Larnaca marina development to start in January

Nigel Howarth
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0

DINOS LEFKARITIS, the president of the Association of Tourism and Promotion of Larnaca District, anticipates that work on the Larnaca port and marina should get underway in January next year according to a report in InBusinessNews.

The construction work will be undertaken by the Zenon Consortium. We understand that the project will cost in the region of €200 million and will have a capacity of between 800 and 1,000 vessels. Surrounding land will be developed to include hotels, flats, parks, bicycle lanes, shops, restaurants and cafes.

In addition to the port and marina, other developments are planned for Larnaca including a modern Olympic standard shooting range and improvements to Piale Pasha Street that runs along the coast from the Larnaca Fort/Medieval museum.

The construction of Cyprus’ other new marina at Limassol is progressing well and is on course to be completed by the end of 2012.

Concrete workers set to strike on Monday

Alan Lawton
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7

MEMBERS of the Cyprus Ready Mixed Concrete Association plan to start an indefinite strike on Monday 28 February that will continue until a radical and long-lasting solution to the problems facing the industry are found.

According to a report in the ‘Economy’ inset of the ‘Phileleftheros’ newspaper, the planned strike will affect hundreds of private and public sector development projects valued at more than €2 billion if it lasts longer than 48 hours.

Association members want the government to increase the allowable load carried by ready-mix concrete vehicles and an exemption from the requirement for tachographs to be installed in concrete mixers.

The government is in the process of amending the rules on motor vehicles and road traffic regulations to satisfy the first request. With regard to the second request, EU regulations require concrete mixers to be fitted with tachographs, but exempt them for “vehicles operating on islands not exceeding 2,300 square kilometres and not linked to the mainland by a bridge, ford or tunnel that can be used by motor vehicles”.

Cyprus Title Deed law breakers face stiff penalties

Elias Hazou
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8

THE GOVERNMENT’S town-planning amnesty bill package – due to be submitted to the plenum next week – provides for steep fines for delays, omissions or fraudulent information in documentation necessary for eventually obtaining a Title Deed.

Legislators are currently poring over five separate government-sponsored items comprising the ‘amnesty’ package, which they hope to submit to plenum by next Thursday.

An estimated 130,000 Title Deeds are currently pending, with the government expecting to make some €150,000 per year from transfer fees if affected people apply en masse.

Many people, including foreign buyers, have been left without deeds even after paying for their property because developers did not pay the mortgage to the bank.

Thousands more remain without Title Deeds to their property due to irregularities at the time of construction or changes later on.

Under the Interior Ministry’s 2011 town planning bill (amended), where a permit cannot be issued due to an outstanding irregularity, and for which a person other than the applicant is responsible, Town Planning authorities may slap a fine of up to €17,000 on the responsible party.

In the event of continuing non-compliance, a fine of up to €170 per day will be added. This applies to cases where the awarding of a Town Planning Permit is deemed to be justified but the permit cannot be issued because of an irregularity by a person other than the actual applicant.

Moreover, anyone found guilty in court of committing a planning irregularity will be liable to a fine of up to €3,400 and to an additional €340 penalty for each day of non-compliance thereafter.

The bill also states that a person found guilty of hindering a public official from fulfilling their duties, or has in any way intervened or sought to influence the work of such officials, or has knowingly omitted or refused to furnish documentation or has made a false statement, is liable to be imprisoned for up to four months and/or a fine of up to €170.

In addition, anyone carrying out or involved in a property development or related act, or who does not comply with any of the bill’s provisions, is liable to a six-month prison sentence and/or a fine not exceeding €850.

Under the legislation, irregularities carried out by current residents after the purchase – like closing balconies or building garages – can also be legalised, for a fee, as long as they do not affect third parties or encroach on state property.

For such cases, where the allowed building ratio has been exceeded, a Planning Permit can be issued but on condition that a fee is paid to cover the value of the excess real estate.

These ‘regularisation fees’ are not specified in the government bills; they will be fixed through regulations after the law is passed.

The fees will be determined by a three-member committee, appointed by the Interior Minister, in each district. The committee will take a second look at cases approved by either the Town Planning or Land Registry departments, and issue a final decision.

As an incentive, where town planning permits are concerned, 20 per cent of the ‘regularisation fee’ will be shaved off for applications filed within one year of the law coming into force, and 10 per cent for applications submitted within the second year.

For building permits, buyers will have the option of appointing their own surveyor to conduct estimates. It’s hoped this provision will free up backlog for public authorities and speed up the process.

In Cyprus, a property’s Certificate of Final Approval is applied for after all checks for conformity are finalised when the building is completed through independent professional inspectors according to regional Town Planning Office permissions – the Town Planning Department and Building Department.

The Certificate of Final Approval must be completed, as it verifies that the property meets its building/planning permits issued from local authorities and it has had the construction carried out correctly and that the buyer has received what they have paid for. Obtaining the certificate is crucial as it leads to the next step in the process, without which one cannot apply for a Title Deed.

