By Elias Hazou
Yeroskipou municipality probably fumbled it on Tuesday when it sought to set the record straight regarding its mayor’s remuneration.
In a statement, the municipality said mayor Michalis Pavlides was among the lowest paid mayors on the island.
The statement came in the wake of the publication of the Auditor-general’s report for 2013.
The report listed the gross salaries of all 39 mayors, with Pavlides among the highest paid at €62,067 per annum.
The number was then reproduced by several media outlets.
But the report misreported Pavlides’ income, which was really €50,354, Yeroskipou municipality said.
The figure published in the Auditor-general’s report was due to erroneous information ‘accidentally’ furnished to the official, it added.
According to the municipality, the mayor’s salary – as approved by the ministries of finance and the interior – has been set at 80 per cent of an MP’s salary, which is €5,584. That works out to €4,467. From that number a further 10 per cent is deducted and goes toward a local food bank, as “a measure to help deal with the economic crisis.”
That left €4,020 a month for the Yeroskipou mayor, or €50,354 per annum (including the 13th salary).
Nevertheless, the data in the Auditor-general’s report does show that, far from being a poor relation, the Yeroskipou mayor earned an income well above the median.
Mayors’ salaries vary wildly. The most handsomely paid in 2013 were Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas – in the spotlight over a series of alleged financial scandals – and Limassol mayor Andreas Christou at €70,635.
Next in line was Strovolos mayor Lazaros Savvides at €70,412, followed by Nicosia’s Constantinos Yiorkatzis at €65,907 and Larnaca’s Andreas Louroutziatis at €62,656. Another high-roller was Peyia mayor Neofytos Akoursiotis at €62,544.
By contrast, the lowest mayoral salaries hovered around the €28,000 mark.
In his report, the Auditor-general recommends that, given several municipalities are “on the verge of financial collapse,” a review of the remuneration of municipality officials is advisable.
The official notes also that, according to regulations governing municipalities’ budgets, the remuneration and representation allowance of a deputy mayor in a given municipality must not exceed 15 per cent of the corresponding amount paid to the mayor.
Despite this, 11 deputy mayors earned more than the 15 per cent allowable threshold.

The EAC is offering customers the chance to win €100 vouchers for standing-order payments and email billing through draws every three months and every six months over the next three years.
The vouchers can be used in supermarkets.
The move is to encourage customers to move to bank transfers to pay their bills and to receive their bills by emails.
For those who sign up for standing orders to pay their bills, or already do that, the draw for the €100 voucher will take place every six months. For those with standing orders and receiving bills by email, there will be a separate draw every three months. Ten vouchers are being offered in each draw.
The draw is open to customers using tariffs 05, 06, 07 and 08 as well as commercial customers on tariffs 15, 16 and 17. The first draw will take place on December 22 and the last one on September 22, 2017.
The EAC said both the bank transfers and email billing were a significant saving on resources both human and environmental.
“So we encourage our customers to immediately take advantage of these two promotions,” the authority said.

More information and an application to receipt bills via email can be found at www.eac.com.cy or by visiting any EAC customer service office

By Jeffrey Heller

Israel appeared to be heading on Tuesday towards an early election after right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his major centrist coalition partner failed to patch up differences.

Netanyahu’s government, which is dominated by the right and came to power early last year, has been unravelling over issues including the 2015 budget. He said on Monday he would call an election unless ministers stopped attacking government policies.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, told a news conference, “An election is a now a fact.

“We are facing not a few challenges in the international arena and terrorism is also rearing its head. We all should have come together and now, instead, we are going to fight (the election campaign) for several months,” he said, referring to heightened tensions and violence with the Palestinians.

A new mandate could give Netanyahu more leeway domestically to pursue his settlement policies on occupied land Palestinians seek for a state and a controversial bill to declare Israel the Jewish nation-state, legislation critics see as discriminating against the country’s 20-percent Arab minority.

With next year’s budget not agreed and growth slowing in the wake of the July-August Gaza war, the most powerful coalition rebel, centrist Finance Minister Yair Lapid, said Netanyahu was taking Israel into “unnecessary elections”.

The Yesh Atid party’s leader accused Netanyahu of blocking his proposed housing reforms. “The government promised the people of Israel that it would pass a social budget and bring down the cost of living … The prime minister chose to act irresponsibly and not to fulfill his promises to the public,” Lapid said at an energy conference in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu has balked at Lapid’s signature proposal to exempt first-time home buyers from value added tax, a measure that critics say would weigh heavily on the state budget and actually raise housing prices by increasing demand.

Commentators said an election could come as early as March.

Zeev Elkin of Netanyahu’s Likud party said it was likely to back an opposition motion to dissolve parliament, expected on Wednesday. Legislators would then hold meetings to agree on an election date and parliament would dissolve itself next week, with the government staying on until a new one is sworn in.

