Plummeting house prices fail to ignite sales

2011-06-05

THE ASKING price for many properties in Paphos has plummeted by at least 25 per cent in the last 18 months, yet few are being sold apart from those regarded as “real bargains”, experts say.

The rental market is faring no better and industry professionals are divided over when the situation will improve.

Natalie Alexiou, who has been in the real estate business for 30 years, says she has never seen the market as depressed as it is now, with prices falling by so much and so swiftly.

“A villa which would have previously sold for 450,000 euros is now going for 300,000, and an apartment priced at 125,000 euros is now selling for 80,000,” she said. “And this has all happened in the last year-and-a-half.”

Tales from the Coffeeshop: All hail Judas Koulias

2011-06-05

EXCUSE us for not sharing the moral outrage of our holier than thou politicians over the apostasy of DIKO deputy Zacharias ‘Judas’ Koulias, but it is very difficult to understand what the fuss is all about.

Koulias was not caught passing state secrets to the Turks, he did not sexually assault a hotel cleaner, he did not expose himself outside a primary school, he was not the recipient of bribes from big business, he was not running a brothel and he did not agree to 50,000 Turkish settlers staying on after a settlement.

Our View: Pro-unionist mediation is destroying economy

2011-06-05

STAFF at KEO went on indefinite strike earlier this week over the company’s plans to make 150 workers redundant, without paying them compensation over and above what was stipulated by law and collective agreements. The strike was in clear breach of the industrial relations code, which in Cyprus only has to be observed by the employers’ side. Unions comply with the code and the provisions of collective agreements only when it suits their purposes.

Jobs for the EU presidency boys denied

2011-06-05

THE HEAD of the Secretariat in charge of Cyprus’ EU presidency term in the second part of 2012 yesterday denied having any involvement in the appointment of his daughter’s friend to a coveted position in Brussels.

Andreas Moleskis was responding to a front-page report in Politis newspaper, which claimed the head of the Secretariat had pushed to have his daughter’s 28-year-old roommate in Brussels – Athanasios Kagiaras – appointed as the coordinator for organising and planning events during Cyprus’ term.

The paper claimed that even though all procedures followed in Kagiaras’ appointment were legitimate, his lack of experience in the field cast doubt over his choice as one of four candidates for the post.

Deposits peak as foreign clients defy rating cuts

2011-06-05

DEPOSITS will continue to flow into Cyprus’ banking system defying recent cuts in the credit rating of lenders operating on the island, bankers say.

“Even after recent rating cuts, our clientele continues to show trust in our organisation, as is demonstrated by the continuous increase in deposits,” Louis Pochanis, senior manager of international banking services at the Bank of Cyprus, told the Sunday Mail in an interview.

Clients pay less attention to ratings and “more attention to our profitability, capital adequacy level and liquidity which were maintained throughout the global financial crisis and the Greek debt crisis at impressively high levels even compared to other banks internationally,” Pochanis added.

Police: press is lying about messed-up drug sting

2011-06-05

 

POLICE were furious yesterday over claims that they have messed up yet another drug sting by losing cocaine worth €20,000 and issued a statement saying they would be taking action against Politis newspaper.

The newspaper reported yesterday that the Drug Squad YKAN had funded the purchase of about 230 grams of cocaine to trap a drug dealer but the drugs were then ‘lost’.  YKAN were reported to be working together with a person who bought the drugs in Limassol and was supposed to sell on the drugs, trapping the buyer in the process. Instead, the paper reported, the buyer disappeared without getting caught.

Silver theft in Larnaca church

2011-06-05

THIEVES have made away with valuables worth over €130,000 after breaking in to the Agios Georgios Church in the Larnaca village of Vavla.

According to the police yesterday, the church’s commissioner, Costas Mitsides, said the break-in had taken place between 7 pm and 7.30 pm on Friday. Among the valuables stolen were four silver candleholders, a silver cup, a number of other silver icons and around €200 in coins.

Mitsides said the culprits had cut off electricity to the church, disconnecting its alarm system. They then worked in the dark, stealing everything silver in sight.

Lefkara police searched the church for evidence and yesterday said the case was under investigation.

Weekend crackdown on bad driving

2011-06-05

OVER 130 drivers were reported for a series of traffic violations in Nicosia, during a large scale police operation that started on Friday night and ended in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The sting, which was joined the Rapid Reaction Unit (MMAD) and the Road Transport Department, took place all over the capital, with a record number of police patrols covering all the most frequented parts of Nicosia.

Special emphasis was paid to Grivas Digenis Avenue, which is a popular spot for car races at the weekends. Fifteen drivers were caught speeding and 19 for being over the legally acceptable alcohol limit.

Drug arrest

2011-06-05

A 55-YEAR-OLD man was arrested on Friday in relation to importing, intending to supply, possessing and using drugs.

Police found about nine grams of a compact brown substance suspected to be cannabis in two nylon packages in the man’s home in Limassol.

He was arrested on the spot and held for further investigation.

Police officers later searched the man’s holiday residence in Limassol and found in three nylon packages about 116 grams of what is also believed to be cannabis.

Drug squad YKAN in Limassol is investigating.

World Environment Day

2011-06-05

CYPRUS’ first Environment and Recycling Festival took place yesterday in anticipation of World Environment Day celebrated today.

The festival went on until 11pm in Acropolis park, Nicosia with plenty going on to keep children and adults occupied among toys, balloons, a choice of organic products and recycling booths.

“The festival sends the message that our society is moving forward,” said Agriculture Minister Demetris Eliades on occasion of the day.

“Without an environmental conscience there will be no future as recent global destructions show,” acting government spokesman Christos Christofides said.

Meanwhile in Limassol, the Greens invited people to check out solar cookers in Gregoris Afxentiou square.

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.