Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-12-20

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

Thursday, December 20, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] SEC report on GlobalSoft goes to Markides

[02] EU official's VAT increase remark causes a flutter

[03] Accountant jailed for stealing £200,000

[04] Bandler makes his Christmas wish

[05] CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

[06] Lellos bids farewell to his 'lady' Nicosia

[07] 'Third world' slaughterhouse? Surely not

[08] National Council 'consensus' on talks

[09] European Criminal Convention ratified

[10] Trading with the north is not illegal

[11] Insurance scam suspects 'may also be bombers'

[12] CY shells out £30,000 for snowbound passengers

[01] SEC report on GlobalSoft goes to Markides

THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) said yesterday it had forwarded its file on GlobalSoft (GLC) to the office of Attorney-general Alecos Markides to determine whether there was a case for criminal proceedings.

In a two-page announcement, the SEC said there was a possible violation of Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) regulations by the company with regard to the presentation of its financial statements in terms of a "correct and faithful picture of the company's affairs".

Last week the SEC recommended the suspension of trading in GLC shares pending its investigation into alleged breaches of stock exchange regulations, but the CSE refused saying there was insufficient evidence.

The SEC has examined a report by independent auditors into the company's stock market dealings. GlobalSoft has been trading under a separate category and on certain conditions regarding share price fluctuation for more than a month after being suspended from trading in early October. The company last week filed a £1 million suit against the SEC.

On Monday the CSE board decided that GlobalSoft should continue trading under a separate category and subject to specific conditions, but again refused to suspend the company without more evidence.

Among the allegations outlined in the SEC's statement yesterday were possible violations of CSE law relating to the company's alleged failure to adequately inform the investing public, including an alleged omission relating to the activities and financial results of GLC's subsidiaries abroad.

The SEC said there was also a possible breach of regulations by GLC's alleged failure to clariify, via its prospectus, its real relationship with US-affiliate AremisSoft.

Former AremisSoft executives had their bank and broker assets frozen by a US federal court in October amid allegations that the company had overstated revenues and inflated the value of customer contracts and acquisitions.

AremisSoft owns some seven per cent of the Cypriot concern. One of the former AremisSoft executives cited in the US lawsuit, Lycourgos Kyprianou, is chairman of GlobalSoft.

The SEC also raised questions regarding the financial results of other GLC subsidiaries, LK GlobalSoft (North Africa) and the group's Bulgarian concerns Express Consult JSC and Comsyst AD, saying the group had allegedly not produced satisfactory figures to confirm that their results were bona fide .

According to the SEC statement, the North African subsidiary contributed 34 per cent to the group's turnover in 2000 and that the Bulgarian concerns' contribution totalled 43 per cent.

The SEC said it would now wait for the results of the Attorney-general's investigation and ruling on the issue.

GLC shares ended one cent down at 15 cents yesterday.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] EU official's VAT increase remark causes a flutter

THE House Finance Committee was thrown into confusion yesterday when the EU team leader for accession talks Leopold Maurer told deputies the bloc expected Cyprus to increase Value Added Tax (VAT) by the end of this year.

According to Committee chairman Marcos Kyprianou, Maurer, who met deputies before their session yesterday, had dropped a bombshell by saying the EU expected Cyprus to fulfil its obligation to increase VAT from 10 per cent to 13 per cent by the end of the year.

Maurer reportedly told the committee that failure to implement the VAT hike would leave Cyprus exposed in the eyes of the EU.

Kyprianou said the committee had not been briefed on such an obligation by the government. Cyprus must bring its VAT up to the EU 15 per cent by the end of 2002. The government had already planned to increase the tax from 10 to 13 per cent and from 13 to 15 per cent next year and has already prepared a tax package to offset the VAT burden on the taxpayer. The House was due to discuss the package in the New Year.

Kyprianou said the government had said there was adequate time to raise VAT and implied that commitment to the EU for a hike before then must have been made by Cyprus` chief negotiator to the EU, George Vassiliou.

He also said that Finance Minister Takis Klerides had made no case for urgency to the committee on the issue. However the government spokesman said yesterday that they had said a "thousand times" that VAT would rise to 13 per cent by the end of the year.

Kyprianou said the committee had reassured Maurer that VAT would rise within the next three months to 13 per cent.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Accountant jailed for stealing £200,000

Christiana Andreou, 23, from Asomatos, was found guilty of misappropriating the money, stealing from clinic employees, forging and circulating falsified documents, and obtaining documents under false pretences.

