THE government yesterday made it clear to international lenders that a haircut on bank deposits was not up for discussion, as the two sides disagree on the matter of debt sustainability.

Nicosia has also rejected an increase in the island’s corporate tax.

The two issues were raised by international lenders during a meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades.

“The President of the Republic reiterated the government’s determination to proceed with the conclusion of the loan agreement as swiftly as possible,” Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said after the meeting. 

At the same time Anastasiades repeated which issues were not up for discussion, the minister said.

“Any discussion about haircuts or other demands regarding bank deposits is off the table; this is a very crucial issue,” Sarris said.

“I personally believe that most of them (troika officials) know that such a move, even discussing a haircut, which has not taken place anywhere else, poses great dangers.”

The minister added that Cyprus is already paying a heavy price because of the haircut talk.

Around €1.7 billion has been withdrawn from the island’s banks in January when talk of a haircut picked up pace.

It appears however that the troika was now raising the issue of the island’s corporate tax, something it did not do before.

Sarris said the government’s position was that the stability of its tax system was one of the cornerstones of the economy.

“For us there is no question of change,” the minister said.

Sarris said Cyprus was trying to find alternative ways, either through cutting expenditure or increasing revenues “to make debt management more effective.”

“Our positions are crystal clear; we believe we can find other ways to bring our debt where it should be so that markets consider it manageable,” the minister said.

In the past six months, Sarris said, the state’s fiscal performance was better than what was provided in a preliminary deal agreed with international lenders.

“We tell them that while we had a 4.0 per cent primary surplus -- the surplus that helps us pay the interest -- this can become 4.5 per cent or 5.0 per cent without additional burdens, something, which allows you not only to pay the interest but also part of the debt,” Sarris said.

The minister said there will not be additional measures that will include cuts in wages and pensions.

Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi yesterday urged the government to look at how it was combating money laundering.

"It is very important that the Cypriot government takes this opportunity to revisit the anti-money laundering legislation - not so much in terms of the legislation, but in accepting international oversight on how effectively this legislation has been implemented," he said.

Eurozone finance ministers pledged this week to agree a bailout for the island, hit primarily by its exposure to Greek debt, by the end of March, but details of how the rescue will be financed are yet to be sorted out.

One stumbling block has been concern about Cyprus’ implementation of its money-laundering laws.

The government has agreed to an independent review.

Admitting that the issue was not directly in the ECB's remit, Draghi volunteered that it was a key issue at a news conference.

The IMF's Delia Velculescu arriving at the presidential palace yesterday (Christos Theodorides)

CYPRUS is due to resume in earnest its efforts to register halloumi cheese as a protected designation of origin (PDO), agriculture minister Nicos Kouyialis said yesterday following a meeting with stakeholders. 

“The matter of halloumi is a national issue, but at the same time also a tricky one, since we have not managed to register it yet,” Kouyialis said following a meeting with the cattle farmers’ association (POA) in the presence of ministry top brass. 

In April last year, Cyprus cheese manufacturers withdrew a PDO application because they disagreed over the type and ratio of milk (cow, sheep, and goat) to be used in its production. 

Previous efforts also fell short because of disagreement among milk producing groups. 

The PDO law is designed to protect the names of regional foods and to ensure that only products originating in that region can be traded. 

The agriculture ministry has previously said that they would file a new PDO application which would include the Turkish name “hellim”.

Kouyiallis said that ministry officials were due to start having meetings with European commission officials to see how the application would proceed but said there were eleven objections, some by Turkish Cypriot producers, that needed to be studied and investigated.

He did not clarify what the objections were. 

Kouyiallis said he would take into account stakeholders’ positions but said he was optimistic “that this new effort will bear fruit”.

The Cyprus milk industry organisation owns the trademark for halloumi as of 2000, but not for its Turkish name hellim and is currently trying to appeal an EU general court decision allowing a German company to market “hellim” products.

THE MINISTRY of defence is selling collectable, deactivated weapons which were used during the EOKA uprising of the 1950s and the Turkish invasion of 1974.

The guns will go on sale on April 2, the day after EOKA Day, and most date back to the 1940s. They are being sold according to a decision made by the cabinet on February 27, 2008.

“These are old guns that are no longer in use by the ministry of defence and are being sold to be displayed in museums. This will make room for new weapons. Some of these guns were used during the EOKA uprising from 1955 to 1959, during the 1963 disputes between communities and also during the 1974 Turkish invasion,” said Captain Kyriacos Nicolaithis from the national guard. “Some of these weapons were still in use 20 years ago.” 

The ministry is selling Enfield MK4 rifles at €214 each, Bren submachine guns at €342 each and a limited number of Sten automatics at €427 per weapon. 

As these guns are old, they show signs of wear and may have some defects. Once purchased, they cannot be returned or changed for another weapon. There is no limit as to how many weapons one person can buy, as long as they have a licence to possess a collectable weapon from the police. All the weapons have been disabled.

Applications can be found at www.mod.gov.cy. Completed applications can be sent to The Ministry of Defence, 4 Ammanouil Roidi, 1432 Nicosia, or by fax on 22676225.

NEW ENVIRONMENT commissioner, Ioanna Panayiotou, is taking a leading role as talks continue between the residents of Pera-Chorio Nisou and the interior, agriculture and commerce ministries over the operation of two chemical factories in the village. 

Tensions have been high recently as residents of the village closed off the two factories on March 4, stopping them from operating.

A meeting will take place next Tuesday between the group of residents, the community council of Pera-Chorio Nisou and the managers of the two factories. The meetings will take place at the interior ministry.

Panayiotou took the role of intermediary after the House environment committee held a third meeting yesterday to discuss the repercussions to the environment caused by the operation of the two factories. One factory produces paint and the other chlorine.

During the committee meeting, residents of the village gathered outside the House of Representatives to publicise their demands that the factories be relocated away from residential areas.

Speaking after the meeting, head of the environment committee, Adamos Adamou said that the lingering problem had been discussed at length. He said a decision had been reached to organise a cabinet meeting coordinated by the committee.

Adamou added that a decision had been made to keep the factories shut for 48 hours to give the committee time to organise the meetings.

Adamou revealed one of the factories had agreed to move location some time ago, but differences with the interior ministry over space, the timeframe and state help to finance the move had delayed proceedings.

Although the matter has gone to court to be resolved Adamou said he believed it should be unnecessary to wait for a court decision.

Panayiotou explained that there is a ‘legislative gap’ when it comes to matters of moving factories that pollute the atmosphere from residential areas but also a ‘political gap’ too as there is no financial help to motivate factory-owners to move. She said that she has taken the initiative to coordinate the case so a time-frame can be put in place and tensions can be diffused. 

Green Party MP Giorgos Perdikis called on police not to get involved after members of the force attempted to disperse the crowds who had gathered to close off the factories on Thursday. 

