Financial Mirror - 04 07 2012

FinancialMirror

Issue No. 987

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July 4 - 10, 2012

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“No shine” Diamond quits over rate rigging PAGE 28

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July 4 - 10, 2012

FinancialMirror.com

2 | CYPRUS

Christofias in Strasbourg to present EU Presidency priorities Brussels exhibition shows Cyprus through the ages President Demetris Christofias is in Strasbourg where he will present before the Plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, the programme and the priorities of Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union, entitled “Towards a better Europe”.

Christofias’ schedule of meetings include the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz and leaders of the various political groups at the European Parliament.

In the morning the President will have two hours to present before the European Parliament the programme and the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency and debate the issues with MEPs. The four main priorities announced by the Cyprus Presidency are a more efficient and sustainable Europe; a Europe with a better performing and growth-based economy; a Europe that is more relevant to its citizens, with solidarity and

social cohesion, and a Europe in the world, closer to its neighbours.

The Cyprus EU Presidency’s focus will be for the European Union to emerge stronger from the current economic crisis and reinstate its place in the international scene.

On Monday, President Christofias inaugurated an exhibition on “Mapping Cyprus 1191- 2012 Crusaders - Traders and Explorers” at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, on the occasion of the assumption of the EU Presidency by Cyprus.

Present at the event were European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Youth and Sport, Androulla Vassiliou, the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki and Vice Prime Minister of Belgium, Laurette Onkelinx.

Are you owed money?

Troika tells Greece to pay suppliers’ arrears

Could the boat be broken up in rocky divorce?

Some relief for suppliers who are owed money by the Greek government or state-controlled enterprises. Athens has been told it must prioritise paying out arrears it has racked up with suppliers to get funds flowing again to cash-strapped businesses, the head of the EU taskforce that is helping rebuild the country’s economy said on Tuesday.

“The first step (in improving access to financing) is to pay the arrears that have accumulated,” Horst Reichenbach told a conference in Athens.

Greece’s sovereign debt crisis has created a virtual credit crunch for businesses, as banks cut off from wholesale funding markets struggle to lend while its near-bankrupt government holds off on long overdue payments to avoid running out of cash. The EU taskforce, working to help Greece reform its bloated public sector and cut red tape, said the lack of financing risked undermining any progress achieved through reforms. “It would be very difficult to really improve the situation of the Greek economy even with these reforms if the very difficult situation of access to finance is not tackled,” Reichenbach said.

Greece owes over 6 bln euros to suppliers in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to construction, local officials estimate, exacerbating the woes of a crippled economy.

Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), said the government needed to cut red tape for businesses, press ahead with privatisations and curb its own role in the economy. “The Greeks have crossed a bridge and cannot return,” Dallara told Czech daily Hospodarske Noviny, adding he was convinced the future of Greece was within the single currency bloc.

Dallara was the chief negotiator for the body representing private sector holders of Greek bonds.

Reichenbach said Greece also ought to tackle the issue of mounting value-added-tax contributions for businesses that export, he said. The recapitalisation of banks and EU structural funds were helping, but the lack of access to finance remained “critical”, he said.

The exhibition presents Cyprus through historical moments and the island’s most important Byzantine and post-Byzantine art.

It also describes the island’s relations with Europe and how these have been recorded by major European artists, cartographers, writers and ordinary people.

Forty-five icons of monasteries and churches have been selected and placed at the Bozar among them maps, manuscripts, photographs and other materials from European sources, museums, libraries and galleries.

The exhibition will remain open until September 23.

The multi-million-pound divorce proceedings between tycoons Elena Ambrosiadou, founder of hedge fund IKOS, and mathematician Martin Coward are drawing to a close, according to the Daily Telegraph.

An Athens court heard the case last month and finances will be settled early next year.

Rumour has it assets have been estimated at about 320 mln pounds and could be split down the middle.

Will this include Elena’s prized possession, The Maltese Falcon? It’s one of the world’s largest sailing yachts and is reportedly worth 60 mln.

Elena continues to successfully run IKOS while Martin plans to launch a new fund, Dormouse, have failed to win over former IKOS clients or executives.

Sylikiotis asks Lebanon to cooperate in energy matters Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis has invited Lebanon to cooperate with Cyprus in the area of energy.

Sylikiotis, who was addressing a forum on energy in Beirut, said that “the maritime area of the East Mediterranean may be transformed into an area of common borders and interests for all, offering prospects of peace, prosperity and progress in the region”.

“It is a historic opportunity to cooperate sincerely, constructively and with good will for the benefit of our peoples”, he added.

Sylikiotis invited Lebanon to take part in a ministerial meeting in November on the matter of the safety of offshore exploration and exploitation of natural gas and oil.

Together with the European Commission, Cyprus is organising the meeting as part of the EU Council rotating Presidency, and all EU member states will participate as well as Eastern Mediterranean neighbouring countries.

The Cypriot minister said that the South Eastern Mediterranean is undergoing significant changes in the area of hydrocarbons, expressing the view that recent discoveries of large natural gas quantities in the area and the potential for even greater discoveries create new prospects as regards the role of the region in energy matters at a European and global level.

“It is in this spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding that we regard the various bilateral agreements that we sign with our neighbours whether these may concern the delineation of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) or the joint exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves”, he said.

During his speech Sylikiotis outlined the actions taken as regards the second licensing round, the creation of infrastructure and the future exploitation of the reserves in block 12.

In June last year, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said his country had filed a complaint with the UN regarding the delineation of the EEZ between neighbouring Israel and Cyprus.

Cyprus has signed agreements on its EEZ with Egypt and Israel, as well as Lebanon, though the latter is pending ratification by the Lebanese parliament.

According to Lebanon, the problem was not between Cyprus and Lebanon but between Lebanon and Israel.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

CYPRUS | 3

What are the causes of high unemployment?

A change in expectations is needed One by-product of the population census in October 2011, which led to a sharp upward revision in the estimated 2011 population from 806,800 to 862,000, is that the figures for the labour force have also changed.

Whereas the labour force in 2011 was previously estimated at 407,023, it is now estimated at 6.6% higher 434,236.

The good news is that this also means that 7.8% more people were employed than we previously thought: 398,214 in 2011 compared with a previous estimate of 375,553.

By FIONA MULLEN Director Sapienta Economics Ltd

Even better news is that fewer people were unemployed: 33,951 in 2011 compared with the previous estimate of 31,470.

But that is where the good news ends.

70% of unemployed are Cypriots The labour force survey data for the first quarter show that unemployment soared in the first quarter of 2012 to 48,166, marking a rise of 49% over the same period of 2011.

The unemployment rate in the first quarter reached an unprecedented 11.1%. Eurostat also reported an unemployment rate of 11.1% for May. Only a few years ago, we were boasting unemployment rates of less than 4%.

Short -term unemployment (less than 6 months – the period of entitlement for unemployment benefit) has dropped to just over one half of the total.

More than a quarter of unemployed are aged 15-24.

And the greatest sorrow is that nearly 14% of the unemployed are seeking a first job. We are at risk of seeing an entire generation with no work skills.

Social Insurance data also indicate that some 70% of the unemployed are Cypriots, rather than other entitled EU citizens.

That is the same proportion as Cypriots on the social insurance register. But it does mean that this recession is hitting Cypriots just as hard as non-nationals.

Construction, COLA and outdated expectations So why has unemployment shot up so much in the past few years?

A look at the data suggests some causes.

First of all, the collapse in the property market. The biggest rise in registered unemployment has been in the labour-intensive construction sector.

All over the western world, countries are

realising that the high growth and low unemployment they enjoyed for so long was all based on a false premise: that low interest rates and rising property prices would last forever.

When the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 made borrowing for everyone more expensive, property prices started to fall. In Cyprus and elsewhere, it led to a sharp fall in construction (on average 12.5% in Cyprus in 2009-11) and massive rise in unemployment.

Wage indexation kills jobs But Cyprus also has its own, home-grown reasons for high unemployment. The major one (don’t shoot me) is wage indexation, also known as COLA/ATA. Before 2004 Cyprus enjoyed a semi-closed labour market. I know from personal experience that the authorities made it very difficult for skilled or semi-skilled labour to work here.

When competition was limited by regulation, then companies had no choice but to hire Cypriots. Now they can hire anyone from the 27 EU member states. How many nonCypriots do you know who belong to a union?

So it’s a pretty safe bet that they do not get COLA. I certainly didn’t.

So Pontians, Romanians, Bulgarians and now Greeks took over the retail, construction and to some extent food and restaurant sectors because employers did not have to give them an automatic pay rise just for hanging around another six months.

This is what is so pernicious about wage indexation. If a company has to give the same pay rise to all employees regardless of performance, the employer has no money left to award the good ones for merit.

So wage indexation not only damages a company’s costs, it also gives managers no tools to raise productivity.

Yet enough people get wage indexation for it to have damaged our relative unit labour costs (the “real effective exchange rate” or REER). It is no surprise that the REER index for Cyprus is up there with the “PIIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece Spain), rather than down at less than 100 for Germany.

Waiting for Daddy’s meso The final Cyprus-born reason for the rise, I believe, especially among the young, is what can loosely be termed as waiting in the publicsector queue.

According to my own calculations, extrapolating from the rather out of date data, publicsector workers are now paid twice the rate of the private sector, at EUR 3,200 per month, compared with EUR 1,600 for the private sector. Who in their right mind would work for the private sector under these circumstances, especially when the public sector also offers healthcare, an almost non-contributory big

Industry continues decline Industrial production continued its decline in April, falling by 9.8% compared with April 2011. Within the overall industrial sector, manufacturing dropped by 8.7%.

In January - April 2012 industrial production declined by 10.8% compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, industrial turnover fell by 9.8% compared with the same month of the previous year in March 2011 and the manufacturing sub-index fell by 16.2%.

During the first quarter of 2012 turnover

fell by 3.0% compared with the same period last year. Manufacturers do not appear to be responded to the decline by cutting prices, however.

Industrial output prices in May rose by 1.9% compared with the previous month and in January-May 2012 prices rose by 8.1% compared with the same period last year.

Separately, the price index of construction materials rose by just 0.07% over the previous month in May and by 1.52% over the year earlier in January - May 2012.

pension and all kinds of other benefits?

But the public sector is (at least officially) no longer hiring. So the queue of young graduates waiting for the votes of their extended family to win them a place in the public sector has been getting longer.

This queue will not get shorter until there is a realisation that the public sector is not going to provide families with the comfortable jobs of the past any more.

Time to look to the growth sectors But there is a growth sector out there which is providing jobs. This is the professional services sector, which has seen employment rise at an average annual rate of 3.8% per year in 2009-11 while the public sector grew by 1%.

It has also grown more than twice as fast as

GDP in the past five years, at 5.1% in 2007-11, compared with 2.4% for GDP. It even grew in the first quarter of this year by 3.9% when GDP as a whole declined. This sector will also benefit from the exploitation of natural gas, as dozens of gas support companies come in and need their services.

Sure, these companies do not pay much at entry level. But I do not know many accountants or lawyers over 40 who are short of money. And these days, as the smarter graduates are beginning to realise, any job experience is worth far more than the pay packet that comes with it.

So it is time to readjust expectations and encourage young Cypriots to work in the sectors of the future rather than sit in a queue for the job of the past.

July 4 - 10, 2012

FinancialMirror.com

4 | CYPRUS LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Papal Infallibility in Cypriot Companies Pavlos Loizou’s article (page 12, June 27-July 3), provides a refreshingly candid and experienced-honed view of corporate attitudes towards entrepreneurship, governance and risk management. I agree with much of what he says. As a corporate risk management specialist, I have always taken the approach that organizations should: (a) do as much due diligence as is realistic and reasonable before any major decisions or commitments, and (b) make the best judgment they can on the due diligence and any other info available when making the decision or commitment.

It is essential to a culture of responsible risk-taking but, as he implies, it cannot guarantee the impossible such as zero risk and can only reduce the likelihood of unwise decisions etc.

Regrettably, as he says, many of the large organisations here (including government) just refuse to do it that way.

Recent examples are legion. However, while it sticks out like a sore thumb in a small country such as Cyprus, it is in fact a global problem. Now just retired, I spent my entire career trying and sometimes succeeding to persuade large corporates in many countries to embrace Enterprise Risk Management. Some of these organisations are many times larger than the largest in Cyprus, with some individual annual turnovers equaling the Cyprus GDP. Regrettably, some have had to learn the hard way the folly of bypassing ERM. I accept that the main “we’ve never had it so good” reason in relation to the period 1985-2008 he gives for Cypriot businesses ignoring the ‘right path’ is a factor. However, I am equally sure that there are other factors and motivations in the mix (here and elsewhere). In a chapter entitled Countering Tunnel Vision and Quack Governance in my next book Corporate Risk & Governance (Gower, ISBN 9781-4094-4837-2, early 2013), I examine the following that I have come across time and again in boards and senior management: Bounded rationality, narrow risk-related experience, untutored view/ignorance, unchallenged dogma.

Failure to recognise risk inter-dependencies.

Arrogance among directors and senior execs and an often unwarranted belief in their own risk expertise.

Biases towards finance, insurance and risk transfer, risk quantification, single metrics and salvation models; ignoring people and HR risks. Personal agendas and self-serving calculation: an apparatchik ‘herd’ culture; cynical, temporary ‘presenteeism’ encouraging lip service; soft-peddling and indecision on risk issues.

A chancer culture of ‘what can we get away with?’ and casino-style gambles on major issues with little or no cogent risk evaluation. There are no easy quick-fixes for all this but I propose a corrective framework in the book.

Yours sincerely Dr Alan Waring, Larnaca (contributor of the FM’s Risk Watch column since 2004)

Earnings up 2.5% y/y in Q1 Despite soaring unemployment the average earnings of the average Cypriot employee rose by 2.5% over the same period of the previous year in the first quarter of 2012 according to the preliminary estimates of the Statistical Service.

Average monthly earnings were recorded at EUR 1,958, with males earning 22% more at EUR 2,139 and females at EUR 1,749. However, females saw their earnings rise by 3.3% while male earnings rose by 2.5%. The Statistical Service said that the increase reflected to a large extent the payment of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) on the gross earnings of employees, which rose by 1.39% from July 2011.

Public-sector and unionised employees get two inflationlinked pay rises per year, although the COLA has been suspended for public-sector workers this year.

COLA has long been criticised by the IMF, which arrives in Cyprus this week together with the other members of the troika, the European Central Bank and European Commission.

Cyprus applied to enter the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the EU’s bailout fund, last week. There was some moderation in seasonally adjusted terms, however.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2011, earnings rose in seasonally adjusted terms by only 0.1%.

The corresponding increase in the first quarter of 2011 was 0.8%.

Troika starts trawling Cyprus books Potential creditors from the ‘troika’ of the IMF, the EU and the ECB started trawling through Cyprus’s finances on Tuesday to assess how much emergency aid the recession-hit euro zone minnow may need after being hammered by exposure to Greece.

Two teams from the trio met separately with the Central Bank and Finance Ministry on Tuesday.

Cyprus sought a financial lifeline from EU rescue funds last week to help support local banks crippled by their losses on Greek bonds and to fund a huge public sector deficit.

The total amount is still unclear, but it faces a virtually guaranteed bill of 2.3 bln euros for its two main banks. There is speculation the bailout could cost as much as 10 bln euros more than half the size of the 17.3 bln euro economy.

The government injected 1.79 bln euros in the Popular Bank on Monday and took an 84% stake from a capital issue, effectively nationalising the island’s second largest lender.

The troika would also meet with labour and employer groups and management teams of the largest credit institutions.

“This visit is purely exploratory in nature and there will be

no negotiation or discussion of (economic) measures,” the ministry said in a statement.

Authorities say the island’s low-tax status of 10%, which has attracted thousands of foreign companies, will not be part of negotiations.

But other issues, such as a public payroll representing 33% of annual state spending and wage indexation blamed for second-round inflationary effects were expected to be in the troika’s sights.

In a report last year, the IMF said Cyprus needed to make spending cuts and contain a public sector wage bill which, at 15.4% of GDP, was the highest in the euro zone.

Any troika recommendations would be a delicate balancing act because of the potential dangers of enforcing austerity during a recession, economist Fiona Mullen said.

Cyprus is also struggling with a record high jobless rate of 11%. That was reflected by a 9.5% jump during 2011 of its “social transfers” bill, which includes unemployment benefits.

“I’m sure that with figures like this government finances are doing worse,” Mullen said. “It is therefore important that they come to an agreement with the troika very fast.”

Gov’t pays out €1.79 bln, takes 84% stake in Laiki Efforts to sell all or part to Chinese investors The government of Cyprus, which applied for a European Union bailout last week, acquired 1.79 bln euros of shares in the island’s second-largest lender and effectively nationalised it to help it to meet minimum capital levels depleted by exposure to Greece.

The Popular Bank announced that it had completed a 1.8 bln share capital increase, with the state acquiring the bulk of the shares in line with its decision to underwrite the capital plan. According to the CySE filing, shareholders subscribed to a mere 3 mln euros worth of nil paid rights. Thus, 17,960,598,952 are allocated to the government that will take an 84% stake in the bank.

It has already appointed five members to the board and is expected to appoint three more over the next few days.

The finance ministry said on Monday it had bought the shares in after the state pledged on May 17 to underwrite Popular’s attempt to raise 1.8 bln euros in equity.

The isalnd’s banking system has been heavily exposed to Greece, with Popular and Bank of Cyprus posting mammoth losses on writedowns of Greek sovereign paper, agreed by European leaders to make Greece’s debt pile more manageable.

The cost to bail out both banks, at about 2.3 bln euros, represents a sizeable chunk of the 17.3 bln euro economy and one the island can ill afford while it is shut out of international debt markets.

IoD lecture to discuss business challenges The Institute of Directors (IoD) Cyprus Branch and Powerimage/MISCO Cyprus are organising an open lecture for decision makers in business with economist Joseph F. X. Zahra as the guest speaker on “Challenging Times For Business - Restoring Competitiveness”.

The lecture will be delivered at the auditorium of the Bank of Cyprus Headquarters in Nicosia at 7 pm on Thursday, July 12. Entrance is free.

Three days before the expiry of a European Banking Authority deadline for bank recapitalisation to meet capital strength benchmarks, Bank of Cyprus also asked for 500 mln euros in temporary state support. That bid would be discussed in the context of the bailout.

“Banks’ capital needs will be assessed after a thorough examination of their assets and in respect of EU state aid rules,” the finance ministry said.

It is expected that the government would subscribe to special bonds and not take a direct equity stake in Bank of Cyprus.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Neocles Sylikiotis said that although securing additional funds from China in the form of a loan was now distant, there was hope that Chinese investors would be interested to take up part of all of the state’s shares in the Popular Bank.

This was the reason, he said, that he was accompanied by bank chairman Michael Sarris during his recent visit to China.

Outbound travel stable in May Outbound travel from Cyprus was stable in May, with the number of residents returning from a trip abroad rising by 0.2% to 88,384 residents in May, compared with 88,171 in May 2011.

Despite, or perhaps because of the crisis in Greece, there was an increase of 6.8% in the number of trips of residents to Greece (from 23,793 in May 2011 to 25,421 in May 2012).

Israel, Egypt and Lebanon also saw strong increases, of 29.0%, 16.5% and 11.6% respectively.

However, trips to the UK fell by 8.3% to 4.3% to 25,573.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

CYPRUS | 5

Troika Welcome: More Reforms Please!

Having suffered from the colonial rule of more invaders than we care to remember, we Cypriots are mildly xenophobic and allergic to others meddling in our affairs We are very comfortable in our little island paradise where a phone call to the right person can get us a well-paid job for life with short hours of work, a good pay and job security. We love our good life; our luxury cars, our only mode of mobility even within our neighbourhood; our extravagant feasts in which more food is wasted than eaten; and our multiple wedding gifts each week, our primary form of taxation. And, we have been managing very well, until recently. Thank you.

Goddess Fortune has been good to us: a civil war in Lebanon, trouble in the Balkans, the fall of the Soviet Union and the arrival of wealthy Russians, the Arab Spring, and most recently the discovery of offshore natural gas deposits. We cannot complain, although someone might say “beware of Greeks receiving gifts!”

We are, therefore, understandably apprehensive about the arrival of the Troika this week to hard nose about our books and tell us how to run our economy. True, as of lately we fell a bit short of cash (not our fault, the result of the world economic crisis) and asked our European partners for help. Couldn’t they send us the money by money transfer, like the Russians did, no questions asked? Do they have to come in person? Do they have to ask questions? All we are asking is for a few billion to recapitalise our banks (not our fault, the result of the haircut of the Greek debt), to pay public sector salaries and close a few other holes here and there.

The arrival of the Troika this week makes us all nervous.

They are nosy people and they ask too many questions. We are not happy with what they did to our motherland. Of course, we know that they have learned their lesson from Greece: that extreme austerity without growth is deadly.