She was employed at the clinic from 1998 until April 2000, according to surgeon Nicos Markides and she was arrested after he gave evidence to police.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Bandler makes his Christmas wish

AMERICAN Ambassador Donald Bandler tells Father Christmas what he wants for Christmas at a children's charity event at his official residence yesterday.

Mrs Jane Bandler invited 45 children from the state-run Latsia Kindergarten to the Ambassador's wing at the Embassy for a Christmas party.

The highlight of the morning was a visit by Father Christmas laden with gifts.

Showing shy children the way it's done, the American Ambassador promptly planted himself on Santa's knee.

Jane Bandler is a benefactor of the Latsia Kindergarten and gives pupils presents every Christmas.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

EASYJET tycoon Stelios Haji-Ioannou has been named by respected shipping newspaper Lloyd's Listas its Business Personality of the Year for his contribution to shipping in 2001.

"With the global economy on its knees and several shipping markets teetering on the edge of a financial abyss, it pays to be cautious when nominating the business personality of the year," the paper said.

Although Greek-born Haji-Ioannou, whose parents are Cypriot, is best known for his no-frills airline easyJet and lately his low cost car rental firm and chain of Internet cafés, his flotation of his shipping company Stelmar Tankers on the New York stock exchange earlier this year was a great success, Lloyd's Listsaid.

"Stelmar's initial public offering is a candidate for the year's single most encouraging development, at least from a capital market's perspective, " the paper said, adding that it was the first successful shipping IPO on the New York stock exchange for many years and helped the industry to reclaim some of its credibility.

"Priced at $12 apiece, Stelmar's shares peaked at $21.90 and have rarely been below their opening level despite the collapse of the tanker market since the summer."

The paper quotes one New York shipping analyst as saying the industry could use "more people like Stelios".

"For being the inspiration behind a consistently profitable tanker company and enabling the shipping industry once more to hold its head high on Wall Street, Mr Haji-Ioannou is Lloyd's Listbusiness personality of the year, " the paper said.

Stelmar applied for a listing on the Cyprus Stock Exchange in April 2000 but withdrew its application in disgust in November of the same year, furious at the delays it had been subjected to. The company said there was no place for its ships in a country that had such scant regard for the shipping industry.

Haji-Ioannou had said he wanted to list his company in his home country in order to contribute to the investment environment on the fledgling exchange but the bourse said it was concerned that shipping companies were a high- risk venture and sought legal advice to determine whether specific prerequisites were needed to sign the company up.

The issue regarding the criteria for the listing of shipping companies is still pending.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Lellos bids farewell to his 'lady' Nicosia

OUTGOING Nicosia Mayor Lellos Demetriades choked back the tears yesterday as he addressed a farewell news conference on his 30 years in the post. And he also said he wouldn't mind being President of a united Cyprus.

The man known to one and all simply as Lellos said he was still "in love with Nicosia" but also admitted he should not have served in local government for so many years.

Demetriades will officially step down at a ceremony in Eleftheria Square on New Year's Eve when newly elected Mayor Michalakis Zampelas is sworn in.

"You're all invited to attend the ceremony and watch me put the Mayor's chain around Zampelas' neck," Demetriades said.

"Nicosia is a difficult woman who wakes up at night and hassles you all the time -- but who gives you the world when she is in a good mood. That's why I fell in love with the town."

Demetriades, who first took office in 1971, said that he often had to fulfil his duties "in tragic conditions". He called Nicosia a divided capital without any airports or ports and with only two roads leading to other towns.

"The capital never really had a share of the tourism pie, but has survived until now," he added.

Demetriades recalled what his friend former Education Minister Andreas Christofides told him once: " We must create: if we create we never die."

He also referred to a "landmark dinner" which he said had paved the way for the construction of Nicosia's sewage system: "In 1977 Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and then Greek Cypriot negotiator Glafcos Clerides were invited to a dinner at the residence of a UN envoy in Cyprus. I managed to get an invitation too.

"When we finished dinner -- and I must say Clerides and Denktash had quite a lot to eat -- I raised the dirty issue: 'You guys think you can live without a sewage system. What difference does it make if you are Greek or Turkish? You need a sewage system anyway.'

"Glafcos got mad and started shouting that I was going to drive them crazy as usual."

But by the end of the night Clerides and Denktash agreed with Demetriades, he said, and in 1980 the relevant agreement was sealed.

Demetriades also had some advice for his successor yesterday: "If he goes to work one day and it is quiet and there are no complaints then he should start to worry.