“On behalf of the environment committee I would like to call upon the police to hold off on any action until the environment commissioner has finished meeting with all the relevant parties,” he said.

Head of the village community council, Yiannakis Georgiou said that the residents will continue their fight until a time has been set for when the factories will be moved to a non-residential area. 

“If a final decision is made by the committee to move the factories then our protests will come to an end,” he added.

Protests have been ongoing outside the factories for the last year, with residents protesting that harmful emissions have affected their quality of life.

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl was injured on her way to school on Thursday morning when the seat in front of her on the school bus she was travelling in, gave way, hitting her in the face and breaking three of her teeth. 

According to reports, the girl was sitting in her seat when another pupil who had just boarded attempted to support herself by holding onto the pole attached to the seat in front of the 12-year-old. The pole gave way and hit the girl in the face.

Klirou police station is investigating after the girl’s father made an official complaint. Reports in the local media yesterday claimed the 35-year-old bus had been withdrawn from use in December. 

Head of the department of control at the ministry of communications and works, Odysseas Michaelides said this was not strictly true.

“After an initial check on the bus it would appear that it passed its MOT on February 1, 2013,” he said. He added that an investigation would take place to establish whether the broken seat had been checked. 

“It is a fact that all buses older than 20 years old should have been withdrawn on December 31, 2012 but the ministry extended the deadline until May 2013,” he added. Michaelides revealed that from September 2013, students will be transported by modern buses normally reserved for tourists.

Head of Nicosia Bus Company, OSEL, Tassos Michaelides said the company is being forced to use older buses by the ministry. 

“I can confirm the bus was withdrawn from use on December 23, 2012,” he said. Michaelides revealed that the company has recently purchased 120 new buses to cater for the needs of all of the pupils but that the ministry has decided to continue using the older buses until May. 

“The ministry’s decision to extend the deadline for the older buses is both illogical and illegal and is putting pupil’s safety at risk,” he added.

THE Cyprus Airways board will prepare a comprehensive proposal that will include a worst-case scenario and submit it to a ministerial committee and the unions for discussion, it was reported yesterday.

The national carrier, currently going through what is perhaps the most critical period since its creation, will also have to deal with a European Commission investigation into whether millions in state aid complied with EU rules.

The airline has one week to prepare the proposal, reports said.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the commission’s request for clarifications regarding the increase of share capital has caused concern.

The commission also appears to have received complaints from competitors, CNA said.

The commission announced on Wednesday that EU competition regulators have opened an “in-depth investigation” into whether €104 million in state aid granted to CY complied with EU rules.

The commission also said it doubted the airline's capital increase, with a €31.3 million contribution from the Cypriot state, was conducted on market terms. It is looking into a €73 million rescue loan for the ailing airline, as well.

Reports said only €10 million have been given to the airline as part of the capital increase.

And it appears that the airline has only implemented parts of a restructuring plan that concern flight cooperation.

The commission further doubted the credibility of CY’s restructuring plan, and questioned the intention to grant compensation to redundant personnel over and above what they were entitled.

In its statement, the commission emphasised that “no further state aid measures in favour of Cyprus Airways should be implemented without the commission's prior approval.”

The company’s board briefed President Nicos Anastasiades yesterday on the developments.

“We also discussed how the European Commission letter should be handled,” CY chairman Stavros Stavrou said. “We expected the letter.”

It asks us for clarifications and competitors will also be asked to give their positions.

“It’s a matter of procedure,” he said.

THE NICOSIA District Court has acquitted a senior civil servant who was accused of posting a Facebook video of his grandson, aged four at the time, sporting a toy gun and shouting fascist remarks.

Civil Defence deputy head Ioannis Avlonitis was accused of inciting racial hatred in 2010 when a video of his grandson made the news weeks after it had been posted online, showing a boy hold a toy gun while shouting, “we are fascists, we want to kill Turks and communists”. 

Avlonitis was suspended in November 2010 and a number of investigations were launched into the video that received widespread attention by the media and the government.

Child commissioner Leda Koursoumba denounced the “egregious violations” of the child’s rights, former President Demetris Christofias even raised the issue in parliament, while social welfare, the police and civil defence all got involved. 

But in a ruling this week, the court said that there was no testimony connecting Avlonitis to the video in question and no evidence that he was the one urging the boy to shout racist slogans. 

Avlonitis, who remained suspended for more than two years, will be allowed back to work and will be paid his wages accrued during his absence, his lawyer Loucis Loucaides said. He added that Avlonitis was considering taking legal action against the government. 

The court said that the prosecution did not manage to produce any witness who could say that they saw the video in question on Avlonitis’ personal Facebook profile “so that the court could have even circumstantial testimony that the accused was the one who prepared the film and uploaded it on his personal profile on the internet to share with friends”.

A witness said that they saw a banner writing “anticommunist” on Avlonitis’ Facebook profile and also a photograph of Avlonitis’ grandson holding a toy gun. The court said that raised a “strong suspicion” against Avlonitis “but that’s completely different to a direct testimony linking him to the film in question”. 

“I do not think there is any testimony allowing me to come to the conclusion the accused did such a thing and indeed intentionally,” the court judge said. 

But the judge said that in any case, the film did not incite racial hatred and violence because “no sane person would be incited to racial hatred or violence… by watching an innocent child that had a hard time speaking the particular words and (did) not know what they (meant)”. 

“It is not just the words that matter but the context in which something is said,” the court added. 

The judge said it was obvious that the child was playing, and “someone else taught him to say this nonsense”. No one would believe the child was fascist, but the video did cause “feelings of anger and revulsion to be formed against the person who taught him those specific words and phrases,” the court said.

The judge added, “the only message that the specific video transmits is sadness over the way some people treat their children”.

DIKO deputy Nicolas Papadopoulos yesterday announced his intention to run for the leadership of the party in a bid to take over from Marios Garoyian whose leadership he said was marred by a series of bad choices that have damaged the party’s integrity.

The son of the former president Tassos Papadopoulos stepped down as DIKO vice-chairman in January in what he said was a “political act of disagreement with the decision to back Mr Anastasiades” in the presidential elections. 

DISY’s Nicos Anastasiades went on to win the elections, thanking Garoyian and DIKO voters for their support. 

Papadopoulos had pleaded with DIKO delegates to reject Anastasiades’ candidacy and instead support the independent Giorgos Lillikas, a move that resonated with a number of DIKO voters. 

Garoyian’s second term as DIKO leader expires next week on Friday. 

Papadopoulos said yesterday that Garoyian’s term was “ marred and is defined by a series of bad decisions and developments that not only hurt our party’s integrity but also failed to prevent the negative developments we are living through today in both (the Cyprus problem) but also the economy”. 

