By Elias Hazou
Having missed a deadline to challenge a town-planning permit for a precious metals refinery, the municipality of Aradippou has run out of this options and will this Thursday be voting on whether to grant the factory a building license.
Some locals – concerned about potential hazards to their health – blame their mayor for not acting before the cutoff date by filing an appeal with the Supreme Court.
The appeal would have challenged the legality of the earlier town-planning license given to Khrysanera Ltd, the company behind the project.
Had it been filed in time – the deadline was last Monday – it could have tied up the process in court for months, if not years, during which the municipality would have been under no obligation to green-light the project.
In addition, said Elena Kalli, member of a local activist group, two municipal councillors did not show up for a meeting last Sunday, which was to vote on whether the municipality should file with the Supreme Court.
This Thursday, during the crunch vote in the council, locals will again mount a demonstration outside.
Kalli said also that the citizens themselves are mulling filing an appeal with the Supreme Court.
The Cypriot law firm representing Khrysanera is meanwhile threatening to sue the municipality for ‘loss of profit’ should the building permit not be granted.
It’s understood the company has already spent over €1m in procuring construction materials and for architectural and engineering designs.
Locals say the refinery will make use of toxic substances, such as chlorine gas, used in the refining process. If inhaled, chlorine gas can be fatal.
Residents have been told by scientists of the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK) the gold refinery could be “10 times more dangerous” than the operations of the Halliburton and Schlumberger facilities in the same area.
This warning is understood to have been delivered verbally, and to date TEPAK has not put anything in writing.
During a July 7 meeting, officials from the Department of Environment did note that an environmental impact assessment by the department did not include an assessment of the consequences of a possible leak of toxic chemicals.
At the same meeting, the department of labour inspection stated it was against the implementation of the project.
Activists also want full transparency over who may be behind Khrysanera. They have uncovered a document – seen by the Mail – citing another company, by the name of Majestic Wealth.
The document, a conceptual flow diagram for the refinery, mentions Majestic Wealth as the ‘Client’.
One of its members is John Vakis, a commodity trader formerly with Goldman Sachs. Vakis is also the managing director for Khrysanera.
Locals also wonder how Khrysanera – a company with a registered starting share capital of €1,000 – has the wherewithal to finance the refinery, for which the total turnkey cost is estimated at €55m.
A representative for Khrysanera, who preferred not to be named, said the starting share capital tells only part of the story.
“This is not unusual. Share capital is one thing, cash flow is another,” he offered.
The source said he was unaware of Majestic Wealth, adding it has no connection to Khrysanera.
The shareholders of Khrysanera are investors from Europe and Russia, he said, but did not disclose further details.
According to the source, fears of toxic emissions are grossly exaggerated. The refinery will process 15kg of chlorine gas per day.
By comparison, he said, figures from the department of statistics show that from January to July this year, Cyprus imported 13,700kg of chlorine.
“Even in the remote possibility of a leak, it’d be like the cleaning lady just mopped the floor with disinfectant.”
Should the project get the building permit, they plan to start construction “the very next day.”
The refinery is expected to be operation in about 10 months, and will employ 75 people.
The company plans to import “gold feed material from a number of sources but the primary sources will be mines in West Africa, South America and Kazakhstan”.
