Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 99-06-23

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Wednesday, June 23, 1999

CONTENTS

[01] Pilots threaten new 48-hour strike from midnight

[02] Ministers threaten airline with immediate liberalisation

[03] Killers get 25 years

[04] Ex-bishop will be charged

[05] Clerides seeks to smooth over Kyprianou-Brill feud

[06] Joint announcement expected from Turks against G8

[07] Shacolas titles sharply up ahead of CTC meeting

[08] Cyprus commended for EU progress

[09] New law will cut price of medicines

[10] Now from Mr EasyJet comes EasyEverything, the world's biggest cyber café

[11] Cyprus reaps the fruit of patent legislation

[12] Organisers hail telethon success

[01] Pilots threaten new 48-hour strike from midnight

A CONTINGENCY plan by Cyprus Airways to minimise delays during yesterday's strike by pliots collapsed after a second union came out in sympathy.

Some 30 members of the airline's biggest staff union Cynika went back on a promise to fly, and instead called in sick in a show of support for the 100 Pasipy pilots on strike over promotions.

Last night Pasipy served notice that it would escalate the dispute and strike for 48 hours, beginning at one minute past midnight tonight. The union called on everyone involved to work towards resolving the problem (of promotions) once and for all.

Yesterday’s U-turn by the Cynika pilots scuppered the airline’s carefully laid plans which had already rescheduled the day's 3,000 passengers from the 11 affected flights with a minimum of delays.

Cyprus Airways chairman Takis Kyriakides yesterday condemned the 24-hour strike, calling it "unacceptable" and "unjustified".

He estimated the financial cost at more than £100,000, but said the damage to the "company's reputation was incalculable".

Faced with new flight chaos, CY had to lease four aircraft from abroad, including a Boeing 747, airline spokesman Tassos Angelis said. The 747 left for London at around 4pm with 400 passengers on board, he added.

Additional leasing charges are likely to have pushed the initial estimated cost of the strike from about £100,000 to at least £500,000, but Angelis would not put a figure on the financial damage.

"We had to cancel all the arrangements we had made but by the end of today (Tuesday) every one of the 3,000 passengers affected will get to his destination in and out of Cyprus," Angelis said.

Three London and three Athens flights were affected, as were flights to Rome, Beirut and Amman. A flight to Paris was cancelled and its passengers were flown to London to board aircraft for France from there.

The Amsterdam flight was operated by CY's chief pilot and another management pilot who do not belong to any union, but passengers were still being flown out late last night. Many had endured delays of up to 12 hours.

Angelis said everyone would reach their destination despite Pasipy's attempts to leave them stranded. "We took good care of them," Angelis said. He said some were taken to hotels and others to restaurants depending on the length of the delay.

Angelis said the reason the Cynika pilots backed off from flying was because they had received a leaflet from Pasipy calling on them to think again.

The Pasipy leaflet threatened to report their non-striking colleagues to the International Pilots’ Union, and also said that the members of their union would refuse to fly with the Cynika pilots in the future, he said.

A source at Cynika, which represents the majority of CY's 2,000 workers, said their union had no instructions to strike and that if pilots had not gone to work, it was for "personal reasons".

Angelis described the pilots’ tactics as "guerrilla warfare... hijacking passengers to use them to blackmail the company".

"They have degraded trade unionism and their own profession," he said. Pasipy members talk about CY nearing its expiry date, Angelis said, "but I would say pilots themselves are writing down the expiry date of the company and they want it to be as soon as possible".

Pasipy defended its position at a news conference earlier when

spokesman George Charalambous denied persistent and critical reports that they were the best paid people in Cyprus. He said company directors were paid more, and with more benefits.

The pilots, unlike the other unions, had withdrawn all pay claims and the only issue they were concerned about was promotions, he said.

The union says CY provoked the strike by reneging on a deal to freeze vacancies in the airline's charter arm Eurocypria until agreement was reached between all three pilots’ factions -- Pasipy, Cynika and Eurocypria- Sek -- on how they should be filled.

Last Friday, in line with a previous agreement with Eurocypria pilots to give them the jobs, CY advertised the three vacancies and was immediately informed of strike action by Pasipy. The union wants all pilot promotions to come under a joint agreement on common seniority between the two airlines.

