Quantcast
Channel: Cyprus Mail
Viewing all 6907 articles
Browse latest View live

Remand for suspected fixer in murder case

0
0
Author: 
Jacqueline Agathocleous

FAMAGUSTA district court yesterday remanded the man believed to have paid a contract killer to murder five men in Ayia Napa last June.

The 27-year-old man, who was extradited from Greece on Wednesday after being arrested there on a European arrest warrant, was remanded for eight days.

“A witness account emerged, according to which the third suspect (the 27-year-old) is the person who gave Demetris Mamalikopoulos (one of the suspects in the shootings) €20,000 to commit the five murders on June 23, at the centre of Ayia Napa,” the case investigator told court yesterday.

Mamalikopoulos, 29, and 41-year-old Anastasios Tsehilides, are the two main suspects in the June shootings and will stand trial. The first hearing starts on Wednesday. They have been in custody since late July.

The two are suspected of gunning down five men – three Greek Cypriots and two Romanians – on a side street in the heart of Ayia Napa’s busy nightclub scene, near the popular Red Square bar.

Four of the victims worked for Famagusta businessman Phanos Kalopsidiotis, against whom a murder attempt was believed to have been thwarted last month. Three men, an Albanian and two Greek nationals, will stand trial in December for that case.

According to reports, the 27-year-old who was remanded yesterday came to the attention of police after they went through the phones of the first two murder suspects.

The court heard how the 27-year-old left Cyprus on the eve of the murders. Upon his arrest, police reportedly found four mobile phones and 60 grammes of cannabis on him.

He was one of the two remaining suspects police are in search for in connection with the case, out of a total of four. Police have issued a European arrest warrant for the fourth suspect.

The force has still not released any information on who it believes the mastermind behind the crime was.

The murders were believed to be connected to underworld warring related to illegal gambling, and online betting shops. They were all forced to close shortly after the murders when a long-awaited law banning such shops was approved by parliament.


Beware of religious scammers

0
0

POLICE YESTERDAY warned members of the public to be wary of scam artists posing as religious or charitable groups. 

According to police, a group of people are going around pretending to members of a church committee or charity selling pictures of negligible value for €50 or more.  

Their target market is elderly people who often get duped into buying the pictures, said police. 

The public is asked to be particularly careful and to report any suspicious incident to their nearest police station or the Citizen’s Hotline on 1460. 

Three critical after traffic accident

0
0

TWO SISTERS and a two-year-old girl are in critical condition after two cars collided in Aradippou yesterday. 

A 28-year-old woman was driving the car with her 22-year-old sister as co-driver, and her sister’s two-year-old daughter in the back along with a 24-year-old pregnant woman, and a man whose age was not reported. All five are from Romania. 

Larnaca police spokesman Christos Andreou said the accident occurred at around 11.45am yesterday when a 33-year-old Cypriot driving his car down Greece Avenue in Aradippou collided head on with the side of the car driven by the 28-year-old. It appeared the 28-year-old came out of a side street, cutting off the 33-year-old, he said. 

Due to the seriousness of her condition, the two-year-old was transferred to the neurosurgery department of the Nicosia general hospital while the two sisters, also in critical condition, were taken to Larnaca general hospital where the pregnant woman and man were also taken with minor injuries. 

Two workers injured when vehicle overturns

0
0

TWO WORKERS are in critical condition after the cherry picker they were standing in fell to one side.  

At around 12.30pm yesterday, the two men from Bulgaria and Romania, aged 24 and 40, were standing in the manlift of the cherry picker vehicle trying to place aluminium panels on the side of a factory wall in the industrial area of Aradippou.   

According to Larnaca police spokesman Christos Andreou, the cherry picker was on a downward slope when the 44-year-old driver, also from Romania tried to move it, resulting in the large vehicle flipping to one side, critically injuring the two workers standing in the manlift at the time. 

The labour inspection department are collaborating with the Aradippou police station to investigate the work accident. 

Lawyers warn state measures could destroy foreign investment

0
0
Author: 
George Psyllides

LAWYERS warn that certain measures included by the government in its counter-proposals to international lenders would harm Cyprus’ status as an international business centre.

Specifically, lawyers object to the proposal for directors to be personally liable for a company’s tax obligations and the increase of an annual levy, currently at €350.

“We are once more sounding the alarm and call on the finance ministry to exclude companies – essentially foreign investment – because there will not be any long term benefits, but it will contribute in the further deterioration of the economy,” a Cyprus Bar Association statement said.

The association said holding directors personally liable in a bid to fight tax evasion was unacceptable and would not succeed in raising the proceeds of the Inland Revenue Department.

Doing so would deter Cypriot professionals, like lawyers, to act as directors for international businesses registered in Cyprus, thus companies would not be considered residents of the island for tax purposes.

“The majority of these companies would leave Cyprus because the main reason they are here is to use the agreements made between the Republic and other countries to avoid double taxation,” the lawyers said.

On top of losing the companies, Cyprus also stands to lose a big chunk of the around €300 million it collects in corporate tax.

The bar association also raised questions over the effectiveness of raising the annual corporate levy, introduced in 2011 as part of an austerity package.

The government proposes a revenue-based staggered raise with a €2,000 ceiling.

Companies with a turnover of up to €100,000 will continue to pay €350 while those with over €1.0 million will be charged €2,000.

The association suggested that this would make Cyprus less attractive since competitors charge either corporate tax or an annual levy but not both.