By Dr THEODORE PANAYOTOU Cyprus International Institute of Management

We also know that the case of Cyprus is different and not as bad. But when you are asking for a loan more than half your Gross National Income you cannot blame your lenders if they impose strict terms and conditions to ensure that one day you will be able to pay them back. So, all our efforts now focused on getting the money we need with the mildest possible terms.

We are making a big mistake and the Troika would be making a big mistake if they play our game. There is something we need much more than the money. We need reforms! The deficits are nothing but symptoms. The real problem is that we have relied too much on the opportunistic economic model whose good performance in good economic times lulled us into complacency and as a result we underinvested in our productivity growth and international competitiveness. Instead, we accumulated a pile of distortions and imbalances that raised our cost of production and lowered our productivity.

7 RECOMMENDATIONS The EU’s seven recommendations are necessary but not sufficient to get us on a healthy and sustainable growth path. We need more and deeper reforms to regain our lost competitiveness! They are a good point to start from but should not stop there.

The recommendation to re-establish the link between wage increases and productivity growth in both the public and the private sector is a sine qua non condition for both controlling public sector deficits and for regaining competitiveness. Instead of automatic cost of living allowance and union- negotiated wage increases that bare no relation to productivity, workers should be given the means (training, technology, opportunity, incentives) to increase their productivity and to be rewarded accordingly. Neither the number of years of service nor the wages in other sectors or other countries are measures of productivity and hence they should not be used as criteria to determine wages and wage increases; otherwise, work incentives get weakened, the labour market becomes distorted, labour costs rise, productivity is reduced and competitiveness suffers.

The recommendation to re-establish the link between the skills of the labour force and the needs of the market and especially those activities with high growth potential and large value

added is a sine qua non condition for the reduction of unemployment and the eventual return to full employment. The mismatch between the demand and supply of skills along with the inflexibility of the labour market are responsible for the growing level of unemployment which for the first time in the history of the Republic has reached a double digit level (3-4 times the historically low level of 3-4%). Retraining is part of the solution but reforms should go deeper to re-invent our educational system and totally rethink our misguided professional career guidance.

CLOSED PROFESSIONS The recommendation to open closed professions and liberalise the market of professional services is another necessary condition to reduce costs, increase productivity and regain competitiveness. It may be claimed that we don’t really have many, if any, closed professions but the reality is different. In general, openness and competition are often on paper but not in practice; monopolistic and oligopolistic practices are widespread and account for the high cost of many services and products ranging from taxi services to pharmaceuticals and from gasoline to electricity. The Commission for the Protection of Competition has never really worked as it was supposed to, when it worked at all. It is high time that the state divests itself from the state enterprises, including money-losing Cyprus Airways, inefficient Electricity Authority and money-making Telecommunications Authority. Likewise the Cyprus Tourist Organisation and other semi-government bodies should stop being trophies for party-sharing and become autonomous, professionally run and accountable; and those which have outlived their mission should be abolished. Such a reform would reduce public spending, generate public revenues and boost competition and competitiveness.

The recommendation to implement strict control of public spending is another indispensable condition not only for the control of budget deficit but also for the enhancement of competitiveness, provided that it is accomplished in part through the reduction of bureaucracy and the simplification of procedures for investment approval and for the issue of permits to start a business or other forms of private sector investments while observing environmental and other standards. Similarly, the effective control of tax evasion should be accompanied by a reduction of taxes on businesses to stimulate economic activity and job creation.

BANKING REFORM The recapitalisation and reform of the banking sector and cooperative financial institutions should bring about increased liquidity and reduced interest rates but it should also be accompanied by improved assessment and management of risk, better investment appraisal and more selective project lending that has been the case in the past.

Finally, the recommendation to re-establish the link between the retirement age and life expectancy is a sine qua non condition for the solvency of the pension system. With the

aging of the population (more pensioners and fewer working contributors to social security) only an increase in the retirement age and a link of benefits to contributions will put the social security system into sustainable solvency. Anything less is patchwork that postpones instead of solving the problem once and for all.

While all the above will go along way to help Cyprus regain its competitiveness by lowering costs and increasing productivity, in addition to reducing public sector deficits, there is a further need to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in sectors of high growth potential such as energy saving and renewable energy technologies, organic farming for high value crops, medical and convention tourism, etc.

Immediate action is needed to retrain the unemployed university graduates for occupations with a future and the creation of business startups and innovative products and services that utilise new technologies and create new jobs. For this we need strong and user-friendly incentives, including the creation of a venture capital fund. Rather than throwing development funds on big public projects with high cost and low technological content, low job creation and low social benefit is far preferable to invest in helping young people be more innovative and entrepreneurial.

POTENT MEDICINE Understandably, we prefer to get the EFSF’s money with the lightest possible conditions, so we can keep carrying on as we have been doing in the past. The Troika should not oblige us because there is something we need much more than money: we need reforms, many and deep. What we don’t need are punitive austerity measures a la Greece, or an increase of our corporate tax rate. We know that effective reforms, like potent medicine, tend to be painful but every effort should be made to minimise unnecessary side effects.

Particular care must be taken not to make things worst even temporarily for the victims of the economic crisis: the unemployed, the lowest-paid workers and the small businesses; they have suffered enough already so the rest of us can continue enjoying our privileges and generous allowances. The bailout for the country must be, first and foremost, a bailout for them.

People’s expectations are high that the Troika will preserve what is good about Cyprus and change what is not, as to create the conditions for the new economic miracle Cypriots are capable of, if given the chance. We finally received the wakeup call and are ready to roll up our sleeves and work hard to produce real value for ourselves and our children.

Dr. Theodore Panayotou is the Director of the CIIM Business School and Professor of Economics and the Environment at Harvard Universit. He served as consultant to the UN and to governments in the U.S., China, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Cyprus. He has published and was recognised for his contribution to the Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. theo@ciim.ac.cy

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

6 | COMMENT

Freshman heads CTO EDITORIAL Seeing as at 36, the Cyprus Tourism Organisation’s new boss, Marios Hannides, is just a year younger than Greece’s maverick left wing leader Alexis Tsipras, judging someone from his age would be unfair.

The fact that Hannides was a CTO board member before being appointed new Director General by his peers should not be seen as a disadvantage either.

However, what is a concern to all of us, and probably the whole services-based economy that still relies heavily on tourism, is whether through his affiliations with the ruling Akel party, Hannides will have the political courage

to stand up to the current administration and demand that the CTO marketing budget be increased to at least double of what it is today, if not even tenfold.

The new DG is well aware of the budget cuts that had been imposed on the current board and the members’ inability to tell the government the grave mistake that has resulted because of this weakness. Even cash-strapped Athens has realised that now is the most critical time for the survival of its economy and has deployed an aggressive promotional campaign to promote tourism to Greece. Are we children of a lesser God? He must also be capable to negotiate major deals with tour operators and airlines in order to boost arrivals with real benefits to Cyprus, not just superficial deals with low-

cost airlines that use bullying tactics to make a quick buck. Will he also have the clout to tell executives at the aged Flying Moufflon to get their act together and improve the service and image of our nation’s leading tourist ambassador?

Marios Hannides has an impressive CV, has worked with several public institutions and served on various boards, thus reaping valuable experiences from all aspects of business and society. His knowledge of the tourism sector will be judged very quickly and, unfortunately for him, will be the subject of acute criticism if things do not improve for the tourism sector.

We hope that his appointment was the best possible choice as we no longer have the luxury to wait-and-see.

Growth is a one-way street GEORGE MOUSKIDES President, Association for the Promotion of Property Development and Manager, FOX Smart Estate Agency

A fact everyone agrees with is that without economic growth we cannot exit the crisis.

Looking at the issue from its European dimension we realise that any country (Greece, Spain, Portugal) that tried to solve its fiscal deficit problems by cutting back on expenses and raising taxes, failed miserably.

What the measures did was to trap these countries in a vicious circle and lead their countries to even worse situations.

Cutting back on spending and wages brings about lower consumption. As companies battle with lower consumption, they have to reduce expenses. They usually do this by firing employees. Lower consumption also means fewer taxes for governments. The state is then called to cover the benefits for the unemployment, only making state finances even worse.

Reduced Growth This unavoidably leads to reduced growth. It goes without saying that the state has to eliminate unnecessary spending, high wages, etc. This will also serve to ease the feeling of unequal treatment by private sector employees who usually work harder and longer only to receive lower rewards. We will not even attempt to make the comparison between state

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employees and unemployed or pensioners, who can barely survive on low or no incomes.

Hollande shows the way It was very encouraging to hear the new French President, François Hollande point out that his economic policy will be spearheaded by growth attempts and not cutbacks. He is definitely moving in the right direction.

Hollande’s position was complemented by views expressed by other EU officials pointing to the same direction.

It is on the basis of all these views that we in Cyprus, must act to see a speedy exit from the crisis. All emphasis must be placed on taking measures to facilitate growth. It is encouraging that some state officials seem to have gotten the message.

Options A two-pronged strategy will converge to growth. It boils down to investments by the state as well as the private sector.

As the state is fresh out of cash there remains one option.

The private sector should be encouraged to move in the direction of growth. For this to happen private enterprises must be sure they will operate in a positive business environment. The way to achieve this is by securing loans with favourable conditions, lower interest rates and a stable taxation system.

The Real Estate sector

A sector of the economy, which is an important booster, is the real estate sector. It’s so vital that helping it grow is a oneway street.

Here are some of the measures to achieve this: Offering tax breaks for group investments in real estate (i.e. scrapping capital gains tax for investment companies); If a businessman buys real estate for business purposes the investment to be considered tax deductible; If a property is bought within a year from today, when sold anytime in the future no capital tax will apply; Broaden the limits of the law regarding the abolition of transfer rights to include re-sales as well. The present clauses of the law are solely benefiting developers. Some thought must be given to thousands of individuals who have property to sell to educate their children or pay back loans.

Some measures were announced recently, which we welcome, but are nothing more than a drop in the ocean. Can it be that the state officials that designed them are scared they will be successful and businesses will benefit? They should not forget that it is these businesses and private sector employees who pay their wages, and rejoice when these contributors are doing well financially. There are a lot more incentives. The real issue is that our economy honchos must act swiftly; any delays will be unforgiving and will lead to even worse situations.

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The four-day Lawyers Leadership and Management Programme (LLMP) by CIIM this week addresses specific and crucial business issues and provides practical tools and knowledge directly related to business situations of law firms. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategic leadership and management skills required of them today.

The LLMP is taught by experts in field of law firm management and the programme will address the topics of, Developing Law Firm Strategy; Marketing and Business Development; Human Resource and Performance Management; Managing Change in today’s Business Environment in the Legal Professional.

The programme is addressed to all law firm partners, lawyers, senior staff, as well as those working in law firms with a management responsibility for business development.

The LLMP modules are taught in four one-day, seven-hour sessions and are held at the CIIM facilities in Nicosia on July 3, 4, 9 and 10.

For information and registrations contact the CIIM Executive Education Team on 22462246, by email execedu@ciim.ac.cy or visit the CIIM website www.ciim.ac.cy.

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July 4 - 10, 2012

FinancialMirror.com

COMMENT | 7

Lessons from 1930s: UK seeks to re-start growth l Re-profiling

of austerity may create growth stimulus

ANALYSIS British policymakers are looking for lessons from the depressed 1930s in their hunt for a way out of the country’s longest slump since then - but the answer may not be what a government focused on fiscal austerity is hoping for.

Slashing Britain’s massive budget deficit was the top goal when the coalition government took power in 2010. Now, however, economic growth is moving up the agenda.

Britain’s economy is in its second recession in four years, and the euro zone debt crisis is casting an ever-darker pall over domestic firms’ willingness to invest and create jobs.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has warned that the slump risks deepening as a result of this - and that the lesson of the 1930s was that private sector demand alone was not enough for growth.

Business Secretary Vince Cable, meanwhile, has said he hopes modest government incentives will be enough to kickstart a “1930s-style recovery” driven by private-sector homebuilding.

The comment raise the question of whether relying on the private sector is the right approach, or if the government needs to break its taboo of deviating from its austerity programme to fund extra public sector investment.

“We are probably at the stage now where the markets realise that the main risk to the government finances is from the weak recovery rather than the government’s willpower to bring down the deficit,” said Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics.

Eliminating almost all of a budget deficit of more than 11% of GDP within five years was the guiding light for finance minister George Osborne when Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition in May 2010. But the surge in investment and exports they hoped would drive growth has not come, and there is little time for a new tack to bear fruit before 2015 elections.

So far, any shift in focus has been on reducing the cost of credit in order to spur investment, whether by BoE purchases of government bonds or a host of credit easing schemes.

The most recent “funding for lending” plan announced by

Osborne and King offers banks the prospect of lower funding costs if they pass on the benefit in the form of new, cheaper lending to business.

However, similar plans have had little success in the past.

“There is something that smacks of desperation as there is scheme after scheme,” said Pierre Williams from the Federation of Small Businesses.

POLITICAL VIRTUES Williams reckons a lot of what ails Britain is out of its control. “The elephant in the room is the ongoing euro crisis,” he said. “There is no amount of initiatives that is going to overcome this concern.”

The baleful effect of the euro zone crisis on business confidence is why some such as former finance ministry economist Ian Mulheirn argue that the government needs to step in and fund new infrastructure investment itself.

This is an argument that is also gaining ground in the euro zone itself, with Germany, France, Italy and Spain agreeing to a 130 bln euro package to boost growth.

But for now Osborne is relying on simply offering “much more” in the way of guarantees to reduce the risk of privatesector involvement in home-building and infrastructure projects.

The main advantage of this for the government it that they will not show up as government borrowing but as ‘contingent liabilities’ which it only has to pay if things go wrong.

But Mulheirn - who is now director of the Social Market Foundation think tank - worries further incentives will be needed, and that this will prove costlier than if the government were to fund the projects through issuing its own bonds.

“While the former might save some blushes it would be a lot more expensive than just using gilt-funded investment,” he said. “Its main virtue is political. And for that reason we should be quite suspicious.”

Britain’s finance ministry takes a different view. While the country’s cost of borrowing might be zero in real terms now, it could rise sharply if it were to damage market confidence in its commitment to deficit reduction by moving away from its plan.

PAIN THEN GAIN? However, if the government does not want to take the route

of issuing more debt, there is an alternative, promoted by Mulheirn and more tacitly by the IMF. Not all spending is equal. Some does a better job of adding to growth - in economics jargon, it has a higher multiplier.

By cutting spending that has a low fiscal multiplier, and using the proceeds to fund infrastructure, Mulheirn estimates that this could add an extra 700 mln pounds to GDP for every 1 bln pounds of spending switched.

Spending that could be cut include free television licences and heating subsidies for richer pensioners, as well as tax relief on higher-earners’ pension contributions, Mulheirn suggested.

The IMF mooted a further freeze to public sector pay.

All these areas may face cuts in future years to meet the government’s deficit target, Mulheirn said. Cutting now - and using the proceeds on a more productive temporary investment programme - would bring a growth dividend.

However, short-term political pain for long-term gain is unlikely to appeal to Osborne now.

Early last month, he had to reverse proposed tax rises on items including freshly baked pasties, a type of savoury pie popular with poorer Britons.

And more recently he bowed to pressure and announced a surprise delay to an increase in fuel tax at a cost of around 550 mln pounds. Government borrowing came out 3 bln pounds ahead of expectations at its latest count.

Cyprus needs the Troika to become a paradise…again!

Cyprus has applied for a bailout and representatives from the Troika – made up of the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF are in Cyprus to commence the negotiations leading to the signing of the deal paving the way for a loan package to be provided to Cyprus to rescue its banks and cover its financing needs in exchange for structural and other changes that the country and its banks need to implement.

Fortunately for Cypriots, the Troika is well aware of the shortcomings of our economy, the messy situation of the banking sector and the structural reforms that are desperately warranted to overturn the loss of competitiveness that the Cyprus economy has endured over the years by successive governments.

For decades, successive governments have ignored and thrown away the findings of the IMF reports on Cyprus. Every government has said “the IMF does not know what they are talking about” and insisted that COLA is the best way to maintain industrial peace on the island. But they have not asked at what price? They have never bothered to check the stats on how Cyprus industry has been steadily losing its competitiveness through lack of productivity.

For years successive governments have ignored the warnings from independent agencies on the dangers of allowing the structural problems to pile up and why their policy of benign neglect would eventually come to haunt the economy. Since 2004 when Cyprus became a member of the EU, the Commission has been sending warning signs to Cyprus but all of the recommendations have been swept under the carpet.

The seven-point plan that the Commission has been recommending to Cyprus will now become the basis of the structural reforms that this country will need to implement in order to qualify for the loan package to rescue its banks and cover its

financing needs.

One of the first tasks will be to achieve a primary budget surplus, a rare phenomenon and the last time it happened was because of millions in capital gains taxes that the government of Tassos Papadopoulos collected in the period leading to the property bubble.

SHAVASB BOHDJALIAN

The government has suspended COLA for the public servants for 2 years but COLA now needs to be scrapped and instead pay increases given only when productivity rises and not because of inflation.

The Coops are being merged and that is a step in the right direction but personally I don’t understand the benefit of bringing them under supervision of the Central Bank. After all, the banks were under Central Bank supervision when they managed to create a mess through highly speculative investments in government bonds – most of which were lost- and for relentless speculative property lending in Greece and in Cyprus, which now risk to be classified as non-performing as repayments have stopped. I hope the new Governor of the Central Bank will manage to bring some order to the banking sector and make banks accountable for their actions.

The government will probably agree to start passing legislation opening the many sectors of the economy to more com-

petition but similar to Greece, there is an acute risk that the laws will never be implemented. Almost all the professional sectors in Cyprus are closed to outsiders and in the process all of them have managed to become uncompetitive, expensive and offering a very bad service.

Until now, the government of Christofias has increased taxation in its effort to balancing the budget, but this has to change. We hope the Troika Representatives will order the government to scrap the 13th salary and the millions of additional allowances that civil servants receive and also proceed with across the board cuts in high earning pensions and civil servant salaries.

The Troika has to bring the salary and pensions of civil servants close to the level of the private sector through deep cuts.

This effort by itself will balance the budget in record time, lead to a primary budget surplus and allow the government to resume its development budget covering many sectors (and not construction only) which will be a major stimulus for the economy.

The problems of Cyprus can be fixed very quickly. All that is required is for the reform process to start in earnest and for the programme to be implemented in full without deviation. In such a case, a turnaround may be achieved within 3-5 years, which will coincide with the receipts from the offshore gas exploitation allowing this country to become an economic paradise that it deserves to be.

(Shavasb Bohdjalian is a certified Investment Advisor and CEO of Eurivex Ltd., a Cyprus Investment Firm, authorized and regulated by CySEC, license #114/10 and approved by the Cyprus Stock Exchange to act as Nomad for listings on the Emerging Companies Market. The views expressed above are personal and do not bind the company and are subject to change without notice)

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

8 | CΟΜΜΕΝΤ

The Impotence of the Federal Reserve CAMBRIDGE – The United States Federal Reserve’s recent announcement that it will extend its “Operation Twist” by buying an additional $267 billion of long-term Treasury bonds over the next six months - to reach a total of $667 billion this year - had virtually no impact on either interest rates or equity prices. The market’s lack of response was an important indicator that monetary easing is no longer a useful tool for increasing economic activity.

The Fed has repeatedly said that it will do whatever it can to stimulate growth. This led to a plan to keep short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014, as well as to massive quantitative easing, followed by Operation Twist, in which the Fed substitutes short-term Treasuries for long-term bonds.

These policies did succeed in lowering long-term interest rates. The yield on ten-year Treasuries is now 1.6%, down from 3.4% at the start of 2011. Although it is difficult to know how much of this decline reflected higher demand for Treasury bonds from risk-averse global investors, the Fed’s policies undoubtedly deserve some of the credit. The lower long-term interest rates contributed to the small 4% rise in the S&P 500 share-price index over the same period.

The Fed is unlikely to be able to reduce long-term rates any further. Their level is now so low that many investors rightly fear that we are looking at a bubble in bond and stock prices.

The result could be a substantial market-driven rise in longterm rates that the Fed would be unable to prevent. A shift in foreign investors’ portfolio preferences away from long-term bonds could easily trigger such a run-up in rates.

Moreover, while the Fed’s actions have helped the owners of bonds and stocks, it is not clear that they have stimulated

real economic activity. The US economy is still limping along with very slow growth and a high rate of unemployment.

Although the economy has been expanding for three years, the level of GDP is still only 1% higher than it was nearly five years ago, when the recession began. The GDP growth rate was only 1.7% in 2011, and it is not significantly higher now.

Indeed, recent data show falling real personal incomes, declining employment gains, and lower retail sales.

MARTIN FELDSTEIN Professor of Economics at Harvard, was Chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers and is a former president of the US National Bureau for Economic Research.

The primary impact of monetary easing is usually to stimulate demand for housing and thus the volume of construction. But this time, despite historically low mortgage interest rates, house prices have continued to fall and are now more than 10% lower in real terms than they were two years ago. The level of real residential investment is still less than half its level before the recession began. The Fed has noted that structural problems in the housing market have impaired its ability to stimulate the economy through this channel.