It says Eurocypria pilots with only 4-5 years’ experience as co-

pilot should not be promoted to captain when there are co-pilots at CY with 11-12 years’ experience.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[02] Ministers threaten airline with immediate liberalisation

ANY ESCALATION of strike action by Cyprus Airways (CY) pilots could force the government's hand towards immediate air liberalisation, two ministers warned yesterday.

Such a move would allow more foreign airlines to operate freely in and out of Cyprus, and could push the uncompetitive national carrier to the wall.

Both Communications and Works Minister Leondios Ierodiaconou and Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis slammed yesterday's 24-hour pilots' strike, which was called over pilot promotions.

Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas called the strike illegal, and said CY pilots' union Pasipy had not followed the correct procedure under the industrial relations code.

An angry Ierodiaconou said the only way CY was surviving at present was through heavy government subsidies.

"If this philosophy, attitude, culture and tradition which have become established continue -- because it has got to the point of being a tradition, where everyone who is employed in vital sectors believes he can at any point blackmail the economy -- then we as a ministry would suggest the fast-tracking of liberalisation," he said, adding that for the economy in general, liberalisation was a positive step.

Ierodiaconou said time would be given for CY to prepare itself for liberalisation. "But if this time is taken up with the various confrontations between unions, and this tradition and attitude I spoke of, then we will be forced to suggest the speeding up of liberalisation," he said.

"And if this situation continues, that is, if tomorrow they declare an indefinite strike, then we as a ministry will be forced to suggest to the state that we declare liberalisation immediately."

An equally angry Rolandis wondered whether CY was necessary any more -- "a company subsidised by the tax payer to the tune of tens of millions of pounds."

He said Cypriots were paying at least £60 to £70 pounds over the odds to fly to Athens and London. "This is at the expense of the travelling Cypriot and the tourists and at the same time we have strikes. What kind of national carrier is it that creates all this trouble?"

Rolandis said a national carrier must have a sense of national responsibility.

"We cannot at a time of peak tourism have flights being abandoned because pilots have differences with pilots," he said. "Don't they realise that Cyprus depends on tourism. If they don't realise this responsibility of theirs, we must see what we can do."

According to Rolandis, there are many companies offering to cover the routes covered by CY.

"We have entered the age of deregulation. There is no need any more for the Cypriot citizen to pay all these additional amounts, and in addition to this to have a strike which destroys tourism."

But the pilots, in addition to denying Moushiouttas' accusation that the strike was illegal, hit back at the other two ministers' comments.

They said they were not trying to close the airline, but rather to make management see sense and put the company on the right track.

To back their claim, they cited the fact that they had offered to buy the 12 per cent of CY shares that the government needs to offload by September, in order to reduce its holding in line with Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) regulations.

Pasipy spokesman George Charalambous said yesterday the union had not even received a response to their proposal, either from the company or the government.

"If we did not believe in the future of the company, we would not have made the offer," he said.

He added pilots suspected the reason for the official silence was that management did not want pilots represented on the board of directors, where they could "see what was going on".

But CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said yesterday the company was "all for" employees owning shares, and said the pilots' offer had not been rejected.

CY posted pre-tax profits of £10 million for 1998 after two years of losses.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[03] Killers get 25 years

TWO CHINESE students were yesterday sentenced to 25 years each for the brutal double killing last year of two of their compatriots.

Passing sentence, the Criminal Court sitting in Limassol described the two as "barbaric and evil".

In the 12-page verdict the court called the crime "one of the most frightening and evil which has shocked public opinion".

The verdict went on to say the killings had been committed with "unbelievable barbarity in which the victims were abused and strangled without provocation in order to take the little money they were suspected of having".

Accused Wang Yang, 21, and 22-year-old Bu Hua Cheng received one the stiffest penalties ever handed down by a Cypriot court for the charge of manslaughter.

The court said it took into account their clean criminal record, young age, and the fact that they had co-operated with police.

The victims, a student couple, were sexually tortured before being beaten with an iron bar and strangled. Their bodies were then taken by car to the Troodos mountains and dumped in a ravine, where they were discovered on December 2 last year, the day after the killings.

Wang and Bu had first pleaded not guilty to the premeditated murder of female compatriot Jiang Ming Xia, 23, and then to the bludgeoning of her male partner Lou Jian Hui, also 23, with an iron bar after forcing him to watch her suffer.

But following a plea bargain deal the two accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The victims’ bloodied bodies were wrapped in a blanket, put in the boot of a car and taken from their Limassol flat in Mesa Yitonia to the Troodos mountains, where they were thrown over a 100-metre drop close to Trooditissa monastery.

