Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-04-19

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

CONTENTS

[01] Bourse boost as the BoC buys US bank

[02] Kyprianou jr rules himself out of Diko succession

[03] Will Spyros really bow out of politics?

[04] Support grows for woman’s anti-smoking campaign

[05] Clerides drawn into ‘smart’ card row

[06] 2005 deadline for restoration of city walls

[07] Minister in outburst against airport taxi drivers

[08] Government seeks assurances on Nato exercise

[09] Cassoulides issues EU warning

[01] Bourse boost as the BoC buys US bank

SHARE prices surged yesterday as investors scrambled to buy Bank of Cyprus (BoC) shares after its surprise announcement that it was taking over a small American bank.

The market saw a 3.03 per cent spike, buoyed mainly by a surge in banking and commercial shares, which absorbed most of the day's £47.5 million turnover.

Bank of Cyprus sent its share rocketing when it announced before yesterday's session that it had entered a preliminary agreement to take over the New York based Interbank in a cash deal worth around $43 million.

"There had been rumours on the market for some days that something was cooking at Bank of Cyprus, but not everyone thought it was an acquisition of another bank," one trader said. "Obviously an announcement of this sort sent demand sky high."

The Bank jumped 36 cents to £8.98 on a turnover exceeding 830,000 shares, the fourth highest volume registered on the market yesterday. It briefly hit an intraday high of £9.15 before slipping slightly in the second half of the session.

Interbank is 78 per cent owned by Greek businessman Dimitris Kontominas, and the remaining equity is dispersed among three other shareholders.

With four branches in New York, including the Astoria area where there is a strong Greek presence, the bank caters for the Greek American community -- a long-standing target of the Bank of Cyprus in its overseas expansion plans.

"This is a strategic move to utilise the capital we plan to raise from Greece, and to expand wherever there is a Greek presence," said Solon Triantafyllides, the bank's chairman.

The move is one of several the Bank of Cyprus is expected to spring on shareholders this year as it gears up to raise capital in Greece to facilitate its listing on the Athens stock exchange. It plans to issue the equivalent of 12 per cent of the bank's share capital, or stage an IPO for £39 million shares with a nominal value of 50 cents.

Triantafyllides is expected to give further details on that subject at a shareholders' meeting this afternoon.

Negotiations with Interbank started last Friday and the deal was clinched on Monday night. It is also understood that it was the Bank of Cyprus that approached Kontominas, not the other way around.

Usually relying on its own resources to build a presence overseas, this is only the second time in the 100-year history of the Bank of Cyprus that it has acquired another bank. It took over the Cyprus activities of Standard Chartered Bank in 1980.

The agreement is contingent on approval from the Central Bank of Cyprus and the US authorities. The bank has had a representative office in the US for the past three years.

Elsewhere on the market, Louis Cruise Lines were in high demand yesterday as the share price rose 23 cents to £2.06 on a volume of 3.5 million shares changing hands.

Droushia also continued to be active, coming second in volume ranks with 1.16 million shares as it fell five cents to £1.03.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[02] Kyprianou jr rules himself out of Diko succession

"You see, there is no doubt that Mr Papadopoulos would be accepted by everyone," Marcos Kyprianou said yesterday. "I believe, as I have said earlier before all this came about, that it would be a natural development for him to take over the leadership of the party with the resignation of the current president."

He added he would not be contesting the post his father had held for the last 24 years.

Kyprianou said only Papadopoulos could decide on his future action - "if he turns it down there are other members of the party capable of taking on the leadership."

Spyros Kyprianou meanwhile yesterday returned to the House of Representatives, of which he is president, for the first time since serious health problems and intensive heart surgery earlier this year.

He said he would resume his Parliamentary duties after Easter.

Speaking at Diko's constitutional conference on Sunday, Spyros Kyprianou announced his decision not to seek re-election to the party leadership when it goes to the vote in June.

He also said he would not be a candidate in the next presidential elections, but would support Papadopoulos for President of the Republic.