At 10 per cent, Cyprus has one of the lowest corporate rates in the EU, affording the country a comparative advantage in attracting foreign companies, especially from Russia.

State defends new stimulus package

0
0
Author: 
George Psyllides

THE government yesterday fought back at the “irresponsible” opposition who criticised its €300 million stimulus package before even seeing it.

“When they criticise, and in essence reject, the measures before they have even seen them, it shows irresponsibility, bad faith and unwillingness to discuss,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said, referring to DISY and DIKO. 

On Wednesday, the government announced a €300 million stimulus package aimed at creating jobs and boosting the construction, housing and energy sectors.

The proposals were given to parties at around 1pm.

The package will be funded by the proceeds of the second hydrocarbon licensing round – €200 million -- and the rest from the European Investment Bank, the government said.

Opposition parties yesterday expressed doubts over the existence of the €200 million.

The government spokesman said the figure did not come out of thin air.

“We are already at the final stage of the second licensing round and quite safe calculations can be made about what we can expect,” Stefanou said. “And the €200 million is a very moderate figure.”

And the state was towards the end of a lengthy procedure to secure the funds from the European Investment Bank.

The package includes €9.5 million earmarked to boost employment: €3.0 million to subsidise the employment of university graduates up to 29-years-old; €2.3 million to subsidise employment in small and medium businesses; €4.2 million to train jobless people.

Some €8.0 million will go to research and education and €17 million to fund renewable energy schemes.

Around €61 million will be used to boost the construction sector – including housing and development projects -- while €100 million will be used to assist small and medium businesses.

‘Most wanted’ fugitive found living in the north

0
0
Author: 
George Psyllides

A MAN wanted for financial fraud in the UK has been tracked down in Kyrenia by Sky News.

Timur Mehmet, 39, has been hiding in the Turkish-occupied north of the island for the past five years.

He is wanted by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs after being convicted in his absence and jailed for eight years for conspiracy to cheat the public revenue in a £25 million fraud. 

A Sky News reporter found Mehmet living in a “plush, new villa” in Kyrenia and although he denied it was him initially, he later admitted he was the man pictured on a poster issued by UK crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers.

And he claimed he was trying to negotiate a deal with British authorities that would see him return to the UK.

"Yes, it's me," he told the Sky News reporter who confronted him outside his villa. "I am trying to do a deal to return to the UK. People who think I should be serving my sentence will get their wish very soon."

Mehmet, a British national with family ties to Cyprus, was among nine of the UK’s most wanted fugitives thought to be hiding in Cyprus.

Their identities were revealed during a news conference in Nicosia early in September.

Three of the nine have surrendered to authorities since then. 

"I was already talking to my lawyer before the Crimestoppers appeal. I am going to resolve this, but I don't see the benefit in talking to you about it. It's complicated,” Mehmet told Sky News.

According to Sky, the fugitive denied the villa he was living in was his and when asked what he did in northern Cyprus, he replied: "Nothing."

Sky however said it had established his connection with a burger restaurant called Johnny Rocket’s in Famagusta.

He is also involved in developing a 12-storey office block in Nicosia, Sky said. 

Two other Britons hiding in the north surrendered around a week ago.

 Wayne Smith, 38, wanted by West Midlands Police for his role in an horrific road accident that killed a 22-year-old man, and his partner, Julie Anne Skelding, 40, wanted for perverting the course of justice in connection with the accident, crossed over to the government-controlled areas and gave themselves up to police.

Suspected sex offender Paul Lockwood, 41 – also on the most wanted list – was arrested in Somerset, UK, just two days after the list was published. He is suspected of raping an underage girl and indecently assaulting another. 

Unified EU air space ‘seriously off track’

0
0

THE creation of a unified European air space is seriously off track, potentially requiring the European Union to use sanctions to force compliance from member states, European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas said in Cyprus yesterday.

A unified air space would save €5 billion in costs that are currently passed on to the travelling public.

Although the European Union dissolved customs borders and passport controls for much of the continent years ago, control of the skies overhead remains fragmented between nations.

"We have fallen seriously behind in our original ambitions. After more than 10 years, the core problems remain the same," Kallas told a conference in Limassol.

"At this stage, it looks like infringements may well be necessary," Kallas said.

The Single European Sky (SES) II package is an EU plan to scale down from 27 national airspaces to nine regional blocks by December, with the ultimate aim of one single air control system.

But countries have been slow to dismantle domestic air traffic monopolies in order to form the regional blocks, and the EU may launch investigations into sanctioning countries that won't make good on the agreement.

The Commission can force member states to follow EU law through a procedure known as infringement, which begins with a formal demand and can escalate into EU court action and fines.

According to the EU's executive, the European Commission, the patchwork control of Europe's airspace leads to more than €5 billion in extra costs per year that is passed on to passengers.

Air traffic control costs make up 6-12 percent of the cost of an airline ticket.

Kallas said the price paid in the EU for using antiquated 1950's-era systems makes the bloc uncompetitive.

The EU was "a long way off the price in the United States... which already controls the same airspace area with more traffic at half the cost," he said.

Full implementation of the EU single sky plan would triple the amount of capacity for flights and improve safety tenfold, the Commission said.

Due to the national control of airspaces, flights also have to take longer and more inefficient routes, adding an extra 42 km to each flight in Europe.

This in turn results in wasted fuel and increased emissions.

