Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-08-08

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

Wednesday, August 8, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] VAT to rise to 15%

[02] Court told how musicians 'lured girls for sex'

[03] Pilots threaten more strikes next month

[04] Stock market slips again

[05] Businessmen set to return from Bahrain

[06] Britons fined for beating up business partner

[07] 'More must be done to battle billboard menace'

[08] Deputies urge government to reject computer offer

[09] De Soto expected in Cyprus after Salzburg meeting

[10] Fanieros to get treatment in Canada

[11] It's official: heat wave hits Cyprus

[01] VAT to rise to 15%

VALUE Added Tax (VAT) will be increased from 10 to 15 per cent early next year, Chief Negotiator with the EU George Vassiliou said yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting with President Glafcos Clerides, Vassiliou said discussions on a new tax package would begin when the House of Representatives reconvenes in October.

He was briefing the President on the progress of harmonising the island's legislation with that of the EU, which Cyprus hopes to join in 2003. Cyprus has closed 23 out of the 29 chapters of the acquis communautaire.

"We have to reform our tax system," Vassiliou said. "VAT has to go up to 15 per cent, indirect taxation must increase, and the disparity between offshore units and companies operating in Cyprus must be abolished."

To counter the increase in VAT, Vassiliou said income tax would be reduced and the ceiling on tax-free allowances would be increased.

He said that there would be a three-day meeting this month on the issue, which would involve the participation of foreign experts, after which the political parties would be consulted.

VAT last rose from eight to ten per cent in May last year after months of political wrangling.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Court told how musicians 'lured girls for sex'

A 65-YEAR-old Larnaca musician suspected of sexually assaulting under aged girls yesterday cried as he heard the investigator tell the court how he and a prominent composer, also held in connection with the same case, allegedly lured aspiring singers into sexual liaisons by promising them illustrious careers.

George Serdaris and well-known composer Doros Georgiades were arrested on Monday after six women told police that the two men had sexually assaulted them nine years ago.

The women said they were 12 and 13 years old when the alleged assaults took place.

Police said the suspects had been detained in connection with conspiracy to corrupt, indecent assault and projection of pornographic material, offences allegedly carried out between 1991 and 1996.

The court heard that while giving private tutoring to girls aged 12 and 13, Serdaris allegedly touched their breasts and thighs; when they grew older, he became more daring, the court was told, allegedly groping their genitals and kissing them on the mouth.

Investigators told the court that when the girls reached 14 and 15, the suspect allegedly took them in pairs to Georgiades' studio, where one would go in and the other stayed out with Serdaris.

Serdaris then allegedly kissed her on the mouth and neck and, depending on her reaction, would proceed further, urging her to have sex.

Georgiades, the investigator said, assaulted the girl after the recording had finished and proceeded according to her reaction.

Police told the court the two suspects had everything planned and that was why Serdaris would take the girls to Geogiades' studio.

The packed courthouse heard that girls going to Serdaris' home for tutoring occasionally found him watching pornographic films; he would urge the girls to sit beside him and watch, the court was told.

According to the girls' testimony, the two men kept telling them that in order for them to be successful in singing love songs, it was important to receive practical lessons from an expert lover.

The suspects allegedly convinced the girls, telling them that this was how other singers had become famous.

The case emerged on July 29, after a 74-year-old man committed suicide after hearing his grand daughter had allegedly fallen victim to the men's intentions.

The man left a note explaining the situation to a well-known television reporter.

Police said the first girl came forward on August 1, followed by five more testimonies.

The suspects were arrested on Monday. Police searched their homes and allegedly found porn films and other evidence related to the case.

One of the alleged victims told police a video camera was recording while she was being sexually assaulted.

Defence lawyers Georgios Georgiou and Demetrakis Papachrysostomou objected to their clients' remand, arguing that they had had all the time they needed to influence witnesses if they had wanted to do so between August 2 and their arrest on Monday.

The two suspects were nevertheless remanded in custody for four days. Police said they still had to interview another 30 people.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Pilots threaten more strikes next month

CYPRUS Airways (CY) pilots are threatening to resume strike action from the beginning of next month unless the airline's management reaches an agreement with them over charter firm Eurocypria.