The killers believed their victims had some $3,000 stashed in their tiny apartment, but they never found any hidden money.

Clothing and possessions belonging to the couple were strewn across the mountain roads as the killers desperately tried to locate the money.

All four studied at the same private Limassol college and were part of the island's 600-strong Chinese student community.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[04] Ex-bishop will be charged

DISGRACED former Limassol Bishop Chrysanthos will be charged with attempting to defraud a London-based investor of $3.7 million, Attorney- general Alecos Markides said yesterday.

"Instructions have been given for police to proceed and charge the former bishop for offences of conspiracy, attempting to obtain money under false pretences and attempted fraud," Markides told reporters at his Nicosia office.

Once a major player in Orthodox Church politics, Chrysanthos now faces the ignominy of being hauled down to a local police station and charged in writing.

But this does not that mean he will end up in court to face trial on the above offences, because Chrysanthos faces more serious charges of defrauding two Portuguese investors of $1.5 million.

"We will wait and see if this case goes to court because it concerns attempted fraud, when at the same time we are investigating the case of the Portuguese investors who actually lost $1.5 million," Markides said yesterday.

Attempting to defraud carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail, while serious fraud is more than double that. Markides conceded that "unfortunately" the Portuguese case was still on-going and in need of further witness statements from the United States.

"We are waiting for necessary testimony from the US. We are sending an investigator there to collect the evidence," said Markides.

"Every effort will be taken to complete this case as soon as possible in the interest of justice and then we will take a final decision on both cases."

That decision is unlikely to materialise before next month as the Cypriot investigator will only be dispatched to the US in two weeks' time.

"If it takes only a matter of weeks, then we will go ahead and wait for the outcome of the Portuguese case," Markides said.

But the Attorney-general made it clear that, one way or another, Chrysanthos would soon be seeing the inside of a court room.

"We hope to go forward with a case where there is an actual loss of money, but this doesn't mean we will wait around for ever."

In January, the Attorney-general announced that there was only a five per cent chance that Chrysanthos would not end up in the dock; yesterday, he appeared to be leaving options open, though keen to stress there would be no cover-up:

"There is no cover-up as I believe our decisions are balanced," the Attorney-general said.

Scotland Yard has issued an arrest warrant against the ex-bishop -- who is allegedly also embroiled in multi-million dollar pyramid scams in America -- in connection with trying to defraud a London-based investor from New Zealand.

Under the island's constitution, a Cypriot citizen cannot be extradited, but if Chrysanthos left the island, the British arrest warrant would be enforced by Interpol.

However, Chrysanthos is blacklisted from leaving the island in view of pending legal proceedings.

Earlier this month, the New York-based Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud and broker-dealer registration violation charges against the ex- bishop's US lawyer Lewis Rivlin.

The SEC's legal action filed through the Washington DC District Court claims that Rivlin defrauded investors of $6.2 million in a bank scam between December 1997 and June 1998.

As a relief defendant, Chrysanthos is named in the court papers as having illegally received $4.2 million of that money.

Chrysanthos resigned last November and was suspended by the Holy Synod from any religious duties for two years, after the Church accused him -- among other things -- of greed and profiteering through currency speculation.

He had no option but to stand down, before the Synod opened Church proceedings to have him defrocked over his suspect business deals.

The Chrysanthos affair came with the Cyprus Church already reeling from other sleaze allegations, including claims of homosexuality, abuse of nuns and a married priest running off with a Romanian stripper.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[05] Clerides seeks to smooth over Kyprianou-Brill feud

Speaking to reporters after an early afternoon meeting with Clerides, Kyprianou said the President told him that "Brill said that it was not his intention to infringe on the institution of the acting President, either in its capacity as a position or personally."

Kyprianou said Brill had given Clerides the assurances after the President on Monday "made the required representations on the infringement of Cyprus' institutions."

Problems between the ambassador and Kyprianou began earlier this month when Brill allegedly refused to meet with the House president, who was acting President at the time.

Clerides was on a state visit to China when Kyprianou requested a meeting with Brill to protest against American embassy criticism of his Diko party and communist Akel's anti-Nato rhetoric. Both parties claimed the comments were an unacceptable interference in Cyprus' domestic politics.

Kyprianou said "the President spoke to Brill about the necessity of smooth relations with all the parties and I believe that after this discussion... all that was necessary has been done."