Speaking at the high-level conference ‘Single European Sky: time for action’ in Limassol Kallas remarked: "I have always said that the Single European Sky is my top aviation priority. It is too important to be allowed to fail...  There are some signs of change, but overall progress is too slow and too limited. We need to think of other solutions and apply them quickly. There is too much national fragmentation. Promised improvements have not materialised."

With full implementation of the SES, safety will be improved by a factor of ten, airspace capacity will be tripled, the costs of air traffic management will be reduced by 50 per cent, and the impact on the environment will be reduced by 10 per cent.


Our View: State-run bodies exist to be plundered by their employees

0
0

THE PLUNDERING of the state by public sector employees takes many forms. A few days ago we read with astonishment about the thousands of people who were entitled to free tickets or tickets at 90 per cent discounts from Cyprus Airways. While it may be standard practice for many airlines to offer discounted tickets to its staff, the Cyprus national carrier’s policy beggars belief. 

Free/discounted tickets are offered to its one thousand members of staff and their families, but also to 1,330 former employees and ex-members of the board and their families. Anyone who served on the company’s board for a year is entitled to free tickets for himself and his family for three years (no wonder there are always hundreds of our countrymen volunteering to sit on the airline’s board). As for the company’s top brass, their spouses and children, they are entitled to an unlimited number of free tickets (confirmed seats) at any time.

Why on earth were former employees entitled to this perk of a CY job? It is because state companies in Cyprus are more like worker’s co-operatives, existing exclusively for serving their employees who behave like shareholders. But when the members of the board set such a bad example – ensuring they and their families have access to free tickets after they leave the company – they are in position to stop employees doing the same. In fact they co-operated with the unions so everyone would be entitled to free tickets.

On the same day, it was reported that CyTA staff were all given free mobile phones, free internet service and free Cytavision subscriptions. It is the principle of the workers’ co-operative at play again – employees plundering a state-owned organisation because they are allowed to do so and have come to believe that they own the business. The members of the board, who probably enjoy the same privileges, would not dream of putting an end to this practice. The Electricity Authority of Cyprus is also based on this socialist model, offering scholarships for university study for the offspring of its overpaid employees. 

The rest of the population meanwhile, pays the bill for these scandalous perks offered by state organisations to their pampered employees. Cyprus Airways and CyTA were overcharging us for decades, until competition was introduced while the Electricity Authority, which remains a monopoly, charges the highest electricity rates in the EU. Cyprus Airways is now bankrupt, CyTA is seeing its annual surplus contract every year and the EAC cannot raise funds for big projects.

Perhaps this is why the AKEL government is so keen on maintaining these organisations under state ownership – communists are in favour of workers’ co-operatives. But the myth promoted by AKEL – that these organisations are public wealth – has been exposed by the latest revelations. These organisations exist to be plundered by their employees and boards who pass on the cost to the hapless consumer. The troika is absolutely right to propose their privatisation.

Full probe promised into crane collapse

0
0
Author: 
Stefanos Evripidou

INVESTIGATIONS WERE launched yesterday into how a 44-metre tall tower crane fell onto Phinikoudes promenade on Wednesday night in stormy weather, killing a 65-year-old lady, injuring three others and damaging five cars.

Larnaca mayor Andreas Louroudjiatis, who held an emergency session of the municipal council yesterday, said he has requested an investigation from the labour inspection department, with the help of the communications ministry’s electromechanical services, in addition to the police investigation and the municipality’s own internal inquiry.

“We really want to be fully transparent. We’re seeking to clarify the circumstances under which this unfortunate event took place,” said Louroudjiatis. The crane was part of a construction site managed by a contractor hired by the municipality to build an extra two floors on top of the town hall situated on Phinikoudes Avenue.

“We have given instructions to the contractor to cooperate fully with the relevant authorities and with the manufacturing company (of the crane). Whatever has to be done shall be done quickly, decisively and with transparency,” said the mayor.

Louroudjiatis said the local council appointed a municipal official yesterday to be responsible for communicating with those who either suffered injury or material damage, and provide any assistance needed for them to expedite the process of filing possible insurance claims.

At around 8.30pm on Wednesday, in strong winds averaging between 6 and 9 Beaufort, the T-shaped crane- 44-metres in length and 80 metres in width- fell on to Phinikoudes promenade, crashing down on a moving car containing a British couple (permanent residents of Vrysoulles village) and four other vehicles.

The fallen crane trapped Victor and Christine-Marie Coleman, 65 and 67, inside the car until the emergency services were able to get them out and rush them to Larnaca general hospital.

Soon after, Christine-Marie died at the hospital as a result of multiple injuries, namely haemorrhaging in her brain and lungs, while her husband sustained head and brain injuries and internal cranial haemorrhaging. He remains in a serious but stable condition at the hospital’s surgery department.

A 47-year-old Iranian man lost his finger trying to flee from the falling crane on foot while a 60-year-old Cypriot pedestrian suffered a fractured hand.

According to eye-witness accounts, the crane’s fall was broken by the cars, which changed the direction of the crane as it hit the ground, narrowly missing a kiosk with seven people inside.

As daylight broke yesterday, the damage caused by the massive 200 ton crane became piercingly clear for local residents and investigators who would justifiably have wondered how the loss of life was not greater by the fall of a colossal metal tower onto a hugely popular promenade.

The meteorological service reported that heavy rain and strong winds affected nearly all parts of the island on Wednesday, with Larnaca and Limassol bearing the brunt of the bad weather.