"Zampelas cannot expect people to appreciate what he does. He must be patient and he will one day be rewarded when an old lady tells him 'well done, Mr Mayor'."

Asked whether he was pleased that Zampelas was to fill his shoes, Demetriades said his successor had "a few weaknesses but certainly has ability and brains -- therefore he will cope".

When one journalist noted that Demetriades looked emotional he said: "I have been a Mayor for the past 30 years. I have not realised yet that I am actually stepping down."

But he said he is still not ready to ease off quite yet: "If I notice anything wrong I will call the municipal counsellors and hassle them," he warned.

Demetriades admitted that he had served as Mayor for too long. "After 20 or 25 years in power one must let someone else take over. Well, I exceeded that period -- I made a small mistake," he chuckled.

Demetriades did not seek re-election in last Sunday's elections.His dream now is to become President of a united Cyprus.

"Sometimes I hear people calling me 'federal President'. I am not a shy virgin and I am not afraid to speak my mind," he said. "I think I have what it takes to rule a united Cyprus after a solution to the political problem."

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] 'Third world' slaughterhouse? Surely not

Maurer, on a visit to Cyprus, on Tuesday visited the slaughterhouse and said it was out of line with EU standards. He was reported as describing it as "a third country's slaughterhouse".

Demetriades sought to explain the difference at his news conference yesterday between "third world" and "third country".

"There is nothing wrong with the slaughterhouse being like those in Poland, not completely up to standard yet," he insisted.

The outgoing Mayor went on to blame the government for not satisfying EU demands concerning the Kophinou establishment.

"Thank God Maurer has not seen any of the other slaughterhouses," he added.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[08] National Council 'consensus' on talks

"All issues were on the table and I believe there was a strong desire on the part of participants for consensus in their approach," Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said after the meeting. He refrained from disclosing further details.

Asked if the President has arguments to put forward at the talks, the spokesman said "he most certainly does have replies, positions on all issues and arguments".

"We will go to the talks on the basis of the 1989 National Council proposals," the spokesman said.

President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who met for the first time in four years in early December, decided to start direct talks in mid January, with no preconditions and with all issues on the table.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[09] European Criminal Convention ratified

Ambassador Christophoros Yiangou, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the Council of Europe, yesterday handed the instrument of ratification to Hans Christian Krüger, Deputy Secretary-general of the organisation, in Strasbourg.

Under the Convention, any Contracting State may request another Contracting State to take proceedings against a suspect in its stead and then waive proceedings itself.

Such a request can be made if the suspect is normally resident in the requested State or if he is a national of that State or if he is to serve a prison sentence or face other proceedings in that State. It can also be made if the transfer of proceedings is warranted in the interest of a fair trial, if the enforcement in the requested State of a sentence, if one were passed, is likely to improve his rehabilitation prospects.

The requested State may not refuse the request unless it considers that the offence is of a political nature or that the request is based on considerations of race, religion or nationality.

The Convention is already in force in Albania, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine. It has also been signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Portugal, Russia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[10] Trading with the north is not illegal

But tempers flared when DIKO Deputy Marios Matsakis put it to Markides that the government should put an end to this activity.

Markides, who stressed that such an action would hurt the island's European accession course, charged Matsakis of populism.

"The state cannot intervene when citizens do something legal," he said.

He added that nowhere in the island's legislation there was any provision making trading with the north illegal.

The issue emerged after revelations made at the committee that Greek Cypriots have been providing the north with car parts with the government's knowledge.

Foreign Ministry representative Tassos Tzionis said that the government was trying on a political level to presuade companies from doing business with the north, indicating that the regime there was illegal.

He added, however, that that was the only thing they could do.

Concerning foreigners doing business with the north, an intelligence service (KYP) official said that a few years ago two Israeli companies had undertaken some projects there.

Officials from the companies tried to enter the north through the government-controlled areas but were arrested and deported, the official said. He added that they later few to the north directly.

Markides also revealed that many foreigners who tried to go to the north for business through the same route have been deported.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[11] Insurance scam suspects 'may also be bombers'

TWO LIMASSOL men held in connection with defrauding hundreds of thousands of pounds from insurance companies on fake accident claims are suspected of being behind last year's bombing of a claim officer's car in Nicosia, a court heard yesterday.

Car body repair garage owner Andreas Antoniou and his employee Harris Tsiakkas, both 27, were arrested on Tuesday, suspected of making false insurance claims after allegedly staging fake accidents.