Kyprianou said he would complete his term as House president, but had not yet decided if he would run for re-election to parliament at the next general elections.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[03] Will Spyros really bow out of politics?

PEOPLE on the streets of Nicosia were yesterday sceptical that Diko leader Spyros Kyprianou would actually carry out his decision to bow out of active political life.

Kyprianou announced on Sunday that he would not be contesting the Diko leadership when it came to the vote in June.

But many doubt he will step aside so easily, with commentators suggesting the elections could be postponed and some saying the two-times president and Diko leader of 24 years had merely carried out a political stunt to outwit opponents within his party.

Vassilis Zannetos, a 28-year-old MBA graduate who is currently unemployed, was dismissive of Kyprianou’s motives: "All the political leaders care about is being comfortable and to serve their own interests instead of the interest of Cyprus," he said.

Yiannakis Thriumvos, 57, said, "I believe it would be wrong for him not to leave. He should have done it a long time ago; it's much too late already.

"I can't understand these people. They get so sick but they still want to be there (in the political arena), for what? They must have done all they could after so many years in politics.

"We need new people, new ideas. He's been involved for more than 40 years. In a company, they make people retire when they get to a certain age. Is a business more important than a country?"

Thirty-year-old Selia Stylianou felt that even if he did stand down, Kyprianou would continue pulling the strings. "I think he'll be there a long time," she said. "On the fringes, if you know what I mean."

But a faithful Diko supporter, who did not want to be named, defended Kyprianou: "If he says he'll leave, he'll leave."

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[04] Support grows for woman’s anti-smoking campaign

ANTI- smoking campaigner Andri Olympiou, who has been on a hunger strike outside the House of Representatives since Monday morning, plans to go to court over the issue of smoking in public places, she told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

"I am going to court to claim my right to be healthy," said Olympiou.

"I am determined to go through with this until the law prohibiting smoking in public areas is put into practice.

"And I’m not only talking about established public areas, like hospital waiting rooms and theatres, but any room where more than one person is either eating, working or doing anything else. In other words, the law has got to cover private places as well as public buildings.

"Olympiou quit her managerial position at an offshore company because she could no longer bear her colleagues’ smoking and felt sick every day.

House President Spyros Kyprianou yesterday met Olympiou and called on her to stop her protest, promising he would bring the matter before Parliament on its last meeting before Easter, next Thursday, and that he would make sure the law was put into practice.

Olympiou, however, insisted on her hunger-strike.

Health minister Frixos Savvides said yesterday there was nothing wrong with the existing law -which sets a £500 fine for anyone smoking in a public building - and said it was the police's job to enforce it.

"It is also the responsibility of each of us to take care of this problem. The ones in charge in each public place should in a nice way prohibit smoking indoors," he said.

But United Democrats deputy Androulla Vassiliou took a much stronger line on the subject, fully supporting Olympiou's struggle.

"I have been trying to implement the law for years, because I could not stand all my colleges smoking in meetings of the House of Representatives. I asked that the subject be discussed when I was first elected as a deputy, but it never was. And on top of that, when I once asked a deputy to put out his cigarette, he reacted by offering cigarettes to others. Sometimes it takes one person to fight a battle and make things right," she said.

Olympiou said she also had the full backing of Disy deputy Christos Pourgourides, the chairman of the House Watchdog Committee.

While there is no specific law against smoking in working places, there is a law by which employers are obliged to provide a healthy environment for their employees, Stelios Sikallides of the Anti-smoking Movement, which is part of the Anti-cancer Group, told the Cyprus Mail, joining Olympiou outside the House.

"So, by letting people smoke at work, employers are breaking the law, as their employees are working in a festered environment," he added.

"The funniest thing is that a lot of deputies are smoking in the House during meetings, the same people who have voted for the law prohibiting smoking in public places," said Sikallides.

"And the reason is that the law says that the House is not considered to be a public place," he explained.