In an announcement being published in newspapers today, the pilots union PASIPY said it would not take any strike action in August, the peak travelling period for the majority of Cypriots.

However, the announcement said that if the company did not come to an agreement with the union this month, they would have no option but to take measures next month.

Nearly four weeks ago, PASIPY grounded the airline for two hours while it briefed its members on the Eurocypria issue. They said it was not a strike, but more than 3,000 passengers were left on the ground.

The union held what it termed a "briefing meeting" between 8 and 10am. The stoppage delayed 15 flights to and from Larnaca and Paphos airports, affecting some 3,200 inbound and outbound passengers.

CY pilots have traditionally enjoyed promotion benefits within Eurocypria, but a deal brokered by the Labour Ministry in May set out limitations on common seniority practices, setting the ratio of captaincy promotions between the two carriers at 6:3 in CY's favour. The deal provided for financial compensation to Eurocypria pilots in the event that they lost their promotions. CY pilots claim no similar provisions were made for them.

Eurocypria's fleet is set to expand by the end of 2002, when it returns to CY three leased Airbus A320s to be replaced by four Boeing 737s. The decision was taken in March, and at the time CY chairman Haris Loizides warned that squabbling among pilots of the carriers would not be tolerated.

Strikes have in recent years come to a crescendo during the summer season, when they have the maximum impact on flights.

CY engineers staged a similar "briefing" on July 20 over a long-standing promotions issue, grounding flights and also affecting thousands of passengers.

They agreed to call off measures slated for last week after the intervention of Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas who has agreed to mediate. CY said it would not talk to the engineers under the threat of strike action.

Yesterday, Moushiouttas gave his mediation proposal to both sides for their consideration.

"I think that as things develop it wouldn't be right for the Ministry not to submit a proposal so that the two sides could take on their responsibilities," he said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Stock market slips again

Blue chips, particularly banking stocks, which led Monday's gains, slipped 1.44 per cent as investors dumped top stocks, which left the FTSE/CySE top 20 index at 585.3 points.

Volume remained low at £6.1 million as the index failed to maintain its 158- point opening level and struggled unsuccessfully to rise mid-session.

"Investors were not in a patient mood," said one broker. "Any stock which showed gains on Monday was a legitimate target as far as they were concerned,"

Sub sectors that lost heavily included insurance, down 3.79 per cent and banks 1.28 per cent.

Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and Laiki, which recorded substantial gains on Monday, fell by the wayside. BoC shed four cents to £2.03 and Laiki dropped two cents to £1.61 pounds.

The technology sector, falling 1.9 per cent, again fell victim to the fickleness of investors towards GlobalSoft The stock topped the most active list with 3.9 million shares worth £1.4 million changing hands. It ended the day unchanged at 34 cents after hitting an intraday high of 41 cents and accounted for some 25 per cent of trading volume.

Overall, 43 titles showed gains compared to 88 that declined and 107, which closed unchanged.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Businessmen set to return from Bahrain

TWO PROMINENT Cypriot businessmen placed under house arrest in Bahrain late last month are homeward bound after being cleared of any wrongdoing by investigators in the Gulf state, their lawyer reported yesterday.

Andreas Papayiannis and Costas Polemidiotis were detained on July 25, in connection with what the Gulf News agency said was an investigation into a fake bank guarantee of $50 million. Uncertainty over the exact reasons for the two Cypriots being placed under house arrest led to a flurry of diplomatic activity between Cyprus and Bahrain.

The businessmen's lawyer, Christos Clerides, yesterday put out an announcement confirming reports that Papayiannis and Polemidiotis had been freed.

"Mr Papayiannis has been set free and is in his hotel. Efforts are being made for his passport to be returned to him so he can return to Cyprus earlier than the two to three days he has been told he will be allowed to return in," Clerides said.

"As far as Mr Polemidiotis is concerned, an effort is again being made for his immediate release and the return of his passport so he too can return to Cyprus," the lawyer stated.

Clerides said Bahraini investigators had found nothing incriminating against his two clients.

At least one other businessman, a Jordanian, was detained at the same time as Papayiannis and Polemidiotis. The Jordanian's fate was unknown yesterday.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Britons fined for beating up business partner

TWO BRITISH businessmen were yesterday fined £2,800 for beating up a compatriot who they claimed had fled London with £100,000 belonging to them.

