Kiosk press boycott averted

NEWSPAPER distributors and kiosks yesterday reached an agreement to enter a dialogue on Monday in a spat over the calculation of commission that threatened to disrupt availability today.

A statement from the shopkeepers union POVEK, which is representing around 100 kiosk owners who threatened not to provide papers today, said the measures had been suspended.
The kiosks in question are opposed to a change in the way of calculating the commission they receive from news agencies, which they brand unfair.

Hellenic Distribution, one of the two agencies affected, said that last year a number of kiosks had protested to the Competition Commission that certain of their colleagues were getting more favourable rates from agencies. The second agency is Kronos.

Previously, the commission was “calculated” based on the age of a business: the older a kiosk, the better deal. Old kiosks are those that have been in business for 15 to 20 years.
The newer kiosks complained of distorted competition in the market.

The Competition Commission then ordered newsagents to work out a new formula.

The new system determines a commission based on a kiosk’s turnover. This was considered a fairer method of sharing the wealth, and all parties involved agreed to it apart from a small minority of protesting kiosks.
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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.