More people and organisations would join Olympiou outside the House, Sikallides said.

"I know how to fight," Olympiou said yesterday. "Last night I slept in my car outside the House of Representatives and I am determined to go as far as the European Court so that the law against smoking in public is implemented in Cyprus."

Olympiou said she was waiting for replies from other deputies and the Attorney-general, whom she has notified about her campaign.

She said that her husband and son were both smokers, but they respected their family and did not smoke inside the house. "I am not against smokers, I am just demanding that they smoke in private," she said.

"I had a very good job, but I had to choose between money and health, so I chose the second."

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[05] Clerides drawn into ‘smart’ card row

PRESIDENT Clerides yesterday sought to put an end to growing concern over the new ‘smart’ identity cards proposed by the Interior Ministry.

Leading the anti-card camp is the Church, which expressed its reservations in a written announcement on Monday. The Holy Synod believes the recording of information on the new cards is a violation of the rights of the individual.

Asked yesterday to comment on the Holy Synod's view, President Clerides said he could not comment before the issue had reached the Cabinet.

"The issue has not been to the Council of Ministers for a decision to be taken," Clerides said.

A statement issued by the Interior Ministry yesterday insisted the cards would be used to record a citizen's identity and nothing more.

"The cards will only contain absolutely necessary information, identity number, name, date and place of birth, gender, nationality, name and surname of father and mother and date of issue," the statement said.

"The new cards will not contain any secret numbers or symbols such as ‘666’ and will not have confidential information on the person," it added.

Fears had been expressed earlier that the cards would contain the number ‘666’, the biblical ‘number of the beast’.

The Ministry said the cards would not violate human rights in any way and insisted there would be special regulations for the protection of personal information if the information recorded on the card needed to be expanded.

Charalambos Georgiades, an official at the Ministry, said yesterday reactions to the card, due to be introduced in June, had been exaggerated.

He said that at the this stage the new electronic identity cards would not differ in any way from the current ones in terms of recorded information.

Georgiades said people had been misinformed, and called for a dialogue on the issue.

The Church has warned that it will call on the faithful to resist the card if the government goes ahead with its introduction.

The Holy Synod has already set up a special committee to deal with the issue and has called on the government not to introduce the card.

It believes the recording of information on an identity card degrades people by reducing them to a number and warns that with today's technology there is no way of keeping personal data safe from unauthorised persons.

According to the Interior Ministry, government services such as hospitals and police are not technologically equipped to deal with any extra information that might be put on the cards.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[06] 2005 deadline for restoration of city walls

PRELIMINARY restoration work on accessible sections of Nicosia's Venetian Walls should be completed by 2005, the Antiquities Department said yesterday.

Speaking on the occasion of World Monument Day, Department director Sophocles Hadjisavvas said that, like all monuments, the Wall's overall maintenance would continue as long as it stood.

Hadjisavvas said that restorations first began on the Wall in 1996 with the participation of the United Nations' Office for Public Services and using money provided to both the free and occupied areas by the British High Commission.

"The money was part of a refugee fund and, while we spent it on restoring the Walls, our Turkish Cypriot compatriots used the funding elsewhere."

The funding stopped two years ago, Hadjisavvas said, "when the High Commission felt there was no longer a refugee issue on the island," and funding was provided by the United States through the UN.

Hadjisavvas said a private contractor had been used only once during the restorations, for work on the section from Solomou Square to Paphos Gate, but that complicated tender processes put paid to the practice.

He also said that complications had arisen from the existence of the Field Club at the Wall opposite CyTA, which remains under British control until 2030. But "we have to come to some friendly agreement" to carry out restoration, he added.

Hadjisavvas said the restoration had originally been expected to take five years but that the timetable had been extended since then, as had the original $5 million budget.

He said that progress on work on parts of the Wall in the occupied areas had to be judged from third-hand information through the UN or from Turkish Cypriot press reports. He added that work along the Green Line was a "headache" due to the Turkish Cypriots' resistance to allowing the Republic to carry out repairs.