Business investment is also weak, even though large corporations have very high cash balances. With so much internal liquidity, these businesses are not sensitive to reductions in market interest rates. At the same time, many

very small businesses cannot get credit, because the local banks on which they depend have inadequate capital, owing to accrued losses on commercial real-estate loans. These small businesses, too, are not helped by lower interest rates.

The Fed’s monetary easing did temporarily contribute to a weaker dollar, which boosted net exports. But the dollar’s decline has more recently been reversed by the global flight to safety by investors abandoning the euro.

Even if the US economy continues to stumble in the months ahead, the Fed is unlikely to do anything more before the end of the year. The next policy moves to help the economy must come from the US Congress and the administration after the November election.

Nonetheless, what needs to be done is already clear. The cloud of a sharp rise in personal and corporate income-tax rates, now scheduled to occur automatically at the start of 2013, must be removed. The projected increase in the longterm fiscal deficit must be reversed by stemming the growth in transfers to middle-class retirees. Fundamental tax reform must strengthen incentives, reduce distorting “tax expenditures,” and raise revenue. Finally, the relationship between government and business, now quite combative, must be improved.

If these things happen in 2013, the US economy can return to a more normal path of economic expansion and rising employment. At that point, the Fed can focus on its fundamental mandate of preventing a rise in the rate of inflation. Until then, it is powerless. © Project Syndicate, 2012. www.project-syndicate.org

How to Make Trade Easier WASHINGTON, DC – The world is now in the fourth year of the Great Recession. So far, the economies belonging to the World Trade Organization have resisted the kind of widespread protectionism that would make a bad situation much worse. But protectionist pressures are building as weary politicians hear more and more calls for economic nationalism.

The WTO’s best defense of open trade is a good offense. A new WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement would benefit all by increasing developing countries’ capacity to trade, strengthening the WTO’s development mandate, and boosting global economic growth. More than a decade after the launch of the Doha Round of global free-trade talks, this agreement could be a down payment on the commitment that WTO members have made to linking trade and development.

Developing countries stand to gain the most from improving trade facilitation. The right support would help traders in poorer countries to compete and integrate into global supply chains.

There are rich opportunities for gains. Inefficiencies in processing and clearing goods put traders in developing countries at a competitive disadvantage. Outdated and inefficient border procedures and inadequate infrastructure often mean high transaction costs, long delays, opportunities for corruption, and an additional 10-15% in the cost of getting goods to market – even more in landlocked countries.

Research by the World Bank suggests that every dollar of assistance provided to support trade-facilitation reform in developing countries yields a return of up to $70 in economic benefits. When funds are directed at improving bordermanagement systems and procedures – the very issues covered by the trade-facilitation negotiations – the impact is particularly significant.

Projects aimed at boosting efficiency and transparency, supported by development banks and bilateral donors, have made a dramatic difference. In East Africa, procedural improvements have reduced the average clearance time for cargo crossing the Kenya-Uganda border from almost two days to only seven hours. In Cameroon, some of our organizations have worked with the World Customs Organization

By AHMAD MOHAMED ALI AL-MADANI, DONALD KABERUKA, HARUHIKO KURODA, THOMAS MIROW, LUIS ALBERTO MORENO and ROBERT ZOELLICK

to help the customs authority reduce corruption and increase collection of revenues – estimated to be more than $25 mln a year.

On the Laos-Vietnam border, a sub-regional cross-border transport agreement has cut cargo transit times from four hours to just over one hour. A new customs component to a highway project between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City helped increase the total value of trade through the Moc BaiBavet border by 40% over three years. In Peru, some of our banks have worked with international freight forwarders to connect remote villages and small businesses to export markets through national postal services, turning more than 300 small firms into exporters, most for the first time.

The outlines of a new WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement are already clear, but some technical differences remain on specific provisions. Developing countries want a credible commitment to support implementation, such as technical assistance and capacity-building. A World Bank study estimates that the costs of implementing the measures likely to be covered by a Trade Facilitation agreement would be relatively modest – $7-11 mln in the countries studied, spread out over a number of years – especially when compared to the expected benefits.

Capacity-building and financing programs for governments that want to improve their trade facilitation are available already. Major donor countries and international development organizations have put a priority on, and increased investment in, trade facilitation. According to the OECD, from 2002 to 2010, trade facilitation-related assistance increased ten-fold in real terms, from almost $40 mln to

nearly $400 mln.

The African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the World Bank stand ready – alongside the WTO – to assist developing countries through the process of full and effective implementation of the agreement. That means helping countries to assess their trade-facilitation needs on a case-by-case basis, match those needs with the resources required, and broker partnerships between recipient countries and development allies to ensure that support is provided quickly and efficiently.

In international negotiations, there is always a way forward if the benefits of an agreement are shared by all. Trade facilitation offers a development dividend for all countries. It is time for WTO members to make progress on issues where there is room to do so. It will be a down payment on a solid investment.

Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani is President of the Islamic Development Bank. Donald Kaberuka is President of the African Development Bank. Haruhiko Kuroda is President of the Asian Development Bank. Thomas Mirow is President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Luis Alberto Moreno is President of the Inter-American Development Bank. Robert B. Zoellick is President of the World Bank Group. © Project Syndicate, 2012. www.project-syndicate.org

July 4 - 10, 2012

FinancialMirror.com

COMMENT | 9

No relief for the weary l U.S. consumers hunker down despite lower debt load with a brighter jobs market ahead Three years into recovery, Americans have dug themselves out from under mountains of debt and the steep decline in house prices is over. These were supposed to be two secret ingredients needed to spice up a lackluster pace of economic growth.

It’s not quite working out that way.

American consumers, who account for the bulk of U.S. economic activity, might be in stronger shape today and are getting an extra boost from gasoline prices, which have tumbled 13% over the past three months. That’s enough to pump about $120 bln of extra spending power into their pockets over a year.

But uncertainty still looms large and is weighing on growth.

Europe lessened the risks of a euro-zone break-up by striking a deal o n F riday to cut borrowing costs for Italy and Spain and strengthen its banking system. The deal probably clears the path for the European Central Bank at its Thursday meeting to lower interest rates to a record low of 0.75% from 1%, which analysts widely forecast.

But after 20 crisis summits and endless bickering in Europe, skepticism runs high that the euro-zone crisis is on the way to resolution. And an ECB rate cut would be too little too late to avert a recession in the world’s second-largest economic region.

In the United States, action on budget cuts and taxes has stalled until after the November election. This casts a long shadow over business planning and contributes to corporate America slowing its hiring and shelving investment plans.

Against this backdrop, the deleveraging of the overstretched U.S. consumer is not yet providing the hoped-for economic lift. Personal consumption was nearly flat from March through May. “In a vacuum it would be good news. But we cannot say ‘Mission Accomplished’ until we know whether the consumer is ready to spend again. And given the uncertain jobs outlook, that is unlikely,” said Dana Saporta, U.S. economist at Credit Suisse.

RIPPING UP CREDIT CARDS Monthly U.S. household debt payments, which include mortgages, credit cards and car loans, have dipped to 16.06%

prices are down 1.9% year over year, and a bottoming may encourage banks to put more foreclosed properties onto the market, which could further depress prices.

“There are some positives out there, but much of it will depend on the labor market. That is the most important driver of all,” said Jim O’Sullivan, who takes over as chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics later this month.

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

of after-tax personal income, back to the average level seen during the 1990s and down from a peak of 19% in late 2007 when the financial crisis began.

The total household debt burden also has fallen, to 106% of income from a peak of 125% five years ago. It now has reached its lowest level since late 2003 at the start of the housing boom.

But total debt remains above its peak in prior recessions, and economic studies have reached no consensus over what would constitute a “healthy” level for personal debt since it depends on the outlook for growth in asset values and personal income gains.

In other words, borrowing can be a good investment as long as the household can keep up with the debt payments.

With a weak jobs market and flat to falling incomes, that’s more difficult.

The data are even harder to interpret, said Jacob Oubinas, a U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets, because they give no insight into whether the debt ratios are improving because people have defaulted, as opposed to refinanced, and whether their incomes have fallen, which limits their spending capacity.

So household deleveraging may be happening, but not in a way that supports much economic growth in the short term.

Even signs that the housing market is stabilizing could be misleading. S&P/Case Shiller reported that single-family home prices rose for the third month in a row in April. But

The news on the labor front is not very encouraging either.

The Conference Board’s survey of consumers found that jobs grew harder to get in June and its gauge of the jobs outlook six months hence was at its weakest level since the turn of the year.

A separate survey of small businesses in May by the National Federation of Independent Businesses provided a more mixed picture. Employers reported that they planned to increase hiring slightly in coming months and that job vacancies were up, but their overall business confidence was flat and most business owners expected conditions to worsen over the next six months.

RBC Capital said that when business expectations are deteriorating, it usually means that hiring stalls.

Big corporations also face weakened conditions. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have trimmed their forecasts for second-quarter profits among Standard & Poor’s 500 companies to a 6.3% rise from the 9.2% forecast in April.

“The risk is that the U.S. corporate sector is turning more cautious in the face of domestic uncertainty and global weakness. The recent slowdown in hiring points in this direction,” JPMorgan said in a note to clients.

Accordingly, the U.S. employment June jobs report on Friday is expected to show sluggish growth, with 90,000 new positions added outside the farm sector, according to a Reuters survey. While this would be a slight improvement from the 69,000 added in May, it is roughly half the number required to make a significant dent in the 8.2% unemployment rate.

“Given Europe and the U.S. fiscal fight, it is not an environment that is ripe for hiring,” said Oubinas.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

12 | CΟΜΜΕΝΤ

Oil-price slide highlights risks to Russia Falling oil price to hit budget, economy as large fiscal reserves and flexible rouble limit damage ANALYSIS Falling oil prices could trigger a prolonged slump in Russia that would lay bare the growing fiscal risks, threatening President Vladimir Putin’s election promise to increase wages and fanning public discontent.

The world’s largest oil producer is well-placed in the short run to withstand sliding prices, thanks to sizeable cash reserves and a flexible rouble. And Putin, who returned to the Kremlin after March’s election, is still widely popular.

But the oil price has fallen by over $30 dollars in the last three months, to close to $90 per barrel, and may fall further, narrowing his room for budgetary manoeuvre just as mass protests have underscored dissatisfaction with the government.

“This is not the best start for the new government,” said Peter Westin, chief strategist Aton brokerage in Moscow.

“If the oil price is temporarily at these levels, or even lower, it’s not a huge problem. The issue is whether it stays there.”

Oil and gas taxes account for around half of revenues raised by the federal budget, which Putin, as prime minister, used to boost public sector pay and pensions as a way of overcoming the 2009 economic slump.

Putin, who has taken a more populist approach to dealing with his declining popularity, promised even more public sector pay rises as part of his election campaign.

While that would cushion the immediate blow of any slowdown, running down the fiscal reserves to maintain high social spending would only increase Russia’s long-term vulnerability to yet another oil price shock.

“In the short term they can sustain a very low oil price, but they need to address the structural problems in health, education and pensions,” said Ivan Tchakarov, chief Russia economist at Renaissance Capital.

“This is not a sustainable fiscal policy, there’s no question about it.”

DEPENDENCY The last time oil prices fell so precipitously, in 2009, Russia’s economy slumped by a dramatic 8%. Collapsing oil was also a catalyst for Russia’s 1998 economic crisis that ended in devaluation and default.

Putin, in his annual statement on the budget on Thursday, acknowledged that Russia’s reliance on energy prices was one

of its biggest policy headaches.

“The Russian budgetary system is highly dependent on the situation on world commodity markets,” he said. “This limits the opportunities for budget manoeuvre.”

For now, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has earmarked $6 bln that could be spent in 2012 f rom a budget rainy-day fund should a deteriorating global economy drag on growth in Russia.

“We hope we don’t have to make use of these measures, because the steps being taken by the government and central bank are sufficient,” Siluanov said.

He trimmed his 2013 budget deficit forecast to 1.5% of gross domestic product, assuming an average oil price of $97 per barrel. The fiscal plan will help keep the national debt, now around 10% of GDP, manageably low.

BUFFER Analysts say the impact on Russia of lower oil prices may be milder than during previous falls.

“In the short term, in the next one to three years, we are fine,” said Tchakarov.

He noted that according to Finance Ministry calculations, every one dollar fall in the oil price means that the government loses around 55 bln roubles ($1.7 bln) in oil-related taxes over the course of a year.

With the budget presently balancing at around $115 per barrel, an oil price of $90 per barrel, if sustained over a full year, would leave the government short to the tune of around $40 bln a year.

But that is still just a fraction of the $185 bln that Russia has stashed away in two fiscal reserve funds, designed to stabilise the budget in just such an emergency.

Even at $60 per barrel - the average oil price during the crisis year of 2009 - the reserve funds could cover the shortfall for about two years.

“I find this worrying about the budget at this moment a little beside the point,” said Clemens Grafe, chief Russia economist at Goldman Sachs.

“The fiscal buffers they have to absorb this are going to be sufficient without cutting expenditure.”

Analysts also point out that since the previous financial crisis in 2008-2009, the central bank has radically changed the exchange rate regime, allowing the rouble to fall in line with the cheaper oil price.

Since oil began its latest slide in mid-March, the rouble has

lost around 15% of its value against the dollar.

“The rouble weakened exactly in line with the oil price. And a weaker rouble is very good because it will secure the rouble equivalent of oil taxes for the budget,” said Evgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist at Troika Dialog.

SIGNIFICANT SLOWDOWN Despite these buffers, most economists expect that a sustained fall in the oil price would cause a significant slowdown in Russia’s economic growth - still a surprisingly resilient 4.2% in May. “Between $70 and $80 per barrel you will have a recession,” said Westin from Aton.

Russia’s ability to maintain government spending is limited by the so called non-oil deficit - a measure of the underlying state of the budget once oil taxes are removed - that has ballooned from 5% of GDP in 2008 to over 10% this year.

Even before the latest decline in the oil price, the IMF and World Bank were urging Russia to scale back this underlying deficit by cutting down on bloated government spending.

In a recent interview with Reuters, Russia’s deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov vowed that while the government intended to use its reserves to maintain expenditures this year, next year’s budget would be “very frugal, tight and responsible”.

That implies that sooner or later, falling oil prices will force cutbacks that will hit the pockets of ordinary Russians.

“The silver lining of a failing oil price is that it does increase the urgency of social reform and budget cuts,” says Kingsmill Bond, chief Russia strategist at Citigroup.

Top women on Wall Street: Equal-opportunity axing?

The financial crisis and its aftermath have been brutal for Wall Street’s richest and most powerful women. The latest casualty: Ina Drew, the head of JPMorgan Chase’s chief investment office, who departed last month after the bank suffered mammoth trading losses.

An analysis by Reuters of the proxy statements from the five largest U.S. banks shows that of the 25 executives whose pay is disclosed - updated for some recent changes - only three, or 12%, are women. That’s down from five, or 20%, at the end of 2007.

At the three biggest banks - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Bank of America and Citigroup Inc - there is now only one woman in the upper echelons: JP Morgan Chase’s asset management chief, Mary Callahan Erdoes. At the end of 2007 there were two.

Among the top ten banks, the aggregate numbers are a little better, but the percentages are not. Five women, or 10% of the 50 executives identified, are in place, down from six, or 12%, in 2007. Only three managed to hang on through the crash and continue on in their jobs: Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, Ruth Porat; Wells Fargo’s senior executive vice president of community banking, Carrie Tolstedt; and U.S. Bancorp’s vice chairman of payment services, Pamela Joseph.

Drew’s departure followed JP Morgan Chase’s disclosure of more than $2 bln in losses at the chief investment office.

She was one of the best-paid executives at the bank, earning $30 mln over the past two years.

Drew is hardly the first top woman executive to take a messy and public fall since the trough of the financial crisis in 2008.

For many, a pivotal moment came when the glamorous and flashy Erin Callan, who somehow made the wonkish job of chief financial officer both hip and stylish, became the first of the Lehman Brothers executives to go in June 2008.

Callan’s departure occurred about three months before the firm came tumbling down, triggering the financial crisis.

Since then there have been a series of flameouts. Women who were once anointed as the most powerful in finance, the would-be heirs to the CEO suite, were fired or forced out.

Just three months after Callan’s exit, Sallie Krawcheck widely lauded as the top woman in banking - learned via BlackBerry during a Citigroup retreat at the plush

Phoenician resort near Phoenix that she was being stripped of her duties as Citigroup’s head of global wealth management. Her parting was so discordant it was dubbed a divorce by the press.

Krawcheck soon joined Bank of America in the same position. Two years later new CEO Brian Moynihan moved her out, even though her operation was profitable.

This, after Moynihan had overseen the departure of the bank’s other top two female executives, mortgage head Barbara Desoer and global risk chief Amy Woods Brinkley.

“We still have a long way to go to change the culture,” says Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. “But let’s not look at any one woman and say they fired her because she was a woman, because they didn’t.”

J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo & Co, U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Bank and PNC Bank all said their corporate corridors and talent pipelines were filled with talented, high-ranking women who report directly to their CEOs. They also said that a gender breakdown of their top earners was not the best way to measure how much female talent they had. “We have a significant number of women in top leadership positions, including nearly 40% of direct reports to the CEO, and others who run businesses that by themselves compare with Fortune 500 companies,” said Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri.

Wall Street is a savage place. For women and men. But the departure of top executives has raised age-old questions for women who work there, and for those who observe them.

EB¢OMA¢IAIA OIKONOMIKH ¶√§π∆π∫∏ EºHMEPI¢A AÚ. 871

www.financialmirror.com

∆∂∆∞ƒ∆∏, 4 π√À§π√À, 2012

∏ ΢Úȷ΋ ÚÔ‰ڛ· Ú¤ÂÈ Ó· «ÎÏ›ÛÂÈ» ÛÙfiÌ·Ù· ∏ ¤ÓÙ·ÍË Ù˘ ∫‡ÚÔ˘ ÛÙËÓ ∂˘Úˆ·˚΋ ŒÓˆÛË ÙËÓ 1Ë ª·˝Ô˘ 2004 ·ÔÙÂÏ› ·Ó·ÌÊ›‚ÔÏ· ÙÔÓ ÈÔ ÛËÌ·ÓÙÈÎfi ÛÙ·ıÌfi ÛÙË Û‡Á¯ÚÔÓË ÈÛÙÔÚ›· Ù˘ ∫˘Úȷ΋˜ ¢ËÌÔÎÚ·Ù›·˜, ˆÛÙfiÛÔ ÂÓÓ¤· ¯ÚfiÓÈ· ÌÂÙ¿, Ë ·Ó¿ÏË„Ë Ù˘ ¶ÚÔ‰ڛ·˜ ÙÔ˘ ™˘Ì‚Ô˘Ï›Ô˘ Ù˘ ∂∂ ÙËÓ 1Ë πÔ˘Ï›Ô˘ 2012 ·ÔÙÂÏ› ¤Ó· ·ÎfiÌË ÛËÌ·ÓÙÈÎfi Î·È ÈÛÙÔÚÈÎfi ÛÙ·ıÌfi, ·ÏÏ¿ Û˘Ó¿Ì· Î·È ¤Ó· ÙÂÚ¿ÛÙÈÔ ÛÙÔ›¯ËÌ· ÙÔ ÔÔ›Ô ı· Ú¤ÂÈ Ó· ÎÂÚ‰›ÛÂÈ.

2 σελ. 4/16

∞˘ÙÔ› Â›Ó·È ÔÈ ∆ÚÔ˚ηÓÔ› Επικεφαλήσ τησ αντιπροσωπείασ τησ ΤρÞικα στην Κύπρο είναι η Delia Velculescu η οποία θα εκπροσωπεί το ∆ιεθνέσ ΝοµισµατικÞ Ταµείο. Κατάγεται απÞ τη Ρουµανία και κοιτάζοντασ το βιογραφικÞ τησ πρÞκειται για άτοµο µε ιδιαίτερεσ γνώσεισ σε θέµατα αναδιοργάνωσησ των συνταξιοδοτικών σχεδίων αλλά και σε θέµατα ενέργειασ, θέµατα τα οποία είναι άµεσα συνδεδεµένα µε την Κύπρο ειδικά αυτήν την περίοδο. Στην Ελλάδα προκλήθηκε στισ αρχέσ του 2012 σωρεία αντιδράσεων για το Þνοµα τησ εξαιτίασ ενÞσ δεκασέλιδου κειµένου το οποίο περιείχε σκληρÞτατα µέτρα για το δεύτερο µνηµÞνιο. Σε Þτι αφορά τώρα τον ΕκπρÞσωπο τησ ΚοµισιÞν αυτÞσ θα είναι είναι ο 42 χρÞνοσ Μαάρτεν Βερβεί µε καταγωγή απÞ την Ολλανδία. Ο κύριοσ Βερβέι κατέχει τη θέση του Αναπληρωτή ∆ιευθυντή Οικονοµικών και Νοµισµατικών Υποθέσεων τησ ΚοµισιÞν που υπάγεται στον Ùλι Ρεν και ανέλαβε τα συγκεκριµένα καθήκοντα απÞ το Σεπτέµβριο του 2011. ΠρÞκειται για ένα τεχνοκράτη ο οποίοσ έχει προϋπηρεσία και στον τραπεζικÞ τοµέα. Τέλοσ Þσον αφορά τον ΕκπρÞσωπο τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Κεντρικήσ Τράπεζασ είναι ο ΓερµανÞσ Φιλίπ ΡÞτερ ο οποίοσ είναι επικεφαλήσ του Τοµέα ∆ηµοσιονοµικήσ Επιτήρησησ τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Κεντρικήσ Τράπεζασ στη Φραγκφούρτη. Τα άτοµα τησ ΤρÞικασ συνοδεύει υποστηρικτική οµάδα Κυπρίων τεχνοκρατών που βρίσκονται σε απÞσταση στο ∆ιεθνέσ ΝοµισµατικÞ Ταµείο, την ΚοµισιÞν και την Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα αντίστοιχα.

