Daily Press Review - 7/11/2019

Print & Radio advertising pie divided once again

The internet boom has radically affected the advertising sector. Digital marketing and the online media have acquired their own piece in the advertising market, while at the same time, on the opposite side, the traditional media are trying to survive the competition. In this article, we will try to analyse the advertising expenditure of businesses in the radio and print media, in the past decade, through the data that Matrix Media has given us. In the past decade, many millions were spent in advertising on the radio and print media. Matrix Media’s data show that the print media have lost a great share of the market, as in 2018 the advertising expenditure amounted to €67,683,806, while 10 years later this sum dropped to only €20,862,733. This reduction seems to stem from two factors: the reduction of print media, mainly newspapers and lifestyle weekly magazines, as the public turned to online media ; as well as the fact that the advertising presence in the current media was transferred to digital. Summing up, we can observe that print media advertising is no longer a priority for advertising companies. Cyprus’ two biggest banks have spent the most money on advertising over the past three years. Specifically, Bank of Cyprus maintains the lead, with Hellenic Bank following behind. CYTA is also one of the top advertisers, while the Ministry of Interior has also spent large sums in advertising over the past two years.



We never refused to talk

“ETYK never refused to negotiate with Hellenic Bank and this has been said dozens of times, also in the presence of the Minister of Labour”, the bank employees union has said, supporting that Hellenic Bank was the one that rejected the Minister of Labour’s proposal to start a dialogue. In a new circular, following the invitation by Hellenic Bank to negotiate, ETYK notes that they never refused to talk and this has been underlined. The circular notes that the Minister’s proposal clearly foresaw the commitment of the two sides to start a dialogue. ETYK accepted the proposal, while the Bank’s management had rejected it, the circular reports.  ETYK notes further that if needed they will publish the Minister’s proposal, in order to refute all doubts. According to her proposal the strike on 11/10/2019 would not take place and a negotiation would immediately start in the presence of the Minister of Labour. The union criticises the Bank’s management for not paying the Cost of Living Allowance as it should, retroactively from 1/1/2019. “On the contrary, it is trying to convince us that it gave more than they actually should”, the announcement notes. The circular also reports that Hellenic Bank is demanding that ETYK accepts its opinions and among other things, the fact that 1,100 employees of the former Co-op are not covered by any agreements. “This is the reality, and unfortunately, the public is not aware of this, as Hellenic Bank’s management has invested in communication in an effort to muddy the waters”, the union reports.



MPs despair over increased bank charges

There was an intense discussion the House of Representatives, with MPs arguing that they have to find a solution to the bank’s charges issue, especially for low-income pensioners. It was also reported that they have to look into the Minister’s right to determine fees, as it comes to vulnerable groups. Alithia’s article goes on to report on the specific bank charges. According to the Bank of Cyprus, the charges valid today for natural persons, for maintaining a current account with a limit, the following charges apply: €3 fee for up to €3,000, €5 fee for up to €10,000, €35 fee for accounts with €10,000 up to €100,000. For over the counter cash withdrawals, the minimum charge is €0,05 and the maximum €2. As it comes to Hellenic Bank, regular 50-cheque chequebooks have a €30 charge, while 15-cheque chequebooks have a €20 charge. As it comes to maintaining an account and trading accounts, the fee is €0.15 for every book entry to the account. For natural persons this is €2-7 per month and for legal persons €5-30 per month. For counter transactions, counting, depositing and withdrawing coins up to €50 is free, while there is a €3 minimum for coins amounting to over €50. As of 1/2020 over the counter cash withdrawals, will be charged €2 for up to €10,000 and €1 for customers over 65 years old. For withdrawals over €10,000 there is a €5 charge.



Changes to abusive clauses

One of the four banks, with which the Cyprus Consumers Association is negotiating on the matter of abusive clauses in loan contracts, has amended its contracts and removed the problematic terms, the Cyprus Consumers Association President, Marios Droushiotis told Politis. The Cyprus Consumers Association is currently negotiating with four banks (Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank – including also the former Co-op, AlphaBank and Société Générale) as part of the legal process. Specifically, the Cyprus Consumers Association proceeded last month, through a legal firm, gave two letters of notice to the four banks, in order to find a solution to the abusive clauses issue. “After sending the two letters, we received replies from the four banks, which requested some time to deliberate and to set a meeting with our lawyers in order to talk”, Mr Droushiotis said. Moreover, he explained that the association gave the banks a maximum of two months for deliberation and depending on its results, the Association will decide their next steps. “We are currently in a stage of transition, before submitting any request to the court”, he added.