Papadopoulos criticised DIKO for remaining in coalition with the previous AKEL government of Demetris Christofias, who was too yielding when it came to the Cyprus problem, he said. 

Papadopoulos also described as “unjustifiable” that DIKO remained in the government “despite our intense and substantial disagreement on the handling of the economy and domestic policy”. 

There were “timely and continuous warnings” about the state of the economy that were not heeded, said Papadopoulos, who as head of the House finance committee often came out calling for more substantial action to tackle the deteriorating state of the economy, now in need of an international bailout.

DIKO did leave the government following the July 11 naval base blast in Mari which killed 13 people, knocked out the country’s main power station, and infuriated thousands of members of the public.

Papadopoulos said that DIKO has been losing voters and relevance over time and accused the leadership of contempt towards DIKO members who went against Garoyian in the elections and did not vote for Anastasiades. 

In the run-up to elections, polls consistently showed DIKO voters as split between Anastasiades and Lillikas, who was eliminated from a run-off with a nonetheless substantial 24.93 per cent of the votes.

People are under the impression that “the party is in politics with the sole purpose of participating in power and amassing as many state posts as possible for its top brass members,” Papadopoulos said.  

DIKO supported Demetris Christofias in the 2008 presidential elections after their own incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos was knocked out. 

“The responsibility for DIKO’s negative presence, modus operandi and image weighs down first and foremost on… Marios Garoyian,” Papadopoulos said. 

“It is time to make the people of DIKO proud again,” he said. 

Papadopoulos said that DIKO should stop being split in two camps – i.e. those supporting Papadopoulos and those supporting Garoyian – and become “whole, united, and proud” again.

He appealed to all DIKO supporters to participate in the party’s electoral congress, possibly in May.

The “official” wing of DIKO said in an announcement that the collective body would evaluate any behaviour that has hurt the party “evaluating at the same time behaviour and actions of party members that have stood against DIKO choices and decisions, decisions taken via democratic procedures”.

“At any rate, no one is allowed to insult or belittle with insulting references, his co-fighters but also the party he belong to just because he has a different political view,” the announcement said. 

“Papadopoulos has the right to serve his personal ambitions, but not the right to anticipate what the decisions of the collective bodies will be,” the statement said.

THE BISHOPS of the Church of Cyprus could do with some lessons in public communication so they do not cause so much offence when they speak. They need to learn how to use a more moderate discourse that is in line with modern times. 

Gone are the days when a bishop’s words, no matter how dogmatic, arrogant or stupid, automatically commanded respect. People are much better educated and more critical today, pluralism is firmly-rooted in our society and nobody’s public pronouncements are guaranteed acceptance by virtue of the position they hold. What applies to politicians and senior state officials, who are often targets of public criticism and ridicule, also applies to high-ranking priests; people in authority are legitimate targets nowadays.

For example the Bishop of Paphos Georgios would not have received so much stick over the comments he made about homosexuality, civil partnerships and cremation on Wednesday, if he had worded his views differently. 

Nobody expects the Orthodox Church to take a stance in favour of homosexuality and same-sex civil partnerships, but there are less offensive ways of stating the Church position than advising “those who have an addiction to homosexuality to fight against their urges”. It is a matter of respect for how people choose to live their lives. Nobody expects the Orthodox Church to condone homosexuality, but it does not have to express its disapproval in such a harshly ignorant manner.

Bishop Georgios took a more measured approach regarding the legal recognition of civil partnerships. He said the Church could not condone any partnership outside a church marriage, which could not have surprised anyone. And he sounded almost liberal when speaking against cremation on the grounds that it was not in line with the Church’s traditions. But he ruined all this and showed how out of sync the Church was with our pluralist times when he publicly censured theologian and MEP Andreas Pitsillides, for supporting cremation. 

The Bishop argued that, as a theologian, Pitsillides was not allowed to discuss his personal views, but only the tradition of the Church. In other words, theologians are not allowed to think, let alone have an open mind, as they must repeat Orthodox dogma. 

Pitsillides thereafter put the Bishop in his place, when he reminded him that we do not live in a theocratic state in which theologians who deviated from official doctrine were reported to the ayatollahs. 

It was a pertinent point. Unless the bishops change the way they talk in public, adopting a more moderate tone, they run the risk of not being taken seriously by anyone. 

TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Stefanos Vasiliades was found dead in a car yesterday, with a single gunshot wound to the head, police said. 

According to reports the car, a Mitsubishi Pajero, was found, parked outside a mechanic’s garage on the road between Nicosia and Palechori near the village of Anayia. 

A police spokesman said that police received a call from an employee of the garage that he had found a car parked outside the garage at 8.30am, with a man inside, who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. 

The weapon used to shoot the young man was a hunting rifle according to a post-mortem carried out at the scene by state pathologist Nicolas Charalambous. 

“He died instantly after being shot,” Charalambous said.

Police said the car is registered to a 45-year-old man from Larnaca but after being questioned, he told police he had sold it three years ago. 

A police spokesman said the young man had been arrested before in cases involving the illegal possession of explosives and illegal poaching but he had not been charged with anything.

“Because investigations have not been concluded, we cannot say yet what the motives for the murder are,” police chief, Michalis Papageorgiou said. “We have approached some people in the hope that we can find out more information,” he added.

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides told the Cyprus Mail that police had questioned a number of people yesterday in relation to the incident and that investigations were continuing.

INTERNATIONAL lenders have turned up the heat, asking Cyprus to raise its corporate tax and introduce a levy on capital gains and a financial transaction tax to ensure it can repay a bailout, eurozone officials said. 

And during a meeting with the Central Bank governor yesterday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reportedly rejected the figure needed for bank recapitilisation as too optimistic, putting even more pressure on the government.

One Brussels-based official, briefed on the talks between the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission - known as the troika - and the government in Nicosia, said no decisions had yet been taken on any of the taxes. 

"All these options are on the table now, but there is no agreement yet," the official said. 

The capital gains tax could be introduced only temporarily, for three years, and provide the government with an extra revenue of 200-300 million euros. 

The nominal corporate tax, which now stands at 10 per cent, could be raised to 12.5 per cent, officials said. 

The introduction of the financial transaction tax (FTT), which will be applied by 11 eurozone countries from next year, is a troika idea that Cyprus strongly opposes, perhaps more than raising the corporate tax.

The tax would be set at 0.01 per cent of the value of trades for derivatives and 0.1 per cent for stocks and bonds.

Insiders suggested that this would have a negative impact on bank operations and greatly affect state revenues as foreign clients would opt not to carry out transactions through Cyprus.

Lenders also want Cyprus to privatise state companies.

Cyprus needs up to €17 billion in emergency loans, mostly to recapitalise its oversized banking sector, but also to service debt and government expenses. 

The bulk of that money would be earmarked for bank recapitalisation.