ÕÚ¯ÈÛ·Ó ÔÈ Â·Ê¤˜ ÙÔ˘ ÎÏÈÌ·Î›Ô˘ Ù˘ ∆ÚfiÈη Άρχισε τισ επαφέσ του µε εκπροσώπουσ τησ Κεντρικήσ Τράπεζασ, του Υπουργείου Οικονοµικών και των διάφορων κρατικών υπηρεσιών, το κλιµάκιο τησ ΤρÞικα (Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή, Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα και ∆ιεθνέσ ΝοµισµατικÞ Ταµείο), προκειµένου να αξιολογήσει την κατάσταση των δηµοσίων οικονοµικών και του χρηµατοοικονοµικού τοµέα, στο πλαίσιο τησ αίτησησ τησ Κύπρου για οικονοµική

στήριξη απÞ τον ΜηχανισµÞ Στήριξησ τησ ΕΕ. Ανακοίνωση του Υπουργείου Οικονοµικών αναφέρει Þτι "οι επαφέσ θα συνεχιστούν τισ επÞµενεσ µέρεσ και θα περιλαµβάνουν συναντήσεισ µε τα πολιτικά κÞµµατα, τη Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων, τουσ κοινωνικούσ εταίρουσ, καθώσ και µε τισ διευθύνσεισ και διοικήσεισ των µεγαλύτερων πιστωτικών ιδρυµάτων". "Είναι

σηµαντικÞ να τονιστεί Þτι το κλιµάκιο, σε αυτή τη φάση, θα περιοριστεί στην εξέταση τησ Þλησ κατάστασησ, δηλαδή, είναι καθαρά διερευνητικού χαρακτήρα, και δεν θα διεξαχθεί οποιαδήποτε διαπραγµάτευση ή συζήτηση µέτρων", αναφέρεται στην ανακοίνωση. Εξάλλου, σήµερα το πρωί αξιωµατούχοι τησ ΤρÞικα θα συναντηθούν µε τον ΥπουργÞ Οικονοµικών Βάσο Σιαρλή, ενώ

θα πραγµατοποιηθεί συνάντηση µε την Κοινοβουλευτική Επιτροπή Οικονοµικών. Την ίδια ηµέρα εκπρÞσωποι τησ ΤρÞικα θα συναντηθούν µε την ΟΕΒ και το ΚΕΒΕ. Εξάλλου, την Πέµπτη αντιπροσωπεία του Συνδέσµου Εµπορικών Τραπεζών θα συναντηθεί µαζί τουσ, ενώ την ίδια µέρα έχει καθοριστεί συνάντηση µε τισ συντεχνίεσ ΣΕΚ και ΠΕΟ και ΠΑΣΥ∆Υ.

ΧΡΗΜΑ&ΑΓΟΡΑ

4 ΙΟΥΛIOY, 2012

2/14 | ΕΙ∆ΗΣΕΙΣ

∏ ·ÈÛ¯ÚÔΤډÂÈ· ¿ÂÈ ·Ú·Ï›· ¶∞À§√™ °∂øƒ°π∞¢∏™ Τιµέσ για Þλα τα πορτοφÞλια υπάρχουν στα Τουριστικά Παραλιακά Καταλύµατα και Κέντρα Αναψυχήσ, Þπωσ δηµοσιεύονται στον πίνακα Του Κυπριακού Οργανισµού Τουρισµού. Σε αρκετέσ περιπτώσεισ οι τιµέσ είναι τουλάχιστον προκλητικέσ για τη δύσκολη οικονοµικά εποχή που διανύουµε. ΡÞλο στον καθορισµÞ των τιµών φαίνεται πωσ παίζει Þχι µÞνο το πού αλλά και το πÞσο δηµοφιλέσ είναι ένα παραλιακÞ κατάλυµα ή ένα κέντρο αναψυχήσ. Σύµφωνα µε τα στοιχεία που επεξεργαστήκαµε: Το φθηνÞτερο µικρÞ µπουκάλι νερού πωλείται 0,80 σεντ και το ακριβÞτερο για 4,75 ευρώ. Σε Þτι αφορά το εγκυτιωµένο χυµÞ πορτοκάλι οι τιµέσ ανάλογα µε την περιοχή ξεκινούν στο 1,30 και φθάνουν µέχρι τα 6 ευρώ. Σχετικά µε τουσ καφέδεσ

το φθηνÞτερο φραπέ µπορεί να το απολαύσει κάποιοσ µε 2 µÞλισ ευρώ και το ακριβÞτερο στα 6,40 ευρώ. ΑπÞ εκεί και πέρα ένα αναψυκτικÞ στο κουτί µπορεί να το απολαύσει κάποιοσ απÞ 1,45 ευρώ µέχρι και 4 ευρώ, ενώ για µια µπύρα στο κουτί το κοινÞ πληρώνει απÞ 1,71 σεντ µέχρι 8 ευρώ. Στα µπέργκερ µε πατάτεσ το φθηνÞτερο είναι 3,5 ευρώ και το ακριβÞτερο εκτοξεύεται στα 16,5 ευρώ, ενώ οι τιµέσ για τα πατατάκια σε συσκευασία 45 γραµµαρίων κυµαίνονται απÞ 0,70 σεντ µέχρι 2,50. Σε δηλώσεισ του ο ΠρÞεδροσ του Κυπριακού Οργανισµού Τουρισµού Αλέκοσ Ορουντιώτησ εξέφρασε την ενÞχληση του γιατί κάποια καταλύµατα νοµίζουν Þτι απευθύνονται σε εκατοµµυριούχουσ. «Θα δώσουµε την ευκαιρία στο κοινÞ να µαυροπινακίσουν, να αποµονώσουν Þσουσ αισχροκερδούν και νοµίζουν Þτι απευθύνονται σε εκατοµµυριούχουσ», υπογράµµισε. Τα στοιχεία για τισ τιµέσ που προσφέ-

ρουν τα 156 καταλύµατα σε Þλη την ελεύθερη Κύπρο είναι διαθέσιµα στην ιστοσελίδα

τησ Υπηρεσίασ Προστασίασ Καταναλωτών του Υπουργείου Εµπορίου.

™ÙÔ 11,1% Ë ·ÓÂÚÁ›·, 27% ÛÙÔ˘˜ Ó¤Ô˘˜ Στο 11,1% του εργατικού δυναµικού (48.166 άτοµα) ανερχÞταν το ποσοστÞ ανεργίασ το πρώτο τρίµηνο του 2012. Ùπωσ ανακοίνωσε η Στατιστική Υπηρεσία, το ποσοστÞ ανεργίασ των ανδρών ήταν 12,2% ή 27.892 άτοµα ενώ για τισ γυναίκεσ το ποσοστÞ ήταν 9,8% ή 20.275. Το 4ο τρίµηνο του 2011 ο αριθµÞσ των ανέργων ήταν 38.785 άτοµα ή 8,9% (άνδρεσ 9,8% και γυναίκεσ 8,0%) και το αντίστοιχο ποσοστÞ για το 1ο τρίµηνο του 2011 ήταν 7,5% ή 32.336 άτοµα. Το 1ο τρίµηνο του 2012, ο αριθµÞσ των εργαζοµένων ανερχÞταν στισ 386,1 χιλιάδεσ άτοµα (άνδρεσ 200,5 χιλιάδεσ και γυναίκεσ 185,6 χιλιάδεσ) και ο αριθµÞσ των ανέργων στισ 48,2 χιλιάδεσ άτοµα (άνδρεσ 27,9 χιλιά-

δεσ και γυναίκεσ 20,3 χιλιάδεσ). Το ποσοστÞ απασχÞλησησ των ατÞµων ηλικίασ 20-64 ετών ήταν στο 70,3% το πρώτο τρίµηνο του 2012 (άνδρεσ 75,6% και γυναίκεσ 65,5%) σηµειώνοντασ µείωση απÞ το προηγούµενο τρίµηνο του 2011, 72,1% (άνδρεσ 77,5% και γυναίκεσ 67,2%) καθώσ επίσησ και απÞ το αντίστοιχο τρίµηνο του 2011, 74,3% (άνδρεσ 80,6% και γυναίκεσ 68,5%). Ανάλυση των ανέργων κατά ηλικία δείχνει, σύµφωνα µε τη Στατιστική Υπηρεσία, Þτι το ποσοστÞ ανεργίασ είναι ψηλÞτερο για τουσ νέουσ 15-24 ετών Þπου έφθανε στο 26,7% του εργατικού δυναµικού των ηλικιών αυτών (άνδρεσ 28,0% και γυναίκεσ 25,1%). Το 4ο τρίµηνο του 2011 το ποσοστÞ

TÔ Mall of Cyprus ÂÂÎÙ›ÓÂÙ·È Τουσ σχεδιασµούσ τησ Woolworth (Cyprus) Properties Plc σε σχέση µε το εµπορικÞ κέντρο The Mall of Cyprus αποκάλυψε ο νέοσ πρÞεδροσ τησ εταιρείασ ∆ηµήτρησ ∆ηµητρίου κατά την Ετήσια Γενική Συνέλευση. Μιλώντασ στουσ µετÞχουσ ο κ. ∆ηµητρίου ανακοίνωσε Þτι προγραµµατίζεται επέκταση του The Mall of Cyprus κατά περίπου 4.000 επιπρÞσθετα τετραγωνικά µέτρα, για τη δηµιουργία νέων εµπορικών χώρων, τÞσο καταστηµάτων λιανικού εµπορίου Þσο και χώρων αναψυχήσ, Þπωσ καφεστιατÞρια, παιδÞτοπο και άλλα. Με την επέκταση αυτή αναµένεται να ενισχυθεί η επισκεψιµÞτητα στο The Mall of Cyprus και να αυξηθούν περαιτέρω τα εισοδήµατα και η κερδοφορία τησ Εταιρείασ. Ανάλογη επέκταση προγραµµατίζεται και για το Mall τησ Έγκωµησ. Παρουσιάζοντασ τα αποτελέσµατα του Συγκροτήµατοσ τησ Woolworth (Cyprus) Properties Plc για το 2011, ανέφερε Þτι κρίνονται ικανοποιητικά, λαµβάνοντασ υπÞψη το δύσκολο οικονοµικÞ περιβάλλον που επικράτησε κατά τη διάρκεια του έτουσ στην Κύπρο. Τα κέρδη απÞ εργασίεσ έφθασαν τα ?18.001.000, σε σχέση µε ?22.510.000 του προηγούµενου χρÞνου. Τα εισοδήµατα απÞ τα δικαιώµατα χρήσησ για παραχώρηση χώρων και µίσθωση ακινήτων του Συγκροτήµατοσ το 2011 ανήλθαν σε ?21.010.000, απÞ ?20.722.000 το 2010, παρουσιάζοντασ αύξηση 1,3%. Τα έσοδα αυτά αυξήθηκαν το 2011, κυρίωσ λÞγω τησ αύξησησ των δικαιωµάτων χρήσησ χώρων στα δύο Εµπορικά Κέντρα του Συγκροτήµατοσ και στην παραχώρηση νέων χώρων στη νέα διαρρυθµισµένη πτέρυγα στο The Mall of Cyprus. Μετά την αφαίρεση των λειτουργικών εξÞδων, των εξÞδων χρηµατοδÞτησησ και τησ φορολογίασ, τα καθαρά κέρδη για το έτοσ έφθασαν τα ?6.700.000, σε σύγκριση µε ?8.848.000 που ήταν το 2010.

ήταν 26,0% (άνδρεσ 26,5% και γυναίκεσ 25,5%) ενώ το 1ο τρίµηνο του 2011 το ποσοστÞ ήταν 20,7% του εργατικού δυναµικού των ηλικιών αυτών (άνδρεσ 22,0% και γυναίκεσ 19,4%). Ùσον αφορά τη διάρκεια τησ ανεργίασ, το 53,2% του συνÞλου των ανέργων έψαχνε για εργασία για περίοδο κάτω απÞ 6 µήνεσ, το 22,3% για περίοδο 6-11 µήνεσ, ενώ ποσοστÞ 24,5% έψαχνε για εργασία για ένα χρÞνο και άνω. Τα αντίστοιχα ποσοστά για το 4o τρίµηνο του 2011 ήταν (53,7%, 21,7%, 24,6%) ενώ για το 1ο τρίµηνο του 2011 ήταν (70,2%, 12,6% και 17,2%). Σύµφωνα µε την κατανοµή τησ απασχÞλησησ κατά τοµέα, το µεγαλύτερο ποσοστÞ απασχολουµένων το συγκέντρωναν οι υπη-

ρεσίεσ µε 76,3%, ενώ η βιοµηχανία ακολουθούσε µε 20,7% και τέλοσ η γεωργία µε µÞνο 3,0%. Το 4ο τρίµηνο του 2011 απασχολούνταν στισ υπηρεσίεσ 75,9%, στη βιοµηχανία 20,8% και στη γεωργία 3,3%. Η µερική απασχÞληση αποτελούσε το 11,0% τησ συνολικήσ απασχÞλησησ. Το 4ο τρίµηνο του 2011 το ποσοστÞ τησ µερικήσ απασχÞλησησ ήταν 10,3% ενώ το αντίστοιχο ποσοστÞ για το 1ο τρίµηνο του 2011 ήταν 10,8%. Ο µέσοσ Þροσ των κανονικών ωρών εργασίασ τη βδοµάδα στην κύρια εργασία για τουσ υπαλλήλουσ µε πλήρη απασχÞληση ήταν 41,1 ώρεσ (άνδρεσ 41,6 και γυναίκεσ 40,6 ώρεσ), ενώ για τουσ υπαλλήλουσ µε µερική απασχÞληση ήταν 20,3 ώρεσ.

24,000 Ô¯‹Ì·Ù· ¯ˆÚ›˜ ·ÛÊ·ÏÈÛÙÈ΋ Î¿Ï˘„Ë Εκρηκτικέσ διαστάσεισ έχει λάβει το πρÞβληµα µε τα οχήµατα χωρίσ ασφαλιστική κάλυψη. Υπολογίζεται Þτι είναι γύρω στισ 24 χιλιάδεσ, απÞ τα 800 χιλιάδεσ οχήµατα τα οποία κυκλοφορούν σήµερα στουσ κυπριακούσ δρÞµουσ. Σύµφωνα µε στοιχεία που δÞθηκαν απÞ το Ταµείο Ασφαλιστών Μηχανοκινήτων Οχηµάτων η αυξητική τάση φαίνεται να έχει και συνέχεια. Οι λÞγοι για την απαράδεκτη αυτή κατάσταση είναι τρεισ. Η οικονοµική κρίση, οι µη αποτρεπτικέσ ποινέσ και η αύξηση του αριθµού των αλλοδαπών, οι οποίοι θέλουν να έχουν µέσο διακίνησησ χωρίσ να κάνουν περιττά έξοδα. Το έτοσ 2005 συνέβη ένασ αριθµÞσ 359 ατυχηµάτων για τα οποία το Ταµείο πλήρωσε περίπου 2 εκ ευρώ.Το 2011 ο αριθµÞσ αυτÞσ αυξήθηκε στα 700 και το Ταµείο πλήρωσε γύρω στα 6 εκ ευρώ. Φέτοσ σύµφωνα µε την Αστυνοµία υποβλήθηκαν απαιτήσεισ για 200 ατυχήµατα µε οχήµατα χωρίσ ασφάλεια και πληρώθηκε ποσÞ τριών εκατοµµυρίων πεντακÞσιων χιλιάδων ευρώ. Η οδήγηση οχήµατοσ χωρίσ ασφαλιστική κάλυψη θεωρείται σοβαρÞ παράπτωµα και ο οδηγÞσ συλλαµβάνεται χωρίσ δεύτερη σκέψη.

ªÂÁ¿Ï˜ Ô˘Ú¤˜ ÛÙ· ™˘ÓÂÚÁ·ÙÈο Μεγάλεσ ουρέσ σχηµατίστηκαν το πρωί τησ Παρασκευήσ στα ταµεία Þλων των Συνεργατικών Ιδρυµάτων, λÞγω βλάβησ που υπήρξε στο κεντρικÞ ηλεκτρονικÞ σύστηµα του Συνεργατισµού το Þποιο κατέστησε αδύνατη τη διεκπεραίωση συναλλαγών. Η βλάβη Þπωσ ανέφερε ο έφοροσ Συνεργατικήσ Ανάπτυξησ Κωνσταντίνοσ Λύρασ αποκαταστήθηκε γύρω στισ 11.30 το πρωί τησ ίδιασ µέρασ. Ο κ. Λύρασ τÞνισε Þτι η βλάβη οφείλεται σε υπερφÞρτωση του συστήµατοσ καθώσ το τελευταίο διάστηµα ο ΣυνεργατισµÞσ αύξησε σηµαντικά το πελατολÞγιÞ του. Ανέφερε χαρακτηριστικά Þτι απÞ το 33% µερίδιο αγοράσ που είχαν στισ καταθέσεισ Κυπρίων, έχουν σήµερα ποσοστÞ άνω του 40%. "Βλέπω αυτή η ανοδική τάση να συνεχίζεται και τουσ επÞµενουσ µήνεσ και γι’ αυτÞ παίρνουµε τα αναγκαία µέτρα για να αποφευχθούν παρÞµοιεσ καταστάσεισ", κατέληξε ο κ. Λύρασ.

4 ΙΟΥΛΙΟΥ, 2012

ΧΡΗΜΑ&ΑΓΟΡΑ

ΕΙ∆ΗΣΕΙΣ | 3/15

¢ÈηÛÙ‹ÚÈÔ Â›Ï˘Û˘ ‰È·ÊÔÚÒÓ ·ÎÈÓ‹ÙˆÓ ∞¡∆ø¡∏™ §√π∑√À ∞ÓÙÒÓ˘ §Ô›˙Ô˘ F.R.I.C.S. & ™˘ÓÂÚÁ¿Ù˜ §Ù‰, ∂ÎÙÈÌËÙ¤˜ ∞ÎÈÓ‹ÙˆÓ & ¢È·¯ÂÈÚÈÛÙ¤˜ ŒÚÁˆÓ ∞Ó¿Ù˘Í˘

Σε µια συνεχή εξελισσÞµενη οικονοµία ορισµένα θέµατα στην Κύπρο παραµένουν στάσιµα. Έχουµε καλούσ νÞµουσ που αντιγράψαµε απÞ το ΒρετανικÞ δίκαιο στισ πλείστεσ των περιπτώσεων και έχουµε υιοθετήσει τον νÞµο περί απαλλοτριώσεων απÞ το 1960. Έκτοτε Þµωσ και ενώ το ΒρετανικÞ δίκαιο έχει εξελιχθεί ποικιλοτρÞπωσ, εµείσ, ωσ Κύπροσ, Þσον αφορά τουλάχιστον το θέµα των διαφορών σε ακίνητα, παραµένουµε εκεί που ήµαστε πριν 43 χρÞνια. Ùπωσ έχουν εξελιχθεί τα δικαστήρια εργατικών διαφορών και εκείνο του ενοικιοστασίου, θέµατα που άπτονται απαλλοτριώσεων και διαφορέσ εργολάβων, θέµατα πολεοδοµικών ζωνών νατούρα, αρχαιολογικών χώρων, διαφοροποίησησ ζωνών και τÞσα άλλα, καταλήγουν στα συνηθισµένα δικαστήρια, Þπου ο ∆ικαστήσ Þσο ευφάνταστοσ και εάν είναι, έχει τεράστια δυσκολία να αντιληφθεί το θέµα και µετά αφού ακούσει τισ διιστάµενεσ απÞψεισ να πάρει µια απÞφαση. Χωρίσ επιθεώρηση του επίδικου κτήµατοσ, ο δικαστήσ παραµένει έρµαιο των εντυπώσεων και πειστικÞτητασ των µαρτύρων και µεταξύ χιλίων-δύο αντιφάσεων, προσπαθεί να εκδώσει µια δίκαιη απÞφαση. Εισηγηθήκαµε κατ’ επανάληψη την δηµι-

ουργία ενÞσ εξειδικευµένου δικαστηρίου για τα ακίνητα βάσει του Βρετανικού προτύπου (Lands Tribunal). Ùταν αντιληφθούµε τι διακυβεύονται στισ πλείστεσ των αποφάσεων στα θέµατα ακινήτων (ίδε δρÞµο ΠάφουΠÞλησ µε κÞστοσ απαλλοτριώσεων γύρω στο 1 δισ ευρώ και για τισ διάφορεσ αποφάσεισ Nατούρα, Ακάµα κλπ) οι αποφάσεισ αυτέσ επιβαρύνουν Κράτοσ και ιδιοκτήτεσ πολλαπλάσιου κÞστουσ σε σχέση µε τισ υπÞλοιπεσ υποθέσεισ για αποζηµιώσεισ. Για τον λÞγο αυτÞ εισηγούµαστε Þπωσ: - ∆ηµιουργηθούν 3-4 δικαστήρια επί του θέµατοσ απÞ υφιστάµενουσ δικαστέσ ωσ πρÞεδροι. Το παράδειγµα Πική (πρώην ΠρÞεδροσ του Ανώτατου) είναι παράδειγµα προσ µίµηση που ξεκαθάρισε τισ εκατοντάδεσ υποθέσεισ του ενοικιοστασίου προ 30 ετών.

