A GREEK firm sacked by the government from the production of the Miss Universe contest yesterday blamed red tape for a recent parting of the ways.
Athens-based Omega Entertainment, led by Nicos Mastorakis, had its contract terminated by the government earlier this month, following differences of opinion over the organisation of the May 13 pageant.
Production has now been taken over by the pageant’s American organisers, in co-operation with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
Speaking out yesterday for the first time since the rift first emerged last month, Omega said in a statement it had been unable to deal with the amount of red tape involved, and wished the government "good luck in the chaos of this production".
Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis immediately hit back, saying there was no "chaos".
"The delays are over and everything is okay," he told the Cyprus Mail. "There was no chaos."
Omega, which has 7,000 hours of television production under its belt, said it had agreed not to comment on the problems until the dissolution of the contract.
Severance papers have now been signed, and Omega said it believed there were issues that needed clarifying.
It said the company always believed the production should have been handled as an independent entertainment event, disassociated from the "complicated and slow process" of government bureaucracy.
The differences between Omega and the Ministry centred on the event’s budget, although the company says money was not an issue per se. Rather, the company became frustrated at having its hands tied by the need for all expenditure to be approved by government committees and for large projects to be put out to tender.
"Due to the incredibly slow governmental procedures and the lack of funds in the CTO’s relevant account, Omega found it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to operate and deliver," the company’s statement said.
The House of Representatives refused earlier this year to approve the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) budget, which included funds for the pageant. The CTO budget of £20 million was only approved by the House last Thursday and included £4.5 million for Miss Universe.
Rolandis told the Mail that in some ways he could understand the company’s grievance as regarded the pace at which government services moved.
"In a way it’s true that government procedures are slower than the private sector, but we are under strict instructions to abide by the law," Rolandis said, referring to the tenders’ procedure.
"Mr Mastorakis was always in a hurry and wanted things done fast. Unfortunately when a government is paying for something it has procedures."
He said the government could not just sit back and settle any bills presented to them by a private firm.
Rolandis said the initial sum earmarked for the pageant had been around £2.8 million, but he was unable to estimate how much costs had gone over budget.
He said there were so many different aspects involved that it was too soon to estimate total costs. Rolandis added though that costs would be offset by revenue accrued from the event, such as ticket sales, advertising sponsors and television revenue.