Political adversaries accused Netanyahu of engineering the crisis – the next election is not due until 2017 – so he can oust centrists and win votes back from far-right partners.

An opinion poll in the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper on Sunday showed that Netanyahu, with an approval rating that has dipped to 35 per cent, was still Israelis’ preferred leader.

Israeli markets fell on the election news, with the shekel sliding 1.3 per cent to a two-year low against the dollar.

By Constantinos Psillides
Paphos Mayor Savvas Vergas on Tuesday succumbed to the pressure being exerted on him by all political parties and the interior ministry and resigned.
He did so via a letter sent to Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos, who was working with the Attorney general’s office to come up with a legal way to show Vergas the door, promising “rapid develepments within the week”.
Only three weeks ago Vergas called a press conference and pledged that he would not resign his post since doing so “would be an admission of guilt.”
Hasikos said in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Municipalities there would be elections for a new mayor within 45 days – by January 11, 2015.
Vergas, who is currently on remand, has been embroiled in a number of alleged scandals, ranging from a shady land deal with land developer Aristo, threatening texts to witnesses in said case, alleged bribes regarding the Paphos Sewage Board, a concert by Greek pop singer Sakis Rouvas the proceedings of which never went to charity as intended and building a private tennis court on government land. The mayor is set to appear on Friday before court in the Sewage Board case.
Municipal councillors were refusing to sit in a meeting if Vergas was chairing. The Paphos mayor had suspended his participation in municipality meetings but refused to step down.
In his letter, the mayor argued that he has served the municipality for many years “using only one criterion; the contribution to the development and advancement of Paphos,” explaining that he was always “burdened with the responsibility of the people who honoured me with their vote”. Vergas said that it would be “particularly naïve of me if I didn’t realise that the current situation at the municipality benefits no one.
“Even today I strongly believe that accusations laid against me will be thrown out of court and I will fight till the very end to prove my innocence. At the same time I also believe that actions should be taken to defuse the volatile climate at the municipality. While I have rejected all accusations against me from day one and declared that resigning my post would be like admitting guilt, I do believe that right now the only thing left for me to do is to submit my resignation,” wrote Vergas.
He went on to say that he never walked away from a fight, explaining that prolonging the situation would only hurt the city.
“The city’s first citizen should be the first to safeguard our institutions and act as the cornerstone of the municipality’s smooth operation. A mayor should always be willing to put ‘We’ before ‘I’”.
Vergas concluded his letter pledging that he will devote himself into proving that he was wrongfully accused.

By Jean Christou
Disabled people in Cyprus have an 11 per cent higher risk of poverty than their able-bodied counterparts, according to a Eurostat survey carried out ahead of Wednesday’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
And when it came to the employment of disabled people in Cyprus, the figures showed that while the employment rate for persons with no disabilities was 70 per cent, less than one in two disabled people are employed (46.4 per cent). The figures are roughly in line with the EU average – 66.9 per cent and 47.3 per cent respectively.
According to Eurostat, the share of disabled people aged 16 and over being at risk of poverty or social exclusion is higher than for non-disabled people in all EU28 Member States.
The largest differences between the share of disabled people and non-disabled people being at risk of poverty or social exclusion were observed in Bulgaria (63.7 per cent for disabled people compared with 44.1 per cent for non-disabled people), followed by Belgium, Estonia and the United Kingdom. In Cyprus, while 25.7 per cent of non-disabled people were at risk of poverty, this rose to 36.7 for disabled people.
The smallest differences were recorded in Greece – 36.8 per cent for disabled people compared with 34.5 per cent for non-disabled people. Most likely the narrow gap is due to the economic crisis, which has raised the risk of poverty for able-bodied people in Greece.
Around 44 million people aged 15 to 64 in the EU28 have reported a disability often preventing them from taking part fully in society and the economy. Whether in the labour market, in the education system or for social inclusion indicators, the situation of disabled persons in the EU28 is less favourable than that of nondisabled people, Eurostsat said.
The gap existing between non-disabled and disabled persons was also noticeable for social inclusion: while the at-risk of poverty or social exclusion rate was just over 20 per cent for non-disabled people aged 16 and over this share stood at almost 30 per cent for disabled persons.
In a written message on Tuesday, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou said International Day of Persons with Disabilities was a reminder that people with disabilities were entitled to equal opportunities in life, at work and in everyday life.
She said the government had in July 2013 approved the first National Action Plan on Disability.
Those involved were tasked to come up with measures in the areas of information, independent living, employment, education, health and rehabilitation, accessibility to the environment and to transport, she said.
“Inequalities, fewer opportunities and social exclusion will not disappear completely. However they can be reduced and this is the strategy we are pursuing in Cyprus,” Emilianidou added.
“Disability affects all of us. It affects people who face mobility, visual, auditory, mental or psychological limitations on their lives, together with obstacles in their environment. It’s about their families and other people in their environment. It’s about institutions of the state related to human rights and government agencies that can take steps to support and empower people with disabilities. Dignity is their right.”