- Ο κάθε ∆ικαστήσ θα πρέπει να πλαισιώνεται πλέον Þχι απÞ εκπροσώπουσ του Κτηµατολογίου, ΚΕΒΕ κλπ, αλλά απÞ δύο αναγνωρισµένουσ εκτιµητέσ/επιµετρητέσ ποσοτήτων µε συµβουλευτικÞ µεν ρÞλο, αλλά και ουσιαστικÞ, Þχι Þπωσ είναι τώρα Þπου π.χ. στο ενοικιοστάσιο µε διάφορουσ ηλικιωµένουσ χωρίσ κανένα ενδιαφέρον και γνώση (δεν φταίνε ασφαλώσ οι ίδιοι).

- Για τον λÞγο αυτÞ οι 5-6 εξειδικευµένοι σύµβουλοι σίγουρα κάτω τησ ηλικίασ των 70 ετών και µε επαρκείσ γνώσεισ και ντÞπιεσ εµπειρίεσ, να είναι επί πληρωµή, ανά υπÞθεση/ακρÞαση, έτσι για να υπάρχει και το κίνητρο έστω µε ένα µισθÞ 1.000 ευρώ µηνιαίωσ. Το κÞστοσ αυτÞ των έστω 1.000 ευρώ το µήνα θα εξοικονοµηθεί τουλάχιστον επί 50, τÞσο απÞ πλευράσ ταχύτητασ εκδίκασησ

υποθέσεων, Þσο και τησ «δίκαιησ» απÞφασησ.

- Ο ∆ικαστήσ θα πρέπει να έχει καλÞ λÞγο γατί να διαφωνεί µε τουσ συµβούλουσ – ίδε παράδειγµα αποθηκών Θεοδοσίου στην ΛεµεσÞ, κτήµα επί τησ παραλίασ Þπου ο ∆ικαστήσ αποφάσισε Þτι δεν ήταν επί τησ παραλίασ, διÞτι παρεµβάλλεται (Þπωσ Þλεσ οι παραλίεσ τησ Κύπρου) λωρίδα απÞ χαλίτικο. Αποτέλεσµα απÞ τισ 250.000 λίρεσ αποζηµίωση, το Ε∆Α∆ ζήτησε επανεκδίκαση µε νέο τώρα αιτούµενο ποσÞ 30 εκ. ευρώ!!

- ∆ιαφορέσ Κυβέρνησησ/εργολάβων και ιδιωτών, µακροχρÞνιεσ δίκεσ και αυτέσ χωρίσ ξεκάθαρεσ αποφάσεισ. Στισ περιπτώσεισ αυτέσ η χρήση δύο ανεξάρτητων επιµετρητών ποσοτήτων που θα πλαισιώνουν τον ∆ικαστή, είναι αναγκαίεσ. ΚοστολÞγια που υποβάλλονται απÞ τουσ διαδίκουσ, πωσ θα αποφασίσει ένασ δικαστήσ ξένοσ επί τέτοιων θεµάτων; - Τα εξειδικευµένα δικαστήρια αυτά θα πρέπει να έχουν καθορισµένεσ κλίµακεσ χρεώσεων των δικηγÞρων/εκτιµητών/επιµετρητών/πολεοδÞµων κλπ και να µην είναι ωσ είναι σήµερα ανεξέλεγκτα – ίδε υπÞθεση «ΜητρÞπολησ Λ.» Þπου ο δικηγÞροσ ζήτησε δικαιώµατα 150.000 ευρώ, χωρίσ να γίνει ούτε µια ακρÞαση!! Τα έξοδα θα πρέπει να καταµερίζονται

ανάλογα µε την απÞφαση. Έτσι εάν ο αιτητήσ ζητά 10 ευρώ και η απÞφαση είναι 3 ευρώ, τÞτε ο αιτητήσ θα πρέπει να καλύψει το κÞστοσ του 7/10. Ωσ έχουν σήµερα τα δεδοµένα και άνευ κÞστουσ προσ τουσ αιτητέσ, ανεξάρτητα εάν κερδίσει ή Þχι, τα δικαιώµατα τουσ καθορίζονται απÞ την ∆ηµοκρατία ή ανάλογα πωσ θα αποφασίσει το Πρωτοκολλητήσ. Και τι ξέρει ο πρωτοκολλητήσ εάν ο Α και ο Β λέει ανοησίεσ και άρα το κÞστοσ κατανέµεται βάσει ποιασ βάσησ; - Οι ειδικοί µάρτυρεσ επί του θέµατοσ εάν προσπαθήσουν να παραπλανήσουν τον δικαστή, θα πρέπει να καταβάλουν σχετική αποζηµίωση προσ το ∆ικαστήριο για χάσιµο του χρÞνου του και ίσωσ-ίσωσ καταγγελία προσ τα τεχνικά σωµατεία (ΕΤΕΚ), συνδέσµουσ και απÞλυση απÞ τισ τάξεισ των ειδικών αυτών δικαστηρίων. ΄Ετσι ο κάθε µάρτυρασ θα φέρει πλέον και προσωπική ευθύνη και Þχι ωσ έχει σήµερα. Κλπ κλπ Θεωρίεσ; ∆εν νοµίζουµε. Πριν απÞ 5 χρÞνια εισηγηθήκαµε στον τÞτε ΠρÞεδρο του Ανωτάτου ∆ικαστηρίου το θέµα, ο οποίοσ µασ πληροφÞρησε Þτι είναι πολύ καλÞ µέτρο. Το ίδιο µε τον τÞτε πρÞεδρο του ∆ικηγορικού Συνδέσµου και το ΚτηµατολÞγιο. Έκτοτε τίποτα.

4 ΙΟΥΛΙΟΥ, 2012

ΧΡΗΜΑ&ΑΓΟΡΑ

4/16 | ΚΥΠΡΙΑΚΗ ΠΡΟΕ∆ΡΙΑ

∏ ΢Úȷ΋ ÚÔ‰ڛ· Ù˘ ∂.∂ ı· Ú¤ÂÈ Ó· «ÎÏ›ÛÂÈ» ÛÙfiÌ·Ù·

∏ ¤ÓÙ·ÍË Ù˘ ∫‡ÚÔ˘ ÛÙËÓ ∂˘Úˆ·˚΋ ŒÓˆÛË ÙËÓ 1Ë ª·˝Ô˘ 2004 ·ÔÙÂÏ› ·Ó·ÌÊ›‚ÔÏ· ÙÔÓ ÈÔ ÛËÌ·ÓÙÈÎfi ÛÙ·ıÌfi ÛÙË Û‡Á¯ÚÔÓË ÈÛÙÔÚ›· Ù˘ ∫˘Úȷ΋˜ ¢ËÌÔÎÚ·Ù›·˜, ˆÛÙfiÛÔ ÂÓÓ¤· ¯ÚfiÓÈ· ÌÂÙ¿, Ë ·Ó¿ÏË„Ë Ù˘ ¶ÚÔ‰ڛ·˜ ÙÔ˘ ™˘Ì‚Ô˘Ï›Ô˘ Ù˘ ∂∂ ÙËÓ 1Ë πÔ˘Ï›Ô˘ 2012 ·ÔÙÂÏ› ¤Ó· ·ÎfiÌË ÛËÌ·ÓÙÈÎfi Î·È ÈÛÙÔÚÈÎfi ÛÙ·ıÌfi, ·ÏÏ¿ Û˘Ó¿Ì· Î·È ¤Ó· ÙÂÚ¿ÛÙÈÔ ÛÙÔ›¯ËÌ· ÙÔ ÔÔ›Ô ı· Ú¤ÂÈ Ó· ÎÂÚ‰›ÛÂÈ Ουσιαστικά θα πρέπει να «κλείσει» τα στÞµατα των επικριτών τησ, δηλαδή πολιτικών που υποστήριξαν Þτι δεν πρέπει να επιτραπεί στην Κυπριακή ∆ηµοκρατία να ασκήσει την προεδρία του Συµβουλίου τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Ένωσησ, λÞγω τησ προσφυγήσ τησ στον ευρωπαϊκÞ µηχανισµÞ στήριξησ, ενώ την ίδια ώρα θα πρέπει να έχει «τα µάτια τησ ανοικτά» γιατί ήδη η Τουρκία προσπαθεί να δηµιουργήσει καταστάσεισ που θα µπορούσαν να αποπροσανατολίσουν ή να υποσκάψουν την Κυπριακή Προεδρία του Συµβουλίου τησ Ε.Ε.

∆∂™™∂ƒπ™ µ∞™π∫∂™ ¶ƒ√∆∂ƒ∞π√∆∏∆∂™ Στο εξάµηνο που ακολουθεί λοιπÞν, η Κύπροσ θεωρώντασ Þτι η ΕΕ χρειάζεται να αντεπεξέλθει πιο δυνατή απÞ την τρέχουσα οικονοµική κρίση και να ενισχύσει τη θέση τησ στη διεθνή σκηνή, η Κυπριακή Προεδρία υπÞσχεται να εργαστεί Προσ Μια Καλύτερη Ευρώπη και έχει θέσει τέσσερισ προτεραιÞτητεσ στο εξάµηνο που έρχεται. Οι τέσσερισ βασικέσ τησ προτεραιÞτητεσ περιλαµβάνουν µια Ευρώπη, πιο αποτελεσµατική και βιώσιµη, µια Ευρώπη, µε πιο αποδοτική οικονοµία, βασισµένη στην ανάπτυξη, µια Ευρώπη, που να σηµαίνει περισσÞτερα για τουσ πολίτεσ τησ, µε αλληλεγγύη και κοινωνική συνοχή και µια Ευρώπη στον κÞσµο και πιο κοντά στουσ γείτονεσ τησ. ΒΙΩΣΙΜΗ ΕΥΡΩΠΗ: ΕΥΡΩΠΗ Ο πρώτοσ άξονασ προτεραιÞτητασ που αφορά την πιο αποτελεσµατική και βιώσιµη Ευρώπη, η Κυπριακή Προεδρία έχει θέσει ωσ στÞχο την προώθηση αποτελεσµατικών πολιτικών που θα οδηγήσουν σε πιο αποδοτική διακυβέρνηση, αντιµετωπίζοντασ την αβεβαιÞτητα και την αστάθεια που προκλήθηκε απÞ την κρίση. Για την Κυπριακή Προεδρία, οι διαπραγµατεύσεισ του Πολυετούσ ∆ηµοσιονοµικού Πλαισίου για την περίοδο 2014 - 2020 θα αποτελέσουν την κύρια προτεραιÞτητά τησ. Η Προεδρία θα εργαστεί προσ την ολοκλήρωση των διαπραγµατεύσεων και τη δηµιουργία ενÞσ δίκαιου και αποδοτικού προϋπολογισµού, που να στηρίζει την ανάπτυξη και να

ενισχύει τισ ευκαιρίεσ απασχÞλησησ. Εµφαση θα δοθεί στην ποιÞτητα των δαπανών, ώστε οι πολιτικέσ και τα προγράµµατα που θα χρηµατοδοτηθούν στα πλαίσια του νέου Πολυετούσ ∆ηµοσιονοµικού Πλαισίου να είναι πολιτικέσ µε πραγµατική ευρωπαϊκή προστιθέµενη αξία. Επίσησ, θα προσπαθήσει να πετύχει Þσο το δυνατÞ περισσÞτερη πρÞοδο στισ διαπραγµατεύσεισ του νοµοθετικού πλαισίου αναφορικά µε τισ κοινέσ πολιτικέσ καθώσ και των χρηµατοδοτικών προγραµµάτων για τισ τοµεακέσ πολιτικέσ. Εµφαση θα δώσει και στην ενεργειακή πολιτική, τα ∆ιευρωπαϊκά ∆ίκτυα Μεταφορών, Τηλεπικοινωνιών και Ενέργειασ, τη ∆ιευκÞλυνση «Συνδέοντασ την Ευρώπη», την αειφÞρο ανάπτυξη. Στα πλαίσια τησ στρατηγικήσ Ευρώπη 2020, θα προωθηθεί η ποιοτική πράσινη ανάπτυξη, χωρίσ αποκλεισµούσ, µέσω τησ βιώσιµησ διαχείρισησ των πÞρων και ειδικÞτερα του νερού. Για την Κυπριακή Προεδρία είναι σηµαντικÞ Þπωσ οι πολιτικέσ για την κλιµατική αλλαγή, το περιβάλλον και την ενέργεια να εφαρµÞζονται µε ολοκληρωµένο τρÞπο. ΕπιπρÞσθετα, η Κυπριακή Προεδρία προσβλέπει στην επανενεργοποίηση τησ Ολοκληρωµένησ Θαλάσσιασ Πολιτικήσ, η οποία θα αντιµετωπίσει τισ σχετικέσ προκλήσεισ µε αποδοτικÞ και βιώσιµο τρÞπο.

AΠΟ∆Ο ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΑ: Ο δεύτεροσ άξονασ προτεραιÞAΠΟ∆ΟΤΙΚΗ ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΑ τητασ αναφέρεται σε µια «Ευρώπη, µε πιο αποδοτική οικονοµία, βασισµένη στην ανάπτυξη». Θέση τησ Κυπριακήσ Προεδρίασ είναι Þτι η οικονοµική κρίση ανάδειξε την ανάγκη για περισσÞτερη αποτελεσµατικÞτητα των πολιτικών και των µέτρων τησ Ένωσησ. Η προσέγγιση που χρειάζεται για ανάκαµψη των ευρωπαϊκών οικονοµιών πρέπει να περιλαµβάνει τÞσο µέτρα δηµοσιονοµικήσ εξυγίανσησ, Þσο και µέτρα για βιώσιµη, οικονοµική ανάπτυξη, σύµφωνα µε την Κυπριακή Προεδρία. Η Κύπροσ θα επιδιώξει να εργαστεί για ένα νέο ενισχυµένο πλαίσιο οικονοµικήσ διακυβέρνησησ και να ενισχύσει τη δηµοσιονοµική εποπτεία, ώστε να διασφαλιστεί η δηµοσιονοµική σταθερÞτητα.

Παράλληλα, αφού η ΕΕ χρειάζεται να ανακάµψει απÞ την κρίση και να τονώσει την ανάπτυξη, η Προεδρία τησ Κύπρου θεωρεί Þτι η παρακολούθηση τησ εφαρµογήσ τησ Στρατηγικήσ Ευρώπη 2020 είναι εξίσου σηµαντική. Υψιστησ σηµασίασ θεωρείται η ενίσχυση του κανονιστικού πλαισίου των χρηµατοπιστωτικών υπηρεσιών, µέσω τησ εφαρµογήσ µέτρων για περισσÞτερη διαφάνεια στην αγορά, προστασία των καταναλωτών και των επενδυτών και αποτελεσµατικήσ διαχείρισησ των χρηµατοπιστωτικών κρίσεων. ΕπιπρÞσθετα, µε την ευκαιρία τησ 20ησ επετείου τησ Ενιαίασ Αγοράσ, η Προεδρία θα προωθήσει την εµβάθυνση τησ εσωτερικήσ αγοράσ, µέσω τησ προώθησησ σχετικών πρωτοβουλιών µε έµφαση στο ρÞλο των Μικροµεσαίων Επιχειρήσεων. Η Προεδρία θα προωθήσει, επίσησ, µια αποτελεσµατική ενιαία ψηφιακή αγορά, στα πλαίσια του Ψηφιακού Θεµατολογίου για την Ευρώπη. ΝΕΑΝΙΚΗ ΑΠΑΣΧΟΛΗΣΗ ΑΠΑΣΧΟΛΗΣΗ: Σε Þ,τι αφορά στον τρίτο άξονα προτεραιÞτητασ η Κυπριακή Προεδρία επιδιώκει να φέρει την Ευρώπη πιο κοντά στουσ πολίτεσ τησ, δίνοντασ έµφαση στη νεανική απασχÞληση, ενÞψει και των ανοδικών δεικτών ανεργίασ στουσ νέουσ στην Ενωση. ΕπιπρÞσθετα, ένασ απÞ τουσ κύριουσ στÞχουσ τησ Προεδρίασ θα είναι η δηµιουργία του Κοινού Ευρωπαϊκού Συστήµατοσ Ασύλου µέχρι το τέλοσ του 2012, µε την ενίσχυση τησ συνεργασίασ των κρατών µελών για την προστασία των δικαιωµάτων Þσων έχουν ανάγκη διεθνούσ προστασίασ. Η Προεδρία θα διαχειριστεί θέµατα που σχετίζονται µε το ΕυρωπαϊκÞ Έτοσ Ενεργήσ Γήρανσησ και Αλληλεγγύησ µεταξύ των Γενεών και θέµατα σχετικά µε την υγεία και την ευηµερία των παιδιών, Þπωσ η πρÞληψη των ασθενειών, η προώθηση υγιούσ τρÞπου ζωήσ, καθώσ και η πρÞληψη και καταπολέµηση τησ παιδικήσ φτώχειασ. Ιδιαίτερη βαρύτητα θα δοθεί και σε θέµατα παιδείασ και πολιτισµού, Þπωσ η προώθηση του αλφαβητισµού και η παροχή πιο ποιοτικήσ παιδείασ και εκπαίδευσησ, ώστε να ικανοποιούνται οι ανάγκεσ τησ αγοράσ εργασίασ.

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Η Προεδρία θα δώσει έµφαση στην περαιτέρω συµµετοχή και εµπλοκή των κοινωνικών εταίρων, των ΜΚΟ και των τοπικών διοικήσεων για τον καθορισµÞ και την εφαρµογή τησ στρατηγικήσ Ευρώπη 2020. Επιπλέον, το νέο νοµικÞ πλαίσιο για την προστασία των προσωπικών δεδοµένων είναι ακÞµα µια προτεραιÞτητα τησ Κυπριακήσ Προεδρίασ.

KONTA ONTA ΣΤΟ ΣΤΟΥΣ ΓΕΙΤΟΝΕΣ ΓΕΙΤΟΝΕΣ: Ο τέταρτοσ άξονασ τησ Προεδρίασ αφορά την «Ευρώπη στον κÞσµο και πιο κοντά στουσ γείτονεσ τησ» και η Κυπριακή Προεδρία θα έχει στενή συνεργασία µε την Ύπατη ΕκπρÞσωπο τησ Ένωσησ για θέµατα Εξωτερικήσ Πολιτικήσ και Πολιτικήσ Ασφάλειασ και την Ευρωπαϊκή Υπηρεσία Εξωτερικήσ ∆ράσησ, που έχουν την ευθύνη για τα θέµατα εξωτερικήσ πολιτικήσ και ασφάλειασ, ώστε να διασφαλιστεί συνεκτικÞτητα και συνοχή. Ιδιαίτερη βαρύτητα θα δοθεί στη νÞτια διάσταση τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Πολιτικήσ Γειτνίασησ, ώστε να ενισχυθούν οι σχέσεισ µε τουσ µεσογειακούσ εταίρουσ, διασφαλίζοντασ τον πλουραλισµÞ και µια πολύπλευρη σχέση, ώστε να προωθηθούν πολλαπλά κανάλια επικοινωνίασ σε Þλουσ τουσ τοµείσ τησ κοινωνίασ. Η Προεδρία θα προωθήσει επίσησ Þλεσ τισ διαδικασίεσ για τη διεύρυνση, καθώσ ιδιαίτερη σηµασία θα δοθεί στην ενίσχυση τησ επισιτιστικήσ ασφάλειασ, αποσκοπώντασ να δοθεί έµφαση στουσ αναπτυξιακούσ στÞχουσ τησ ΕΕ, διασφαλίζοντασ πρÞοδο στισ δεσµεύσεισ για την αναπτυξιακή συνεργασία τησ Ένωσησ.

