t paid in years, reaching a point where they cannot afford to pay the whole sum. They now have three years’ worth of road tax less to worry about.

These vehicle owners can settle their excess debt in 12 monthly instalments. The deadline for the settlement expires in February 2015.

Those who have already paid the road tax on their immobilised vehicle will be refunded.

By Staff Reporter

THE Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC) said that action is needed to mitigate the impact on the local financial services sector from a recent Russian law cracking down on Russian offshore business.

Speaking at a press conference in Nicosia, ICPAC chairman Yiannis Charilaou said however that the negative consequences on Cyprus could largely be contained provided that current legislation and rules are swiftly updated.

Though he did not go into details, Charilaou said the institute would be working with the finance ministry on introducing new legislation.

One of the areas of concern relates to Russian tax residents with an interest in corporations based in Cyprus who, under the new Russian law must declare their earnings to Russian tax authorities and be taxed there.

Another relates to establishing the real tax residence of companies of Russian interests incorporated in foreign countries, which are required to demonstrate that they are effectively operating in the countries where they are registered, as opposed to being so-called mailbox companies.

There is also the issue of beneficial owners of a corporation, where earnings from a Russian company with a tax residence in a foreign country, but which earnings are derived from operations or investments inside Russia, will not be eligible for the withholding tax provided for in double-tax avoidance treaties between Russian and other countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently approved a bill to ‘deoffshorise’ businesses. The new law is slated to enter into force on January 1, 2015.

According to the document, Russian shareholders will be required to pay taxes on the retained earnings of foreign companies in which they hold a controlling stake. This primarily applies to companies registered in offshore or any foreign jurisdictions.

Its purpose is to crack down on the shadow economy in Russia and repatriate capital that was previously taken out of the country.

The law is not without its critics, who warn that it threatens to increase the costs of compliance in all corporate structures and the structures of business owners.

The ‘Russia Beyond the Headlines’ news outlet, citing Natalya Kuznetsova, a partner at PwC and director of the International Tax Structuring Group, said the law could also affect the Russian middle class, many of whom have invested their savings abroad through offshore companies.

In 2014, Cyprus was among the ‘big three’ offshore destinations for Russians, with $2.9bn (€2.3bn) in foreign investment, followed by Luxembourg ($1.9bn) and the British Virgin Islands ($1.05bn).

By Angelos Anastasiou

PRELIMINARY interest in the licensing of the island’s first casino-resort has been immense, news reports said on Thursday.

The issue for the construction and operation of a casino-resort complex was on the agenda of a ministerial committee at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, comprising the Finance, Commerce, Interior, and Justice ministers, as well as the undersecretary to the President.

According to Phileleftheros, during the meeting the committee heard that Legal Services had concluded the review of the relevant bill, which will soon be submitted to the House along with the complementary regulations.

There was also a discussion about the mounting interest by foreign investors, both from the US and Asia (mainly from Singapore).

Among those who expressed interest in the project, and even despatched representatives to Cyprus, was a global casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corporation.

The committee reviewed potential investors’ concerns over the government’s proposal to offer state land for the construction of the casino, and decided to allow investors to select the casino’s location privately.

It also decided to issue the successful bidder an interim permit to operate a casino in an existing establishment, until such time as construction of the proposed casino is complete.

The decision was taken to address investors’ concerns of a wasted period from licensing to building a fully operational casino, which would entail an investment of hundreds of millions of euros.

The committee also discussed political parties’ remarks on the issue of licensing.

A draft bill describing the broad strokes of the government strategy for issuing a casino license was presented on August 1 by the government, with a view to obtaining feedback from political parties and finalising the laws and regulations governing the licensing, operation and oversight of an integrated casino resort in time for the licensing of the highest bidder to be complete “within a year.”

The plan was to offer the successful bidder a 30-year license, with a guaranteed monopoly for the first 15, in exchange for 15 per cent of the establishment’s annual gross revenues.

By Andreas Vou

Apollon were the architects of their own downfall as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of FC Zurich on Thursday night, ending any slim hopes of reaching the knock-out phase of the Europa League.

The Limassol side had to win in Switzerland to stand any chance of qualifying for the next round after three consecutive European defeats caused a huge dent to their aspirations.

It was evident from Apollon’s starting lineup that manager Ioan Andone had all but accepted the team’s fate in the competition and was looking ahead to the big league game coming up on Monday against Anorthosis, as he rested key trio Marcos Gullon, Gaston Sangoy and Jan Rezek.

Nevertheless, the chosen eleven were not to give up without a fight – it was Apollon who started the game the brighter of the two teams.

Apollon’s positive start eventually brought them the opener with an absolute scorcher – Farley Rosa took one touch to steady himself and another to curl a beautiful effort into the top corner of the net, far beyond the outstretched David Da Costa in the Zurich goal.

The lack of expectation seemed to give Apollon an air of confidence in the opening third of the game but it would soon turn to complacency.

Zurich responded on 32 minutes with a lovely equaliser – a low cross into the box from Marco Schönbächler found Davide Chiumento, who showed great awareness and composure to lay the ball off to Berat Djimsiti who firmly side-footed into the net.

Then, just seven minutes later, Bruno Vale’s hesitancy to collect a loose ball in the box allowed Schönbächler to steal in and touch the ball beyond the keeper, who was then adjudged to have clipped the Zurich player and Yassine Chikhaoui tucked away the resulting penalty.

On the hour mark, another penalty for the home side, again dispatched by Chikhaoui, put the game beyond any reasonable doubt.

A great save by Da Costa from a Thuram header on 79 minutes prevented any chance of a late fightback while the post would deny Apollon deep into injury time to confirm their exit from the European competition.

Apollon will be playing for pride in their final Europa League game of the season against Villarreal on 11 December at the GSP Stadium.