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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-12-02

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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


Saturday, December 2, 2000

CONTENTS

  • [01] Police to probe non-return of investor money
  • [02] Bank of Cyprus to expand into Australia
  • [03] Week ends on low note
  • [04] Greens launch campaign for GM ban
  • [05] Greens protest new power station
  • [06] Deal in sight to end teachers' strike
  • [07] `Big trade in Cyprus cigarette smuggling'

  • [01] Police to probe non-return of investor money

    ATTORNEY-GENERAL Alecos Markides has instructed police to investigate complaints by investors who have not had their money returned by some companies awaiting listing on the stock market. Markides' call came a day after the November 30 deadline for the return of the money under a law passed in October to target companies who had not yet listed but were hanging on to millions of pounds in investor cash without issuing the share title deeds. The new law said that any company which had not issued title deeds by October 18 were obliged to return investors' cash by the end of November. Up until the Thursday deadline most companies had returned the money to those who asked but a handful have not. One investor received his share titles on Thursday, deadline day. He said the envelope had two postmarks, one dated October 17 and the other dated November 2. The share titles inside were dated October 5. The company, Karkotis, said there had been a big error with some of the accounts and they had to be redone but the envelopes had already been made ready and had been stamped October 17 with the company's franking machine, hence the second postmark on the day they were actually posted. Manager Christos Karkotis told the Cyprus Mail that the October 18 date in the law related to the issue of the shares, not their posting or receiving date. "Some (investors) could say they never received them and claim their money back," Karkotis said. He said his company had not refunded anyone because the title deeds were issued although he agreed that several investors had called him in "desperation" begging for their money back.

    Markides told the Cyprus Mail he had received a "limited" number of complaints from investors. Commenting on companies' claims that the issue date was the important factor, Markides said: "That's their point of view, we look at it differently. Unless the investor has it in his hands, they can't speak of a share issue." However the Attorney-general added that any divergence of opinion on the issue would be for the courts to decide. "Police are pursuing these cases," he said. The continuing fall in the stock market was the subject of various meetings yesterday involving the committee set up by the Cabinet to look into the CSE to the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce (KEVE). The market's troubles were also discussed at the launch of the FTSE/CySE-20 index and the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) announcement on the opening of its Australian branch. CSE chairman Paris Lenas said it was not the job of the board to interfere with the market's movements. Commenting on investor troubles, he said: "If they want to `play' the market there is a cost." He added, however, that the CSE was trying to help with various incentives such as tax breaks, especially for the long-term investor. KEVE held a crisis meeting yesterday involving investors and brokers and said it too had come up with a series of suggestions to help the ailing bourse. Market drops 2.72 per cent

    [02] Bank of Cyprus to expand into Australia

    THE BANK of Cyprus Group yesterday announced the launching of operations in Australia, the first Greek or Cypriot bank to open in the country. General Manager for International Banking Services Harilaos Stavrakis said the group had secured the final licence to operate in Australia on November 29, adding that this procedure had been completed in "record time," considering the application for the licence had been filed in March this year. The group's starting capital was some £18 million, or 52 million Australian dollars. The Bank of Cyprus Group will initially operate six branches in Australia: three in Melbourne, two in Sydney and one in Adelaide. The head offices will be located in Melbourne and run by General Manager for Australia Haris Toukalas. "We feel that the expansion into Australia will boost the group's profits, and I might add that sitting on the Board of Directors is Nicos Politis, one of the most successful Greek businessmen," said Stavrakis. In response to a question on whether the move to Australia would strengthen the bank's share value on the CSE, Stavrakis simply remarked that "let's just stay with the issue of operations in Australia; as far as that is concerned, all I can say is that it is too early to forecast profits, but prospects are certainly high." He added that the group's expansion abroad, especially in Greece, would significantly benefit shareholders. As the only Greek bank in Australia, the Bank of Cyprus will primarily target the 600,000 or so expatriate Greek and Cypriot Australians. Stavrakis went on to confirm that the group planned to take over a bank based in New York, but denied rumours the bank intended to cooperate with Barclays Bank in the UK.