Although physical, sexual and psychological abuse against women in Cyprus is lower than the EU average, it is still high, Ombudswoman Eliza Savvidou said on Tuesday.
Around 22 per cent of Cypriot women over the age of 15 currently fall victim to physical and sexual abuse and 39 per cent suffer psychological abuse.
Savvidou, whose speech was read out by official from her office Aristos Tsiartas at a seminar on combating gender violence through the media, said the percentages in Cyprus may not even show the extent of the problem due to the social structure of society, in which women are reluctant to come forward. This meant cases were rarely reported or perpetrators punished.
“Violence against women continues to be an insidious and invisible enemy often fostered by silence on the part of the victims,” she said, adding that violence should not be a private matter.
“To prevent and address violence against women requires commitment, rigour, cooperation and coordination, both by the state and government agencies as well as from civil society, and every individual.”
To more effectively address the situation however, a change in attitude and perceptions was needed, along with the removal of traditional stereotypes and roles.

By Evie Andreou
OMONIA has complained to the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) after one of its players was subjected to racial abuse during the team’s clash with APOEL on Sunday.
During the match OMONOIA’s Mickaël Poté was provoked by the opposite team’s fans who pretended to be monkeys. When Poté returned the gesture to fans the referee booked him.
However, OMONIA protested the referee failed to protect the player from the racist behaviour and restore order in the stands.
The incident began 68 minutes into the game by APOEL fans seated in the southern stands and spread to the west and east stands. After two minutes of intense provocation, the player mimicked them and then kissed his arm, showing that he had no problem with his colour.
“His decision to punish Mickaël Poté gave the fans with the racist behaviour satisfaction that they achieved their goal,” OMONIA said.
OMONOIA’s press representative Andreas Demetriou said the game’s referee, Demetris Masias, did not register in his report that there was provocation from the fans and now the football club is waiting to see if the referee’s judicator reported it in his.
“Based on CFA’s 2014 disciplinary rules, the referee has the right to interrupt the game in case of racist behaviour… the referee did not record anything in his report, nor did the replacement referee Thomas Mouskos who was standing in the line in front of the southern stands when the racist jeers began,” the club said.
APOEL vice-president Vassos Eliades has condemned the incident and so did player Gustavo Manduca, who posted on social media that what happened at the match was a disgrace.
However OMONIA said they felt they had to respond to APOEL press representative Charalambos Prountzos who wrote on Facebook page that he had not heard any APOEL fans making monkey noises and that OMONOIA reacted in the way it had to direct fans away from the football club’s known problems.
OMONIA is currently in dire financial straits as it has a €20m debt.
“Unfortunately some actions are not aligned with football or APOEL’s history. We condemn it and the club will be called to face the consequences of its fans’ actions,” APOEL spokesman Nekatrios Petevinos said.
He added that APOEL is a member of the FARE network that works with UEFA to tackle racism in football.
“This year we were congratulated by UEFA for our fans’ good behaviour during our team’s European matches. It’s a shame that this effort is overshadowed by such behaviours,” Petevinos said.
One long-time APOEL fan has reportedly said he was present when the incident began and he would name three people that kept calling racist slogans and jeered, and said that if the club does not expel them he will return his season ticket.

By Angelos Anastasiou
The community leader of Kato Pyrgos village, Costas Michaelides, has been asked to abstain from his duties pending the conclusion of police investigations into claims of abuse of power and misappropriation of public funds, interior minister Sokratis Hasikos said on Tuesday.
The interior ministry said Hasikos had written to Michaelides on November 5, suggesting he abstain from his duties “until investigations have concluded, but without prejudice to the outcome of said investigations.” Michaelides has thus far ignored Hasikos’ urging.
The letter was also forwarded to the police chief and the local councils’ union, as well as the Attorney General, from whom an update was requested on the course of the investigations.
“It is further clarified that, on the strength of a court order issued on Monday, police have seized the archives of the Kato Pyrgos local council, in order to collaborate with the Interior ministry’s Internal Audit Unit in investigating allegations of irregularities in land demarcation, expenditure on constructing a local-council building, and revenues from concerts and other events organised by the council,” the statement said.
Hasikos said the ministry’s Internal Audit Unit has investigated over 350 cases.
The issue surfaced in May 2013 when local council members reported suspicious goings-on, including payments authorised only by Michaelides in breach of due process, assigning projects arbitrarily without inviting tenders, and organising wedding ceremonies on the grounds of the village’s primary school with no revenue reported.
At the time, Michaelides had also been found to have held the post of council secretary – in addition to council leader – for a monthly salary of €854 for 2.5 years, without appropriate authorisation by the District Officer.
Speaking on Sigma TV, Michaelides dismissed the claims as unfounded mud-slinging.
“This vilification campaign is not new – it started around three years ago by a group of locals when they lost the elections for a seat on the council,” he said.
“When I took over in 2007, they were all in jail,” he added, referring to an old scandal of illegally selling Turkish-Cypriot land involving the previous council. “I was handed the keys to an empty office that needed people to staff it. We hired a secretary but had no money to pay her with, so for 2.5 years she was paid out of my salary.
“Mr Hasikos claimed I ignored his urging, but said nothing about the other 18 local councils currently under investigation,” he added.
“He believes I should abstain from performing my duties because some who served time in prison think I should.”