Scrap metal trader David Hughes, 32, and 40-year-old marble trader Mark Eubanks were found guilty of conspiring to commit a felony and causing actual bodily harm to Steven Smith, 40, a permanent resident of Livadhia in Larnaca, and Hughes' former partner.

The court heard Smith had met with the two defendants at his home and agreed to go to a bank where he was going to withdraw the money and hand it over to Hughes.

But something went wrong at the last minute and in the ensuing scuffle Smith had his arm broken.

The court said the defendants had been provoked by Smith's behaviour in withdrawing the £100,000 and flying out to Cyprus.

The defendants had planned to come to the island to get the money back but the way they acted, causing actual bodily harm, was wrong.

Such offences were on the rise on the island in recent years, Judge Nicos Sandis said.

He ordered the defendants to pay £1,400 each immediately as they were leaving the island.

Lefkos Clerides, defending, requested the fine be deducted from his clients' £20,000 bail and the rest be returned to them.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] 'More must be done to battle billboard menace'

REMOVAL of illegal billboards littering the island's roads will do little to cut the risk of accidents stemming from driver distraction, a public works (PWD) official said yesterday.

On Monday, the government decided to remove all advertising billboards put up without permission.

But Chief District Public Engineer Lefteris Stylianides said the illegal signs were not the problem.

"The problem is with the ones put up with the permission of the municipalities who are not obliged to ask for our view," he said.

He added: "I think they have to ask because the law stipulates they have to consider driver safety, and the responsible department for that is the PWD."

Stylianides said it would take more effort to rectify the problem, but was pleased the first step had been taken.

"We got the ball rolling but it will take some time."

He said that a meeting on Monday, chaired by Communications Minister Averoff Neophytou, had decided to call consultations with the Municipal Union in September to discuss the issue.

"It was also agreed for the Chairman of the union to write to them asking them to stop putting up more signs," Stylianides said.

He suggested that legislation scheduled to be submitted for approval to the House in October would be easier to pass now that everyone was getting sensitive about the issue.

But according to Stylianides, the Nicosia District Officer has already instructed his lawyers to take everyone who has erected illegal billboards on their property to court.

Advertising companies have struck agreements with landowners on the sides of motorways to plant signs there without further permission.

He said his department could not start knocking down large signs because of the costs involved in such a task.

Stylianides said this would be pursued through the Attorney-general and that the test case would be billboards located on the Archangelos junction in Nicosia.

The new legislation would prohibit anyone putting up new billboards on roads and motorways.

But what about existing hoardings?

Stylianides vowed to keep up the fight for their removal, whether it takes one month or one year.

"We'll do everything we can.

"We vehemently oppose them because we believe they are dangerous for drivers," Stylianides said.

He added: " I believe it's for the good of the country; they are an embarrassment."

Meanwhile United Democrats Deputy Antroulla Vasilliou has called on the Chairman of the House Environment Committee George Lillikas to table the billboard issue and its repercussions for discussion.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[08] Deputies urge government to reject computer offer

THE HOUSE Education Committee yesterday slammed donors behind a mystery offer of 160,000 free PCs for local schools for not going public with their identities.

The government has repeatedly stated it could not accept the £400 million gift unless the veil of secrecy shrouding the offer was lifted and the benefactors named.

The unprecedented offer has been the subject of much negative press speculation since it was made public last month, with a number of reports suggesting there could be hidden motives behind the donation.

The benefactors' representatives have given assurances the donors are "101 per cent Greek" and that their offer is "genuine". They insisted the identity of the donors could not be revealed for unspecified reasons of "national and social security".

The Education Committee, which held an extraordinary meeting yesterday with Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides to address the matter, heard it would be unwise for the government to even consider accepting the offer of the mystery donors.

But they insisted that proper computer education in schools was a necessity that the ministry should push for.

"It is ridiculous for the state to negotiate with these people without knowing who they are," said United Democrats deputy Androulla Vassiliou.

She dismissed the argument that identifying the donors would put national and social security on the line.

Thassos Michaelides of AKEL backed the government's decision not to accept the free computers, adding: "We should not sit back and wait for money to fall from the sky but instead increase state subsidies to buy computers for schools."

Michaelides also questioned the benefactors' motives.

