Daily Press Review - 25/10/2019

Hellenic Bank: integration of former Co-op complete

Hellenic Bank announced yesterday that it completed the integration of the systems, accounts and data of the clients of the former Co-op into Hellenic Bank. According to the announcement, the integration process which began about a year ago, was successfully completed on 16 September 2019, respecting the timeframes and budget that was set. “It was an extremely demanding project and a great challenge that couldn’t have been completed without the professionalism and devotion of our staff”, the bank notes. “As of 16 September, our clients can be served at any branch of Hellenic Bank, which has the biggest network of branches in Cyprus”, the announcement adds. Finally, the announcement reports that the Bank remains focused on handling any matters that may emerge and mainly on its goal for excellent service to its clients, financing the development of the real economy and establishing and keeping Hellenic Bank as a top financial institution in the country.



A fairer pay system must be enforced in the banking sector

Opinion article by economist Nicos Pantelis, who talks about the disputes between the bank employees union (ETYK) and the banks. He argues that Hellenic’s decision to unilaterally grant horizontal pay raises (2%) and additional raises on the basis of performance (raising the total to 4.7%), was a good decision and that the bank is moving towards the right direction. The author argues that in this way, this new fairer system established by the bank is based on merit. Moreover, the author argues, BoC’s CEO, Panicos Nicolaou who said that the banks must move fast and discuss with the unions, in order to promote a fairer pay system. A remuneration system based on performance and position must be established. Since Hellenic Bank has already enforced such a system, Bank of Cyprus must follow as well as other banks. Because, in this case it is not a matter of austerity not even correction; it is a matter of restoring common sense and adapting to the existing market data, the rapid technological advancements that change also the nature of banking operations. A positive sign is that more and more employees seem to disobey the directions of the union. They understand that in a digital society, effort and productivity must be rewarded.



Co-op criminal case defendants denied charges

With an indirect decision, the Nicosia District Court, rejected yesterday the demand of the Defence attorneys in the Co-op criminal case, who asked for a separation of the trial. All the defendants denied the charges they are faced with. The defendants are a total of 10 persons (7 natural and 3 legal persons). These are Demetrakis, Stavrou, Erotokritos Chlorakiotis, Maria Chlorakiotou, Karolina Angelopoulou, Maria Chrysanthou, Constantinos Lyras, Giorgos Mavreas, Detiero Enterprises Ltd and Ktimatiki Kotrona Ltd. Before Karolina Angelopoulou, Constantinos Lyras and Giorgos Mavreas responded to the charges, they asked to face the charges in a separate trial, and filed a relevant request. The prosecution opposed this position and suggested that conducting a trial for all the defendants together, would be in the interest of justice. The Court decided that the separation of the trial cannot be justified. The trial will continue between 13-17 January 2020.



SYPRODAT: banks continue with mass foreclosures

Borrower protection association (SYPRODAT) is criticising commercial banks for continuing to use private foreclosure procedures en masse, overlooking the fact that ESTIA will be implemented and that a mechanism prepared by Central Bank for the promotion of proper restructuring processes, thereby avoiding foreclosures is still being examined by the European supervisors. “It is generally proven that foreclosures cannot solve the NPL problem”, SYPRODAT says in announcement.



Loans worth €200m at ESTIA

There was little mobility in the past few days with regards to the submission of applications for ESTIA, which amounted to 400. However, we still have a long way to go in order to reach the 10.000-borrower target initially set by the banks. The 400 applications that were submitted so far, according to the paper’s sources, correspond to loans worth €200m, significantly below the €3b red loans that were initially found to be eligible for ESTIA. Out of the 400 applications that were submitted, 200 applications were fully completed, while the other applications are missing some documents. The deadline for submitting the applications is the 15^th of November and it is rather uncertain whether there will be a significant reversal of the situation in the coming weeks. As banking officials told the paper, they estimate that applications may become 1.000, relating to loans of a total value of €500m.



Second attempt for insolvency

The Insolvency Department will become independent from 2020. Its budget has already been drafted and is expected to be soon passed by the House, so that the Department can begin its operations on 2 January 2020. The new service will come under the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry and will be responsible for the effective implementation of insolvency procedures, as well as all the matters related to the Insolvency Consultant profession, according to the Director-General of the Ministry, Stelios Himonas.



DIKO proposes bill on tax arrears

DIKO has submitted a bill signed by MPs Zacharias Koulias and Pavlos Mylonas which aims to give an extension to the settlement of arrears. The bill aims to amend the law on the  Procedure for Settlement of Taxes in Arrears in Cyprus, so as to extend the deadline of applications for the settlement of taxes arrears owed to the Tax Department until the 3^rd of July 2020 and set a new date until which the tax declaration will be considered as submitted for purposes of examination by the Tax Department, in the context of the provisions of the law, the 30^th of July 2020.



Limassol hardest hit as rain and storms continue

Limassol was hardest hit by stormy and rainy weather on Thursday, though other districts also suffered. While the biggest problems in the Limassol district were because of strong winds on Wednesday, by Thursday it was heavy rain that kept the fire service and the electricity authority working at full capacity. By noon, the fire service had received 50 calls for help and managed to respond to 20 of them; 40 of the calls concerned flooding in buildings. Nobody was injured. Several roads in downtown Limassol accumulated large amounts of water and had to be closed to traffic temporarily. The Limassol-Paphos motorway was one of them. It had to be closed in both directions in the morning but has since reopened.