By Mike Collett
Steven Gerrard’s future at Liverpool may be in doubt but he turned back the clock to score in a 3-1 victory at struggling Leicester City in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Manchester United maintained their recent improvement with a fourth successive league win, beating Stoke City 2-1 at Old Trafford with a Marouane Fellaini header and Juan Mata free kick either side of a Steven Nzonzi goal for Stoke.
United stay fourth but have 25 points, eight behind leaders Chelsea who host Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, while Liverpool have climbed to eighth place with 20 points.
Queens Park Rangers crashed to a seventh successive away league defeat and slipped to one off the bottom when they were beaten 2-0 at Swansea City.
In the night’s other early match, Burnley climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-1 draw at home to mid-table Newcastle United.
Those results did not affect the top of the table, with Manchester City and Southampton, as well as pacesetters Chelsea, all playing on Wednesday.
Gerrard, 34, left out of the starting lineup on Saturday, started at Leicester and rifled home a poor clearance to turn the balance of the match Liverpool’s way in the 54th minute.
The visitors have fallen behind when keeper Simon Mignolet conceded an own goal after 22 minutes before a 26th minute Adam Lallana equaliser for Liverpool.
Leicester were reduced to 10 men when captain Wes Morgan was sent off for a foul on Rickie Lambert after 63 minutes and they conceded a third when Jordan Henderson scored after 83 minutes.

By Angelos Anastasiou
President Nicos Anastasiades’ open-heart surgery was concluded successfully, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said late on Tuesday.
Anastasiades was admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York, to have his mitral valve repaired.
Earlier on Tuesday, cardiosurgeon Marinos Sotiriou, who had accompanied the President to New York and attended the operation, said that whether the valve could be repaired or would need to be replaced would be determined during the operation.
Press reports late on Tuesday said Anastasiades’ mitral valve was repaired.
The surgery was performed by mitral-valve expert Dr David Adams.
It started at 5:30 pm, and lasted more than six hours.
During the operation, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides told the public broadcaster that “the President was eager for the process to start so that it could conclude.”
And when it was over, he tweeted: “President Anastasiades’ surgery has just been completed successfully. Speedy recovery, Sir, and back in Cyprus soon.”
Late on Monday, US Vice President Joe Biden phoned Anastasiades to wish him a speedy recovery, while Archbishop Demetrios of America visited him at the hospital.
“He is in the hands of the best,” Demetrios said.
US ambassador to Cyprus John Koenig also wished the President well, stressing his importance to the United States.
“We regard him as an outstanding partner of the United States, and the changes that he’s made as the President of the Republic of Cyprus have been important to us,” Koenig told state television. “So we wish him well, speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him here, back in Cyprus again.”
Anastasiades is expected to return to Cyprus before the holiday season.

By Constantinos Psillides

POLICE investigators will be travelling to Greece to question Christos Drakopoulos, the Greek national who is wanted for his alleged connection to the Paphos Sewerage Board scandal, a police source told the Cyprus Mail.

Drakopoulos was set to arrive in Cyprus on Wednesday, but investigators decided that it would serve the case better if they visited him in Greece.

“If the need arises, Drakopoulos will come to Cyprus,” said the source, adding that the businessman is cooperating with authorities, unlike former Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas and Sewerage Board Manager Eftihios Malekkides who are currently under custody but remain tight-lipped on the case.

Drakopoulos contacted authorities through his lawyer, upon being informed that a warrant would be issued for his arrest.

Cyprus police has an international warrant for the arrest of Drakopoulos standing by in case he decides to disappear.

He is expected to be a key witness in the case and it has been alleged he is one of several contractors who paid Malekkides and mayor Vergas large amounts of money in kickbacks.

Drakopoulos’ company was awarded a tender to build a waste treatment plant in 2007.