Hadjisavvas also said the Walls had undergone a lot of changes since they were first built by the Venetians in 1567-70, with additions made during Ottoman and British rule.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[07] Minister in outburst against airport taxi drivers

Speaking during a heated meeting of the House Communications Committee called to discuss problems in the island=s taxi service, Neophytou launched into a virulent attack on the airport taxi service.

"The big problem that existed and still exists in Larnaca is that there is - - and while some organisations may not agree or dare to say this, I dare to say it B there is this group at Larnaca airport that is made up of people with a murky past, people convicted of murders, people of the night, gamblers and people involved in drugs."

Organisations representing taxi drivers denied the Minister's allegations, but Neophytou's opinion was well-received by the majority of deputies on the Committee.

Airport taxi drivers later also denied the charges, saying they did not know what the Minister had against them.

In December 1997 a taxi driver murdered a female French tourist he had picked up from the airport. He was jailed for life in early 1998.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[08] Government seeks assurances on Nato exercise

Several Nato countries have been asked by the Cyprus government not to take part in exercises, slated for May 17-21 and which would involve intrusions into the Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR) or the island’s air space.

NATO member Turkey frequently violates the Nicosia FIR during exercises and will be taking part in the May manoeuvres, along with France, Italy, Spain and the United States.

Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said yesterday France had confirmed it would not participate in the Cyprus leg of the exercises. The Netherlands also said it would not be taking part.

Papapetrou said the embassies of Italy and Spain had said their countries were not aware of the issue and would convey the démarche to their governments.

The spokesman said the US had embassy also promised to pass on the request to the American government. The embassy had, however, said it was unlikely the US would violate the national air space of Cyprus.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 2000

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

[09] Cassoulides issues EU warning

He said that if the island were refused entry because of the political situation and despite the Greek Cypriot side's stance on initiatives for a solution, it would be a blow to stability in the region.

Cassoulides also called on the international community to put more effort into the ongoing peace talks to render them productive. UN-led proximity talks are due to resume in New York on May 23.

The positions of the Turkish side have put the talks in jeopardy, Cassoulides told delegates at the close of the 17th meeting of the EU- Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee yesterday.

The Minster said the government's policy was twofold, to find a just solution to the Cyprus problem and to work towards EU accession.

"We believe these two objectives are two parallel courses which aim at strengthening each other," Cassoulides said.

Referring to Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash's stance on having his breakaway regime recognised before any face to face talks could take place, Cassoulides said: "I would like to point out that Turkey is in a position, if it wishes, to convince Mr Denktash to change his position."

"Now is the time for serious negotiations to pave the way for a solution. The international community, the UN, the US and the EU should between now and the resumption of the talks, make a more intensive effort because these negotiations must begin to yield results if we are to be led to a fourth round and if we want to save the credibility of the negotiating procedure," the Minister added.

Cassoulides also told delegates that Ankara's actions are incompatible with its course towards Europe as set out at the EU's Helsinki summit in December when Turkey status as a future candidate was accepted.

He called on the EU to remind Turkey of its obligations, otherwise it will just be encouraging Ankara to continue its intransigence.

"A Cyprus settlement would facilitate accession but the continuation of the division of the island cannot obstruct membership," he said.

"The possibility of refusing Cyprus EU entry in spite of a successful accession course... would be a serious blow to the effort for stability in the eastern Mediterranean".

The two-day EU conference closed yesterday after addressing a range of issues concerning the island's membership of the bloc.

Topics discussed during included the political situation, accession negotiations, the EU Intergovernmental Conference, protection of the environment and preservation of Cyprus' cultural heritage, safety in the shipping sector, and taxation in the off-shore sector.

The Co-Chairwoman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, German Euro-MP Mechtild Rothe repeated yesterday that it was inconceivable for Europe to begin accession talks with Turkey as long it occupies the northern third of Cyprus.

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