PARLIAMENT yesterday approved legislation stripping the energy regulator of the right to issue private licences for natural gas supplies, allowing authorities to control future imports.
The amendments submitted by DISY and AKEL, affect the law regulating the Cyprus market for the introduction of liquid natural gas. They were approved by the Plenum amid heated discussions.
Controversial law set to cost state £250m
THE PLENUM yesterday passed a bill that will offer tax amnesty for pre-2002 debts.
With 35 votes in favour, nine against and one abstention, the House approved a law that will enable the special settlement of tax debts that have been declared but not yet paid.
But it’s not tourists who are landing
BY THE END of the year Cyprus’ two airports will have seen a record number of seven million passengers, airport operators Hermes said yesterday.
According to a statement from the consortium, more than six million passengers travelled through Larnaca and Paphos airports between January and November this year.
PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos continued to dip in the polls for the second month running while both of his rivals, AKEL’s Demetris Christofias and DISY’s Ioannis Kasoulides continue to rise.
ALLEGATIONS that convicted criminals are being employed by private security companies are under investigation, police said yesterday.
Reports that the same companies have allegedly attempted to force businesses to buy protection from them are also under investigation, police added.
A SECOND shipment of Cypriot meat products was confiscated in Greece yesterday after being deemed unsuitable for human consumption by the Greek authorities.
Nearly 25 tonnes of frozen pork products were seized at Piraeus port which carried the dates during which such exports were forbidden due to the foot and mouth crisis.
THE STUDY of Turkish in schools is on the rise, with one in every 14 second year lyceum students learning the language, according to one Education Ministry official.
Assistant Director of the Education Programming Unit, Charalambos Hadjithomas, pointed out that the number of children opting for Turkish language studies had shot up since the crossing points opened in 2003.
THE HOUSE Finance Committee yesterday gave the green light for approval of the 2008 state budget in its totality just hours before submitting it to the plenum for deliberation.
Next year’s budget provides for revenue of £3.27 billion compared to £3.11 billion in 2007.
A PRIORITY Action Plan for 2008-2013 and a Ministerial Declaration on Euro-Mediterranean Energy Cooperation were adopted yesterday at a ministerial conference in Limassol.
Ministers and representatives of 37 European, African and Middle Eastern countries attended the event, which was organised jointly by the Portuguese Presidency of the EU and the Euro-Mediterranean Energy Forum.
THE E.U. Council yesterday adopted a new regulation for implementing the EU-US Energy Star programme in the EU. This regulation requires EU institutions and central Member State government authorities to use energy efficiency criteria no less demanding than those defined in the Energy Star programme when purchasing office equipment.
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.