Nicosia District Court yesterday adjourned the two suspects' remand hearing until today.

Police told the court that last October, five insurance companies alleged that certain people had been staging accidents on a regular basis after which they submitted insurance claims.

"In several cases when the insurance companies refused to pay the claims the suspects threatened the lives of company officials," police told the court.

Investigating Officer Themis Arnaoutis said police suspected that the two men were involved in 15 cases involving hundreds of thousands of pounds between January 2000 and September this year.

In August last year, a claim was filed with an insurance company concerning an accident in which a car had crashed into a parked car. Both vehicles were taken to the suspect's garage for repairs, the court heard.

Antoniou allegedly received £2,678 for the damage to both cars. Police said the damage to the cars was inconsistent with the way the accident had allegedly happened.

According to the insurance company, police told the court, the amount paid was higher than estimated because of the suspect's alleged threats.

The court heard that the case is closely connected to another case in November last year.

The same person who filed the claim in August filed another claim with the same insurance company in November, saying his car had been involved in an accident in Nicosia with another car, which subsequently hit a tree.

Both cars were taken to Antoniou's garage for repairs, police told the court, and insurance claims were £10,000 for the first car and £3,750 for the second.

But the company decided to investigate the accident further after it was determined that the circumstances did not fit the actual damages.

Antoniou allegedly demanded that the money be paid to him, claiming that he had bought the first car.

Late last December, the suspect allegedly called the company and threatened the claims officer, demanding compensation, the court was told.

The company appointed an independent assessor to check the damage again and notified the driver of the second car to go to the company's offices to explain how the accident had happened.

The driver showed up with Antoniou, who on his way out allegedly indirectly threatened the life of the company's director.

The independent assessor called the company and told them that Antoniou had refused to allow him entry into the garage, and he was unable to do his damage assessment.

Four days later the assessor's car was blown up.

Antoniou was questioned in connection with the bombing after being named by the assessor, but nothing was found linking him to the blast.

The company later issued a cheque for £10,000 in the suspect's name.

Police said the second suspect, Tsiakkas, had been involved in three of the cases.

In one case Tsiakkas presented himself as an eyewitness of the accident while in two others he made the claims.

Police told the court that all 15 reported accidents had happened at night and there were never any reports about injured people, despite, in several cases, serious damage reported to the vehicles.

The court heard that police had additional testimony claiming that last October Antoniou had threatened to bomb and kill the employees of an insurance company if they did not pay his claim concerning a reported accident in Nicosia.

Police said that during a search of Tsiakkas' home on Tuesday they found a guide on how to build explosive devices.

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[12] CY shells out £30,000 for snowbound passengers

CYPRUS Airways has to pay £30,000 to keep nearly 200 passengers, mainly students, in luxury accommodation in Salonica after they were stranded at the airport because of bad weather.

CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said yesterday the last batch of passengers was expected to arrive back in Cyprus later in the day after spending three nights enjoying an early Christmas break at the airline's expense.

He said a group of passengers became stranded on Sunday when flights out of Salonica were cancelled because heavy snow forced the airport to close.

"They had already passed the check-in counter and were therefore our responsibility," Angelis said. "We had to take them to a hotel and we paid for their accommodation and meals."

On Monday another two flights out of Salonica were cancelled, bringing the total close to 300. Angelis said that when the airport opened on Tuesday afternoon, CY sent two empty aircraft to pick up some of the group.

"Last night (Tuesday) they brought 122 people and today another aircraft went there to bring another 174," Angelis said. "That is the entire backlog and as of today flights will resume as normal."

However the situation at Salonica has angered the national carrier. "The problem is not the weather, because if other European airports in the same situation as Salonica acted the same way then no aircraft would be flying during winter," Angelis said. "They don't have the equipment to clear the runway. Can you imagine that? This is unacceptable."

Angelis said the Salonica airport authorities had brought in machines from the army and had also tried to melt the ice with seawater."It took them three days to clear the runway," he said. "We paid £30,000 for their hotel accommodation and we sent two empty aircraft yesterday."

The unexpected expenditure means CY will have lost heavily on one of its most lucrative routes during the Christmas holiday period, and the fact that most of the passengers were students travelling on discounted fares means losses will be even heftier.

"Of course they were happy because they stayed two days and they were in a luxury hotel," Angelis said. "Anyway, we showed once more that we care."

CSE-spurned Stelios given top Lloyd'shonour

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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