THE FORMER CEO of the Cyprus telecommunication authority (CyTA) Fotis Savvides who retired this week at the age of 63 said yesterday that he was given an added bonus of €60,000 as a reward for doing his job well.
“It is not fair to insult CyTA, myself and my contribution to the company,” Savvides said referring to media criticism of the bonus – offered in addition to the expected lump-sum payment he received on retirement.
CyTA chairman Stathis Kittis told state broadcaster CyBC last week that the board had “already undertaken an obligation” to pay the sum.
The bonus was part of an out-of-contract agreement with the board to offer incentives for meeting annual performance targets “so we could be effective and helpful”, Savvides said, adding that the CyTA board could have fired him if he had not met his targets.
These included retaining customers and meeting sales targets.
CyTA said in its 2011 report that it had increased profit from services compared with 2.9 per cent or €2.4 million in 2010 despite the financial crisis.
In 2010, CyTA increased profits by €1.5 million compared with 2009.
However, in 2009 profit from services fell by 34 per cent or €38 million because of a “reduction in CyTA’s turnover … and an increase in operating expenses,” the company said in its annual report.
So the profits in 2010 and 2011 have not made up for the loss of 2009.
Savvides said yesterday that many companies had a system of rewards in place and it was common for bank executives to leave with millions of euros in bonuses.
Under his contract, Savvides is entitled to pay off the residual value of a Jaguar he used as CEO, but it might not be worth paying given the drop in the prices of used cars he said.