¶ÔÏ˘ÂÙ¤˜ ¢ËÌÔÛÈÔÓÔÌÈÎfi ¶Ï·›ÛÈÔ Μπορεί η Κύπροσ να αναλαµβάνει για πρώτη φορά την Προεδρία του Συµβουλίου τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Ένωσησ, ωστÞσο τα θέµατα που θα βρεθούν στην ατζέντα το επÞµενο εξάµηνο είναι αρκετά και δύσκολα. Το ζήτηµα του Πολυετούσ ∆ηµοσιονοµικού Πλαισίου (Π∆Π) είναι το πρώτο σε προτεραιÞτητα θέµα για τον ΥφυπουργÞ Προεδρίασ για Ευρωπαϊκά Θέµατα τησ Κύπρου, κ. Ανδρέα Μαυρογιάννη.

Η Κύπροσ ανέλαβε την προεδρία τησ Ε.Ε την 1η Ιουλίου, για έξι µήνεσ µέχρι τισ 31 ∆εκεµβρίου Τον ∆εκέµβριο του 2012 Þλοι οι αρχηγοί (ανάµεσά τουσ και η κυρία Αγκελα Μέρκελ και Φρανσουά Ολάντ) θα βρίσκονται στη Λευκωσία Το κÞστοσ τησ προεδρίασ, και ο προϋπολογισµÞσ τησ είναι 61,7 εκ. ευρώ για την περίοδο 2011-2013, εκ των οποίων τα 28 εκ. ευρώ αποτελούν δαπάνεσ για την ανακαίνιση του Συνεδριακού Κέντρου «Φιλοξενία» και τη δηµιουργία κέντρου τύπου.

Σύµφωνα µε τον κ. Μαυρογιάννη το Π∆Π τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Ένωσησ είναι το µεγαλύτερο ζήτηµα που θα κληθούµε να διαχειριστούµε σε αυτούσ τουσ έξι µήνεσ ωσ Κυπριακή Προεδρία, στο ρÞλο του έντιµου µεσολαβητή. ∆εν αποτελεί απλά ένα προϋπολογισµÞ, αλλά είναι το κατ’ εξοχήν εργαλείο για την οικοδÞµηση του µέλλοντοσ τησ Ένωσησ. Μέσω αυτού θα επιδιώξουµε την προώθηση και επιτάχυνση τησ οικονοµικήσ ανάπτυξησ, τησ δηµιουργίασ θέσεων εργασίασ και την αύξηση τησ ανταγωνιστικÞτητασ, σε αλληλέγγυο και δίκαιο πνεύµα, συµβάλλοντασ στην κοιΤο Π∆Π µεταφράζει σε οικονοµικούσ νωνική συνοχή. Þρουσ τισ πολιτικέσ προτεραιÞτητεσ τησ Ένωσησ, θέτοντασ το ταβάνι των δαπανών στισ κύριεσ κατηγορίεσ εξÞδων. Με αυτÞ τον τρÞπο, θέτει τα θεµέλια για το σχηµατισµÞ των ετήσιων προϋπολογισµών, διασφαλίζοντασ ταυτÞχρονα την επίτευξη των προτεραιοτήτων για το καλÞ τησ Ευρώπησ. Παίρνοντασ ωσ δεδοµένο Þτι χρειάζονται 12-18 µήνεσ για συµφωνία στη νοµική βάση των πολυετών προγραµµάτων που χρηµατοδοτούνται απÞ το Π∆Π, ιδανικά η πολιτική συµφωνία θα επιτευχθεί κατά τη διάρκεια τησ Κυπριακήσ Προεδρίασ, στα τέλη του 2012. «Φιλοδοξία µασ είναι να καταλήξουµε σε πολιτική συµφωνία κατά τη διάρκεια τησ Προεδρίασ µασ», ανέφερε ο κ. Μαυρογιάννησ.

Η επίσηµη ιστοσελίδα τησ Κυπριακήσ Προεδρίασ τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Ένωσησ cy2012.eu, θα αποτελεί την κύρια πηγή ενηµέρωσησ και βασικÞ µέσο επικοινωνίασ για τα θέµατα τησ Προεδρίασ Ένα απÞ τα παλαιÞτερα µέλη τησ ΕΕ, το Βέλγιο ανέλαβε 12 φορέσ την προεδρία. Η Ελλάδα ανέλαβε 4 φορέσ. Έχει παρατηρηθεί Þτι µικρέσ χώρεσ τησ Ευρώπησ, Þπωσ το Λουξεµβούργο, το Βέλγιο, λÞγω ακριβώσ τησ ουδετερÞτητάσ τουσ έκαναν τισ πιο πετυχηµένεσ προεδρίεσ.

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ªË¯·ÓÈÛÌfi˜: ··Ú¯‹ Ó¤Ô˘ ÔÈÎÔÓÔÌÈÎÔ‡ ı·‡Ì·ÙÔ˜; ¢ƒ. £∂√¢øƒ√™ ¶∞¡∞°πø∆√À ¢È¢ı˘ÓÙ‹˜ ÙÔ CIIM, Î·È ∫·ıËÁËÙ‹˜ √ÈÎÔÓÔÌÈÎÒÓ ÛÙÔ ¶·ÓÂÈÛÙ‹ÌÈÔ Ã¿Ú‚·ÚÓÙ. ∆ÈÌ‹ıËΠÁÈ· ÙËÓ ÚÔÛÊÔÚ¿ ÛÙÔ ¤ÚÁÔ Ù˘ IPCC Ô˘ ΤډÈÛ ÙÔ ‚Ú·‚Â›Ô ¡fiÌÂÏ ∂ÈÚ‹Ó˘ ÙÔ 2007 Είναι λυπηρÞ που χάνουµε µέροσ τησ κυριαρχίασ µασ στην ΤρÞικα, ενώ αναλαµβάνουµε την Προεδρία τησ Ευρωπαϊκήσ Ένωσησ. Σαν να µην έφτανε η απώλεια τησ µισήσ Κύπρου λÞγω βλακείασ µασ, τώρα χάνουµε και την οικονοµική µασ κυριαρχία επί του υπολοίπου λÞγω τησ ολιγωρίασ να πάρουµε µέτρα να θωρακίσουµε την οικονοµία µασ απÞ την Σκύλλα τησ διεθνούσ οικονοµικήσ κρίσησ και την Χάρυβδη των δικών µασ στρεβλώσεων. Ùµωσ, αν συνεργαστούµε µε το αναπÞφευκτο, την ανάγκη φιλοτιµία ποιούµενοι, µπορούµε να µετατρέψουµε την προσφυγή στον ΜηχανισµÞ σε απαρχή ενÞσ νέου οικονοµικού θαύµατοσ. Η ΤρÞικα δεν έρχεται για να µασ τιµωρήσει. Ùταν προσφεύγουµε στον γιατρÞ για να µασ θεραπεύσει δεν ανησυχούµε Þτι θα µασ τιµωρήσει για τισ καταχρήσεισ µασ, αλλά αυτÞ δεν σηµαίνει Þτι η θεραπευτική αγωγή που θα µασ καθορίσει ο γιατρÞσ δεν θα µασ πονέσει. Είµαστε Þµωσ έτοιµοι να υποστούµε τον πÞνο, γιατί προσβλέπουµε στην καλυτέρευση τησ υγείασ µασ την αποφυγή των χειρÞτερων. Το ίδιο και µε τον µηχανισµÞ στήριξησ: βραχυπρÞθεσµα (τον πρώτο χρÞνο) θα πονέσουµε, αλλά µεσοπρÞθεσµα (σε 12 χρÞνια) θα ανακάµψουµε και µακροπρÞθεσµα θα επανέλθουµε στη ανάπτυξη. Μάλιστα αν συνεργαστούµε µε τουσ Ευρωπαίουσ εταίρουσ µασ και εφαρµÞσουµε τουσ Þρουσ, Þχι απλώσ στο γράµµα, αλλά και στο πνεύµα και στην ουσία, έχουµε την ευκαιρία να επιτελέσουµε ένα νέο οικονοµικÞ θαύµα, ανάλογο µε εκείνο που πετύχαµε µετά την εισβολή. ∆εν πρέπει να φοβούµαστε Þτι θα µασ επιβληθούν τα επαχθή µέτρα λιτÞτητασ που υπεβλήθηκαν στην Ελλάδα και επιδείνωσαν την ύφεση. Πρώτα απ’ Þλα, η οικονοµία µασ δεν είναι στην άθλια κατάσταση που ήταν η οικονοµία τησ Ελλάδασ. ∆εύτερο, η ΤρÞικα έµαθε το µάθηµα τησ απÞ τα λάθη που έκανε την περίπτωση τησ Ελλάδασ µε την ακραία λιτÞτητα, τα ασφυκτικά χρονοδιαγράµµατα και την απουσία µέτρων ανάκτησησ τησ ανταγωνιστικÞτητασ και ανάπτυξησ.Τρίτο οι ισορροπίεσ δυνάµεων στην Ευρωζώνη έχουν αλλάξει απÞ την αποκλειστική έµφαση σε µέτρα δηµοσιονοµικήσ εξυγίανσησ τησ Μέρκελ στον συνδυασµÞ µέτρων εξυγίανσησ και µέτρων ανά-

µ·ÛÈΤ˜ ÙÚ·Â˙ÈΤ˜ ˘ËÚÂۛ˜ ÁÈ· fiÏÔ˘˜ Το 10% των πολιτών τησ ΕΕ στερείται του δικαιώµατοσ κατοχήσ τραπεζικού λογαριασµού που θα εξυπηρετεί τισ καθηµερινέσ συναλλαγέσ. Στο ποσοστÞ αυτÞ συµπεριλαµβάνονται άστεγοι, άτοµα µε πολύ χαµηλά εισοδήµατα, φοιτητέσ, άτοµα που δεν έχουν πιστωτικÞ αρχείο και οµογενείσ εργαζÞµενοι. Με το ψήφισµα που θα θέσουν προσ ψήφιση σήµερα Τετάρτη, οι ευρωβουλευτέσ θα ζητήσουν απÞ την Επιτροπή να καταρτίσει νοµοθεσία µέχρι τον Ιανουάριο του 2013 ώστε να αντιµετωπιστεί αυτÞσ ο “χρηµατοπιστωτικÞσ αποκλεισµÞσ”. Με περίπου 30 εκατοµµύρια άτοµα χωρίσ τραπεζικÞ λογαριασµÞ στην ΕΕ, οι ευρωβουλευτέσ θέλουν πρÞσβαση σε εγγυηµένεσ βασικέσ τραπεζικέσ υπηρεσίεσ για καταπολέµηση τησ φτώχειασ και του αποκλεισµού.

€200.000 ÚfiÛÙÈÌÔ ÛÙÔ˘˜ ·Ú¿ÓÔÌÔ˘˜ ÂÏÂÁÎÙ¤˜ ΑυστηρÞτερεσ γίνονται οι ποινέσ σε περίπτωση άσκησησ του ελεγκτικού επαγγέλµατοσ χωρίσ άδεια, σύµφωνα µε νοµοσχέδιο που κατάθεσε η κυβέρνηση στη βουλή. Οι χρηµατικέσ ποινέσ απÞ 20,000 ευρώ αυξάνονται σε 200,000 ευρώ µε στÞχο τον περιορισµÞ των περιστατικών παράνοµησ άσκησησ του ελεγκτικού επαγγέλµατοσ. Με το νοµοσχέδιο, µε το οποίο τροποποιείται ο βασικÞσ νÞµοσ, µεταφέρεται η αρµοδιÞτητα χορήγησησ άδειασ υποχρεωτικών ελέγχων σε ελεγκτικά γραφεία απÞ τον υπουργÞ Εµπορίου στον υπουργÞ Οικονοµικών, λÞγω τησ συνάφειασ των θεµάτων ελέγχου και τησ εποπτείασ των ελεγκτών.

πτυξησ του Ολάντ. Για την Κύπρο δεν πρέπει να µιλούµε για µέτρα λιτÞτητασ αλλά για µέτρα διÞρθωσησ: µέτρα διÞρθωσησ των διαρθρωτικών στρεβλώσεων και µέτρα διÞρθωσησ τησ φθίνουσασ ανταγωνιστικÞτητασ τησ οικονοµίασ µασ. Γιατί πίσω απÞ την ανάγκη ανακεφαλαιοποίησησ των τραπεζών είναι η απερίσκεπτη επένδυση, ο αδιάκριτοσ δανεισµÞσ, η λανθασµένη αξιολÞγηση και διαχείριση κινδύνων, ο γιγαντισµÞσ και η αντιγραφή των προνοµίων του δηµÞσιου τοµέα. Γιατί πίσω απÞ τα δηµοσιονοµικά ελλείµµατα είναι οι συνεχώσ αυξανÞµενεσ δαπάνεσ του υπεράριθµου και σπάταλου δηµÞσιου τοµέα και τα συρρικνωµένα φορολογικά έσοδα του κράτουσ λÞγω τησ ύφεσησ που είναι απÞτοκη τησ διεθνούσ οικονοµικήσ κρίσησ και τησ συνεχούσ µείωσησ τησ ανταγωνιστικÞτητασ τησ οικονοµίασ µασ. Η γραφειοκρατία, οι δαιδαλώδεισ διαδικασίεσ, οι αυτÞµατεσ αυξήσεισ και αναπροσαρµογέσ µισθών χωρίσ αύξηση τησ παραγωγικÞτητασ, η δύσκαµπτη αγορά εργασίασ, το πανάκριβο ρεύµα, τα ψηλά επιτÞκια και η µηδενική σχεδÞν καινοτοµία συνθέτουν µια οικονοµία µε ψηλά κÞστη και χαµηλή παραγωγικÞτητα που αδυνατεί να ανταγωνιστεί διεθνώσ και να αναπαράγει ελλείµµατα. Αν ήµασταν εκτÞσ Ευρωζώνησ θα αφήναµε το νÞµισµα µασ να υποτιµηθεί για να ανακτήσουµε την ανταγωνιστικÞτητα µασ. ΕντÞσ Ευρωζώνησ είµαστε προσδεµένοι στο ευρώ που η αξία του προσδιορίζεται απÞ τισ ανταγωνιστικέσ οικονοµίεσ τησ Γερµανίασ και των άλλων βÞρειων οικονοµιών. ΕφÞσον επιµένουµε να µένουµε στην Ευρωζώνη θα πρέπει να γίνουµε ανταγωνιστικοί ή θα πτωχεύσουµε. ∆ηλαδή το πρÞβληµα µασ δεν είναι απλώσ τα ελλείµµατα αλλά οι παράγοντεσ που τα προκαλούν. Ο ΜηχανισµÞσ µε τα εργαλεία του, το ΜνηµÞνιο και την ΤρÞικα, έρχεται να µασ βοηθήσει να διορθώσουµε τα κακώσ έχοντα ανταποκρινÞµενοσ στην δική µασ πρÞσκληση. Μπορεί εµείσ να παρακαλούσαµε να µασ δώσουν το δάνειο των 8-10 δισεκατοµµυρίων χωρίσ να µασ επιβάλουν καθÞλου Þρουσ, Þπωσ Þταν πάµε στο γιατρÞ θα προτιµούσαµε να µασ δώσει ένα φάρµακο να εξαλειφθεί ο πÞνοσ και ν’ αποφύγουµε την εγχείρηση. ΑυτÞ Þµωσ θα ήταν µεγάλο λάθοσ, γιατί απλώσ θα καταπραΰναµε τα συµπτώµατα, ενώ το πρÞβληµα θα συνέχιζε να υποβÞσκει και θα εκδηλωνÞταν αργÞτερα σε πολύ χειρÞτερη µορφή. Οι δανειστέσ µασ θέλοντασ να πάρουν τα λεφτά τουσ πίσω µια µέρα ζητούν ωσ εγγύηση την αναδιάρθρωση τησ οικονοµίασ µασ για να γίνει ανταγωνιστική και αντί να αναπαράγει ελλείµµατα ν’ αρχίσει να παράγει πλεονάσµατα απÞ τα οποία να πληρωθούν τα χρέη µασ. Τι πρέπει να κάνουµε εµείσ; Πρώτα απ’ Þλα να ανοίξουµε τα χαρτιά µασ και να παρουσιάσουµε την πραγµατικÞτητα Þσο

σκληρή κι’ αν είναι. Μ’ αυτÞ θα κερδίσουµε την εµπιστοσύνη τησ ΤρÞικασ και θα ενισχύσουµε τη διαπραγµατευτική µασ θέση, για να αντισταθούµε αποτελεσµατικά σε τυχÞν προσπάθεια αύξησησ του εταιρικού φÞρου. Αυτή θα πρέπει να είναι η µÞνη ιερή αγελάδα γιατί αποτελεί το µÞνο ανταγωνιστικÞ πλεονέκτηµα που µασ απέµεινε. Ùλα τα άλλα θα πρέπει να είναι διαπραγµατεύσιµα εφÞσον συµβάλλουν στην δηµοσιονοµική εξυγίανση. Ùχι µÞνο δεν θα πρέπει να κρύψουµε οτιδήποτε, που άλλωστε θα το βρουν Þπωσ έκαναν και στην Ελλάδα και θα χάσουµε την αξιοπιστία µασ, αλλά θα πρέπει να υπερθεµατίσουµε σε οποιοδήποτε Þρο που αποβλέπει στη διÞρθωση στρεβλώσεων και την ανάκτηση τησ ανταγωνιστικÞτητασ τησ οικονοµίασ µασ. Για παράδειγµα το άνοιγµα των κλειστών επαγγελµάτων, την φιλελευθεροποίηση τησ αγοράσ εργασίασ, την σύνδεση µισθών µε την παραγωγικÞτητα, την απλοποίηση διαδικασιών αδειοδÞτησησ, την αναδιάρθρωση του χρηµατοοικονοµικού µασ συστήµατοσ, και την επένδυση στην επιχειρηµατική καινοτοµία. Έχουµε µια µοναδική ευκαιρία να νοικοκυρέψουµε το σπίτι µασ και να βάλουµε γερέσ βάσεισ για την επίτευξη ενÞσ νέου Κυπριακού οικονοµικού θαύµατοσ. Ασ µη χάσουµε, λοιπÞν, κι’ αυτή την ευκαιρία Þπωσ χάσαµε την ευκαιρία που µασ έδωσε η διεθνήσ οικονοµική κρίση να ξανασκεφτούµε το τυχοδιωκτικÞ µοντέλο ανάπτυξησ τησ τελευταίασ δεκαετίασ («στύλο, στύλο άνεση») που πρώτα µασ έσωσε και ύστερα µασ πρÞδωσε και να το αντικαταστήσουµε µε ένα µοντέλο αειφÞρου ανάπτυξησ βασισµένο στην γνώση, την καινοτοµία και το επιχειρείν.

∂ÓÈ·›Ô Â˘Úˆ·˚Îfi ‰›ψ̷ ¢ÚÂÛÈÙ¯ӛ·˜ Η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση θα µπορεί επιτέλουσ να εφαρµÞσει ένα ενιαίο σύστηµα προστασίασ των ευρεσιτεχνιών, µετά απÞ 30 χρÞνια προσπαθειών, εφÞσον το Ευρωκοινοβούλιο εγκρίνει σήµερα Τετάρτη, 4 Ιουλίου, την άτυπη συµφωνία που επετεύχθη µε το Συµβούλιου το ∆εκέµβριο του 2011. Το νέο σύστηµα θα είναι πολύ φθηνÞτερο και ευκολÞτερο στην εφαρµογή του, και ωσ εκ τούτου, θα είναι και πιο ανταγωνιστικÞ. Με την καθιέρωση του ενιαίου ευρωπαϊκού διπλώµατοσ ευρεσιτεχνίασ θα µειωθεί κατά 80% το κÞστοσ που επιβαρύνει σήµερα τισ επιχειρήσεισ. Σήµερα η διαδικασία απÞκτησησ διπλώµατοσ ευρεσιτεχνίασ είναι πολύπλοκη και δαπανηρή. ΜÞλισ ένα δίπλωµα ευρεσιτεχνίασ εκδοθεί απÞ το ΕυρωπαϊκÞ Γραφείο ∆ιπλωµάτων Ευρεσιτεχνίασ (ΕΓ∆Ε), πρέπει να επικυρωθεί σε κάθε κράτοσ µέλοσ στο οποίο ο εφευρέτησ επιθυµεί να προστατευθεί. ΕκτÞσ απÞ τισ διοικητικέσ διατυπώσεισ, η διαδικασία αυτή συνεπάγεται και σηµαντικά έξοδα για µεταφράσεισ. Έτσι για να προστατεύσει την εφεύρεσή τησ σε Þλη την Ένωση µια επιχείρηση πρέπει να ξοδέψει έωσ και 32.000 ευρώ έναντι 1.850 ευρώ που απαιτούνται κατά µέσο Þρο στισ Ηνωµένεσ Πολιτείεσ.