Meteorological service official Theodoros Hadjigeorgiou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the average force of winds on Wednesday night was 6 Beaufort but that a gusting wind lasting ten to 15 minutes reached a maximum of 9 Beaufort.

Most commentators attributed the crane’s fall to freak weather. Asked whether winds of 9 Beaufort were extreme, Hadjigeorgiou replied: “It’s quite usual in these kinds of thunderstorms which we usually get in winter,” he said, adding, “We’ve had much worse in Cyprus”.

According to sources, labour inspectors who visited the site yesterday commented that the crane’s location on Athinon Avenue overlooking Phinikoudes promenade meant that the narrow street buttressed by buildings on either side could have magnified the wind’s force.

Also the crane’s position 44m above ground means that it would have been exposed to gust wind speeds greater than those felt at a pedestrian level.

The Cyprus Mail spoke to TC Tower Cranes Ltd, exclusive representatives in Cyprus of the German manufacturing company Liebherr Werk Biberach Gmbh which built the crane.

A company representative said they were carrying out their own investigation and did not wish to comment until after their meeting with labour inspectors this morning.

According to the company’s website, the tower cranes are equipped with the most modern lifting systems for the secure and swift lifting of loads from 1,000kg to 60,000 kg. The company provides full technical support, assembling and disassembling services.

Another industry website, towercranesupport.com, notes that 17 per cent of tower crane accidents in 2010 (27 out of 157) were linked to high winds.

Speaking later yesterday to Sigma television, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, in a dig related to the Mari blast in which 13 people died last year, said he hoped President Demetris Christofias was not going to be blamed for this accident as well.

Photo shows the aftermath early yesterday morning along Larnaca's Phinikoudes seafront (Christos Theodorides)

Remand for man accused of trying to murder his partner

0
0

A 28-YEAR OLD man was remanded in custody for eight days yesterday by the Paphos district court in connection with the attempted murder of his partner, following his arrest in the north.

Police issued a wanted announcement last Monday for Viorel Vasile Valacu from Romania after his 38-year-old girlfriend accused him of trying to kill her with a lath-hammer in Paphos. 

According to police, at around 4am on October 8, the 38-year-old woman was taken in a private vehicle to Paphos general hospital’s accident and emergency department with head injuries.  

The on-duty doctor confirmed she had sustained serious head injuries and sent her to Nicosia general hospital for surgery. 

In the meantime, she gave a statement to police, saying that her 28-year-old boyfriend who she lived with assaulted her with a lath-hammer. Four days later, at 4pm on Thursday, Valacu tried to cross to the north, where he was arrested by Turkish Cypriot police and handed over to the UN.  

The UN then handed the 28-year-old to Nicosia CID at the Ledra Palace checkpoint. 

Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said the man had confessed his crime to the police, citing personal reasons and differences he had with his partner. He said the woman remained in critical condition yesterday. 

Angelides noted the 28-year-old was caught with the help of the bicommunal technical committee on crime and criminal matters which launched a Joint Communications Room in 2010 to exchange information between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on crimes and crime-related matters. 

The Paphos court issued an eight-day remand yesterday while Paphos CID continues its investigations.  

Teen girl hit with knuckleduster at school

0
0

POLICE ARRESTED a 20-year-old man yesterday and are looking for a 25-year-old woman in connection with a vicious attack against a 17-year-old girl during school hours.

According to reports, the two entered the school grounds of Agros village in the Limassol District on Thursday at around 1pm looking for the teenager. 

The 25-year-old woman reportedly found the 17-year-old in a classroom, dragged her out into the yard and allegedly hit her on her face and body using a knuckleduster. 

The teenager was taken to Kyperounda hospital and then transferred to Nicosia general hospital with cuts on her cheek and back and a broken tooth. She was kept in yesterday for treatment.  

Police secured two arrest warrants for the 25-year-old woman and 20-year-old man who are wanted in connection with charges of assault causing grievous bodily harm and use of a dangerous weapon. The man was arrested yesterday while the 25-year-old remains at large. 

Agros police station is investigating the case. 

 

UCY defends withholding of degrees from scroungers

0
0
Author: 
Jacqueline Agathocleous

 

THE University of Cyprus (UCY) yesterday defended its decision to hold back degrees from graduates who lived on campus but failed to pay their rent.

UCY also decided to prevent students who owe rent from enrolling in certain subjects and from applying for a renewal of residency. It said the decision was made after 13 students failed to pay their dues over the past few years.

It also said the measure would be used “sparingly”, taking each student’s personal circumstances into account.

UCY rejected reports that the decision “went against the student world” and said it was always there with support for students who needed it.

“The relevant decision by the university’s council is a deterrent measure for students who depart from the campus or university, without meeting their obligations,” said UCY. 

“As stated by the head of the UCY council, Harris Charalambous, as well as the Rector, Professor Constantinos Christofides, the institution has proved it operates anthropocentrically,” said UCY. “Despite the financial difficulties it is facing due to reduction of its budget, the university decided to postpone increasing the campus rent rates, which range between €102 and €136 per month – it is noted that private apartments in the area cost around €400,” it added. 

The university also decided to postpone implementing a decision to charge students to use the campus sporting centre.

Over recent academic years, 13 incidents of non-payment of rent were recorded, said UCY. It said the amount owed, €4,114, would be written off.

“It is noted that tenants who are facing problems paying their rent are already being assisted financially by the university’s student welfare body, but also through the housing office, which offers facilities to help pay the rent.”