Investment firm Pimco that carried out an audit on bank portfolios has reportedly determined that banks would need €8.86 billion under an adverse scenario and €5.98 billion according to a baseline scenario.

However, a source told Cyprus News Agency that during a meeting between Central Bank governor Panicos Demetriades and the heads of the troika mission, the IMF representative disputed Pimco`s adverse scenario as too optimistic.

Instead, the IMF representative insisted on their own estimate of a capital shortfall of €10 billion. 

This figure was included in the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the Troika and the Cypriot authorities on November 29, 2012.

According to the same source, the troika cited the fact that unemployment in Cyprus already reached 14.7 per cent whereas for the purposes of the due diligence review in the adverse scenario Pimco used an unemployment rate of 14.6 per cent.

Cyprus has been trying to convince lenders for banks to be recapitalised under the baseline scenario and a credit line to be extended to cover possible needs in the next three years.

In what could be a welcome relief for eurozone taxpayers suffering bailout fatigue, officials said Cyprus received signals from Russia, which has strong business ties with Nicosia, that Moscow could consider contributing to the bailout if it got the same credit status as eurozone lenders - meaning it would get repaid right after the IMF. 

"It is likely to happen," one official familiar with the bailout talks said. 

Officials also said that Russian investors were interested in buying a majority stake in Cyprus Popular Bank and increasing their holdings in Bank of Cyprus - the two biggest banks on the Mediterranean island. 

President Nicos Anastasiades is to travel to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin in the coming weeks to discuss possible Russian help, officials said.

He will seek a five-year extension of an existing Russian loan to Cyprus of €2.5 billion that matures in 2016 as well as a reduction in the 4.5 per cent rate of interest. 

Officials said Cyprus had asked for a reduction of the interest by 1.5-2.0 points. 

Eurozone finance ministers pledged this week to agree a bailout for Cyprus by the end of March, but details of how the rescue will be financed are yet to be sorted out. 

German officials, backed by the Netherlands and Finland, have pushed for depositors in Cypriot banks, many of whom are Russian and British business people, to help pay for the cost of the rescue, a process known as a "bail-in". 

The government has said that a depositor haircut was not up for discussion.

Figures released last week showed a little over 2.0 percent of total deposits was withdrawn in January, although officials say there has since been a return of capital. 

But Cyprus fears any "bail-in" will spark the rapid withdrawal of funds from the island and undermine its entire business model, making the economic situation even worse. 

Experts have warned that this could spark panic across the eurozone.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is pressuring decision makers to agree on a financial aid package for Cyprus.

“Cyprus is a small economy, but the systemic risks may not be small,” he said. Yet the right balance has to be found to make sure the country’s debt is sustainable once it receives a bailout. “Our Union is not a transfer Union,” he said.

Central Bank governor Panicos Demetriades was told yesterday the recapitalisation needs of the banks were closer to 10 billion euros

AS REGULAR visitors to pubs and clubs know only too well, implementing the ban on real cigarettes has been patchy at best, yet - much to the chagrin of the makers of electronic cigarettes - the police and health officials are seeking to expand that ban to include electronic smoking cessation aids.

 Of all EU countries, only Belgium, Malta and Slovakia have so far extended their smoking ban to include electronic cigarettes in enclosed public places, bars, restaurants and the workplace, even though they contain no tobacco.

 Police chief Michalis Papageorgiou said Cyprus needs to join these countries and adopt strict regulations on the use of electronic cigarettes in public spaces irrespective of future EU directives on the issue. 

 “Regardless of whether the European Union will issue a legally binding directive regarding electronic cigarettes, we will act to best serve the people of Cyprus,” he said.

 “And we believe that banning the use of electronic cigarettes from public places will benefit the public.”

 Draft legislation banning electronic cigarette use in public places was proposed in January but has yet to be sent to parliament for approval. 

 Acting director of the health services, Christos Christou said this week his department will consult importers and producers of electronic cigarettes during the process of putting the law together. 

 With no legislation yet passed, electronic cigarettes can be bought in kiosks, pharmacies and supermarkets and smoked anywhere.

 “We will follow EU proposals until a regulatory body is put in place,” Christou said. 

 The ministry is still awaiting results of an investigative committee to see exactly how harmful electronic cigarettes might be, but it has decided to take the advice of the World Health Organisation in considering electronic cigarettes as a health hazard. 

 According to the European Commission’s proposal for a revised Tobacco Product Directive, electronic cigarettes would fall under the legal framework for medicinal products if they contain levels of nicotine above certain thresholds. The nicotine threshold would be identified by considering the nicotine content of nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) that have already received a marketing authorisation by member states.

 Manufacturers have ensured some electronic cigarettes are easily distinguished from normal ones in various ways. Some have tips that glow green when they are inhaled; others are small metal cylinders that look nothing like cigarettes. Most, however, are made to look as close to the real thing as possible, and, according to Christou, that is another reason why the ban should be extended.

 “Many electronic cigarettes look just like tobacco cigarettes and they emit smoke(sic), so you can imagine the confusion and difficulty some restaurant and cafι owners would have upholding the law,” he said.

 This opinion is shared by the police chief who also believes that clamping down on electronic cigarette use in public areas will aid in upholding the current tobacco cigarette ban. 

 “It’s just not practical to expect a bar owner to go round his establishment taking a close look at whether someone is smoking a real cigarette or not,” Papageorgiou said. 

 Electronic cigarettes claim to aid people who want to quit smoking, much like NRTs but Christou said none of the electronic cigarette companies have received authorisation from pharmaceutical services. 

 “If they are to be approved and put on the market as a pharmaceutical product then the whole procedure would change,” Christou said. “Our goal is to protect public health, we are not interested in taxation or pharmaceutical and tobacco companies’ agendas.”

 Another issue is that while tobacco cigarettes should only be sold to adults, anyone can go into a kiosk and buy an electronic cigarette.

 Normal tobacco cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals and 60 known carcinogens. 

 According to information given to the Sunday Mail by E-lites, a British manufacturer of electronic cigarettes, research carried out by Boston and Alberta universities have found that electronic cigarettes are at least 99 per cent safer than normal tobacco cigarettes.

 “Electronic cigarettes are free of tar, tobacco, carbon monoxide and many other carcinogens and hidden chemicals, and therefore allow smokers to satisfy their nicotine cravings, in a familiar hand-to-mouth format, without damaging their health,” co-founder and director of E-Lites, Adrian Everett told the Sunday Mail. 

 “The safety record of electronic cigarettes is highly impressive with millions of products being sold globally, yet no record of any harm being caused by their use. The same cannot in fact be said for medically licensed NRT products,” he added.

 According to E-Lites the success rate of electronic cigarettes is much higher than NRT products which have a 98 per cent fail rate after 12 months.