Με αυτÞ το νέο σύστηµα προστασίασ τησ διανοητικήσ ιδιοκτησίασ κάθε δίπλωµα θα κοστίζει περίπου 680 ευρώ και θα υπάρξει σηµαντική µείωση των εξÞδων κατοχύρωσησ µιασ ευρεσιτεχνίασ. Χάρη στη δηµιουργία ενÞσ περιβάλλοντοσ που θα ευνοεί την καινοτοµία, ουσιώδεσ στοιχείο τησ βιώσιµησ οικονοµικήσ ανάπτυξησ, θα αυξηθεί το ενδιαφέρον επενδυτών και ερευνητών και θα ενισχυθεί η ενιαία αγορά. Οι προτάσεισ τησ Επιτροπήσ προβλέπουν ειδικÞτερα τα παρακάτω µέτρα: - το ενιαίο δίπλωµα ευρεσιτεχνίασ, αµέσωσ µετά την έκδοσή του, θα επικυρώνεται αυτÞµατα στα 25 κράτη µέλη. Συνεπώσ θα αποφεύγονται οι πολύπλοκεσ διοικητικέσ διαδικασίεσ και τα σηµαντικά έξοδα για µεταφράσεισα - οι αιτήσεισ θα µπορούν να υποβάλλονται σε οποιαδήποτε γλώσσα. Θα πρέπει βεβαίωσ να µεταφράζονται σε µια απÞ τισ γλώσσεσ του ΕΓ∆Ε (αγγλικά, γαλλικά ή γερµανικά), αλλά τα έξοδα θα επιστρέφονται στον κάτοχο του διπλώµατοσ ευρεσιτεχνίασα - εν αναµονή ενÞσ συστήµατοσ αυτÞµατησ µετάφρασησ, θα ισχύουν προσωρινά κάποιεσ απαιτήσεισ για πρÞσθετεσ µεταφράσεισ.

Ryanair: 100.000 ÂÈ‚¿Ù˜ ·fi Î·È ÚÔ˜ ¶¿ÊÔ Η Ryanair επ’ ευκαιρίασ τησ εξυπηρέτησησ 100,000 επιβατών που ταξίδεψαν απÞ και προσ την βάση τησ Πάφου απÞ τον περασµένο Απρίλη µέχρι τα µέσα Ιουνίου, πρÞσφερε στο κοινÞ 50 δωρεάν εισιτήρια σε επιλεγµένουσ προορισµούσ στο εξωτερικÞ. Σε εκδήλωση που πραγµατοποιήθηκε στο χώρο του ∆ηµοτικού Μεγάρου Πάφου 50 τυχεροί που έφθασαν πρώτοι στην εκδήλωση και συγκεκριµένα στο προαύλιο του ∆ηµαρχείου Πάφου, ντυµένοι σε Μπλε και Κίτρινο χρώµα κρατώντασ πανÞ και πινακίδεσ µε αναγραφή RYANAIR, κέρδισαν τα εισιτήρια τησ Ryanair για πτήσεισ απÞ Πάφο.

Σε δηλώσεισ τησ η Maria Μachen εκ µέρουσ τησ εταιρίασ Ryanair ανέφερε Þτι πέραν των 40,000 επιβατών είναι επιβάτεσ που ξοδεύουν στον προορισµÞ «high spenders» και υπολογίζεται Þτι η κυπριακή οικονοµία έχει επωφεληθεί µε πέραν των 30 εκ ευρώ. Σε δηλώσεισ του ο ∆ιευθυντήσ τησ Εταιρίασ Τουριστικήσ Ανάπτυξησ και Προβολήσ Περιφέρειασ Πάφου Νάσοσ Χατζηγεωργίου, ανέφερε Þτι η παρουσία τησ Ryanair στην Πάφο παίζει σηµαντικÞ ρÞλο στην ανάκαµψη του τουρισµού και τησ οικονοµίασ τησ Κύπρου γενικÞτερα.

27 IOYNIOY, 2012

ΧΡΗΜΑ&ΑΓΟΡΑ

∆ΙΕΘΝΗ | 7/19

∂ÈÛÙÚÔÊ‹ ·fi ÙÔ Ì¤ÏÏÔÓ Î·È Ë ÔÚ›· ÚÔ˜ ·˘Ùfi Καθώσ η Ευρώπη και οι ΗΠΑ προσπαθούν να ξεπεράσουν την οικονοµική κρίση, η οποία ενδέχεται να είναι παρατεταµένη, η συζήτηση για τισ πιθανέσ διεξÞδουσ απÞ αυτή καθώσ και οι συζητήσεισ για δηµοσιονοµική λιτÞτητα ή αναπτυξιακέσ επενδύσεισ εντείνονται. Με την υιοθέτηση τολµηρών πολιτικών, οι ΗΠΑ επιλέγουν µια κεϋνσιανή προσέγγιση, ενώ η Ευρώπη παραµένει αναποφάσιστη µεταξύ των δύο. Κατά την διάρκεια µιασ πρÞσφατησ επίσκεψη µου στο Ινστιτούτο Επιστήµησ και Τεχνολογίασ τησ Οκινάουα (OIST) µε εξέπληξε ευχάριστα µια πρωτοβουλία τησ Ιαπωνίασ, η οποία δείχνει το δρÞµο προσ την ανάκαµψη. Σταδιακά, ιδιαίτερα µετά τισ εκλογέσ στη Γαλλία, το επιχείρηµα για επένδυση στην ανάπτυξη φαίνεται να κερδίζει συνεχώσ έδαφοσ. ΩστÞσο, σε τι είδουσ ανάπτυξη πρέπει να επενδύσουµε και που πρέπει να εστιάσουµε είναι το σηµαντικÞ ερώτηµα που τίθεται. Η Οκινάουα, το Þνοµα τησ οποίασ θυµίζει µια απÞ τισ πιο σκληρέσ µάχεσ του Β’ Παγκοσµίου Πολέµου, είναι νησί τησ Ιαπωνίασ, 1500 χλµ. νÞτια του ΤÞκιο, µε πυκνή τροπική βλάστηση, παρθένεσ παραλίεσ µε λευκή άµµο, συχνούσ τυφώνεσ και µε µεγάλο αριθµÞ αµερικανικών στρατιωτικών εγκαταστάσεων. Παρά τουσ κοραλλιογενείσ υφάλουσ τησ µε τα κρυστάλλινα νερά, είναι µια απÞ τισ φτωχÞτερεσ περιοχέσ τησ Ιαπωνίασ. ΩστÞσο στο εθνικÞ πάρκο µε θέα το µαγευτικÞ τοπίο τησ Κινεζικήσ θάλασσασ, η κυβέρνηση κατασκευάζει ένα νέο ερευνητικÞ κέντρο, το Ινστιτούτο Επιστήµησ και Τεχνολογίασ τησ Οκινάουα, OIST (www.oist.jp). Ενώ οι εργασίεσ για τα καινούργια κτίρια, τα οποία προορίζονται για εργαστήρια και κοιτώνεσ για φοιτητέσ και ερευνητέσ βρίσκονται σε εξέλιξη, το Ινστιτούτο ήδη λειτουργεί µε κάποια κτίρια τα οποία χρησιµοποιούνται ωσ εργαστήρια, αµφιθέατρα, βιβλιοθήκεσ, καφετέρια, εγκαταστάσεισ στέγασησ, συµπεριλαµβανοµένου και ενÞσ εκπληκτικού συνεδριακού κέντρου δίπλα στη θάλασσα.

Οι πρώτοι διδακτορικοί φοιτητέσ εισήχθησαν το περασµένο φθινÞπωρο, ενώ το Ινστιτούτο δεν σκοπεύει να εισάγει προπτυχιακή εκπαίδευση. Τα κτίρια του αποτελούν δείγµατα τησ σύγχρονησ αρχιτεκτονικήσ (http://www.oist.jp/sites/default/files/img/pages/pressphotos/Panorama01.jpg), ενώ τα εργαστήρια είναι εξοπλισµένα µε υπερσύγχρονα µηχανήµατα υψηλήσ τεχνολογίασ.

∆Ô˘ ∫·ıËÁËÙ‹ EDOUARD BRÉZIN

Το Ινστιτούτο Επιστήµησ και Τεχνολογίασ τησ Οκινάουα είναι ιδιωτικÞσ οργανισµÞσ, ο οποίοσ υποστηρίζεται εξ ολοκλήρου απÞ δηµÞσιουσ πÞρουσ. Η επίσηµη γλώσσα εργασίασ είναι τα αγγλικά µε µεγάλο αριθµÞ του επιστηµονικού προσωπικού να προέρχεται απÞ διαφορετικέσ χώρεσ. Ο ιδιωτικÞσ χαρακτήρασ επιλέγηκε για το Ινστιτούτο, ώστε να είναι απαλλαγµένο απÞ τουσ δύσκαµπτουσ κανÞνεσ που ισχύουν στα δηµÞσια πανεπιστήµια, Þπωσ η υποχρεωτική ηλικία συνταξιοδÞτησησ, οι κλίµακεσ µισθοδοσίασ, καθώσ και ο περιορισµÞσ πρÞσληψησ νέων καθηγητών. Ùλοι οι µÞνιµοι καθηγητέσ, νέοι και παλαιÞτεροι, είναι “ισÞτιµοι” στο ερευνητικÞ τουσ κέντρο. Λαµβάνουν ένα ποσÞ απÞ τον προϋπολογισµÞ έρευνασ του Ινστιτούτου, στο οποίο προνοείται και η καταβολή µισθών για µεταδιδακτορικούσ φοιτητέσ καθώσ και για υποτροφίεσ. Το Ινστιτούτο δεν είναι αυστηρά δοµηµένο στη βάση τµηµάτων και δεν λειτουρ-

γεί µε προέδρουσ σχολών. ∆εν είναι τυχαίο το γεγονÞσ Þτι ΠρÞεδροσ του ∆ιοικητικού Συµβουλίου είναι ο Καθηγητήσ Torsten Wiesel, ο βραβευµένοσ µε ΝÞµπελ πρώην πρÞεδροσ του Πανεπιστηµίου Ροκφέλερ τησ Νέασ ΥÞρκησ, το οποίο λειτουργεί µε την ίδια φιλοσοφία εδώ και δεκαετίεσ. Ο συγκεκριµένοσ σχεδιασµÞσ παρέχει µια σταθερÞτητα, η οποία οδήγησε στην πρÞσληψη 46 καθηγητών µέχρι τώρα, ενώ αναµένεται ο αριθµÞσ προσλήψεων να αυξηθεί ακÞµα περισσÞτερο. Το Ινστιτούτο Επιστήµησ και Τεχνολογίασ τησ Οκινάουα ασχολείται µÞνο µε την έρευνα στισ βασικέσ επιστήµεσ, τη θεµελιώδη βιολογία, τισ νευροεπιστήµεσ, τη φυσική, ενώ µελλοντικά προγραµµατίζεται να λειτουργήσουν τµήµατα µαθηµατικών και πληροφορικήσ, δίνοντασ ιδιαίτερη έµφαση στα διεπιστηµονικά προγράµµατα. Ο σχεδιασµÞσ του έχει γίνει µε τέτοιο τρÞπο που να ευνοεί τη συνεργασία µεταξύ των διαφορετικών επιστηµονικών κλάδων. Πέρασα στην Οκινάουα δέκα ηµέρεσ τον Απρίλιο, µε την ευκαιρία ενÞσ διεθνούσ εργαστήριου, το οποίο προσέλκυσε φυσικούσ και βιολÞγουσ Þπου συζητήθηκαν διάφορεσ προσεγγίσεισ για µοντελοποίηση προβληµάτων σε τοµείσ Þπωσ νευρωνικών δικτύων, γονιδιώµατοσ κλπ. Ειλικρινά εύχοµαι εκπρÞσωποι απÞ ευρωπαϊκούσ φορείσ, που είναι υπεύθυνοι για τη χάραξη πολιτικήσ να επισκεφτούν το Ινστιτούτου Επιστήµησ και Τεχνολογίασ τησ Οκινάουα, (OIST) προκειµένου να διαπιστώσουν τισ αρχέσ που διέπουν µια επένδυση στο µέλλον, µέσω ενÞσ φιλÞδοξου ερευνητικού ιδρύµατοσ. *Ο Καθηγητήσ Edouard Brézin είναι Καθηγητήσ στο Εργαστήριο Θεωρητικήσ Φυσικήσ τησ Ecole Normale Superieure, τέωσ ΠρÞεδροσ τησ Γαλλικήσ Ακαδηµίασ Επιστηµών και ΠρÞεδροσ του Συµβουλίου ΕπιτρÞπων του Ινστιτούτου Κύπρου

∫Ú·˜ Ù¤ÛÙ: ∆È ˙ËÙ¿ÂÈ Ô ™·Ì·Ú¿˜, ÙÈ ‰ÂÓ ‰›ÓÂÈ Ë ∆ÚfiÈη £· ÂȯÂÈÚ‹ÛÂÈ Ó· ÙÔ˘˜ ›ÛÂÈ ÁÈ· ÙȘ ηϤ˜ ÚÔı¤ÛÂȘ Ù˘ ¯ÒÚ·˜ Το πρώτο κρασ τεστ του Αντώνη Σαµαρά µε την ΤρÞικα θα γίνει την Πέµπτη στην οικία του στην Κηφισιά, σύµφωνα µε την efimerida.gr. Ο πρωθυπουργÞσ θα βρεθεί, για πρώτη φορά, αντιµέτωποσ µε τον Πολ ΤÞµσεν και τουσ εταίρουσ του οι οποίοι δεν δείχνουν διατεθειµένοι να συζητήσουν αλλαγή του Μνηµονίου. Ο κ. Σαµαράσ θα επιχειρήσει να τουσ πείσει για τισ καλέσ προθέσεισ τησ χώρασ να τηρήσει κάποιεσ δεσµεύσεισ αλλά οι δανειστέσ µασ δείχνουν αδιάλλακτοι και έχουν τισ δικέσ τουσ κÞκκινεσ γραµµέσ. Για να γίνει πιο πειστικÞσ ο πρωθυπουργÞσ θα παρουσιάσει τον κατάλογο των επιχειρήσεων που αναµένεται να ιδιωτικοποιηθούν και περιλαµβάνει ΟΠΑΠ, ΕΛΠΕ, ΕΛΤΑ, θυγατρικέσ τησ ΑΤΕ, ∆ΕΠΑ καθώσ επίσησ και τα περιφερειακά λιµάνια και αεροδρÞµια τησ χώρασ. Θα διαβεβαιώσει, επίσησ, την ΤρÞικα Þτι υπάρχει η πολιτική απÞφαση και των άλλων δύο κοµµάτων που συµµετέχουν στην κυβέρνηση ώστε να τηρηθούν τα χρονοδιαγράµµατα και ορισµένεσ αποκρατικοποιήσεισ να προχωρήσουν µέσα στο καλοκαίρι. Παράλληλα, ο πρωθυπουργÞσ και το οικονοµικÞ επιτελείο τησ κυβέρνησησ θα παρουσιάσει στην ΤρÞικα και τον κατάλογο µε τουσ Οργανισµούσ του ∆ηµοσίου που θα κλείσουν ή θα

συγχωνευθούν. Εκεί θα δοθούν και εξηγήσεισ για τισ καθυστερήσεισ που έχουν σηµειωθεί και για την υστέρηση των εσÞδων κάτι που θα αποδοθεί στην έλλειψη πολιτικήσ βούλησησ τησ προηγούµενησ κυβέρνησησ αλλά και στην διπλή εκλογική αναµέτρηση. Τα δύσκολα στο κρασ τεστ µε την ΤρÞικα αρχίζουν απÞ εκεί και µετά. Η κυβέρνηση έβαλε κÞκκινη γραµµή για τισ απολύσεισ δηµοσίων υπαλλήλων και αντιπροτείνει εφεδρεία ικανοποιώντασ έτσι τη ∆ΗΜΑΡ και τον Φώτη Κουβέλη. Παράλληλα θα αρνηθεί οριζÞντιεσ µειώσεισ στουσ µισθούσ στον ιδιωτικÞ τοµέα και στισ συντάξεισ, για τα οποία έχει δεσµευτεί προκλογικά ο κ. Σαµαράσ και αποτελεί κÞκκινη γραµµή και για την ∆ΗΜΑΡ και το ΠΑΣΟΚ.Το θέµα Þµωσ δεν είναι εύκολο καθώσ στο Β' ΜνηµÞνιο υπάρχει ρητή αναφορά στην περαιτέρω µείωση µισθών και συντάξεων. Άλλο αγκάθι στισ συζητήσεισ του πρωθυπουργού µε την ΤρÞικα είναι η επαναφορά των χαµηλών συντάξεων και των πολυτεκνικών επιδοµάτων. Την ίδια ώρα, Þλα τα µηνύµατα που έρχονται απÞ τουσ δανειστέσ µασ κινούνται σε εντελώσ αντίθετη γραµµή απÞ την κυβέρνηση. ΑπÞ το βήµα του συνεδρίου του Economist ο επικεφαλήσ τησ Οµάδασ ∆ράσησ τησ ΕΕ για την Ελλάδα Χορστ Ράιχενµπαχ δήλωσε Þτι υπάρχει ανάγκη να γίνουν µειώσεισ δηµοσίων υπαλλήλων και Þχι αντικαταστάσεισ. Στο ίδιο συνέδριο ο υφυπουργÞσ Ανάπτυξησ ΝÞτησ Μηταράκησ παρατήρησε Þτι οι µειώσεισ προσωπικού στο ∆ηµÞσιο θα γίνουν µέσω των αποκρατικοποιήσεων, χωρίσ να διευκρινίσει αν εννοεί απολύσεισ, συνταξιοδοτήσεισ ή εθελούσια έξοδο ή αν θα ανατεθεί στον αγοραστή να απολύσει τουσ επιπλέον εργαζÞµενουσ. Επιπλέον, ο κ. Ράιχεµνπαχ αποκάλυψε Þτι ο ΟΟΣΑ και Γάλλοι εµπειρογνώµονεσ επεξεργάζονται ήδη αλλαγέσ, µε στÞχο την ταχύτερη λήψη αποφάσεων και τη µείωση του διοικητικού βάρουσ κατά 25%, χωρίσ να είναι γνωστÞ τι σηµαίνει αυτÞ για το προσωπικÞ. Στο ίδιο αδιάλλακτο κλίµα κινήθηκαν και οι δηλώσεισ του ΓιÞργκ Ασµουσεν τησ ΕΚΤ που µίλησε στο Συνέδριο του Economist και συναντήθηκε µε την πολιτική ηγεσία. Ο κ. Ασµουσεν τÞνισε Þτι η νέα κυβέρνηση πρέπει να επικεντρωθεί στισ διαρθρωτικέσ αλλαγέσ µε την αναδιάρθρωση τησ αγοράσ εργασίασ να αποτελεί την πρώτη προτεραιÞτητα και ταυτÞχρονα βασική προϋπÞθεση για την παραµονή

τησ Ελλάδασ στο ευρώ. Ξεκάθαρο ήταν το µήνυµα του κ. Ασµουσεν και σε Þ,τι αφορά στα περιθώρια διαπραγµάτευσησ του µνηµονίου που έχει η κυβέρνηση. Ùπωσ είπε χαρακτηριστικά «δεν µπορεί να υπάρξει χαλάρωση των βασικών στÞχων του προγράµµατοσ» και τÞνισε Þτι δεν υπάρχει περίοδοσ χάριτοσ και το βασικÞ µέληµα τησ κυβέρνησησ πρέπει να είναι η αναπλήρωση του χαµένου χρÞνου απÞ την παρατεταµένη εκλογική περίοδο. ΕµφανιζÞµενοσ εντελώσ αδιάλλακτοσ ο κ. Ασµουσεν, µιλώντασ στον τηλεοπτικÞ σταθµÞ Σκάι χαρακτήρισε την ένταξη τησ Ελλάδασ στην πρÞσφατη συµφωνία των Βρυξελλών σχεδÞν αδύνατη. Κανένα στέλεχοσ τησ κυβέρνησησ δεν έδωσε διευκρινίσεισ για το ζήτηµα αυτÞ το οποίο είναι εξαιρετικά σοβαρÞ αν ληφθούν υπÞψιν οι προσδοκίεσ που καλλιεργήθηκαν, µετά τη Σύνοδο Κορυφήσ Þτι και η Ελλάδα θα µπορούσε να επωφεληθεί απÞ τη συµφωνία που θα ευεργετήσει τισ ιταλικέσ και ισπανικέσ τράπεζεσ.