Moody’s downgrades Cyprus rating two notches

Editorial
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1

MOODY’S Investors’ Service downgraded Cyprus’ sovereign bond ratings two notches to A2 yesterday, citing concerns at structural problems in the island’s economy and its banks’ exposure to debt-ridden Greece.

The outlook for the Mediterranean island was stable, Moody’s said in a statement. However, it warned that if problems in the Cypriot banking sector from its Greek exposure were to “materially increase” from its current level a further sovereign downgrade could be expected.

Conversely, it said it could consider an upgrade if the government pushed forward with badly needed reforms which could arrest an expected deterioration in public finances.

Moody’s is the second ratings agency to cut Cyprus’s rating in three months. In November Standard and Poor’s cut Cyprus to A, and Fitch placed its AA- rating on review for a downgrade.

All three agencies have cited fiscal slippage. To varying degrees they have all expressed concern over Greek exposure, and the ability of a government wrestling with its own domestic problems to come to the aid of banks, if necessary.

Cyprus has been struggling to keep a lid on growing deficits in recent years and hopes to bring its public deficit below 4.0 percent of GDP in 2011. Moody’s said any improvement in finances was likely to be short-lived because of the rigid structure of government spending, Moody’s said.

“Public-sector wages and social transfers account for two thirds of state spending and, in the absence of structural reforms to these areas, Moody’s estimates that longer-term deficit and debt reduction will be very difficult to achieve,” it said.

While the government can increase revenue, that could be outpaced by a growing salary bill, it said. The government said it was committed to pension reform, and for saving 70 million euros from its public payroll over the next two years.

“The government has presented a comprehensive package to address problems from the global economic crisis, and to address structural problems of the economy,” said Stefanos Stefanou, the Cypriot government spokesman.

Moody’s said that Cypriot bank’s exposure to macroeconomic stress in Greece was substantial. Prolonged exposure increased the probability that those liabilities could manifest on the state’s balance sheet, it said.

Two of Cyprus’s largest banks, Marfin and Bank of Cyprus have a substantial presence in Greece. The island’s three largest domestic banks have over 40 percent of their total lending in Greece, Moody’s said.

Bank assets total around 650 percent of Cyprus’ GDP. If foreign banks and their subsidiaries are included the figure reaches 925 percent, Moody’s said.

Brit at centre of dispute arrested charged and freed

Nigel Howarth
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Conor & Michaela O'Dwyer with an ITV film crew outside the Paralimni office of Cyprus property developer Christoforos Karayiannas & Son Ltd

CONOR O’Dwyer, the Brit at the centre of a five year legal battle with Cypriot developer Christoforos Karayiannas & Son Ltd was detained and later arrested by the police as he left the Paralimni court last Friday.

Mr O’Dwyer was in court to hear Attorney-General Petros Clerides decision that he had dropped the criminal case against him for documenting details of his ongoing property dispute with Karayiannis on the Internet.

But two police officers prevented O’Dwyer from leaving the courtroom after the hearing and he was taken to a holding area in the court. He was subsequently arrested and driven to the police station in handcuffs where he was charged with public insult and later released.

Earlier in the week O’Dwyer and his wife Michaela had been filming in Cyprus with a crew from the national ITV network for their prime-time series “Homes From Hell” due to be transmitted later this year.

The charges arose from an incident on Thursday outside Karayiannas’ office in Paralimni where ITV had been filming the couple holding a banner (see photograph) containing the words “Karayiannas are Criminals”.

In October, the Paralimni Court found Christoforos Karayiannas, his son Marios and Charalambos Ttigis guilty on criminal charges relating to their assault on Mr O’Dwyer in 2008.

EU real estate agents free to operate in Cyprus

Nigel Howarth
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11

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION has decided to terminate the infringement proceedings against Cyprus relating to the Law on estate agents, which restricted the activities of professionals from other Member States.

Following the Commission’s action, estate agents from the European Union are free to establish themselves and exercise their activities in Cyprus.

The Cypriot Law laid down conditions for the recognition of the qualifications of professionals from other Member States, who were also required to pass an examination on the Cypriot Law. Agents not established in Cyprus were allowed to work there only in collaboration with a Cypriot agent. Finally, a firm operating as an estate agent could not engage in other activities, and its employees could work only for that firm.

The Commission had received complaints from professionals who were unable to work in Cyprus, either because they could no longer do so as a result of the Law of 2004, or because their professional qualifications were not recognised. The Commission then started infringement proceedings and in October 2009 sent a reasoned opinion to Cyprus (IP/09/1476).

A Law removing the obstacles identified by the Commission was adopted on 17 July 2010.

European Union estate agents can now choose to perform their activities in Cyprus and thus exercise their right to freedom of movement as guaranteed by the European Treaties. This situation will also be to the benefit of all citizens, who will have the option of contacting an estate agent near to them in order to obtain information with a view to acquiring a property in Cyprus.

Further reading

English: Unjustified restrictions on estate agents’ activities in Cyprus removed
Greek: ???????????? ?? ????????????? ??????? ???? ?????????????? ??? ?????????????? ???? ?????

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