According to the head investigator’s testimony in court during last week’s remand hearing, a high ranking official with the sewerage board gave a statement to police that in 2007, on the day the contract for the waste treatment plant was signed, he met with Drakopoulos who told him that he would give Malekkides the sum of £200,000 (around €340,000) to split between himself, Vergas 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 Malekkides and the two councillors.

Drakopoulos’ statement to investigators appears to be the missing component for police to proceed with further arrests.

The sewerage project that Vergas and Malekkides were handling should have cost €78m, but taxpayers have so far paid €109m, with contractors claiming around €25m more. The two men are suspected of inflating the project’s budget in order to receive kickbacks from contractors.

Malekkides, Vergas and Georgios Michaelides – a former DISY councillor who is suspected of receiving a bribe of €30,000 by a contractor – are expected to appear in court on Friday as their eight-day remand expires.

By Evie Andreou

IF ALL goes well, President Nicos Anastasiades will quickly recover from his heart mitral valve operation and should be back from New York before the Christmas holidays, his personal physicians said on Wednesday.

After the five-hour corrective surgery on Tuesday at Mount Sinai hospital, the president is expected to remain in the intensive care unit for the next 24 hours and to be discharged in about a week.

“The course of the progress of the condition of the health of the President, from the end of the surgical procedure he has undergone until now, is deemed by his physicians as very satisfactory and stable, and continues to improve,” government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides announced.

During the surgery, performed by mitral-valve expert Dr David Adams and his team, the president’s mitral and triglochin valves were repaired and his heart arrhythmias he had been experiencing for quite some time were regulated, said his personal physician Dr Marinos Soteriou who accompanied him to New York along with Dr. Savvas Kadis.

“He is being closely observed by his attending physicians until his condition is stabilised,” Kadis said.

The president’s personal physicians expressed their satisfaction with the surgery but remain cautious in their comments.

“For the moment, we must take one step at a time, to be able to shape a full image because in such cases, many things can happen,” Soteriou said.

He added that in case of heart surgeries, patients may develop various other conditions in different stages, like bleeding and infections.

A few days after his discharge, Kadis said, the president will have to return to hospital for some standard examinations and if all goes well he will be in a position to travel about three weeks after the surgery.

“It depends on how the whole process goes and we hope that there will be no problems,” spokesman Christodoulides added.

He said that during the president’s absence, the government is run by the head of parliament Yiannakis Omirou and that the only thing that has changed is the president’s scheduled visits abroad.

All the island’s political leaders wished the president a speedy recovery.

By Evie Andreou

POLICE have issued 3,000 parking tickets this year, with just under a quarter of that, or 650 fines for motorists who parked on spaced reserved for the handicapped, traffic chief Yiannakis Charalambous said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference to mark the international day of persons with disabilities, Charalambous said that the police is launching an awareness campaign to clamp down on illegal parking on pavements and places reserved for the handicapped.

He added that there has been a significant rise in the number of people who illegally use the blue card that allows truly disabled people to park in spaces for the handicapped.

“There will be zero tolerance to those who deliberately break the law,” Charalambous said.

He said that drivers need to put an end to this behaviour and show respect to the rights of pedestrians and of the disabled.

Demetris Lambrianides, head of the Paraplegics Association, said that there are around 2,000 permanent users of wheelchairs with acute kinetic disability and several hundred users of wheelchairs with less severe forms of disability.

He called on the police to strictly enforce the law and called on House president Yiannakis Omirou to push through a bill that will allow the towing of vehicles that park illegally on pavements and places reserved for the handicapped.

Lambrianides also appealed to the labour ministry to find a way to make it difficult to copy the blue card which has been abused by non-beneficiaries.

“No other badge gives the right to anyone to park in these spaces and we expect the state to application the legislation strictly,” he said.

To mark the day, the Confederation of the Organisations of the Disabled issued a declaration asking the government to proceed with legislation aimed to upgrade the quality of life of disabled people, as prescribed by the relevant UN convention.

“The despairing situation of our disabled citizens demands dynamic and effective policies that will allow them not just to dream of a better quality of life, but also allow them to exercise their basic rights,” the declaration said.

By Ian Chadband

Chelsea’s relentless Premier League title march continued with a consummate 3-0 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur as champions Manchester City stayed second with a 4-1 canter at Sunderland on Wednesday night.

Southampton’s challenge suffered further deflation with a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal, but the pacesetters took full advantage with Chelsea making it 21 games unbeaten this season thanks to goals from Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba and Loic Remy.

Even without suspended top scorer Diego Costa, the 36-year-old Drogba proved an ageless replacement, scoring within two minutes of Hazard’s 19th-minute opener before Remy replaced him and netted to seal the points.

