Arson attack on Lidl in Protaras

2011-05-27

A FIRE which broke out yesterday morning in the newly-opened Protaras branch of German supermarket chain Lidl was the work of arsonists, said police yesterday.

The fire broke at around 3am yesterday morning inside the branch on Protaras Avenue, causing damages estimated to reach thousands of euros. The downside to the successful operation of the automatic fire extinguishing system within the store was the destruction of a large quantity of merchandise, said Famagusta police spokesman Georgios Economou.

The fire service’s Famagusta district chief, Panayiotis Nicolis said the timely arrival of two fire engines at the site prevented the fire from spreading from the front of the store to its remainder.

Some pertinent facts about the ‘other side of Cyprus’

2011-05-27

The following is my response to an article in the Irish Times, Saturday 21 May 2011: “The other side of Cyprus”, written by Liz McManus, a former Irish government minister.

Dear Ms McManus

I was shocked to read your article ‘The other side of Cyprus’ published in the Irish Times, Saturday May 21, 2011. I presume you are aware that when you visited the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus you stayed in stolen and illegally occupied property.

You wrote: “Progress has come with a familiar price, very familiar to anyone from Ireland. We visited a divided island that had a property bubble and the ghost estates to prove it. That said, it is also true that, in the carve-up, the Turkish Cypriots got the best scenery.”

Our View: A slap in the face for the government

2011-05-27

THE RULING by the full bench of the Supreme Court – that the appointment of Costakis Christoforou as President of the Commission for the Protection of Competition was against the law – was a big slap in the face of the Christofias government for the slapdash way, bordering on incompetence, in which it takes decisions.

CPC left reeling by court decision

2011-05-27

 

THE COMPETITION Commission (CPC) was reeling yesterday after the Supreme Court ruled the appointment of its chairman illegal, along with a €42.9 million collusion fine on fuel companies – a decision set to affect all other cases he has been involved in.

Costakis Christoforou, appointed in April 2008, cleared his desk yesterday as the government said it would wait for the advice of the state legal services to see how it would proceed.

Christoforou’s appointment was unanimously ruled illegal by the Supreme Court on a technicality, in that the state had not done its due diligence to determine whether the appointee had the necessary qualifications as stipulated in the law.

The Cyprus Mail could not reach Christoforou for comment yesterday.

CY announces 16 new destinations to Greece

2011-05-27

CYPRUS Airways (CY) yesterday announced flights to 16 new destinations in Greece starting next Wednesday, under a code-sharing agreement with Greece’s Olympic Air.

On Wednesday, CY will also inaugurate flights to Sofia, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania, a press statement said.

The destinations are Corfu, Zakynthos, Heraklion, Ioannina, Alexandroupoli, Kefalonia, Sandorini, Mykonos, Mytilini, Samos, Rhodes, Kos, Hania, Kavala, Hios and Limnos.

CY said the flights are part of the cooperation agreement that was signed with Olympic Air in March.

The first stage of the agreement provided for code-sharing flights to Athens Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Rhodes “with very encouraging results so far,” the airline said.

Case to answer in cash for air time

2011-05-27

THE BROADCASTING Authority yesterday said there was enough evidence to build a case against one of the two Limassol TV channels accused by former DISY deputy Andreas Themistocleous of seeking up to €5,000 to promote his candidacy ahead of parliamentary elections.

Head of the Broadcasting Authority Andreas Petrides told state radio yesterday that at first glance, the authority had enough evidence to establish that one of the channels had in fact violated the law on broadcasting.

Economy on post-election agenda

2011-05-27

THE government will next week embark on a series of meetings with parties and unions with the aim of discussing and tackling the problems plaguing the economy, Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis announced yesterday.

The announcement came as main opposition DISY said it had sent the minister a letter asking him to hold a national conference on the economy.

The minister confirmed DISY’s request, adding that he had also received letters from other social partners highlighting the need for a dialogue to deal with the problems of the economy.

“Of course, the letters were not necessary because I was planning next week to start contacts with parties and social partners,” the minister told reporters.

Summers schools must have licence

2011-05-27

ALL SUMMER schools must get a licence before they can operate legally or face being prosecuted, the education ministry has announced.

“We usually issue something around now as this is around the time they start operating,” said a ministry official. He said the announcement is also a friendly warning to parents to be careful where they send their children for the summer months.

According to the ministry the term ‘summer school’ refers to schools which remain open between June 1 and September 30 and act as primary, secondary and vocational education. This covers not only private schools offering summer school programmes but any kind of centre that wants to stay open during the summer months. The deadline for licence applications is May 31.

Cyprus raises EMTN bond programme ceiling by half

2011-05-27

CYPRUS PLANS to increase the maximum amount it can borrow under its current medium term euro-denominated note (EMTN) programme to €9 billion from €6 billion this year, its debt chief said yesterday.

Phaedon Kalozois said the increase did not automatically imply an EMTN issue was imminent, but said such an issue was an option for the Republic.

“An EMTN issue is an option if and when market conditions permit,” Kalozois, who heads the Public Debt Management Office, said.

At present, the Republic has used about €4.72 billion under the EMTN programme.

Cyprus seeks €60m combined in 5-10-yr bonds

2011-05-27

 

CYPRUS will seek up to €30 million each in five and ten year bonds in an auction on June 6, its Finance Ministry said on Thursday.

The five year bonds will pay a 5.0 per cent coupon and the ten year bonds 6.0 per cent, it said. The bonds will have a June 9 issue date.

 

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.