Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-08-28

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

Tuesday, August 28, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Offshore tax will go up, Klerides warns

[02] Denktash meets EU commissioner in 'constructive' talks

[03] Upbeat mood after Nicosia Afghan talks

[04] Businessman not released 'because Bahraini officials on leave'

[05] Immigrants caught in Protaras

[06] Protest in face of road threat

[01] Offshore tax will go up, Klerides warns

CORPORATE tax is set to go up for offshore companies and come down for local firms as Cyprus moves to conform with EU norms, the government confirmed yesterday, after the conclusion of a three-day seminar on the thorny issue.

"One thing is certain, one can expect to see an increase in taxation for international business activities and a reduction in taxation for our companies," Finance Minister Takis Klerides said yesterday. The minister gave no more details.

The head of the island's EU accession talks team, George Vassiliou, repeated that the discrepancy in taxation rates for offshore and local companies had to go by the end of the year if Brussels was to be kept happy.

Klerides and Vassiliou were analysing the conclusions of a major three-day taxation seminar in Nicosia, which concluded on Sunday. The seminar, attended by local and foreign tax experts and representatives from the Finance Ministry, Planning Bureau, Central Bank and Attorney-general's office, aimed at coming up with recommendations for resolving the tax issue.

Cyprus is keen to maintain its lucrative offshore sector, but also has an obligation to iron out preferential tax rates banned under EU competition law.

The 1,300 or so offshore companies registered in Cyprus currently enjoy a 4.25 per cent corporate tax rate, compared to 20 or 25 per cent for local firms. The tax breaks have made the offshore sector one of the government's main sources of income, but both the EU and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are unhappy with this preferential treatment for international businesses. If Cyprus is to close the EU harmonisation chapter on taxation and to avoid being blacklisted by the powerful OECD - an economic watchdog body set up by the G7 group of industrialised nations - then Nicosia has to axe the tax incentives for offshore firms.

It is widely expected that a uniform corporate tax rate of about 10 per cent will be introduced for both offshore and local companies.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Denktash meets EU commissioner in 'constructive' talks

He added that the meeting took place in a constructive atmosphere.

Denktash stopped over in Zurich ahead of a meeting in Salzburg today with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his special adviser on Cyprus Alvaro de Soto.

De Soto is expected on the island tomorrow.

The meetings are seen as crucial to smoothing Denktash's way back to the negotiating table he abandoned last year.

Speaking to reporters in Istanbul just before leaving for Zurich, Denktash reiterated his accusation that the Greek Cypriot side had forced him out of the talks by setting "unacceptable conditions".

Denktash said he was meeting Annan to discuss the reasons the talks had been interrupted and see if there was ground and new ideas for their resumption.

The talks process ended last year after Denktash's demands for equal status for his regime went unheard by the UN.

Denktash has warned that Cyprus' EU accession ahead of a solution would spell the end of all hopes for a settlement.

The EU has said a settlement would be desirable but not essential for Cyprus' accession.

Talks have been provisionally booked to start on September 8 or 9, but Denktash told journalists in the north last Tuesday there was still no certainty about his attendance.

"I will not get involved in scenarios that say the talks will begin in September. The start of the talks in September depends on the evaluation of my government and assessments we will make along with Turkey if necessary after my meeting with the Secretary-General," he said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Upbeat mood after Nicosia Afghan talks

THE PEACE for Afghanistan conference in Nicosia concluded on Sunday by mapping out the future of the movement in order to work best towards securing peace in the ravaged war-torn country.

The movement, which will send a four-man delegation to a second round of UN proximity talks in Geneva next month, looked back on a year of success and looked forward to a more active 12 months ahead.

One insider told the Cyprus Mail that the mood amongst the hundreds of participants, drawn from all ethnic groups in Afghanistan, including Taleban sympathisers, had been very friendly and enthusiastic about their role in working towards peace.

At talks that lasted well into the night, the group's steering committee submitted strategies for the promotion of peace, approved by the general council in accordance with UN requirements.

The organisation, which seeks to present a democratic alternative to the rule of the Taleban since they swept to power in the 1990s, has established what they call a General National Assembly, made of people representative from all social castes in Afghanistan.

At the weekend, they elected five people to seven specialised committees, seen as a mirror of parliamentary committees.

Three of the key committees deal with finance, politics and foreign affairs.

Apart from that, the members appealed to the United Nations Security Council to support steps towards peace, and urged foreign powers, namely Pakistan, to end their damaging interference in domestic Afghan affairs.

They also asked recipient states of Afghan refugees to pay the utmost attention to the miserable conditions of the refugees and be more merciful in the anticipation that an imminent solution would enable them to return to their homes.

Members of the organisation include academics, former government officials, Northern Alliance diplomats, former President Sghatullah Mojaddedi, former foreign minister, Homayun Jarir, tribal leaders, Islamic scholars and technocrats.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Businessman not released 'because Bahraini officials on leave'

Clerides, who spent last week in Bahrain with his clients, said the delay was unacceptable, inexcusable and unjustified and violated his client's rights.

Costas Polemidiotes, 50, is expected to be set free next Saturday when the investigation should be complete.

The two Cypriots have been held in Bahrain for exactly a month on Sunday, when they were arrested to help with inquiries into a deal between Jordanians and Americans.

Clerides maintains that Bahrain has no evidence to incriminate his clients.

Although Clerides insists that his clients are not under arrest or formal detention, the Bahrain Central Bank (BMA) announced on July 30 that five businessmen had been arrested in connection with the £50 bank guarantee.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Immigrants caught in Protaras

Nine of the immigrants were apprehended shortly after landing at the Nisia area of Protaras.

The men said they came from Syria and Iraq and they had sailed from Syria on a fishing trawler on the night of Friday to Saturday.

They said they paid the two Syrian captains between $500 and $1,000 each to carry them to Cyprus.

When they reached the island at around 10pm, the 11 migrants were loaded onto a smaller derelict boat while the Syrian captains returned home.

Police were notified that several people, possibly illegal immigrants, were seen around and patrol cars were immediately dispatched in the area.

Nine of the immigrants were found wandering around the area while the other two were arrested early yesterday morning.

The men said they had come to Cyprus looking for work.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Protest in face of road threat

In a statement yesterday, the two businessmen said they had been told nothing despite a whole series of pleas for information from relevant departments made by their lawyer, DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides.

"We have not been given any information by anyone," Ladas and Patsalides said. The only official response the proprietors said they had received was a series of promises that their queries were being "studied".

The two men said all they knew were widespread rumours that their businesses - the Ladas Fish tavern and the Patsalides Trading Co fruit market - were to be knocked down to make way for a car parking and 'green' area.

"Is it true that the road project is due to start on January 10, 2002?" Ladas and Patsalides wondered in their statement yesterday.

The restaurateur and fruit seller may be in the dark, but others apparently know more about what is in store for their businesses. "We have already been visited by companies who have measured up our properties and made us offers for demolishing them! You can imagine what our psychological state is," the two men protested.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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