House backs CY loan guarantee

THE HOUSE plenum yesterday approved a government guarantee for Cyprus Airways to take out a $75 million loan to shore up its floundering finances.

In the last plenum session before their summer break, deputies passed the bill with 26 votes for and three against.

Those voting against were Diko deputies Tassos Papadopoulos, Nicos Cleanthous and Marios Matsakis. Papadopoulos, who has launched a personal campaign against what he claims is widespread nepotism in the troubled national carrier, has vowed not to approve any further state support for CY until it gets its house in order.

Akel deputy Christodoulos Veniamin abstained from the vote, while 26 deputies were absent from the plenum chamber at the time.

The CY Group reported losses of over £4 million in 1997 and £5.2 million in 1997.

The plenum also approved a deficit budget for the Electricity Authority (EAC) for 1998. The budget provides for spending of £210 million and income of £138 million.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.