By Hamza Hendawi
THE FINDINGS of a preliminary probe by the Attorney-general’s office into the acquisition by public servants of shares in Louis Cruise Lines showed that no laws were broken, but that further inquiries were needed to clear graft allegations surrounding the company.Addressing a news conference, Attorney-general Alecos Markides said relevant laws covering the integrity of civil servants while carrying out their duty needed to be clarified and better defined, arguing that the “truth” was often concealed behind technicalities.He said he had shared some of his own thoughts on the matter with President Glafcos Clerides. These, he added, included a change in the law of the public service banning the acquisition of company shares without prior permission, as well as clearer regulations to combat corruption.”The laws in Cyprus are not at the stage where we would all like them to be,” said Markides. “But we have no right to enforce a law that does not exist,” he said, noting that his brief did not include ruling on questions of political and social ethics.Markides, who ended the news conference abruptly after taking only a handful of questions following his opening statement, was asked by President Clerides last week to determine whether a ban on Cabinet ministers acquiring shares in public companies through private placements could be extended to civil servants.The presidential request followed revelations that former Communication Minister Lentios Ierodiaconou and the ministry’s permanent secretary, Vassos Pyrgos, had obtained shares in Louis Cruise Lines through its private placement. Both men have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.The Ministry of Communication earlier this year granted Louis Tours a license to operate a charter airline. Pyrgos heads the ministry’s air transport committee, which granted the permit. Another top civil servant whose name appears on the list of the private placement beneficiaries, director of the Finance Ministry’s Planning Bureau Panicos Pouros, also sits on the committee.Later revelations showed that a host of top public figures, including Central Bank Governor Afxentis Afxentiou and Akel deputy Takis Hadigeorgiou, were among those given shares by Louis Cruise Lines in the private placement. The revelations sparked a furore in the media and mired the company in a fresh round of allegations which, according to traders, may negatively impact on the share’s price when the stock market reopens next week.”At this moment, and as we speak, there has not been any wrongdoing or breaking of the law,” Markides said in yesterday’s news conference. “But because the conditions are such, an in-depth inquiry is needed to clear everyone, and once and for all.”He said he had written to the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Commerce on Friday and yesterday asking them to inform him of the relationship between them and Louis Cruise Lines or any other companies of the Louis Group.”In my opinion, a general inquiry has to be carried out… (but) I have no reason at this moment to believe that any illegal action has been committed. However, if further information shows that a crime has been committed, a further investigation will be carried out,” said Markides.Dwelling on the limitations of his office, he said: “Our basic duty is to apply the rules of the state, but social relations are not governed by laws only, there are also ethical, social and political rules.”But it is not my place to say what these rules say.”Among those on Louis’ private placement list are the ruling Disy party, the opposition Diko party of House Speaker Spyros Kyprianou, Chairman of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation Andreas Erotokritou, Dias media group, which publishes the daily Simerini, the English-language weekly newspaper Financial Mirror, Director of Customs Andis Tryphonides, Costakis Christophorou, director of the House of Representatives, Michael Erotokritos, director of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Takis Kanaris, head of the research department at the Central Bank.Louis has so far only said that it had done nothing wrong when it granted shares to public figures and political parties and insists that it expects nothing in return from those who benefited from its generosity.The Louis shares were sold at 40 cents apiece in both the Initial Public Offering, which was oversubscribed more than 50 times, and the private placement. The share soared to £3 on the day it made its market debut, but sharply fell afterwards when it was revealed that two of the company’s top executives, including its managing director, dumped tens of thousands of Louis shares and warrants on the market on the first day of trade.Louis said it had known in advance and approved of the sale, but traders said their action undermined investors’ confidence and caused the share’s value to drop.