 With many kiosks and pharmacies currently selling various electronic cigarettes, it is down to the consumer to make an educated decision on which product to purchase. This is why E-Lites are currently only available from pharmacies. 

 “We began selling E-Lites at kiosks and pharmacies but didn’t make many sales at kiosks where they would sell cheaper Chinese products,” Everett revealed. “We then decided to only sell them at pharmacies as they are generally more trusted by the public.” 

 He said that while many electronic cigarettes currently on the market are not regulated, this was not strictly true of his product. 

 “Our products are not regulated as medicinal products but that is not to say that they are not regulated at all. We are in fact regulated under many statutes of UK law and all our products are independently tested in UK laboratories. E-Lites were in fact the first Company to obtain ECITA’s (Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association) Industry Standard of Excellence, a mark which surpasses the requirements of UK statute,” he added. 

 Nobacco is another company which sells electronic cigarettes in Cyprus.

  “Electronic cigarettes emit steam when someone smokes one,” a Nobacco sales representative said. “If they were to ban electronic cigarettes from enclosed spaces then they would have to ban people from cooking indoors because that emits steam too.” 

 The health services, however, refute claims that the steam emitted from the electronic cigarettes is harmless. 

 “The steam created by the devices is caused by combustion, by using the nicotine cartridges so any steam that is emitted will contain harmful odours,” Christou insisted. 

 The response to a possible ban on electronic cigarettes from bar and cafι owners has been mixed.

 “I have already lost business because of the smoking ban as unlike others I don’t let people smoke inside,” said owner of Nicosia’s Brickyard Bar & Grill, Stavros Prokommenos. “I don’t think I would enforce an electronic cigarette ban indoors because the smoke that comes out isn’t harmful.” 

 Owner of El Classico Cafι in Engomi, Stavros Andreou stated that he would uphold the law if it was put in place although his cafι was made with smokers in mind.

 “I have a total of 240 seats at my cafι with 180 outside so making people sit outside if they want to smoke electronic cigarettes shouldn’t affect my business at all,” he said.

Most electronic cigarettes resemble the real thing as far as possible

OUTLIVING generations of people and growing to an almost mythical age, old olive trees have now become a must-have, architectural statement for those who can afford a price tag that can top 11,000 euros. 

At least 200 years old, two stately olive trees now stand at the entrance of Jean Nouvel Tower 25, a high profile building on Nicosia’s Stasinou Avenue named after the award-winning French architect. 

Even more impressive is the monumental, gnarled ancient olive tree that was transplanted on the roundabout just outside the presidential palace nearly two years ago.

Nice Day Developers deliberately chose olive trees for the Jean Nouvel project as part of their vision to help make what will be the tallest building in Nicosia a true landmark when it is finished this year.

“Olive trees have something of the sacred. They have gravitas,” the representative of Nice Day said. 

No one seems to be sure how long olive trees live for. Some are thought to be thousands of years old. 

“There is a lot of discussion on this. There are trees that are meant to be 2,500 years old. On average, I would say they live for 500 years,” said the owner of Paphos-based New Roots Nursery, Stavros Saltos. “In Cyprus there trees that are over 600 years old and some are rumoured to be over 1,000 years old.” 

But a living monument of history has a price. Even now with the crisis that has caused prices and sales drop, a fairly young olive tree aged around 20 years fetches anything between €180 and €250, said Saltos who grows and sells the younger olive trees. Those trees are about 25cm in diameter and their trunk is between four and six metres tall. By the time they reach 200 years, now wide enough to need three people to encircle them, the trees may go for €2,500.

Tassos Paplonapas, sales manager at Magistrato Gardens just outside Limassol, said a mature tree can cost between €2,000 and €4,000 though older trees nearing 500 or looking unusual in some way (e.g. boasting extra folds and hollow trunks) can cost up to €11,500. 

Magistrato is the largest garden centre and nursery in the eastern Mediterranean with millions of plants of all kinds and some 1,000 older olive trees. The nursery has between 80 and 100 olive trees more than 200 years old. They buy trees from across the island (“if the tree is worth it”) from people who want to clear their land for farming or building purposes. 

“Our client can be anyone from a homeowner who wants to decorate his garden to big businesses or developers who want to decorate their site,” Paplonapas said. 

“A market has been created (for olive trees) by architects and designers,” said gardener and landscaper Alexander McCowan said, adding that over the last two decades, people started seeing the value of selling the trees to garden centres or interested parties instead of cutting them down to make room for building developments. 

One of McCowan’s Nicosia clients even paid to get a potted ancient olive tree lifted by crane onto his 8th floor penthouse balcony. 

But olive trees have also gone missing, uprooted to sell on to developers and garden centres. In 2009, environmentalists, Green party members and angry residents of Axylou village in Paphos demonstrated when 30 ancient olive trees, some dating back half a millennium, were uprooted. 

Failing to uproot and transplant the trees properly could damage even the hardy olive tree, McCowan said. 

“You have to do it properly… if you do not it will take a long time for the tree to recover,” he said. 

An area that’s double the circumference of the trunk needs to be prepared, watered extensively, drained well, and then fed with nutrients. Potted trees need to get their roots carefully teased so they will be encouraged to grow downwards. The tree needs to be perfectly upright and, if young, needs to be supported so the wind doesn’t move it, McCowan said. 

But even then the tree “will bear its revenge by not producing fruit for several years,” McCowan said though he added that mature olive trees will continue bearing fruit. 

The Olive Oil museum close to the village of Anogyra between Paphos and Limassol is dedicated to oil extraction methods used over times and refers to the symbolism of the olive tree over time. In Greek and Roman times it was the tree of peace. The Old Testament refers to the olive tree of hope. 

Perhaps, part of the olive tree’s enduring allure is that as most creatures of mythology, it seems to exist beyond time. 

“How old do they live for? That’s an interesting question. They’re almost immortal, they will go on for hundreds of years, provided you don’t pour concrete over them,” McCowan said. 

the monumental olive tree which has been replanted on the roundabout near the presidential palace

WASTE management is perhaps the most important aspect for the protection of water, soil, air, flora, fauna, the ecosystem of the island and on improving our quality of life, Agriculture and Environment Minister Nicos Kouyialis said yesterday.
Speaking at an event held by the Cyprus Scouts and Green Dot Cyprus, Kouyialis said the protection of the environment is the main aim of the ministry as it is responsible for implementing much of the environmental legislation.
“With Cyprus joining the EU many action-plans by the public have been put in place to help protect the environment relating to waste management,” he said.
“The plans which have been put in place have made producers of products like batteries, electrical and electronic waste, tyres and packaging more responsible for the management of their waste,” he added.
The minister said that the result of these actions brings us closer to achieving the recycling targets set by EU directives and provides more awareness on the subject towards the public.
“The public’s involvement in recycling and environmental awareness is an essential part of reaching environmental goals set out by EU directives,” he added.
Kouyialis said that the public’s effort to participate is being aided by the scout’s campaign “Scouts are informing and recycling. What about you?” which has been organised in cooperation with Green Dot Cyprus.
“Scouts will go door-to-door to all of the major cities on the island to inform the public about recycling and waste management,” Kouyialis said.
Yeroskipou Municipality announced yesterday it will be taking part in a new programme which will collect recyclable goods from door-to-door. Mayor Michalis Pavlides said there will no longer be recycling drop-off points in the municipality, with the public benefitting from door-to-door collections.
Pavlides said hotels will have recyclable goods collected twice a week while residential areas will have them collected once a week.

