Co-op head asks for bank to be left out of campaign

The head of the Central Co-operative Bank urged politicians not to involve the lender in their campaign, as rumours have created ‘certain operational problems’.

“What we are saying, and we have made an appeal, is to be left out of this election campaign,” Nicolas Hadjiyiannis said, speaking on the sidelines of a farming congress in Larnaca.

Co-ops ‘were, are, and will remain useful to the Cypriot state and Cypriot citizens, this is their role … we will come out of this latest unwanted disturbance stronger’, he added.

Hadjiyiannis said the sector had been dragged into the election campaign a while back, directly or indirectly, and that the ‘whispers have caused distress and created certain operational problems’.

He said the turbulence caused by the rumours had been used by competitors to gain operational advantages.

On the issue of privatization, Hadjiyiannis said this was a commitment made by the state and that the bank’s plan is to go ahead by bolstering its capital so that it can present a more credible and acceptable strategy to manage bad loans.

“Please leave the co-operative sector undistracted to continue this course; it is huge, it is systemic, and beyond its size, it has a special importance for Cypriot society,” he said.

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.