Housing of state services

Another 120 properties that used to belong to the Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB), worth €50m in total, will be used by Local Administration Authorities and the state to house services. The CCB’s assets are being managed by state asset management company KEDIPES. The decision to release another 120 CCB properties for state use was made yesterday at the Cabinet. According to Phileleftheros’ sources, of the 120 properties, 105 will be granted to municipalities and communities, while the rest will be used to house state services





AKEL and DIKO argue that government needs to assume responsibility over passports

AKEL and DIKO weren’t satisfied by the Cabinet’s decision yesterday, as they believe that there is a matter of political responsibility. AKEL already gave an opinion before the Cabinet’s decisions were announced, with Andros Kyprianou expressing grief that all this had to take place in order for the government to react. For AKEL, the matter has not been resolved because the government has revoked a few citizenships. It argues that there are responsibilities at the level of services, as well as huge responsibilities at the political level that have to be assumed. Kyprianou has also argued that it should be investigated what happened after the Bank of Cyprus reported the case of J Ho Low since 2015 to MOKAS and the reasons why the specific matter was not dealt with back then.



20% down payment condition, a problem for affordable housing

Persons eligible to purchase affordable housing through the special housing incentives scheme have to make a 20% down payment on the value of the property. This issue was discussed by the Cyprus Land Development Organisation, which is the scheme’s provider and the Cyprus Banks Association on Tuesday, according to CNA. The Organisation’s scheme relates to offering affordable housing that will be built by investors/providers who will use town-planning incentives that were published and mentioned in a specific Interior Minister order. The housing units will be put up for sale at the price of the average construction cost as this has been published by CYSTAT for houses or apartments, depending on the proposed development. The properties will be erected according to predetermined technical requirements. According to the article’s sources, during the meeting, the two sides discussed the possibility that eligible persons pay zero or reduced down payment, with the justification that the units will be offered at a much lower price than their real value, which results in the collateralisation on the mortgaged property being much higher than the total loan amount.



€4.5m for digital upgrade of businesses

For the first time, the Ministry of Commerce will announce a scheme for the digital upgrade of businesses. It is expected that the scheme will be announced in a few days, while the total amount that will be made available for the needs of the first announcement amounts to €4.5m. The scheme’s specific goals are: enhancing the digital identity of businesses, increasing the number of SMEs that use IT and Communications technologies, including the e-commerce sector.



EVEL’s 57^th AGM in the presence of the Energy Minister

The Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EVEL) held its 57^th Annual General Meeting yesterday, in the presence of Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, the Mayor of Limassol and its surrounding communities, EVEL members and associates. Addressing the AGM, Lakkotrypis expressed his warm congratulations, collectively and to each businessperson separately, for their significant contribution to Limassol’s huge growth, while he noted that it was not by chance that Limassol currently has the infrastructure and expertise to continuously evolve into an important regional centre for touristic, business and financial activities. The minister highlighted the significant growth in the construction sector, referring specifically to the integrated casino-resort that is under construction and is expected to open its doors towards the end of 2021, as well as the fact that the hydrocarbon companies that are active in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone are serviced by Limassol port.



Housing of state services

Another 120 properties that used to belong to the Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB), worth €50m in total, will be used by Local Administration Authorities and the state to house services. The CCB’s assets are being managed by state asset management company KEDIPES. The decision to release another 120 CCB properties for state use was made yesterday at the Cabinet. According to Phileleftheros’ sources, of the 120 properties, 105 will be granted to municipalities and communities, while the rest will be used to house state services. The Deputy Ministry of Shipping will be located where the former Limassol Cooperative Savings Bank’s central offices used to be.



