CY denies chairman demanding £90,000 car

CYPRUS Airways Chairman Kikis Lazarides has not demanded a £90,000 company car instead of the brand new £45,000 vehicle he was being offered, the airline said yesterday, denying newspaper reports.

“Based on the practice that exists, the current chairman of the board of directors’ is given a car allowance of up to £45,000. Any car that the chairman wishes to purchase over and above that amount must be paid for out of the chairman’s own pocket,” Cyprus Airways spokesman Kyriacos Kyriacou said yesterday.

In fact, he said Lazarides was still “undecided” about whether or not he would take advantage of the £45,000 allowance at all.

The story came to light after an article in Alithia implied the chairman had turned his nose up at the notion of a £45,000 car and wanted to buy a vehicle twice the price instead. Politis also commented on the rumour yesterday.

But sources close to the chairman said the media’s interest surrounding the chairman’s preferences was nothing short of bitchy.

“Here is a man who was a member of the Olympic committee, was one of the most successful bankers in Cyprus’ history, and is the chairman of Cyprus Airways. These articles are unfair and belittle a man of his stature,” the source said.

“There are so many luxury cars in Cyprus and yet the papers are bothering with whether or not Mr Lazarides is going to buy one or not. I am surprised by this and believe that there are a lot more serious matters that the media should be turning its attention to,” he said.

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.