    [03] Week ends on low note

    THE MARKET ended the week as it started only some 25 points or ten per cent lower than Monday, as share prices took another hammering yesterday taking the all-share index to 219.7 points. Banking stocks were slaughtered again dragging the rest with them and forcing the index down a further 2.72 per cent. Volume was the highest this week at £16 million reflecting a sell-off that began at the opening of trading. But the same banking shares, which were being flogged at the beginning of the session, were being snapped up when the index hit 213 just after mid-session. The boost brought the index up but not enough to take it back to Thursday's levels. Not all sectors lost yesterday. Tourism and trading ended with slight gains but the remainder were well in the red. The banking sector dropped 4.05 per cent led yet again by losses in Bank of Cyprus (BoC), which alone accounted for 25 per cent of the day's volume. The share ended at £3.76 after shedding 17 cents. It could have been worse if the bargain hunters had not come out of the closet when the index hit its lowest point. By then BoC was trading at £3.64 and Laiki at £2.65. Laiki ended at £2.81 after dropping 13 cents. In Athens BoC gained 1.8 per cent compared to a general rise in the ASE of 4.85 per cent and its banking sector of 4.44 per cent. BoC stocks closed at 2,545 drachmas (£4.25) with over 250,000 shares changing hands. At a press conference yesterday to launch its new Australian branch BoC officials avoided discussing its shares although one admitted people were panic selling without thinking twice. "Banking stocks have been infected by mad cow disease and are slowly but painfully shrinking away," the CSE web analyst said yesterday. "Investors where selling-off at any price, and the selling mood was felt across the board but particularly in the banking sector. All shareholders of banking stocks are selling-off and any trace of common sense has disappeared. If this keeps on the banks will soon be at their nominal value. Take your pick: A chicken breast meal from Kenny Roger's or a share of Laiki Bank after all they both cost £2.80."

    [04] Greens launch campaign for GM ban

    By a Staff Reporter

    FRIENDS of the Earth (FoE) Cyprus, the Green party and the Ecological Movement yesterday launched a campaign to ban genetically modified (GM) foods from supermarket shelves. The campaign goes under the slogan `Bees Do Not Stop Flying', a reference to concerns that genetically modified characteristics (such as pest resistance) could be transferred from GM crops to natural plants by pollinating insects. There is no law banning genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Cyprus and, according to government officials, GM foods have been grown and sold on the island for years. Petra tomatoes are among GM crops grown on the island. Legislation making it mandatory for foods containing GM ingredients to be labelled as such does not come into force till next July. The local anti-GM foods campaign will today take to the streets of Nicosia, when a `giant bee' being used in FoE's Europe-wide anti-GM foods campaign will be paraded around Eleftheria square while campaign leaflets are handed out. "Bees fly and the wind blows, these are two unwritten rules of nature," a campaign press release stated yesterday. "Bees have been shown to transfer pollen from genetically modified plants for a distance of up to 4.5 kilometres. And yet avoidance of GM contamination of other crops and honey in Europe relies on dividing belts of 50 metres or even less. For this reason, bees are a symbol of the need for immediate action to avoid GM contamination in Europe and in European food reaching our own plates," the statement read. The environmentalists are demanding a total ban on the planting of GM crops on the island and the import of foodstuffs and animal feeds containing GM ingredients.