Speaking at a memorial service in Limassol for former President Spyros Kyprianou, Anastasiades said yesterday his government will exhaust all possible resources to raise this country back to where it belongs.
Anastasiades said the current government will work with the same vigour and determination as the late president did during his term.
He added that we all must contribute, during this difficult period to ensure economic stability and restore growth.
“We need to correct the wrongs and clean-up state finances without harming the vulnerable groups of society and without putting more pressure on our economy,” he said.
He reminded that Cyprus has gone through tougher times in its history and it did not only make it through these times but thrived. “The road is not strewn with rose petals and we face challenges ahead but we will work hard with the same vigour and determination with which Spyros Kyprianou and all of Cypriot-Hellenism worked and toiled during the years following the 1974 Turkish invasion,” he said.
He added that Cyprus must follow the road mapped out by Kyprianou towards freedom, hope and faith, in its abilities and towards a fair struggle.
“During this new era that has dawned upon us we must come together to achieve the broadest possible consensus, the widest possible cooperation and understanding between the people, institutions and between political forces,” Anastasiades said.
“We will do everything possible to emerge from the crisis as soon as possible,” he said, adding that “the only way we will be able strengthen our negotiating position on the Cyprus problem is on the basis of a comprehensive and assertive strategy, to help us claim what we deserve.”
During his memorial speech, Anastasiades said that the late president was a tireless worker, a brave fighter, an innocent visionary, an ardent patriot, a restless spirit and a calm presence with dignity in life and death.
“Spyros Kyprianou’s vision for a solution will create the conditions so we can unshackle ourselves from the Turkish Army’s custody, so we can progress within a large, prosperous, strong and united Europe,” he said.
“This solution will guarantee the survival of Cypriot-Hellenism and the preservation of our national identity,” he added. “It is our vision and the best memorial that we can offer in his memory,” he concluded.

President Anastasiades addressing Spyros Kyprianou's memorial

A COMMITTEE responsible for overseeing the operation of the entire project of ‘Pafos European capital of culture 2017’ is now in place.
Headed up by former health minister Christos Patsalides, the nine member committee will be formally announced by the mayor of Paphos Savvas Vergas on Monday.
The committee will be responsible for and accountable for the entire cultural celebration.
Patsalides was appointed on Wednesday after a unanimous proposal by the Paphos municipal council.
“I am enthusiastic about this role which will involve a lot of work,” Patsalides told the Cyprus Mail. “This opportunity is not only of a great benefit to Pafians and Cypriots in general. We are presenting a small European city and the infrastructure which will be put in place, such as a new theatre, will remain as a heritage for all of the citizens of Paphos.”
The committee chairman noted that members will be responsible for organising and developing these projects, and will also deal with all of the formalities and procedures.
The former minister admitted that the economic crisis may restrict the size and cost of some celebrations, adding that a more measured and sensible approach is needed.
“This is not going to be an easy job and it carries heavy responsibilities, especially as we have a financial crisis. This is not an easy period to have access to a budget,” he said.
The chairman of the newly formed committee stressed the importance of all of the residents becoming involved with the project.
“We have so many English speaking residents in the district of Paphos as well as others and its important that they are involved with Pafos 2017. We are a multi-cultural capital and this project should be a joy and vision for all of the citizens,” he said.
He added that further information about the committee’s plans and budget would be available in a couple of weeks’ time.
In addition to being a former health minister, Patsalides also served as interior minister and is a law professor. He was born in Paphos in 1973.

TROIKA officials continued their talks at the Central Bank yesterday before they departed from Cyprus.
Political party leaders were due to be given an update on the progress of negotiations last night during a meeting at the Presidential Palace with President Nicos Anastasiades.
A statement released yesterday said the meeting would be on matters of the economy.
Earlier the president met the Finance Minister, the Central Bank Governor and the head of the National Council on Economic Policy at the palace.
Anastasiades was due to meet Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades and his deputy Spyros Stavrinakis, Finance Minister Michalis Sarris and the team of technocrats who are negotiating with Troika. Head of the National Economic Policy Council Christoforos Pissarides was also due to be present.
Anastasiades spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday and will this afternoon depart for Athens for talks with the Greek Prime Minister, President and political parties.
According to Government spokesman Christos Stylianides the conversation with Merkel was of a very positive and constructive tone and centred on Cyprus’ negotiations with Troika and attempts at reaching a bailout agreement as soon as possible.
Speaking after a meeting at the Finance Ministry yestreday, head of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) Alekos Ourountiotis revealed that talks were ongoing with the ministry as part of a bailout deal regarding the creation of casino resorts in order to boost tourism.
“When we talk about casinos, we are talking about high quality resorts that can attract tourism not just people getting together to play cards or other games,” he said.

EXPLORATORY drilling in Block 12 is a priority, Commerce and Industry Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said yesterday.
Responding to questions about Troika’s refusal to include Cyprus’ potential income from its hydrocarbons, Lakkotrypis said that is the reason Noble Energy must proceed rapidly to explore Block 12.
“As soon as it is confirmed and certified that there are deposits of gas they can be declared as marketable and will have a certain value,” he said.
“Noble’s contract is until October and we will meet them next week to see what their plans are exactly and how to move forward,” he added.
Lakkotrypis said the ministry’s priority remains the creation of a proper administrative structure to deal with matters of natural gas.
“Actions, up until now, have been one dimensional as we’ve had negotiations about certain contracts and negotiations with Noble and the other companies,” he said. “We are now entering deeper waters and need to negotiate contracts, we need to prepare for potential marketable deposits,” he added. “We need to look at the infrastructure and by that I mean the creation of a terminal and pipelines abroad and at home,” Lakkotrypis said.
For all of that, the minister said, an administrative structure needs to be put in place to create a strategy that everyone can agree with for years to come.
“We are pressed for time but we are determined to put everything in order as we are dealing with our future for the next few years,” he said. “We cannot depend on one or two people and an organisation but the correct administrative structure,” he added.
Referring to the structure as an ‘ecosystem’, Lakkotrypis explained that it will be based on the Norwegian model which is not an organisation or a service but is made up of various factors. “It consists of a fund, other infrastructures, pipeline regulators and specifics for the terminal,” he said.
On Tuesday the minister will meet the House Commerce Committee to begin mapping out a strategy.