 

 

‘Hands off our co-ops’

0
0
Author: 
George Psyllides

COOPERATIVES yesterday reiterated their opposition to any changes in their regulatory framework that would impinge on their independence.

The EU Commission wants Cyprus to harmonise the supervision of cooperative credit societies with the standards applied for commercial banks, a view shared by the island’s international lenders, the troika.

Such a move however, is opposed by almost everyone on the island, including the current administration.

“Cooperatives are a social movement and we must realise that. The troika must realise this,” said Andreas Mouskallis, chairman of the coop confederation.

Mouskallis said the island’s co-op movement is the most credible and pioneering co-op movement in the world, with simple banking operations.

“If co-ops behaved like banks and if they had the losses incurred by the banks we would have been bankrupt a long time ago,” Mouskallis said.

He was referring to the huge losses suffered by the island’s two big banks, which subsequently forced Cyprus to ask its EU partners for a bailout in a bid to recapitalise them.

Mouskallis, a former AKEL MP, did not rule out changing the co-ops’ regulatory framework to improve it.

“There should be an arrangement … that would not scrap the independent regulator for co-ops,” he said.

The island’s Central Bank appears to share that view.

It is understood that the Central Bank will ask for co-op supervision to be improved, possibly by having its own representative on the co-op board.

Co-ops are regulated by the Authority for the Supervision and Development of Cooperative Societies, which falls under the general authority of the Trade and Industry Ministry.

The leadership of the cooperative movement met President Demetris Christofias on Thursday – a meeting that was not made public.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the two sides discussed the developments and the troika’s position for regulatory harmonisation.

The spokesman said the independence of the cooperative movement must be safeguarded and any other matters can be resolved through dialogue.

“Dialogue is the best way to find solutions when things do not come as one would like. We are no longer alone,” Stefanou said, referring to the EU.

 

 

Unions push to preserve pensions

0
0
Author: 
George Psyllides

PUBLIC sector unions appear to be trying to salvage their members’ pension rights, it emerged yesterday, as they met President Demetris Christofias to discuss government proposals for an adjustment programme that must be put in place as part of an international bailout.

Speaking after the morning meeting, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou remained tight-lipped over the “various issues” raised.

“The dialogue and the effort to have common positions is better served by a dialogue conducted inside the meeting room instead of having public statements,” Stefanou said, as he urged for an end to public spats. “Such a climate does not help the efforts to achieve common positions.”

The spokesman said there was a “creative and constructive meeting with the unions” who raised various issues that the government will examine before a new meeting.

Despite the scarcity of information, it emerged that unions tabled a proposal for any cuts on salaries to be considered a voluntary contribution so as not to affect the workers’ pension rights.

Doing so would not change the amount considered pensionable.

But this may not go down well with the island’s lenders – the troika – who demand permanent measures to be put in place. 

Cyprus sought international assistance in June to help buffer its banks, hit by Greece's debt crisis.

The International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank have submitted draft proposals for €975 million in spending cuts by the tiny economy over the next four years.

That would be in return for a bailout expected to exceed €10 billion, more than half Cyprus’ €17 billion output.

Cyprus has instead sought an austerity drive generating more than €1.0 billion spread out over five years.

It has rejected troika proposals to cut the 13th salary, scrap wage indexation and sell profitable semi-government organisations like telecommunications company CyTA.

Christofias is scheduled to meet the employers’ organisations tomorrow and the political parties on Monday.

Parties yesterday met with finance ministry technocrats who answered their questions on the government proposals ahead of the meeting.

Stefanou said so far there has not been any suggestion to hold one joint meeting with all involved.

“Our effort is to conclude the dialogue the soonest,” Stefanou said.

He said there was not much time left, but emphasised that the dialogue did not start from scratch.

“Various matters being discussed now were also discussed many times in the past,” he said. “I believe we can conclude this dialogue soon so that the government negotiates with the troika.”

After appearing to drag its feet for two months, the government is now trying to meet a November 12 deadline for securing bailout funds this year.

Earlier this month Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said that after November 12 - the next meeting of the Eurogroup - it would take the parliaments of individual eurozone nations about six weeks to sanction the Cyprus memorandum. 

 

 


Top selling drugs will see biggest price fall

0
0
Author: 
Jacqueline Agathocleous

WIDELY consumed pharmaceuticals will be up to 50 per cent cheaper as of January 14, Health Minister Stavros Malas announced yesterday.

Malas said the ministry had almost wrapped up recording all of the prices, following the cabinet’s recent decision to implement a new pricing policy.

“There will be significant reductions in packages that circulate widely in the market, the price of which will decrease by 30, 40 and even 50 per cent,” said the minister.

There will be increases however, said Malas, mainly for medicines used during hospital treatment.

“The new pharmaceuticals price list will be implemented from January 14, 2013,” Malas said, adding that prices would then be reviewed every two years, in accordance with international prices.

Well-known antibiotics will be half the price; broadly used antihypertensive drugs will be reduced by 30 per cent; cholesterol medication will also be reduced significantly, said Malas.

“People are not interested in the average price reduction, which may range between 7.0 and 10 per cent; they are interested in how much cheaper the pharmaceuticals they purchase on a broad scale will be, and these will be reduced,” said the minister.

The new list, once made official, will be available on the pharmaceutical services’ website in roughly a month’s time.