Chelsea’s victory, which continued their amazing record of being unbeaten by Spurs at Stamford Bridge for 24 years, maintained their six-point lead over City, who came from behind to crush Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

The champions were once again grateful to the league’s leading marksman Sergio Aguero who produced a sublime display, scoring twice with his 13th and 14th league goals of the season.

The Argentine struck two minutes after Connor Wickham had put Sunderland ahead on 19 minutes, equalising with the sweetest of strikes.
He then set up Stevan Jovetic six minutes before the break, Pablo Zabaleta added a third and Aguero completed the rout.

Southampton, whose high-flying start to the season was arrested in a 3-0 defeat by City on Sunday, slumped to a second successive defeat with an 89th-minute Alexis Sanchez goal finally breaking their resistance at the Emirates.

They are now 10 points adrift of Chelsea but for most of the night, it had seemed that Fraser Forster’s heroic efforts in the Southampton goal would earn them a point until Sanchez struck to put Arsenal in sixth place, 13 points behind Chelsea.

Hull City squeezed out of the relegation zone with a 1-1 draw at Everton, Sone Aluko scoring a 59th-minute equaliser after a superb 34th-minute Romelu Lukaku effort for the home side.

By Constantinos Psillides

PARTIES comprising the Paphos municipal council are looking to back a single candidate for the January 11 mayoral election, a source within EDEK told the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday.

The idea behind this initiative is for the parties to present a unified front and avoid a bloody campaign in the wake of infighting and the avalanche of scandals connected to former mayor Savvas Vergas who resigned on Tuesday.

“There is nothing concrete at the moment. We approached the other parties unofficially to gauge their reaction. Official deliberations will start over the next days and we are hoping that everyone will be on board,” the source said.

“Alliances will most definitely be formed, the same way it happens in every election. Our goal is to make this alliance as wide as possible for the sake of unity that the town so desperately needs”.

While not the party with the most councillors – EDEK has four, DISY has six, DIKO has five, AKEL has three and EVROKO has one – the socialists appear to be the favourites for the mayoral chair. Deputy mayor Makis Roussis who hails from EDEK has been a prominent figure in the wake of the Vergas scandals, often assuming the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the municipal council.

Asked by the Cyprus Mail whether he was interested in running for mayor, Roussis said that he was most definitely up for the challenge but pointed out that “the final decision would be made by the party.”

Commenting on Vergas stepping down, Roussis said he welcomed it because it would give Paphos the chance to elect a new mayor, adding that he was “deeply saddened by the blows to the municipality’s integrity.”

Vergas is currently in custody concerning kickbacks he allegedly received while chairing the Paphos Sewerage Board. The former mayor will also appear before court in the case of a suspicious land deal the municipality drafted with land development company Aristo Developers, texting threats to witnesses in the case, allegedly forging documents to conceal proceedings from a charity concert and for building a private tennis court on public land. The mayor resigned after being pressured by all the parties and by Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos who was openly working with legal services to come up with a legal way to show Vergas the door.

While Roussis is the frontrunner, he is not the only one said to be eyeing the top spot in Paphos. Former long-time mayor Fidias Sarikas (1997-2006) who is currently an MP for EDEK might be a candidate, along with former health minister, DIKO’s Christos Patsalides who is currently heading the “Paphos 2017 European Cultural Capital” committee.

DISY district officer Yiannakis Lazarou told CyBC radio yesterday that his party was looking for a candidate with a wide appeal and if that failed, DISY would form alliances with other parties. A party candidate is the last resort, added Lazarou.

Daily Haravghi, the mouthpiece of main opposition party AKEL, ran a story yesterday saying that DISY already approached DIKO to propose that both parties back a candidate from DIKO. While not specifically mentioned, Patsalides is the only one fitting Haravghi’s description.

Patsalides commented on the rumours saying that he would run for mayor, and that he would only do so “if his candidacy was backed by all parties.”

A DIKO district officer who was asked, told CyBC radio that his party had not yet begun deliberations.

AKEL district officer Kyriakos Christou said that his party would only back a candidate if “he or she fulfilled the criteria set by the community.” Christou added that a DISY-DIKO collaboration only served to remedy the strife between the two parties.

A Patsalides candidacy is likely to be opposed by AKEL, making Roussis the candidate with the least opposition.

Citizens’ Alliance leader Yiorgos Lillikas told Sigma TV that his party will submit its own candidate, adding that the entire municipal council should also resign since “it’s not possible that they knew nothing of what was going on.”

Candidates have until December 30 to file their candidacy, according to a statement issued by the head of the Elections Service at the Interior Ministry Demetris Demetriou. According to the statement, 18,023 citizens in Paphos have a right to vote.

By Constantinos Psillides

A PIECE of legislation calling for the enactment of a statute of limitations will be in effect well into next year instead of on January 1, 2015, after MPs and representatives from the commercial banks association reached a settlement.