Once drilling starts a marketable value will be able to be put on the process

A FEW months ago, the Jagger/Richards songwriting team of Kyproulla – Leonidas Malenis and Stavros Hadjisavvas – wrote an appalling song to celebrate Cyprus’ EU presidency, titled Welcome Friends to Cyprus. It was so bad it should have attained cult status with club DJs playing it and making it a club classic. This never happened.
On Thursday Malenis and Hadjisavvas appeared on the Lazarus patriotic radio show to present their latest composition, a dirge entitled Colony of Europe, protesting against the arrogance being shown by Europeans towards our suffering island, which they were treating as a colony. Six months ago their song was welcoming the colonists to Cyprus.
The song featured a tinny, synthesised sample from Ode to Joy but the lyrics, written by poet-laureate of schlock Malenis, stood out more than the tune. “Europe, Europe, say if I am allowed to cry,” the singer asks. There is also a note of defiance. “Don’t ask me to call you mother, no, no; another foreign mother I cannot put up with, no, no.” The lyricist’s harshest words are reserved for poor old Kyproulla.
“They rape my mind when they tell me, one day you will stop being as they say a maid with good references, and perhaps again you will become the centre of the universe, even if some have called you the whore of the Mediterranean.”
I hope it is not too late to make Colony of Europe our entry to the Eurovision song contest because, as our politicians often say, it would send important messages in many directions.

APPROPRIATELY, the song was released in the week that the top troika officials, including the IMF’s delectable Delia Velculescu, returned to the island of martyrdom to impose their harsh colonial terms on us.
Reports from the presidential palace are that the terrible troikans have been really turning the screws, demanding increases in corporate tax and the introduction of a financial transactions tax while insisting that our debt was unsustainable and we would have to privatise the workers’ co-operatives masquerading as semi-governmental organisations.
The delightful Delia has been the most trenchant troikan as she represents the ultra neo-liberal IMF and has no interest in European solidarity. At Thursday’s meeting with fuhrer Nice Nik at the prasidentenpalast she was the only troikan who refused to rule out the haircut of bank deposits. The European Commission was totally opposed to a haircut, according to its troika representative.
Talks continued yesterday and it is anyone’s guess what would eventually be agreed, even though the workers’ co-operatives are certain to be sold off. At least one good thing would come out of the bailout.

AT THE START of the week the troika had meetings with the bosses of the SGOs who handed over details of their assets, liabilities, operating costs and turnover. The finance ministry had asked for this info more than a month ago in order to hand it over to the troika but the Tof government ordered the SGOs not to provide it.
It was amazing that the CyBC general manager was invited to a meeting. Obviously the troikans did not realise that the corporation’s sale value is negative, as it costs the taxpayer some €25 million a year to sustain. The land on which it is built is worth a bit and there is the equipment which might fetch a million or two if sold.
Now if its overpaid journalists and TV presenters were included among the assets, the corporation’s sale value would increase substantially. As things are even AKEL would agree to its privatisation because it is not profit-making like CyTA.

OMONIA, AKEL’s football club, appears to have been managed as recklessly as the economy by the incompetent commies and is now on the verge of bankruptcy. The club, which reportedly has not paid wages to players since September, has to find €5 million to settle its immediate debts by the end of this month or face UEFA sanctions.
Another €3m has to be raised by June. It has announced a big fund-raising drive in the hope its supporters’ contributions would help save the club especially now that the poor old Bank of Cyprus is in no position to write off the debts of AKEL-controlled companies. The commies do not even have the option of blaming Omonia’s bankruptcy on the banks’ over-exposure to Greek government debt.
Meanwhile, to encourage fans to put their hands in their pockets the club has been leaking stories about old age pensioners donating their entire pensions to save Omonia. What sort of commies are these, encouraging impoverished old people to donate their €500 monthly pension in order to pay the €20,000 per month salaries of footballers? One million euro raised from Omonia’s pleb fans will go towards paying off a single player, who won a court case against the club.
Is taking from the poor to pay the rich the new communism?

HE MIGHT be a disaster as a Governor of the Central Bank but Professor Panicos’ good relations with the media ensure he rarely gets a negative press.
These good relations are maintained by regular leaks to the press, the most notorious one being last July’s leak to Phil which reliably reported that the capital needs of the banks were in the region of €10 billion; this was before Pimco had even been invited to carry out the due diligence of the banks.
On Friday, the Cyprus News Agency, quoting unnamed sources, reported that during the Governor’s meeting with the troika there was disagreement over the amount of financial assistance for the banks. The deleterious Delia had reportedly argued that Pimco’s adverse scenario that put the banks’ capital needs in the region of €9 billion was over-optimistic; she insisted it should be €10bn.
However, the Governor was in total disagreement and used arguments to support the base scenario (capital needs of €6bn). The brave Panicos did not rule out the possibility of contacting the head of the IMF Christine Lagarde. Why he would contact Lagarde reports did not say but he must have felt it would be good for his public image to show that he was putting up a fight.
The source of the report about Panicos’ courageous resistance to the troika could only have been Panicos because the detached Delia and her troika colleagues are too professional to leak stories about a private meeting to the press.

THE BRAVE Panicos, according to press reports, had been doing his best to avoid seeing the troika, turning down two requests for a meeting. And to make sure he would get out of meeting the troikans the fearless Governor decided to fly to Frankfurt to attend a routine meeting of the ECB.
When president Nik heard this he was livid. He called the professor’s sidekick Spyros Stavrinakis and instructed him to tell Panicos to return to Cyprus immediately. He was back on Thursday afternoon and dutifully met the troika on Friday, showing the deadly Delia what a hard man he really is.
We just hope for Delia’s sake that the Professor does not carry out his threat to call Lagarde.

THIS WAS not the first time the Governor had infuriated Nik. When the two met on Monday, Nik had asked Panicos to put off giving Pimco’s completed report with the recapitalisation figure to the banks because this would make the figure official; Nik was hoping it could be brought down.
The Professor completely ignore Nik’s request and on Tuesday morning called the banks to inform them that the Pimco report would be given to them in the afternoon. When Nik was informed by one of the banks he picked up the phone and asked Panicos to put off the handing over of the report to the banks indefinitely and he obeyed.
But Panicos got his own back by leaking to Phil the 11-page confidential document about the poor state of the banking sector he had handed to the president at Monday’s meeting. It painted a bleak picture of the sector’s prospects, noting that non-performing loans were growing geometrically and that deposits were being withdrawn from the banks. Was releasing this information the Governor’s idea of boosting confidence in the banks?
Did it occur to him that the reason Delia insisted that the banks would need €10bn was because she may have read a translation of the doomsday scenario for the banks he leaked to Phil?