According to Malas, pharmacists’ profit margins will also be reduced. For medicines where the wholesale price is over €50, their profits will fall from 37 to 35 per cent, while for drugs with a wholesale price of €250 or above, profit margins will fall from 37 to 25 per cent.

The minister also announced there would be some new regulations regarding non-prescription drugs, which he said would be available freely on the market, without controlled pricing.

“This will lead to more pharmaceuticals being available and therefore more competition,” said Malas. “This will help the Cypriot pharmaceutical industry export to more countries and in quantities, which will contribute to the creation of new jobs.”

The Cyprus Association of Research and Development Pharmaceutical Companies (KEFEA) yesterday welcomed the news, saying it believed the change in pricing policy would ensure continued availability of the majority of medicines on the Cypriot market.

However, it expressed concern over the inevitable decrease in its members’ incomes, especially due to the lack of a national health system.

“KEFEA considers that the updating of prices every two years is a very reasonable endeavour in the case of Cyprus,” it added. “A review on a regular basis ensures that local prices reflect the price movements in the reference countries.”

The association said this provision was in fact part of existing legislation, though it was not effectively implemented in recent years.

“KEFEA also reiterates its firm position that the current ‘basket’ of reference countries, which are taken into consideration for the setting of prices in Cyprus, is representative of the socio-economic situation of our country,” it added. 

However it said the implementation of the new pricing policy without the simultaneous introduction of a National Health System would lead to a significant reduction in the revenues of KEFEA members. 

In most European countries, KEFEA said, there was no separation of the public and private sector, and medicines were quickly included in prescriptions, the population as a whole had access to them, and prices were controlled. 

“KEFEA stresses the need to improve the import and supply of medicines in the public sector since the inequality which exists between the two sectors – private and public – is enormous both in terms of the excessively large number of patients requiring certain drugs, and in terms of the very limited new drug options available in the public domain,” said the association. 

It added, “Reviewing any new pricing system in the near future should be done in conjunction with the introduction of a national health system and should not be treated as a separate issue. KEFEA therefore questions the timing of the first pricing policy evaluation in 2013 as there’s no evidence of true political decisions on this topic in the near future let alone implementation.”

 

More people living below the poverty line

0
0
Author: 
Stefanos Evripidou

THE POVERTY and social exclusion rate increased in Cyprus between 2009 and 2010, placing between 120,000 and 130,000 people under the poverty line based on a population figure of 839,000.  

The figures however are two years old, and from a time when unemployment was still hovering between 6.0 and 7.0 per cent. It is now heading for double that figure after shooting up five percentage points in only 18 months, putting even more families below the poverty line.

Speaking yesterday on behalf of Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous at the 1st Pancyprian Conference on Poverty and Social Exclusion, ministry permanent secretary Giorgos Papageorgiou noted that the poverty rate in Cyprus increased from 15.3 per cent in 2009 to 15.8 per cent in 2010, just below the EU average of 16.4 per cent. 

“In other words, almost 16 per cent of the population lives with an income below €10,189 per year, which is the poverty line,” he said.

Regarding social exclusion, Papageorgiou said there has been an increase in the percentage of people experiencing serious material deprivation from 9.5 per cent in 2009 to 9.8 per cent in 2010, and of the economic indexes concerning the capability of families to maintain a warm home and enjoy one-week vacations. The biggest increase, over 6.0 per cent, has been recorded in the case of single-parent families.

The official noted that the ministry’s priority is to secure an adequate standard of living for the population through labour market integration measures.

“Access to employment is not only a measure of protection against poverty and social exclusion, but is also a means of prevention, social and economic growth and productivity,” he said. 

Failure to ensure access to adequate income, social protection and affordable and qualitative services causes significant obstacles to implementing effective strategies to combat poverty, especially in times of increasing unemployment, he added.

Therefore, all efforts must take a balanced approach that will not only focus on economic stability and fiscal consolidation but on increasing employment and social cohesion. 

Papageorgiou argued that in extremely challenging conditions for the labour market, the labour ministry is implementing measures to train the unemployed and provide them with access to employment, to free economically inactive women and older people from isolation, and to train and integrate into the job market vulnerable sectors of the population like the disabled, those on public benefits, the long-term unemployed and youth. 

The ministry is also providing support measures to pensioners, enhancing the economic and social support provided to citizens.  

“The fight against poverty and social exclusion is essential to social cohesion and human-centric societies. These objectives are even more compelling today during the global economic crisis where the risks of prolonged poverty for vulnerable groups and of new groups facing poverty become more acute and intense,” said the permanent secretary.  

 

Protecting home owners from bank seizure

0
0
Author: 
Elias Hazou

THE GOVERNMENT has countered the troika’s proposal for the seizure and sale of properties held against bad loans after a period of 18 months, stating that it wants to protect residential property dwellers.

In its economic adjustment programme for Cyprus, under the heading ‘Regulation and supervision for banks and cooperative credit institutions,’ the troika advised that “strong efforts should be made to maximise bank recovery rates for non-performing loans, while minimising the incentives for strategic defaults by borrowers.”

It proposed that “the administrative hurdles and legislative framework currently constraining the seizure and sale of loan collateral will be amended such that the property pledged as collateral can be seized and offered for sale within a maximum time-span of 1.5 years.”

In addition, “the procedures guiding the repossession of cash and other financial assets, which are not pledged as collateral and are held by defaulted borrowers outside the lending institution, should be appropriately accelerated; taking into account also the possibility of moving these assets within and outside the banking sector. The necessary legislative changes will be introduced by 31 October 2012.”