    [05] Greens protest new power station

    THE NEW Vassiliko power station officially opened yesterday with a grandiose inaugural ceremony attended by President Glafcos Clerides, government ministers and House deputies, amid protests by local environmentalist groups that the station would significantly increase pollution on the island. In his address, Clerides congratulated the electricity authority on its accomplishments, noting that "in our struggle for national survival, in addition to our diplomatic and defence capabilities, we also need a strong economic background that will assist us in our endeavours." An oil-fired power station, the Vassiliko plant uses heavy oil. According to the Chairman of the EAC Board of Directors, George Georgiades, the project will raise the island's total maximum output capacity to 988 MW, ensuring Cyprus will have sufficient supplies of electrical energy until the year 2004. Georgiades added the opening of the station was a "landmark for the EAC," as it represented the "biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken on the island." Cyprus currently depends on imported fuel supplies for energy production, although in his speech Georgiades said there were thoughts on renting an underwater pipeline supplying natural gas. Some £160 million capital expenditure was required to complete the first phase of the station, although work included a substantial part of the infrastructure for phases 2 and 3. Work on phase 2 will commence next year and will cover the island's energy needs until 2008. The EAC spent an additional £11 million in making provisions for the use of alternative fuel in the event problems arise in the supply of fuel oil. Georgiades went on to say that "I mention this because recently there were comments that unnecessary expenditure was made on plant and installations which may possibly remain idle. I take this opportunity to state categorically that the EAC did not squander public money." But in addition to accusations of squandering public money, the EAC has been slammed by environmentalist groups claiming the semi-government organisation "misled" the public on the need for the new station. George Perdikis, chairman of the Ecologists and Environmentalists Movement, told the Cyprus Mail that the EAC had issued "deceptive" figures on the demand for electric energy. An announcement issued yesterday by the group claimed the EAC's figures had been "inflated" by as much as 28 per cent, in a bid to "convince everyone that, without the Vassiliko station, Cyprus would be living in the dark." Perdikis cited figures from a study carried out by his environmentalist group. The announcement also noted that carbon dioxide emissions in Cyprus per population exceeded that of the United States and a number of European countries. Perdikis went on to say that pollution emissions in Cyprus were around four times greater than EU directives, which stipulate an eight per cent reduction in gas emissions causing the greenhouse effect between 2008-2012 and that 12 per cent of energy production should originate from renewable energy sources by the year 2010. He dismissed government pledges on using renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, as "just lip service. I am certain they will do no such thing; I mean, just look at their policy so far."

    [06] Deal in sight to end teachers' strike

    A COMPROMISE pay deal to end strike action by primary and nursery school teachers seemed to have been thrashed out by teachers' union POED and the Education Ministry yesterday. But reaction from secondary school teachers' union OELMEK threatened to spoil the break-through. "I am pleased to be able to announce that we have found much common ground which allows us to be optimistic about arriving at a solution and finding a way out of the impasse," Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides said after a meeting between POED and a ministerial committee yesterday. POED paved the way for what appears to have been a breakthrough meeting when they called off their work-to-rule strike action for three days on Wednesday. The strike action by the island's 4,500 primary and nursery school teachers also included an all-day strike on Tuesday and a two-hour work stoppage the Tuesday before. Ioannides said a proposal based on yesterday's talks would be presented to the teachers and a final decision on the matter would be taken during another meeting between the ministerial committee and POED scheduled for Monday. The minister did not divulge what the final deal might be. POED leader Sofoclis Charalambides echoed the minister's optimism yesterday, but strong reaction to the promised deal from OELMEK cast a cloud over developments. OELMEK chairman Andreas Stavrou repeated that secondary school teachers would take strike action if the government gave in to POED's demand for primary and nursery school teachers' pay to be brought into line with that of their secondary school colleagues. "POED and the government are discussing issues which concern secondary school teachers in the absence of secondary school teachers. We will not have others deciding our future for us," Stavrou said. He charged the government with "violating" official procedures for settling pay disputes. The OELMEK man did not say exactly how secondary school teachers would register their protest. Minister Ioannides responded to the OELMEK threats by saying he was ready to listen to any demands the secondary school teachers might have. POED man Charalambides hit out at OELMEK, saying the union was attacking POED and blackmailing the government.

    [07] `Big trade in Cyprus cigarette smuggling'

    BRITISH authorities suspect that billions of cigarettes are being smuggled through Cyprus each year. The allegations were made by British Customs officer Bob Granger on a UK regional TV channel. British Customs authorities have been alarmed by the fact that most cigarette brands exported to Cyprus from Britain are not popular on the island. "There is a very large amount of cigarettes being sold directly to Cyprus and it raises questions about whether cigarettes actually stay in Cyprus, whether they go somewhere else legitimately or whether there is something else going on," said Dawn Primarolo, the British government minister. Granger said: "A container with up to ten million cigarettes can actually produce a profit of about £1 million to a cigarette smuggler." According to British press reports, cigarette smuggling involving Cyprus caused Britain losses of £2.3 billion a year due to unpaid taxes. But Cyprus Customs officer Demetris Hadjikostis has dismissed the British claims. He said: "We are taking all necessary precautions and measures to make sure that no illegalities occur. But we cannot control what is going on aboard after ships sail from our ports. "

    Cyprus Mail 2000


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