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