But the government wants to extend the period after which banks can seize and sell such properties, to five years. Moreover, it proposes that owner-occupied housing be exempted from any asset seizures.

That would still affect assets such as inherited property, second homes, or land plots.

A major sticking point with the troika is the latter’s proposal for a redefinition of banks’ non-performing loans (NPLs), which if accepted would cause Cyprus’ bailout figure to soar. Cyprus’ prospective lenders propose that “the Central Bank of  Cyprus’ guidance on the classification of loans as non-performing be immediately amended to include all loans past due by more than 90 days.”

The government’s counter-proposal on seizures, part of its ‘file’ on credit institutions, was leaked to the media within hours of being handed to political parties.

Central Bank sources told the Mail the number of properties (homes) seized by banks over the last few years is statistically negligible.

That’s because the process ends up at the Land Registry Department, which typically informs a bank that due to its huge backlog it will take the bank a long time to gain possession of a property in question.

 The same sources said that, under the government’s counter-proposal (prepared by the Central Bank), seizures would still end up at land registry, although “measures would be put in place to speed up the procedure.”

The government says it does not want to tamper with the existing system in a bid to protect home buyers.

INCREASED RISK FOR THOSE WITH NO TITLE DEEDS 

UNDER the troika’s proposal, there would be an increased risk for all those people without title deeds losing their properties where developers who have non-performing loans (NPLs) lose their collateral and it goes to the banks.

An estimated 130,000 title deeds are pending.

But according to Dennis O’Hare, head and founder of the Cyprus Property Action Group (CPAG), there is more to it than meets the eye.

He said: “The troika doesn’t understand the situation. They are going about it in a similar way as they dealt with collateral in Spain and Ireland. There, the developers built properties with bank mortgages which they have been unable to offload. The key difference in Cyprus is that developers have taken out mortgages on properties and sold them to other people.”

O’Hare said that if a developer here goes bust, it is not just banks which stake a claim on the property: “Other creditors come out of the woodwork, like the Inland Revenue Department, the VAT Service, and so on.”

“At the end of the day, because of all these claims, the amount of debt on title deeds grows to about three to four times the value of the asset, including the bricks and mortar. With the troika’s proposal, since all the other claims would also have to be satisfied, at the end of the day the banks would get back only a small percentage of their investment.”

CPAG cites the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s noting that the bailout package from the EU being negotiated would be in excess of €15 billion, with €6.5 billion required for the banking sector, mostly for recapitalization.

“We are afraid that the ratings agencies don’t know the half of it,” CPAG says on its website.

O’Hare has this take: “Were the government to accept the troika’s proposal, it would expose the whole rotten system. And I believe that’s why they are trying to leave out owner-occupied lodging from bank seizures.”

LEGAL CONTRACTS SHOULD HAVE A REASONABLE TIME PERIOD

By Stefanos Evripidou 

STAVROS Zenios, professor of finance at the University of Cyprus and member of the governing council of citizens’ action group ELEFTHERIA had this to say on the length of non-performing loans: “Legal contracts should have a reasonable time period during which they can be enforced.”

He highlighted that one of the indicators in a global study on competitiveness related to the inability to enforce legal contracts, resulting in Cyprus’ ranking low on the index. 

“The idea of protecting someone’s primary residence is important, but after that, the legal contracts should have a way to be enforced as part of the rule of law,” said Zenios. 

The former University of Cyprus rector referred to two proposals formulated by the newly-formed citizens’ action group ELEFTHERIA that would help create liquidity in the real estate market without creating another bubble. 

“First, we need to establish the framework for real estate investment trusts (REIT), which is an investment vehicle used all over the world for investors to acquire property and then rent the property back to the users. 

“This way, you attract capital in the real estate market. Also, when it’s an investment and not a loan, you can have a much longer horizon,” he said. 

Zenios gave the example of a REIT buying a big factory from a corporation that cannot afford to put it on its balance sheet as a loan, but is still profitable enough to pay rent for it. 

“So they sell the property and pay rent to use it. These vehicles (REITs) proved very resilient during the crisis,” he said.

A second proposal from ELEFTHERIA is to adopt the Irish model of a national asset management agency. 

“We have to realise that the heart of the problem in Cyprus was a real estate boom of property that now has no resale value. You are still using taxpayers’ money but you are able to take all non-performing loans off the balance sheets of the banks, so the banks shrink. But whatever is left is healthy to finance profitable businesses,” said Zenios. 

The finance professor said the agency starts off with a big balance sheet which it gradually brings down to zero by offloading the properties as quickly as possible. 

He referred to the hierarchy of properties that exists in relation to non-performing loans: those who borrowed to purchase a primary residence; those who made investments they cannot afford, and the real estate developer who developed property she cannot really sell. 

“You are not going to deal with all three problem in the same way with the same social sensitivity and economic consideration,” he said. 

“The national bubble has burst. The taxpayer will lose. This (proposal) does not make the problem disappear but it helps the bank get its footing to help small and medium-sized enterprises and gives society more time to offload excess real estate,” said Zenios. 

Concluding, he said: “For real estate that has potential, bring foreign investors to buy them and rent them back, for the rest, you need a national asset management agency.”   

‘No way to fine petrol cheats’

0
0
Author: 
Jacqueline Agathocleous

 

AN INVESTIGATION into petrol cheats yesterday revealed that oil companies delay reducing prices by two or three days on average, and often fail to pass on the full reduction to consumers.

