Liquidators appointed to Cyprus Airways

Avgoustinos Papathomas and David Dunckley, financial advisers, have been appointed as liquidators for the now defunct Cyprus Airways (CY), creditors and shareholders decided during an assembly on Friday.

The assembly was eventful, according to the Cyprus News Agency. It reported that former workers and shareholders protested the decision, claiming the whole procedure was a sham. Both the workers and the investors present at the meeting stormed out of the auditorium, shouting at the panel comprised of government officials, the report said.

CY private investors are in the process of suing the company, claiming that the airline’s closure by the government has cost them not only the capital they poured in but also deprived them of any right to recover their investment.

Polis Polyviou, the legal representative for Cyprus Airways responded that the only authority that could proclaim the assembly illegal were the courts.
Cyprus Airways is 93 percent owned by the state, the rest is owned by some 4,000 private investors. The former national carrier was grounded in January, after the EU Commission issued a ruling ordering the company to return some €66 million it had received in state aid in 2012.

The assembly also appointed a committee to oversee the liquidation process, comprised of three officials from the office of the Accountant-general and two representatives from the workers’ unions.