TRANSPORT Minister Averoff Neophytou yesterday accused business tycoon Stelios Haji-Ioannou of blackmail over his decision to remove his tankers from the Cyprus shipping register because the Cyprus Stock Exchange had dithered in listing his company, Stelmar Maritime Holdings.
Greek Cypriot shipping magnate Haji-Ioannou, who also owns British based budget airline easyJet and is one of the richest men in Britain, on Wednesday abandoned his hopes to list Stelmar in Cyprus, after the CSE held up his application by over a month.
Furious at the delays, Stelmar said it would be returning money put forward by investors and would de-list its 10 tankers currently registered with the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS). Stelmar said there was no place for its ships in a country that had such scant regard for the shipping industry.
Stelmar’s retaliation was a slap in the face for the government and the DMS, from a businessman whose achievements have long been a source of national pride. “Whatever may be happening, one thing must be made clear to everyone, ” Neophytou responded yesterday. “The Cypriot state must not give in to blackmail. It is an issue of national self-respect and honour to resist any pressures, wherever they come from.”
“I’ve known Stelios since he was 14 and I want to make a personal appeal to him to reconsider,” DMS senior surveyor Andreas Constantinou told Reuters yesterday. “The statistical impact would be marginal, but this particular company and its ships are among the best part of our fleet as far as quality and safety are concerned,” he added.
Of the 1,700 ocean-going ships on the registry, the 10 Stelmar tankers are among the newest. The company’s other two vessels are registered in Panama. Haji-Ioannou had said he wanted to list his company in his home country in order to contribute to the investment environment on the fledgling exchange.
Stelmar submitted an application to join the Cyprus Stock Exchange on April 5. After problems surfaced in September, a new deadline was set for the end of October. When it expired without further developments, Haji-Ioannou withdrew from the process.
The bourse was concerned that shipping companies were a high-risk venture and sought legal advice to determine whether specific prerequisites were needed to sign the company up.
The Central Bank was also concerned that Stelmar was too large a company for the small bourse and that a future withdrawal of money by foreign investors could have a devastating effect on the economy. The Central Bank yesterday stood by its opinion: “The capital resources that Cyprus possesses are finite and it is unwise to allow enterprises that are not closely connected with the economy of Cyprus to tap the resources,” said Andreas Phillipou, a central bank senior manager.
“For the time being we are able to use the provisions of the exchange control law to monitor large outflows, but this legislation is gradually being phased out. It will not be there to protect us in future so we have to take that into account,” said the Central Bank official.
Stelmar’s lawyer in Cyprus, George Savvides has accused the CSE of discrimination and acting illegally.