WELCOME back Ethnarch Junior. On Friday Junior re-appeared in public holding a news conference to announce he would be challenging Marios Garoyian for the DIKO leadership in party elections scheduled for some time in the next three months.
After resigning from the deputy leadership because he objected to the party’s decision to back Nice Nik in the presidential elections he took a short sabbatical during which he helped the election campaign of the Papadop family’s protégé Yiorkos Lillikas by canvassing DIKO supporters.
Having established that more than 50 per cent of the party voters did not vote for the party-supported candidate Nik in either round Junior felt that he would have a good chance of winning the leadership contest against Garoyian who has always been viewed as caretaker leader for the main shareholders of DIKO - the Papadop and Kyprianou families.
The male heirs of the two families were bound to claim the DIKO throne at some point, hoping that the caretaker would voluntarily abdicate when the time came. With Spy’s heir Marcos facing charges in the Mari court case and unable to claim his throne Nicholas seized the opportunity.
However, the caretaker leader has grown quite fond of the DIKO crown and has no intention of surrendering it to the heir to the throne without a fight. We can all look forward to a low-down, nasty and vicious struggle with blows below the belt, back-stabbing and, hopefully, plenty of mud-slinging.
DIKO’s finest have great expertise in waging unyielding struggles for vindication after decades of practice on the Cyprob.

PRIDE and the ‘proud people of DIKO’ were repeatedly brought by Junior during his news conference. He was “claiming the inalienable right of every member to be proud of his party,” he said. Failure to hold leadership elections within three months would be “an attempt to silence the proud people of DIKO.”
“DIKO needs a new leader,” he said objectively, and added: “The proud people of DIKO must elect him,” implicitly ruling out the possibility that a proud woman of DIKO could be leader. “We are proud of the successful administration by the founder of the party Spyros Kyprianou,” he announced before saying “We are proud of the successful administration of Tassos Papadopoulos….”
At last the time had come for change, Junior said before stating his election promise: “At last the time has come to make the people of DIKO [you guessed it] proud again.” The proud talk did not finish on Friday. Yesterday, speaking on a morning radio show, he mentioned the ‘proud people of DIKO’ six times in five minutes.
His mother must be so proud of her boy’s determination to fight for his hereditary right to the DIKO throne.

IN our issue of January 13, 2013, we published that Mr Panicos Papanicolaou had made representations or used his influence on the Government for the removal of our Ambassador in the USA because he had prevented his construction company from landing a contract to fix the Cyprus Ambassador’s residence in Washington.
From a subsequent investigation carried out in the meantime we realised that our said allegations were based on erroneous information and were totally unfounded. We therefore withdraw them and apologise to Mr Papanicolaou for any inconvenience we may have caused hum.

EVEN in the most depressing times we can count on our priests to provide us with some amusement. Speaking after a Holy Synod meeting that decided to oppose the government’s plan to legally recognise civil partnerships, including those between homosexuals, the dour Bishop of Paphos Georgios said the following: “The Church advises those who have an addiction to homosexuality to fight against their urges as they would fight against any other passions.” How does someone develop the addiction to homosexuality? For instance to become physically addicted to heroin you have to take the drug every day for four or five weeks.
How often do you have to have gay sex in a week before you become addicted to it? And does the Church approve of homosexual acts if these are infrequent and therefore do not qualify as addiction? For instance, someone who smokes one cigarette a week could not be said to have a nicotine addiction.

The IMF's Delia arrives for tough talking at the palace

MONDAY’S Eurogroup meeting might not have produced all the desired results but it had one positive outcome - it set an end of the month deadline for the signing of the memorandum of understanding. Our EU partners stopped talking vaguely about the signing of an agreement at some point this year and set a time-frame, indicating that they all wanted to see the matter closed as soon as possible.
A couple of days later the troika team arrived in Cyprus to resume talks for finalising the agreement. As was expected, the team did not receive a very warm welcome, with most of the media on Thursday – the day the troika was due to meet President Anastasiades - running reports about ‘strong pressure’ being applied on the government, ‘Negotiations at breaking point’ and ‘Battles on all fronts’.
The familiar confrontational terms were back in the news, presenting the bailout negotiations as a showdown between the government defending the national interests and the troika intent on imposing unfair measures. While this was inevitable, the truth is that reactions to the arrival of the troika and the negotiations with the government have been muted compared to the hostility sparked by last year’s visits.
Now there is no election to look forward to and the bulk of the austerity measures, which unions and political parties were opposing last year, have already been implemented. This week’s discussions have focused on finding ways to make the public debt sustainable – not an easy task as it is further complicated by disagreements over the capital needs of the banks – with the troika raising the issue of corporate tax and the taxation of financial transactions as a way of increasing state revenue.
The only issue on which there might be some reaction would be the privatisation of semi-governmental organisations, which the government, despite President Anastasiades’ electoral promises, is set to accept having decided, quite rightly, this was not an issue worth fighting over. Unions and AKEL will undoubtedly make a fuss about it but are unlikely to win much public support as few people buy the tale that CyTA and the EAC are national assets that should not be sold off. And when it comes to the crunch, only a complete fool would argue that keeping CyTA in state hands is more important than saving the economy.
We should also give credit to the new government for keeping things calm and civilised. We no longer have a demagogue president who stirs public opposition to the neo-liberal troika through his spokesmen and party associates or condones union protests. On the contrary, Anastasiades has been putting all his effort in finding solutions for the many problems the country faces rather than engaging in rabble-rousing and political spinning.
He recognised that the talk of a deposits haircut was causing big harm to the beleaguered banking sector and although the finance minister failed to persuade the Eurogroup to rule it out last Monday, Anastasiades managed to establish during last week’s talks that the European Commission was opposed to it and made this information public to restore some calm and stability. The president will be in Athens tomorrow for a meeting with PM Antonis Samaras to discuss the possibility of the Cypriots banks’ operations in Greece being taken over by local banks and thus reducing the Cyprus re-capitalisation needs.
Not all initiatives would be successful but it is reassuring to see the president exploring ways of reducing the bailout amount and making the public debt sustainable. It is also reassuring that with the exception of the deposits haircut the government has avoided the mindless practice of setting red lines. It could discuss a small increase in the corporate tax, according to reports, if this would help achieve a deal and leave other incentives for attracting foreign businesses untouched.
This flexibility and pro-activeness were not evident in the past, the previous government adopting a fatalistic approach and having no plan other than manipulating public opinion. At least Anastasiades is not shirking his responsibilities, taking every problem head-on and looking for a solution. He might not achieve everything he sets out to do and he might be forced to accept some new, unpopular measures but at least now we have a government prepared to take tough decisions. People recognise this, which may explain why there has been no hostile reaction to the troika. But we should not forget that the odds are stacked against Cyprus and no matter how hard the government tries the agreement will be painful for us.