The legislation was voted 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.

Legal Affairs committee chairman Sotiris Sampson told the press that the committee will table this proposal in order to give banks enough time to proceed with debt settlement.

Last week, the commercial banks’ association threatened that if the law is enacted in January, then its members will flood the courts with lawsuits against debtors.

“Postponing the enactment of the bill will give the banks ample time to get their affairs in order and Legal Services to come up with a more clear and effective bill, since this one is riddled with gray areas that could be interpreted in more than one ways,” said Sampson, adding that this is to the benefit of the public since they could find themselves being sued by banks.

The proposal was backed by DISY, DIKO and EDEK.

The banks’ association and the Co-op bank had requested that the legislation go into effect on June 30, 2015, so the banks have enough time to settle outstanding debts with debtors, but are now given more time.

By Elias Hazou

THE Energy ministry said on Wednesday it is considering a proposal for detailed geological data in relation to Cyprus’ onshore energy potential.

Commenting on local press reports regarding a proposal floated by a US company for onshore research for natural gas and oil, Energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis confirmed the ministry has received such a proposal and that he has presented it to the cabinet.

“This is something we are interested in, in terms of the island’s geology, but it may also help us to better assess the energy potential of the country on land”, said Lakkotrypis, adding that the ministry is assessing the company’s pitch.

He said that the surveys, if carried out, would provide better geological data for land and possibly for the coast of Cyprus.

Sources at the ministry confirmed that the company in question is NEOS GeoSolutions, a geoscience services outfit that services exploration teams in the onshore oil and gas and mining industries.

The company has proposed mapping out the entire surface area of the territories under the control of the Republic, using airborne geophysical surveys.

The proposal is to explore “sub-surface hydrocarbon potential,” the same sources said. If a deal is struck, the firm would then sell the data to hydrocarbons companies.

“It’s still early days,” the sources added.

According to the company’s website, NEOS’ marquee investors include Goldman Sachs and Bill Gates, among others. It is currently conducting airborne oil and gas surveillance operations over parts of Lebanon.

As far as offshore prospecting for gas goes, Lakkotrypis said exploratory drilling by the ENI-KOGAS joint venture in block 9 is proceeding normally.

Preliminary results of the drilling – giving a rough estimate of natural gas quantities – should be available in late December or early January, he said.

ENI-KOGAS are carrying out exploratory drilling in block 9 and have also been granted exploration licenses in blocks 2 and 3. French oil major TOTAL, with concessions on blocks 10 and 11, is slated to begin exploratory drilling in the second half of 2015.

Regarding the planned meeting of the energy ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Israel next Monday with EU Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic, Lakkotrypis said they would ask for EU funding for a feasibility study on a pipeline between the eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus and Greece to transport natural gas to the European continent.

“It is a study that will show us whether this pipeline is technically feasible and economically viable,” he noted.

The goal is to include the proposed pipeline in the EU’s list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI) by first securing funding of a feasibility study. Projects considered as PCIs are eligible to request funding from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility with a budget of €5.85bn.

According to government sources cited by the Cyprus News Agency, only new reserves would be channelled through the proposed pipeline. Cyprus is in consultation with Egypt for possible gas sales from the Aphrodite reservoir in offshore block 12. During talks held in Cyprus last week, Egypt’s Petroleum minister Sherif Ismail said his country was interested in obtaining as much natural gas as Cyprus could provide.

Asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement this week on the scuppering of the South Stream pipeline, and whether this now boosted prospects for eastern Med-to-Europe pipelines, Lakkotrypis said it would have no particular impact on east Mediterranean projects which are considered an alternative energy supply for the EU.

Meanwhile, the government said on Wednesday it had cleared up the matter of remarks erroneously attributed to Putin during his visit to Ankara.

Turkish media had reported that Putin, or a Russian official accompanying him to Turkey, was quoted as saying that Moscow was not involved in any gas projects in and around Cyprus.

“I don’t know who said what about the issue. But I know that neither the Russian state nor the energy ministry are involved in any gas projects in Cyprus. It is up to private companies to deal with the process, if there is one. They need to know that it will be their own responsibility to deal with any crisis and risks there,” the quote said.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides told the Mail the Russian embassy here has checked and confirmed that the comments were not made by Putin. As such, the matter is closed, the spokesman said.

By Angelos Anastasiou

FUEL prices fell on Wednesday following a decision by importing companies to reduce the price of petrol by 1.2 cents per litre, and diesel fuel by 1.5 to 1.6 cents a litre.

As of Wednesday morning, 95-octane unleaded petrol was sold at €1.319 per litre, down from €1.415 last January. Unleaded petrol containing 98 octanes was sold at €1.345 – from €1.44 in January. The price of diesel fuel also dropped 11.3 cents per litre, from €1.451 in January to €1.338 per litre.