He added the entire incident had not been the result of a policy decision in Washington, but had come out of Nicosia so it was better that a representation had been made rather than sterner action taken.

Kyprianou said he would discuss yesterday's meeting with party leaders in the next few days and that the issue would then finally be closed.

Kyprianou said last week that Brill's refusal to meet with him was a snub not only to him but to the island as a whole. He added he would have declared Brill a persona non grataif he had been president.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[06] Joint announcement expected from Turks against G8

TURKEY and the Turkish Cypriots are expected make a joint announcement condemning the G8 resolution on Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot media reported yesterday.

The statement is due to be released when Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and six of his ministers visit the occupied areas in the coming weeks, said Yenidü zen, quoting a Turkish mainland newspaper.

The visit and statement is to convey a message that the Turkish side will not accept any formula that does not envisage a solution on a two-state basis. It will also say that for every step that Cyprus takes towards the EU, the Turkish side will retaliate in kind.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash has already warned the G8 not to intervene in Cyprus. Each time a major move is made towards pushing forward efforts on Cyprus, the Turkish side issues a joint statement with Turkey calling for closer co-operation and integration, usually in the economic sectors.

The joint declarations are used as an ever-present threat of the final integration of the breakaway regime with Turkey.

Denktash is against the G8 call to the negotiating table. He says there will be no negotiations whatsoever unless it includes his demand for a confederation.

At the summit in Germany, the seven most industrialised nations and Russia urged the United Nations to invite the two sides to talks in the autumn.

The negotiations would probably take place in the US at the beginning of October. The resolution calls on the two leaders to give their full support to comprehensive negotiations based on no preconditions, all issues on the table, a commitment in good faith to continue until a settlement is reached and full consideration of relevant UN resolutions and treaties.

The Cyprus government has said it will not for now be officially responding to the G8 resolution, and will only position itself after a relevant UN resolution, which is expected next week.

The G8 resolution is due to be discussed at today's meeting of the National Council, the government's advisory body on the Cyprus issue.

Meanwhile yesterday President Clerides met Dame Ann Hercus as part of the ongoing shuttle talks, which are designed to lead the process forward towards direct negotiations. Dame Ann is due to meet Denktash early next week.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[07] Shacolas titles sharply up ahead of CTC meeting

RUMOURS swirling around the Shacolas Group companies on the eve of CTC's general annual meeting sharply lifted prices of the conglomerate's titles yesterday, helping the all-share index to a new record close.

F.W. Woolworth rose by 1.5 cents to close at £0.57, while its sister Shacolas company CTC notched up 9.5 cents to close at £1.69. Orphanides Supermarkets, the only other title in the trading companies sector and Woolworth's fierce competitor, rose by 5.50 cents to close at £1.14.

Volume in the small sector accounted for 20 per cent of the day's total trade at a value of £1.62 million, surpassing the usually dominant banks sector by almost £500,000.

The impressive run of the Shacolas titles helped the market to finish the day up 0.37 per cent at 155.66. The close was the latest all-time high in a market that has so far this year appreciated by about 70 per cent.

Nicos Shacolas, perhaps the island's best known businessman, was scheduled to meet brokers last night to discuss the future prospects of his companies ahead of today's meeting of CTC shareholders.

Woolworth's annual general meeting is scheduled for next week.

"Something is definitely cooking," said Neofytos Neofytou of AAA United. "Perhaps spinoffs, but there can also be good news on an Athens listing or Christis dairies going public," he told the Cyprus Mail.

Like most other shares in the Cyprus Stock Exchange, the Shacolas titles have become used to living in the shadow of the blue-chips of the bank stocks. It is only in the past week that investors' interest shifted to other stocks after they cashed in their bank shares at high levels.

The Shacolas shares have long been thought to be undervalued, along with several other stocks.

In the tourism sector, Salamis Tours Holdings made by far the biggest gains in yesterday's trade, appreciating by 6.50 cents with transactions worth nearly £1 million. Closing at £1.24, trade in the share took 10.9 per cent of the day's entire volume. The sector's sub-index also rose by a decent 2.19 per cent to close at 115.02.

In the unusual place of runners-up, shares of banks saw unusually slow activity yesterday. The Bank of Cyprus, the island's largest, was the only stock to end the day in positive territory, rising by 2.50 cents to close at £6.77.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[08] Cyprus commended for EU progress

Speaking during EU talks with Cyprus in Luxembourg on the sidelines of a session of the Council of European Affairs, the official described Cyprus' accession course so far as "very positive", seeing that negotiations on 10 out of the 14 chapters of the acquis communautairehave already been completed.