DISY deputy Prodromos Prodromou insisted that no deal should be made without transparency.

Minister Ioannides reassured them that the government had no intention of backing down on its demands: "The subject is closed for discussion unless the donors agree to meet us," he said

The minister said that a separate scheme to install modern computer systems in schools was already under way.

"This mystery donation has not affected our plans one bit," he noted.

Ioannides said that government and academic advisors deemed that the unprecedented offer to provide a computer for every pupil in nursery, primary and secondary school and the Cyprus University was unreliable and unbinding.

"The donors have not specified the kind of equipment they would use and how they would build up a school network. They failed to say who would pay for the installation of the services and there is no timetable for all these either," he argued.

Attorney-general Alecos Markides felt the matter needed to be thoroughly examined before any decision was taken, the minister said.

"He was sceptical about the feasibility of the plan and the credibility of the donors and said naming them was desired, though not necessary."

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[09] De Soto expected in Cyprus after Salzburg meeting

UN SECRETARY-general Kofi Annan's envoy for Cyprus Alvaro de Soto is expected to arrive on the island on August 29, according to informed sources.

De Soto's arrival will come one day after Annan's scheduled meeting in Salzburg with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash on August 28.

UNFICYP said yesterday it had no information or official notice that De Soto would be coming to Cyprus only that Annan would meet Denktash in Salzburg, in Austria.

Denktash is due to meet Annan in an attempt to kick-start the stalled Cyprus proximity talks, which went into limbo last November when the Turkish Cypriot leader declared the process dead.

The Turkish Cypriot leader wanted the talks to be held on a 'state-to- state' basis with a view to a confederal solution, and is expected to try and persuade the UN to resume the talks on a new footing, something that would be unacceptable to the Greek Cypriot side.

Turkish Cypriot papers yesterday quoted Denktash as denying reports that the Americans had given guarantees to the Greek Cypriot side that the talks would resume where they had left off.

Denktash said that if that were the case there would be no need for him to go and meet the Secretary-general.

Since no such assurance was given, he would meet Annan to focus on what issues could be discussed and in what context, he said.

"We have been given assurances that such a guarantee was not given to the Greek Cypriots, we will go to Salzburg in peace and we will try and learn from the UN Secretary-general which issues will be discussed with the Greek Cypriots, under which circumstances and within which framework," Denktash was quoted as saying.

He also spoke of a possible extension to the August 28 meeting.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[10] Fanieros to get treatment in Canada

CONVICTED fraudster Antonis Fanieros, 61, is expected to get 'time off' from prison to fly to Canada for specialised treatment for his vocal chords, damaged by a hit man's bullet in1997.

Fanieros, who is serving a five-year sentence for his part in a scam to cash £143,000 worth of someone else's shares, has been diagnosed as needing specialised attention for the old neck wound.

Dr Christakis Komoditis, the ear, nose and throat specialist at Nicosia's Makarios hospital, says the convict's larynx faces paralysis unless a specialist can operate on it. Attorney-general Alecos Markides has reportedly given the green light for Fanieros to go to Canada for treatment, and the final say-so lies with President Clerides.

Fanieros was shot in the neck in a drive-by gangland shooting outside his Larnaca club in May 1997.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[11] It's official: heat wave hits Cyprus

THE ONSET of a new heat wave has been officially confirmed by the Meteorological Service, though the unwelcome return of the scorching temperatures needed little proving for anyone venturing beyond the sanctuary of an air-conditioned interior yesterday.

Temperatures peaked at around 39 degrees centigrade in Nicosia yesterday and the weathermen warned of worse to come. Temperatures are set to hit and even exceed 40 degrees Centigrade inland today and tomorrow, and the burn could stretch into the weekend. The seasonal average for Nicosia is 37 degrees.

Humidity is also expected to remain high and winds will be almost non- existent, increasing the discomfort and heat-stress risk levels.

Things will not be nearly as bad on the coasts, with temperatures there only expected to be about one degree above normal for the next few days.

The best strategy for avoiding heat-stress is to avoid strenuous physical exercise, consume plenty of water or fruit juice, stick to light meals, avoid alcohol and dress in light-coloured, loose clothing.

There was one heat-related death during a heat wave last month, a Rumanian builder succumbing to the scorching heat.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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