DIKO expels rebel members

2011-06-08

ROGUE MP Zacharias Koulias and DIKO deputy leader Georgios Colocassides were kicked out of the centrist party yesterday, accused of undermining the party, creating misery and even perverting the morality of public life.

Party leader Marios Garoyian announced the expulsions last night after a lengthy meeting of the DIKO executive board and parliamentary group.

According to reports, 25 DIKO cadres voted to expel Koulias, while three abstentions were recorded, believed to be Nicolas Papadopoulos, Kyriacos Kenevezos and Christiana Erotocritou.

Our View: How long can local funds meet government’s financial needs?

2011-06-08

THE FINANCE Ministry has raised another €78.8 million from the local market which is being increasingly used to fund the government’s financial needs – a couple of months ago the ministry raised €300 million locally. The five-year government bonds had a yield of 5.56 per cent and the 10-year bonds a yield of 6.5 per cent, which shows that the cost of state borrowing is steadily rising, even locally.

Multiplying money? It’s a scam, police warn

2011-06-08

WITH THE magical promise that they could multiply money, scammers have been getting some Cypriots to part with thousands of euros, police yesterday said.

Two men, a Syrian, 38, and a Cameroonian, 33, were yesterday remanded in custody for seven days by Larnaca District Court in connection to a money scam.

Their relation to two separate incidents is being investigated, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said.

In those cases, scammers would start with a demonstration of their ‘powers’.

“Say they had a ten euro bill. They would wrap it up, do their hocus pocus and with a sleight of hand they would then produce €50,” Katsounotos said.

“Some naive people actually believed that these scammers could transform money,” he added.

Commission pointers to get economy on track

2011-06-08

THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday called on the government to adopt a wide range of recommendations to get Cyprus’ economy back on a sound footing, proposing measures “of a permanent nature” to curb the public deficit and debt.

The measures include reform of the pension and healthcare system, with references also made to the way collective agreements are negotiated and the Cost of Living Allowance (CoLA).

The proposals are part of a package of 27 country-specific recommendations – plus one for the euro area as a whole – to help member states gear up their economic and social policies and deliver on growth, jobs and public finances.

Increased benefits fuelling high pension costs

2011-06-08

COSTS of benefits coupled with increases in salaries and pensions as well as the constant rise in the number of government workers are the main factors that have seen state expenditure grow, a study into state pensions suggests.

General pay rises are also extended to pensions and in many cases they are retroactive, the study said.

The study, undertaken on behalf of the government by actuarial firm Muhanna, said the government last year paid almost €482 million, or 2.8 per cent of GDP, in state pensions, bonuses and contributions to the social insurance fund.

Civil servants contribute around half of what private sector workers do to the social insurance fund, with the remainder footed by the state.

Christofias ‘outraged’ at hotels cheap labour policy

2011-06-08

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday expressed outrage at recent reports that hoteliers were firing Cypriot workers in favour of cheaper EU labour, especially after all the support the sector has received from the state.

Christofias laid into hoteliers during the Cyprus Hotel Association’s (PASYXE) general assembly, which marked the association’s 75th anniversary.

It has been widely reported lately that a number of Cypriots, especially in Paphos, had been fired by local hoteliers – who were publicly slammed by Labour Minister Sotiroula Charalambous last week – using the financial crisis as an excuse.

This has been denied by PASYXE.

Auditor General called in after nepotism claim

2011-06-08

CYPRUS’ EU presidency secretariat came under more scrutiny yesterday after government asked the Auditor General to investigate the dubious appointment of the boss’ daughter’s boyfriend.

Athanasios Kagiaras, 28, got the coveted €60K events coordinator job ahead of three other applicants, despite reportedly having no events management experience.

Kagiaras resigned on Monday “for reasons of dignity” after his close ties with the boss were publicised by the daily Politis.

And while Secretariat boss Andreas Moleskis denied having anything to do with the recruitment, it emerged yesterday that his relative by marriage Dafni Mavrommati (who happens to be on secondment from Moleskis’ old department) was on the approval committee.

Teachers in north threaten strike action

2011-06-08

TEACHERS’ unions in the north yesterday threatened a fresh wave of industrial action after it was announced the running of two schools would be taken over by a Turkish education conglomerate.

The schools in question are a primary and secondary school attached to the ‘state’–owned Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Famagusta.

“Piece by piece our assets are being sold off. The next target is the university itself,” Huseyin Ozkaramanli, head of EMU’s DAU-SEN union, warned yesterday. He believes businessmen behind Turkish-owned Doga (Nature) College, which has signed a ten-year lease to run the EMU’s primary and secondary establishments, have their sights set on the money making potential of EMU’s approximately 20,000 students.

Serbia our next business partner?

2011-06-08

SERBIA HAS played an important role in the growth of the Cyprus economy, making business with the Balkan country of the “utmost importance”, President Demetris Christofias said yesterday.

Speaking at the Cyprus-Serbia Business Forum attended by Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Christofias said: “Doing business with Serbia is of the utmost importance for our government. I encourage you to do business with Serbia.”

He noted that the relationship with Serbia “has played an important role in the growth of the Cyprus economy”, predicting that ties between the two countries would further deepen and grow.

“After all, our vision is for an even stronger presence of Serbian businesses and investments in Cyprus within the next years,” said Christofias.

Cyprus and Malta common interests in EU

2011-06-08

ISSUES related to commercial shipping, trans-European transport networks and the Bluemed Functional Airspace Block of the EU, in which Malta and Cyprus participate, were discussed yesterday at a meeting between Communications Minister, Erato Marcoullis and her Maltese counterpart, Austin Gatt.

Speaking after the meeting, Marcoullis said referred to the close relations and cooperation between Cyprus and Malta, especially after their accession to the EU and the eurozone.

During the meeting the two ministers exchanged views on commercial shipping, since Malta and Cyprus, along with Greece, are the leading countries in this field, in the EU.

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.