For his part, EU External Affairs Commissioner Hans van Den Broek said that since last year when negotiations began, no-one could have imagined the progress Cyprus had made.

He also commended the government's efforts to involve the Turkish Cypriots in the accession process via the internet.

Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides thanked Germany for its work during its six month stint as EU president, which ends this month. He assured the meeting that Cyprus would do its best to continue making heady progress during the upcoming Finish presidency.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[09] New law will cut price of medicines

A NEW law that should lead to a reduction in the price of prescription medicines is in the pipeline, Health Minister Christos Solomis said yesterday.

The minister's statements followed press reports suggesting drugs in Cyprus cost more than twice what they do in Greece and the rest of Europe.

"The Health Ministry is preparing new legislation on the regulation of trade in medicines based on the European norm," Solomis said.

"The new legislation will permit, under certain circumstances, the parallel import of drugs, that is import of the same drug by more than one importer from any European Union country," he said.

Solomis said parallel imports would create "competitive" conditions which would bring the price of medicines down.

But the minister also denied that local medicines were overpriced: "With the exception of some medicines, prices for drugs today, and especially of newer ones, are about the same at they are in Greece and other European countries."

Import prices were set by the Drugs Price Control Committee to be no higher than the price offered by producers in the country of manufacture, the minister said.

Nicos Koutsou's New Horizons party issued a statement wondering why the government had to wait for EU harmonisation before doing something about high drug prices.

The party charged the state with dragging its feet over changing the law so that it could continue "favouring" certain big drug importers.

[10] Now from Mr EasyJet comes EasyEverything, the world's biggest cyber café

EasyEverything is the world's largest internet café. Situated opposite London's Victoria Station, it has 400 terminals and is open 24 hours a day. All the computers in the café are high-powered and feature the very latest technology, the likes of which few can afford to have at home. In addition to surfing facilities, the café has a "learning zone" for the uninitiated, where experts are available to give internet beginners tips and guidance; and thanks to deals with top coffee houses, it also offers great surfing snacks.

Three more cafés are planned to open in London during the summer. More are planned for after that. When the café opened on Monday, more than 100 people were queuing outside waiting to take advantage of the first-week special offer of unlimited surfing for just £1.

More information is available on the internet (naturally) at

Up next from Haji-Ioannou, EasyRentacar.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[11] Cyprus reaps the fruit of patent legislation

The Registrar of Companies, Maria Kyriacou, said this was proof that joining the EPO was encouraging foreign investors to look at the island as a possible site for expansion.

Kyriacou was speaking at a press conference in Nicosia yesterday to present the travelling "Patents of Europe" exhibition. The exhibition at the Famagusta Gate was opened by President Clerides yesterday evening.

The visiting president of the European Patent Office (EPO), Ingo Kober, said joining the EPO meant Cyprus was "fully embedded in the process of European technology transfer -- an activity supported by patents."

Clerides echoed this when opening the exhibition. "The entry of Cyprus to the EPO last year is considered to be a big step towards the accession of Cyprus to the EU and at the same time promotes European cooperation in trade and industry," the President said.

Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis said joining the EPO would make life easier for local inventors.

"Until last year when Cyprus joined the EPO, the patent system was very expensive and complicated for the Cypriot inventor because he had to be registered first in Britain and subsequently in Cyprus," Rolandis said.

An exhibition of ancient Greek technology will run alongside the European Patents show.

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Wednesday, June 23, 1999

[12] Organisers hail telethon success

Telethon 99 raised a record amount of money, the organisers reported yesterday, and included a television appeal, kiosks and street collectors, as well as varied fund-raising events.

Popular singers and well known athletes all contributed to making Telethon 99 the most successful yet, with concerts by Despina Vandi and George Lempesis starting off events in Dhali last Friday.

Concerts by Cyprus' own Dimos Beke, George Stamataris, Christina Farmaki, well known Greek band Zig-Zag and others followed.

The events were attended by Greek and Cypriot sports personalities and included presentations by various local dance troupes.

Telethon 98 was also declared a huge success and organisers last week announced that the funds raised last year would help medical research and the treatment of epilepsy, thalassaemia and muscular dystrophy.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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