TOTAL-Eni are proceeding

Phileleftheros reports that no matter what is said about Block 7, Total and Eni are feverishly preparing for the subsequent drilling activities and are reportedly in the process of finalizing agreements with subcontractors based on the tender process. The biggest challenge is the lack of options in port areas, and infrastructure which is left to the subcontractor to make arrangements for.  In any case, preparations are proceeding according to plans as they were prepared by the two companies some months ago.



Cabinet: Discussion over Green Line regulation postponed

The discussion that was planned to take place at the Cabinet yesterday over preventing entry to third country nationals through the Green Line was postponed. The Interior Ministry’s reasoning behind the proposal is to deal with problems being faced at the Green Line entry points. These problems mainly have to do with the crossing of third country nationals who have either acquired a Schengen visa to move within the EU, or whose country of origin does not require them to have a visa by the EU. Even though these individuals can travel legally within the EU, the control mechanisms at the checkpoints are not the same as those of the legal entry points to the island. For the ministry, these mechanisms and controls at the government-controlled airports and ports assist in averting blatant abuses of the right to enter the Republic and the EU. By banning entry to third country nationals through the checkpoints, the aim is to prompt these individuals to enter the Republic through government-controlled ports and airports.



Green light to DEFA for LNG

The Tenders Review Authority rejected yesterday AKTOR's request to temporarily postpone DEFA’s signing of the agreement with the consortium it chose as a preferred bidder and for the construction and management of an LNG terminal at Vasiliko. AKTOR's request was for the proceedings to be suspended until the final decision against DEFA was taken in connection with the latter's recent decision against AKTOR because of its interconnection with Helector, which is on the list of companies excluded from public procurement processes.





New illegal drilling in Block 7 by Yavuz

Phileleftheros reports that a video posted by Turkish website A Haber confirms yesterday's statements by Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez that Yavuz began drilling a few weeks ago at the Morfou-1 site. According to a Turkish official, the drill reached a depth of 5,500 meters.



They are promoting medical tourism

Reports in the Turkish Cypriot media said that the head of the occupied areas’ so-called “medical tourism board”, Dr Ahmet Savasan, has signed a series of agreements during his participation in the World Travel Market in London. Savasan stated that he signed agreements with representatives from a number of countries, aimed at attracting medical tourists from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to the occupied areas. He said contacts were held with countries such as the UK, Azerbaijan, Germany, Georgia, China, Spain, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Russia and the US.



Each expertise will have its own budget

In an attempt to put an end to the GHS’ abuses, the HIO chose to divide the GHS’ budget by medical specialisation. In fact, the GHS’ doctors had requested the implementation of this measure themselves, as uncontrollable use of the system’s services will negatively impact on the compensation of all doctors, something which stirred up trouble among various specialisations. Doctors’ compensation relies on the number of medical services carried out, and if they exceed the limit it will affect their compensation. So, they decided to divide the GHS’ budget by medical specialisation in order to protect responsible doctors who don’t abuse the system from those who do. This way, if one specialisation is inexcusably abusing the system it won’t affect the other specialisations’ compensation, while the doctor who abuses the GHS will have to answer to his/her colleagues of the same specialisation. Meanwhile, the HIO continues to process the remaining restrictions which will come into force in the next 15 days. Phileleftheros also reports that the HIO is adjusting the compensation of some medical services, and this procedure is being carried out in collaboration with the GHS’ doctors themselves.



Chaos at Paphos A&E department

The Paphos A&E department is facing many problems due to its staff shortages and the chaotic situation is causing a major headache for the organisation of state health services (OKYPY). On the one hand, A&E doctors have officially warned OKYPY that as of next Monday 11 November, the department will not have enough doctors to work all the shifts properly. On the other hand, four other doctors have come forward to report the inappropriate behaviour of a specific colleague and they’ve sent an official letter to the organisation, while a fifth doctor complained online through a post on his social media. The doctor in question is said to exhibit unreliable, uncollaborative, dishonest behaviour and has often caused turmoil. Meanwhile, the amount of sick leave taken by some doctors over the past few months is worrisome. For example, one doctor of the department had 144 sick leave days for the period March – July 2019, while another was absent for 58 days between February – August 2019. Phileleftheros adds that the Health Ministry is investigating the claims of bullying and inappropriate behaviour after many doctors have come forward.