Announcing the results of the probe, Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said that 

between March and September this year, certain oil companies significantly delayed reducing fuel prices when new loads were received.

One in particular delayed reducing prices twice over a three-week period, instead  pocketing between 2.2 cents and 5.2 cents for every litre sold.

But the investigation is likely to lead nowhere. Sylikiotis not only failed to name the culprits, he said there was nothing his ministry could do to stop the rip-off short of amending the law to impose fines in the future.

According to the ministry’s investigation, in times of price reductions, oil companies island-wide delayed reducing their prices on average by two to three days after each load of 95 octane petrol was received.

 “Incidences were noted where a company benefited by two cents per litre, from August 13 until August 25 when the next load was received,” said Sylikiotis. 

Another company, he added, made 2.2 cents extra per litre from April 26 until May 10, and then this increased to 5.2 cents a litre from May 10 until May 17.

“Another company benefited by 3.5 cents a litre from May 7 until May 16,” said the minister. He added that the ministry planned to assess how the oil companies’ pricing policies had impacted consumers.

But there was more bad news, as the ministry found that the companies seemed to be in cahoots. “In times of price reductions as well as increases, the companies behaved in a similar manner and adjusted their prices within around a day of each other,” said Sylikiotis, adding that this matter would be sent on to the Committee for Protection of Competition.

Perhaps most disappointing of all was his admission that little could be done to punish the profiteers.

“The legal framework does not allow the imposition of fines in cases of profiteering, which is the case in matters of unfair competition. A change in legislation will give the ministry this authority,” said Sylikiotis.

The minister, who was not in a position to give precise figures of the amount of money the companies may have pocketed during those periods as it has to do with the quantities of fuel sold,  said the legal services would assist efforts to amend the law so as to impose a specific timeframe for when companies and petrol stations should alter their prices, after receiving new loads.

“In addition, a provision will be included to allow the imposition of an administrative fine, which will be double the amount taken by the company or petrol station which has not reduced its prices on time,” said Sylikiotis.

The same will apply when increases are higher than they should be. 

Sylikiotis said he could not give a specific date for when the amendments would be ready, but added: “We will move fast in the next few months.”

The minister said the state had not benefited from increased fuel prices as the consumption tax is fixed per litre of fuel and does not increase with the price, but he said VAT collection was quite low on fuel products.

Oil companies in Cyprus import crude oil products that have been refined and  which have their own international price fluctuations as defined by the Platts Index.

Sylikiotis said the ministry was thinking of publicising the Platts prices on a daily basis, on its website.

He said the ministry would continue to observe shipment arrivals and publicise data on companies, where the need arises.

“Moreover, the ministry will announce the names of petrol stations that do not make the relevant reductions when the wholesale price reduces, or that increase their prices more than the wholesale price increased,” said the minister.

He said he confirmed with the legal services that this was not in violation of personal data laws.

 

Our View: The labour minister and her union-inspired economic dogmatism

0
0

WE OFTEN wonder whether the labour minister Sotiroulla Charalambous is a practical joker, because many of the policies she has comes up with recently are only good for a laugh. 

Take for instance her decision, a few months ago, to increase the statutory minimum wage. This was at a time that the unemployment rate was at record levels and rising every month. Any rational person with the most basic understanding of economics, would have either lowered it, in the hope it would lead to the opening of jobs, or left it as was. Raising it in the current economic conditions could only be seen as a tasteless joke. The number of jobless continued to rise in the meantime.

Around the same time, Charalambous decided to mediate in a dispute between Cyprus Airways management and unions, over the provisions of a company rescue plan.  The minister’s mediation proposal, incredibly, included pay rises for the airline’s lowest-paid workers. This was a state company that required the injection of tens of millions of euros to avoid bankruptcy and the minister proposed it gave pay rises.

This week she announced a couple of new measures. She had prepared an amendment to an existing law that provided for heavier penalties for employers who owed salaries to workers. There had been an increased number of cases of non-payment of salaries she said and hoped the heavier penalties would act as a deterrent, ensuring the prompt payment of wages. Nobody could condone non-payment of wages, but does the minister seriously think heavier fines would make any difference, considering we are in the worst recession in our history?

The second measure she announced on Monday, betrayed how little she understands the need for flexible labour markets, which the European Commission has been urging EU member-states to pursue. Charalambous, being a member of AKEL and a trade unionist, is by ideology, a supporter of inflexible labour markets dominated by union wage-fixing. Her proposal would give labour inspectors the power to impose administrative fines on employers who did not pay the same wages to all their workers, on the grounds that this was a violation of the principle of equal treatment.

The aim is to stop employers hiring EU nationals who are willing to work for lower wages than Cypriots. By insisting on everyone being paid the same wage, she hopes to keep alive the collective agreements imposed on businesses by powerful unions in the period of full employment, during which the economy’s competitiveness was destroyed. She disingenuously tried to present her attempt to preserve collective agreements and inflexible labour markets as “indispensable to ensuring equal treatment in the workplace, regardless of ethnic origin.” Yet the truth is that employers hire EU nationals not because they discriminate against Cypriots, but because the former are willing to work for less pay. 

In times of high unemployment and recession wages fall and no amount of legislation can prevent this from happening. But Charalambous’ union-inspired economic dogmatism does not allow her to see the staggering futility of her decisions.

 

 

Viewing all 6907 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images