The biggest impact was seen on the price of heating oil, the price of which fell by 28 per cent over the year. The new price was set at €0.90 a litre, down from €1.253 per litre in January.

And kerosene, at a peak of €1.076 per litre in January, fell to €0.966 per litre, an 11-cent drop.

If crude oil prices internationally continue to tumble, as commentators predict, further price-slashing in the local market is likely.

But despite the price cuts, consumer associations and political parties alike protest the rate of price decreases, arguing that a 38 per cent drop in the price of crude oil has hardly been reflected in the meagre price cuts allowed by local companies.

AKEL MP Stavros Evagorou said the cuts were not only unsatisfactory but also very late.

“Unfortunately, once again Cyprus lives through the same old story,” he said. “When oil prices rise internationally, the companies also raise their prices almost overnight. But when international prices fall, the respective adjustment does not happen in Cyprus until much later.”

In addition to this phenomenon, Evagorou complained that the reduction in prices in Cyprus is not commensurate with the fall in international prices.

“At the end of June the price of crude oil internationally was around $112 a barrel,” he said. “In mid-October it fell to $93 and today it is under $70. So an international decrease of 40 per cent translated to a 10 per cent decrease in Cyprus.”

The Greens party, as well as EDEK, called on Energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis to intervene in order to further reduce prices.

“The profiteering against Cypriot consumers must be ended immediately,” Greens leader Yiorgos Perdikis added.

Lakkotrypis told reporters that the Energy ministry expects further cuts “in the coming days.”

“The ministry is considering options to strengthen competition, including increasing storage space so that new importers can be introduced to the market,” he said.

“We are constantly monitoring the arrival of new shipments of oil, prices, and invoices, and fully expect further price cuts in the coming days, as new shipments come,” he added.

Sources from the Energy ministry said that within the next three months, the ministry plans to introduce an online application that will list the prices offered by every petrol station in Cyprus on a daily basis, so that consumers can compare and benefit from competition.

The head of the Competition and Consumer Protection Agency – a branch of the Commerce ministry – rejected the charges of profiteering and incommensurate reductions.

“When we talk of international oil prices, we talk in US dollars,” he said. “There are exchange rates – purchases are done in Euros, and there are various taxes levied on top of that.”

Head of the association of petrol-station owners Stefanos Stefanou was equally dismissive.

“When we talk about fuel, we must start with saying that on arrival of an imported shipment there is a €45 fuel tax, there is the value-added tax, there is taxation levied on unloading fuel,” he said.

By Elias Hazou

ANKARA is clear that the natural resources offshore Cyprus belong to the whole island, Turkey’s European Union Affairs minister Volkan Bozkir said on Wednesday.

He made the comments during a one-day visit to the occupied north, where he met with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu and ‘foreign minister’ Ozdil Nami.

Bozkir said ongoing offshore gas explorations by the “Greek Cypriot administration” was contrary to international law since it did not take into account the rights of Turkish Cypriots.

The government suspended peace talks with Turkish Cypriots in October after Turkey dispatched the Barbaros, a seismic research vessel, to conduct surveys within the island’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“The Barbaros will stay there as long as the Greek Cypriots continue their explorations,” Bozkir was quoted as saying.

Turkey and the north’s breakaway regime oppose any ‘unilateral’ move by Greek Cypriots to prospect for hydrocarbons, saying both communities should equitably share in the island’s natural resources.

The Turkish official cast doubt over a proposed gas pipeline between Israel, Cyprus and Greece, noting that before all else, the necessary gas quantities must be found.

He said Turkey is only 40 miles away from Cyprus, and the easiest way would be for the gas to be piped to Europe through Turkey.

Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus nor its jurisdiction over the EEZ.

On Turkey’s EU accession bid, Bozkir said it was being blocked by Nicosia.

“The EU is responsible for opening the [accession] chapters. If they open, we will be pleased. If not, we shall continue on our course,” he said.

CYTAMOBILE-Vodafone launched a new application for smart phones on Wednesday that helps parents protect their children from the dangers of the internet and control their phone contacts.

The safeMobile app, available for free to all customers with monthly contracts and prepaid cards, lets parents define which people their children can talk to and exchange SMS messages with, limit the applications the children can have access to, locate their children through GPS and monitor their childrens’ use of their mobile phones.

Parents can programme their children’s mobiles according to age and manage the app from their own computer or mobile phone. The app is compatible to Android V2.3 and newer versions.

After the introduction of the Safe Internet parental control for computers eight years ago, Cyta felt compelled to offer this new service after a survey found that 80 per cent of children aged 8 to 14 own a mobile phone and 68 per cent have smartphones.