Paphos is aiming for Diving Tourism

The Paphos Chamber of Commerce and Industry is placing great importance in the development of diving tourism, according to its president, Andreas Dimitriadis. By sinking the "Laboe" boat at the Municipality of Geroskipou Maritime Area and the recent creation of an underwater park in the area of ​​the Municipal Baths of Kato Paphos, Paphos now has infrastructure that is expected to contribute to the recovery of fish, enhancing biodiversity and enrichment of the tourist product. Mr. Dimitriadis pointed out that the goal is the enrichment of the artificial reef with creation of theme park with further features aiming to attract diving tourism.



Immediate improvements in Limassol Psychiatric clinic

Following a nurse’s complaints about lack of hygiene at the clinic, the Ombudswoman stressed that the Psychiatric Clinic at Limassol General Hospital needs immediate and substantial improvements in order to meet the requirements of a modern psychiatric institution. They concluded that the State will have to ensure a decent environment for individuals who are hospitalised in psychiatric institutions, and the Ombudswoman’s survey stressed the importance of treating these individuals as patients instead of prisoners. It’s also important to fix and improve the facilities, as well as empower the staff in order to have a well-maintained, clean, safe environment with high-quality services.



The survey’s findings into doctors’ earnings

Deloitte carried out a survey on behalf of PASYKI, looking at the difference of earnings between state doctors and private doctors registered in the GHS. According to the findings, GPs for adults in the GHS receive €142,539 on average, while state doctors receive only €54,486 (without taking into account the new incentives). There is a clear, significant difference, and a similar difference is observed in the case of paediatricians in the GHS and the public sector, €109,000 and €56,565 on average, respectively. The researchers suggest that a horizontal pay raise should be implemented in order to reduce the existing gap.



Specialised doctors demand the 20% of OKYPY’s earnings

The three unions (PASYDY, PASYKI, PASESI) went to OKYPY with heavy demands, and their joint proposal foresees that OKYPY grants 20% of its earnings from HIO to specialised doctors at state hospitals. The percentage that they demand from OKYPY, is far different from OKYPY’s initial offer, which reportedly offered 12-13% of its earnings, on average. Fortunately, the large discrepancy between the two proposed percentages wasn’t enough to end the discussion, and in fact the two sides agreed to continue discussing the details and resume negotiations next week.



JTI invests in SEKAP to produce Winston cigarettes

On Tuesday 22 October, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) began producing Winston cigarettes at the SEKAP factory in Xanthi. It was highlighted that “the production of Winston in Greece is a result of JTI’s strategic decision to invest in the country, and upgrade the factory in Xanthi into a modern and sustainable unit of production based on European specifications”. JTI notes that following the buyout in 2018, it invested significant resources in transforming SEKAP. To date, it’s invested approximately $10m to upgrade the facilities and the mechanical equipment of the factory. It announced “beyond the factory’s transformation, the company intends to ensure the employees’ jobs, improve their skills, and contribute to Xanthi’s community as an active and responsible member of the society”. Now, SEKAP will produce Winston destined for the Greek market, while from 2020 they will export the cigarettes to 9 other EU countries. It’s noted that SEKAP will continue to produce GR, BF, Cooper. Winston is the second highest selling cigarette brand around the world since 2007 and it’s a historic, internationally renowned brand which was initially released in the US in 1954, while now it’s available in more than 120 countries around the world.



Voridis to Japan Tobacco: Prefer Greek tobacco

The Minister of Agriculture Makis Voridis met with representatives of tobacco company JTI, and he requested the company to continue to invest in the domestic market. He urged JTI to increase the Greek tobacco market through contract farming programmes. JTI committed to continue to invest in the Greek tobacco industry.



Greek survey compares conventional cigarette with heated tobacco products

A new study at the University of Athens, showed that conventional cigarettes result in a significantly higher arterial stiffness and oxidative stress. The researchers investigated the effects of heated tobacco products in specialised heart function markers, arterial stiffness, endothelial integrity as well as biomarkers of oxidative stress and thrombosis. They compared average and heavy smokers of conventional cigarettes and their respective counterparts who smoke IQOS. Smokers of conventional cigarettes were also examined during a second phase, in which they changed from conventional cigarettes to IQOS. The researchers examined the heart function markers and biomarkers, and they found that conventional cigarettes resulted in a large damage to vascular function and a large increase in oxidative stress, something which wasn’t observed with IQOS. The researchers concluded that IQOS reduces the damage and have some health benefit compared to conventional damage, but they ultimately do cause some damage and we shouldn’t ignore the fact that it contains nicotine, which makes it addictive. The risk with new tobacco systems is that they’re gadgets, a fact that makes them appealing to younger individuals, including teenagers. The researchers suggest that there are many ways to quit smoking (nicotine products or pharmaceuticals for quitting smoking), and if those don’t work, then these new smoking products can act as an alternative solution, as they at least reduce the damage.