4 IΟΥΛΙΟΥ, 2012

ΧΡΗΜΑ&ΑΓΟΡΑ

8/20 | ΑΓΟΡΑ

Cisco Web∂x ·fi ÙË Cyta Î·È ÙË Logicom Solutions ΕφαρµÞζοντασ τισ τελευταίεσ εξελίξεισ τησ σύγχρονησ τεχνολογίασ, η Cyta ανταποκρίνεται δυναµικά σε εξειδικευµένεσ ανάγκεσ πελατών τησ, µε την εισαγωγή τησ υπηρεσίασ Cisco WebEx διευρύνοντασ το φάσµα των υπηρεσιών που προσφέρει στην Κυπριακή αγορά. Η υπηρεσία Cisco WebEx απÞ τη Cyta και τη Logicom Solutions επιτρέπει τη µείωση του κÞστουσ και διευκολύνει τισ διαδικτυακέσ συναντήσεισ, αντικαθιστώντασ την ανάγκη για συναντήσεισ πρÞσωπο µε πρÞσωπο, Þπου οι συµµετέχοντεσ µπορούν να: συντονίζουν ή να λαµβάνουν µέροσ χρησιµοποιώντασ οποιονδήποτε πλοηγÞ διαδικτύου, το έξυπνο κινητÞ τηλέφωνο (smart phone) ή τη συσκευή tablet που διαθέτουν, ανεξάρτητα πού βρίσκονται, κάνουν τισ διαδικτυακέσ συναντήσεισ ακÞµα πιο ελκυστικέσ µε τη χρήση βίντεο υψηλήσ ευκρίνειασ, το οποίο εµφανίζει αυτÞµατα τον εκάστοτε οµιλητή. Η πρÞσβαση στην υπηρεσία Cisco WebEx δίνεται µέσω του διαδικτύου στην ιστοσελίδα www.cyta.com.cy/sol και παρέχεται ωσ συνδροµητική υπηρεσία (Software as as Service), χωρίσ χρονική δέσµευση, µε µηνιαία συνδροµή η οποία χρεώνεται στο λογαριασµÞ τησ Cyta.

§·˚΋: ¢‡Ô Ù˘¯ÂÚÔ› ÁÈ· ÙÔ˘˜ √Ï˘ÌÈ·ÎÔ‡˜ ∞ÁÒÓ˜ Με κλήρωση στα γραφεία τησ Υπηρεσίασ Καρτών τησ Λαϊκήσ Τράπεζασ, αναδείχθηκαν οι τυχεροί που κερδίζουν δύο ταξιδιωτικά πακέτα των δύο ατÞµων για τουσ Ολυµπιακούσ Αγώνεσ στο Λονδίνο. Στην κλήρωση συµµετείχαν Þσοι κάτοχοι καρτών Visa τησ Λαϊκήσ Τράπεζασ πραγµατοποίησαν συναλλαγέσ µε τισ κάρτεσ τουσ την περίοδο 1 Μαρτίου – 31 Μαΐου 2012. Κάθε συναλλαγή ήταν και µια συµµετοχή στην κλήρωση. Οι µεγάλοι τυχεροί είναι η κυρίεσ Άντρια Κυριακίδου απÞ Λευκωσία και ∆ήµητρα Λουκά απÞ ΛεµεσÞ. Το κάθε πακέτο περιλαµβάνει: - ∆ύο αεροπορικά εισιτήρια µετ’ επιστροφήσ, Λάρνακα – Λονδίνο – Λάρνακα, µε αναχώρηση στισ 07/08/2012 και επιστροφή στισ 09/08/2012.

- ∆ιαµονή για δύο νύκτεσ σε ξενοδοχείο 4* αστέρων, για δύο άτοµα σε δίκλινο δωµάτιο.

- Εισιτήρια των Ολυµπιακών Αγώνων. Στη φωτογραφία, στιγµιÞτυπο απÞ την παράδοση των πακέτων στισ τυχερέσ απÞ τη ∆ιευθύντρια τησ Υπηρεσίασ Καρτών Λαϊκήσ Τράπεζασ, κυρία Στέλλα Χατζηκωστή.

N¤· Û˘ÓÂÚÁ·Û›· ÁÈ· ÙÔ ¶·ÓÂÈÛÙ‹ÌÈÔ ¡Â¿ÔÏȘ Το Πανεπιστήµιο Νεάπολισ Πάφου, το Πάντειο Πανεπιστήµιο Κοινωνικών και Πολιτικών Επιστηµών και το Πανεπιστήµιο Αιγαίου εγκαινιάζουν την επιστηµονική, ακαδηµαϊκή, εκπαιδευτική και ερευνητική συνεργασίασ τουσ. Η συνεργασία αυτή αποτελεί ένα ιστορικÞ γεγονÞσ διÞτι για πρώτη φορά ενώνονται οι ακαδηµαϊκέσ δυνάµεισ του Ελλαδικού και Κυπριακού Ελληνισµού. Το πλαίσιο συνεργασίασ των τριών Πανεπιστηµίων αποτελείται απÞ τρεισ άξονεσ. Ο πρώτοσ άξονασ είναι κοινά µεταπτυχιακά προγράµµατα σπουδών, τÞσο σε επίπεδο Μάστερ Þσο και σε ∆ιδακτορικÞ επίπεδο στισ ∆ιεθνείσ και Ευρωπαϊκέσ Σπουδέσ, στην Επικοινωνία και στον ΠολιτισµÞ, στην Ανάπτυξη και στην Οικονοµική ∆ιαχείριση και στη Νοµική Επιστήµη. Ο δεύτεροσ άξονασ στοχεύει στην διαµÞρφωση και εκπÞνηση Κοινών Ερευνητικών Προγραµµάτων. Ο τρίτοσ άξονασ περιλαµβάνει την κατάρτιση δέσµησ διεθνών επιστηµονικών συναντήσεων, συνεδρίων και άλλων ακαδηµαϊκών εκδηλώσεων.

¡¤Â˜ Á‡ÛÂȘ Nestea Ì 30% ÏÈÁfiÙÂÚ· ۿί·Ú· Την αρχή για κάτι διαφορετικÞ κάνει το Nestea, µειώνοντασ τα σάκχαρα άρα και τισ θερµίδεσ κατά 30%! To Nestea καινοτοµεί και καλωσορίζει στην Kύπρο και την κατηγορία του παγωµένου τσαγιού τα γλυκαντικά απÞ στέβια, επιστηµονικά γνωστήσ ωσ stevia rebaudiana. Χάρη στισ γλυκαντικέσ ιδιÞτητεσ των φύλλων του φυτού στέβια ένα ποσοστÞ τησ ζάχαρησ αντικαθίσταται µε γλυκαντικά φυσικήσ προέλευσησ, για να µπορούµε να απολαµβάνουµε το αγαπηµένο µασ Nestea ακÞµα περισσÞτερο! Το νέο Nestea µε 30% λιγÞτερα σάκχαρα και θερµίδεσ κυκλοφορεί στην κυπριακή αγορά σε δύο αγαπηµένεσ γεύσεισ: ΛεµÞνι, Ροδάκινο. Η στέβια είναι θαµνώδεσ φυτÞ συγγενικÞ των χαµοµήλι, µαργαρίτα και χρυσάνθεµο. Τα φύλλα τησ είναι πλούσια σε γλυκοζίτεσ στεβιÞλησ, γλυκαντικέσ ουσίεσ που µπορούν να υποκαταστήσουν τη ζάχαρη. Σε αντίθεση Þµωσ µε τη ζάχαρη, η στεβιοζάχαρη περιέχει αντιοξειδωτικέσ ουσίεσ και είναι κατάλληλη για διαβητικούσ και παχύσαρκουσ. ΑντιπρÞσωποσ τησ Nestea στην Κύπρο είναι η εταιρεία Α/φοί Λανίτη.

∏ MetLife Alico ‚Ú¿‚¢Û ÙÔ˘˜ ∫ÔÚ˘Ê·›Ô˘˜ Η MetLife Alico τίµησε Þλουσ τουσ συνεργάτεσ τησ που διακρίθηκαν το 2011, χάρη στη σκληρή εργασία και µεθοδικÞτητά τουσ. Αξίζει να σηµειωθεί Þτι στον ίδιο χώρο, την προηγούµενη ηµέρα, πραγµατοποιήθηκε το ετήΕκπαιδευτικÞ σιο Συνέδριο Πωλήσεων τησ Εταιρίασ µε θέµα: «ΙσχυρÞτεροι Των Προκλήσεων, Ατενίζουµε Το Μέλλον Με Σιγουριά». Εκεί, οι επίλεκτοι Συνεργάτεσ τησ MetLife Alico είχαν την ευκαιρία να συζητήσουν σχετικά µε τισ δυνατÞτητεσ που ανοίγονται µπροστά τουσ στο πλαίσιο των οικονοµικών προκλήσεων που κυριαρχούν στο παγκÞσµιο στερέωµα, δίνοντασ έµφαση στουσ ασφαλισµένουσ και τισ καινούργιεσ ανάγκεσ που γεννιούνται µέσα απÞ την οικονοµική ύφεση.

To Ú‡˙È Uncle Bens ÎÔÓÙ¿ Û ¿ÔÚ˜ ÔÈÎÔÁ¤ÓÂȘ Την Παρασκευή, 22 Ιουνίου, στο µαγικÞ χώρο τησ πλατείασ του Παλαιού Κάστρου τησ Πάφου, η νύχτα γέµισε ελπίδα και υπέροχεσ µυρωδιέσ καλοµαγειρεµένων φαγητών. Η UNCLE BEN’S® δηµιούργησε, ειδικά για το κοινÞ τησ πÞλησ, µια ξεχωριστή βραδιά µε στÞχο την ενίσχυση του φιλανθρωπικού οργανισµού «Hope for Children». Τα εδέσµατα ετοιµάστηκαν µε ιδιαίτερη επιµέλεια και αγάπη απÞ τον διακεκριµένο σεφ τησ UNCLE BEN’S®, ο οποίοσ δηµιούργησε πρωτÞτυπεσ συνταγέσ χρησιµοποιώντασ ντÞπια υλικά σε συνδυασµÞ µε ρύζι UNCLE BEN’S®. Η εταιρία MARS INC. και η εταιρία ΑΦΟΙ ΧΡΙΣΤΟ∆ΟΥΛΙ∆Η LTD. προσέφεραν Þλα τα έσοδα που συγκεντρώθηκαν απÞ λαχνούσ που πωλούνταν κατά τη διάρκεια τησ εκδήλωσησ, Þπωσ επίσησ και τρÞφιµα UNCLE BEN’S® αξίασ 1000 ευρώ, σε άπορεσ οικογένειεσ τησ Κύπρου.

¡¤Ô Presse Café ÛÙËÓ Ô‰fi §‹‰Ú·˜ Με το άνοιγµα ενÞσ τρίτου καταστήµατοσ στην οδÞ Λήδρασ συνεχίζει τη δυναµική επέκταση τησ στην Κύπρο η γνωστή καναδέζικη αλυσίδα Presse Café, µέσω τησ εταιρείασ Coffee Lovers, master franchisee. Η εταιρεία λειτουργεί ήδη δύο καταστήµατα Presse Café στη Λευκωσία: ένα στη ΛεωφÞρο Σταυρού στο ΣτρÞβολο απÞ το Mάρτιο του 2011 και ένα στην ανακαινισµένη ∆ηµοτική Αγορά του Αγίου Αντωνίου απÞ το Νοέµβριο του 2011, τα οποία έχουν τύχει θερµÞτατησ αποδοχήσ απÞ το κοινÞ. Το τρίτο µέλοσ τησ οικογένειασ των Presse Café στην Κύπρο, βρίσκεται στο τέρµα τησ οδού Λήδρασ και αναµένεται να ξεκινήσει τη λειτουργία του εντÞσ Ιουλίου και να αποτελέσει πÞλο έλξησ για Þσουσ επιλέγουν την περιοχή για τα ψώνια τουσ ή για τη βÞλτα τουσ. Με το slogan τησ αλυσίδασ, «Breathe, Eat, Drink», να το συνοδεύει, οι θαµώνεσ του νέου Presse Café θα µπορούν να απολαύσουν µυρωδάτουσ καφέδεσ, απολαυστικά muffins, εύγευστα και υγιεινά wraps, σάντουιτσ (presswiches) και εξαίσιεσ σαλάτεσ που φτιάχνονται καθηµερινά επί τÞπου µε τα πιο αγνά υλικά.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

ECO NEWS | 21

Australian PM campaigns to sell unpopular carbon tax Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard began an electionstyle campaign on Monday to promote a tax on carbon emissions, with her political survival hanging on a programme highly unpopular with both industry and voters.

Gillard’s poll rating remains near record lows and some 2,000 protesters denounced the tax when they marched through Sydney on Sunday, the day the tax came into force.

The carbon price applies to nearly 300 companies and city councils. It is designed to fight global warming and help curb carbon emissions by five percent of 2000 levels by 2020.

The carbon price forces the biggest polluters, from coalfired power stations to smelters, to pay A$23 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted, more than twice the cost of carbon in the European Union, currently trading around 8.15 euros a tonne.

Gillard embarked on a round of radio and television interviews and said voters would see a muted impact of the carbon price on the economy and they would realise opposition warnings of big job losses were wrong.

The tax is to be superceded in 2015 by a trading scheme with international links under which companies will be able to buy permits authorising emissions or carbon “offsets”

allowing for energy savings elsewhere.

For now, businesses will have the economic pain dulled by billions of dollars in sweeteners and free permits. Industries will get exemptions, especially those with large export volumes.

Voters have also been given tax cuts to compensate for the impact of the carbon tax on prices, such as higher electricity bills. The consumer price index is forecast to rise by an extra 0.7 percentage points in the coming year.

But a Nielsen poll in Fairfax newspapers on Monday found 62% of voters opposed the carbon price, and that Gillard’s minority government would be thrown out of office if an election were called now.

The conservative opposition has vowed to scrap the tax if it wins power at the next election, which is due in late 2013 but could be called at any time.

Australia has amongst the world’s highest per capita CO2 emissions due to its reliance on coal-fired power stations.

The companies covered, making up about 60% of Australia’s 550 mln tonnes of CO2 a year, will pay a fixed price for the first three years of CO2 emissions, reaching A$25.40 a tonne in the final year.

Audi eco magazine: Step by step to CO2-neutral Audi AG has released the second issue of its ‘Encounter’ environmental magazine which contains stories and vivid pictures that show how the car manufacturer accepts its responsibility for protecting the environment and making economical use of resources.

‘We’ve made a promise to the future,î said Frank Dreves, Audi AG management board member for production. ìIntelligent use of raw materials and energy takes us step by step toward a CO2-neutral site. In the future, mobility must be CO2-neutral, which means not only our vehicles’ engines but also the way we produce them.’

Manufacturing cars will always consume energy. But with an input of creative ideas from the company’s employees, it can be ecologically acceptable as seen from a variety of examples on more than 140 pages in the magazine.

The magazine also seeks to illustrate the link between modern production technologies and the creative thinking of the people behind them.

Europe cities to combat mounting climate risk European cities are planning to adapt to climate change as the risks become more severe, a report by UK-based emissions measurement organisation the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and consultancy Accenture showed.

Cities increasingly have to plan flood defences, ways to manage water in times of drought, ensure new buildings provide natural cooling to occupants and adapt old buildings and infrastructure to become more energy efficient.

The report surveyed 22 cities - including Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul, London, Manchester, Moscow, Paris and Rome - about their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies.

The report comes a week after a U.N. summit in Rio de Janeiro failed to define clear sustainable development goals and left many convinced that local governments and businesses will have to lead efforts to improve the environment.

The survey found that 17 cities out of the 22 surveyed, or 77%, have completed or almost completed risk assessments to understand how climate change will affect them.

Eighteen of the 22 said they face “significant risks” arising from climate change and 54% of them see these risks as “severe” or “very severe”.

Due to these risks, cities are increasingly looking at developing adaptation plans. Fourteen cities, or 64% of the 22 surveyed, already have an adaptation plan in place while two more are currently developing them.

“European cities are demonstrating leadership and best practice in managing climate change at the local level,” said Conor Riffle, head of CDP’s cities programme.

EMISSIONS Global carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, hit a record high last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

Some 86% of the European cities surveyed have set a citywide emissions reduction target, compared to a global average of 70% of cities, CDP said.

Based on the latest data given by four cities to CDP, London’s emissions fell 3.6% to 43.4 mln tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2010 from 2008 and Copenhagen’s dropped 5.2% to around 2.5 mln tonnes in 2010 from 2009.

Berlin’s emissions rose 4.1% to over 20.7 mln tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 from 2007 and Rotterdam’s grew by 6% in 2010 to 29.6 mln tonnes from 2009.

EU delivers mini green stimulus

By GERARD WYNN Investment in efficiency and to a lesser extent clean energy are no-brainers for stimulus spending, making the EU’s latest growth package, agreed on Friday, a useful addition to national efforts to shore up green programmes.

The 125 bln euro package was a sideshow in an EU summit deal which allowed Spain and Italy to recapitalise their banks using EU bailout funds and so shore up the eurozone.

Nevertheless, the package is a useful programme: about half the funds will go towards infrastructure, including efficiency, clean energy, power grids, transport and broadband networks, and the rest to supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and technology research.

The combined package comes from 60 bln euros of European Investment Bank loans, plus 60 bln euros of unspent EU development funds and up to 5 bln euros of “project bonds”.

EU officials hope the EIB loans will drive additional investment from the private sector, raising up to 180 bln euros in total.

The presidents of the European Commission and the EIB, Jose Manuel Barroso and Werner Hoyer, sketched out target sectors in a letter to finance ministers last week, as follows: Source:

EIB loans

Timescale: Units: Innovation and skills SME access to finance Resource efficiency Strategic infrastructure

3-4 years bln euros 0-15 10-15 15-20 10-15

Total investment 3-4 years bln euros up to 40 up to 40 up to 50 up to 50

TOTAL

up to 60

up to 180

Resource efficiency refers to “water and waste-management... climate change and renewable energies, especially innovative wind power, as well as the infrastructure and equipment required to connect new generation capacities,” the letter says.

Strategic infrastructure means broadband, transport and crossborder energy grids. “These and other international links are all critical for the long-term improvement of the growth potential and competitiveness of Europe,” it says.

That strategic infrastructure is an identical focus for the project bond initiative, which the European Commission, member states and parliament approved last month.

The unspent development funds, meanwhile, will be invested alongside EIB loans in SMEs and infrastructure, especially in debtstricken EU countries including Portugal and Greece which couldn’t meet a condition to provide matching capital.

WHY GREEN STIMULUS? The aim is to address a pullback in public and private finance following a new austerity imperative across Europe.

The green sector may be more suited than most to such stimulus spending. That’s partly because clean energy and other lowcarbon initiatives need public funding anyway, to overcome various market failures and other hurdles, and so spending is less likely to “crowd out” (compete with or displace) private capital.

Green projects face market failures, where some of their benefits (such as clean air and water) don’t have a market price, reducing investor interest. Such projects face additional private sector hurdles: many projects are small (building efficiency a typical example), raising transaction costs, while finance is biased towards up-front capital vulnerable in a credit squeeze.

ROADMAP An efficiency focus, alongside renewable energy, especially makes sense given investments have short pay-backs, generate jobs and cut fossil fuel imports.

In 2010 the bloc’s oil and gas imports bill stood at 2.6% of GDP from 1.5% in 2001, according to HSBC. A study last week by the Paris-based “Institut du developpement durable et des relations internationales” (IDDRI) calculated the kinds of net savings generated.

It estimated the EU’s proposed “2050 roadmap” of investment in low-carbon energy and efficiency would deliver a net, average benefit of 56 bln euros annually over the next 40 years, calculated by subtracting fuel savings from investment costs.

Meanwhile, investment in power grids is a competitive alternative to building new power plants by managing electricity supply and demand more intelligently. To be cost-effective, the funds should catalyse the private sector. The project bonds initiative is an example of that, aiming to draw pension funds by taking the riskiest portion of project debt, making the balance a safer bet.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

24 | MARKETS

Brent climbs to $98 on Iran, Norway strike Brent crude climbed above $98 per barrel on Tuesday as escalating tensions between Iran and the West two days after an EU oil embargo took effect offset concerns that gloomy manufacturing data from China, the U.S. and Europe will hurt oil demand. News that Iranian lawmakers had drafted a bill calling for Iran to shut off the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic spurred gains at a time when a strike in Norway has curbed crude oil output.

More than a third of the world’s seaborne oil exports pass through the narrow strait from the oilfields of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE and Qatar.

Brent crude gained 91 cents to $98.25 per barrel, after earlier hitting an intraday high of $98.34.

U.S. crude rose by 67 cents to $84.42, after earlier rising to a high of $84.63.

Demand worries were also mitigated by the latest data from China, the world’s no. 2 oil consumer, which showed its services sector expanding at its fastest pace in three months, leaving intact market expectations for more policy measures to support growth. “Despite the notable slowdown in global economic growth, we continue to expect that oil demand will grow well in excess of production capacity growth,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

Oil supplies are tighter due to a strike by Norway’s offshore oil and gas workers, which has started to slow crude oil exports as the conflict over pension and retirement rights remained deadlocked.

A delay in loadings of Oseberg crude is the first sign the week-long strike has affected shipments from the world’s eighth-largest exporter. Production of oil and natural gas liquids has been cut by about 13% of capacity, and some natural gas output has also been affected.

Australia holds rates Australia’s central bank on Tuesday held its main cash rate at 3.5% as it gauges whether back-to-back cuts already delivered will be enough to insulate the resource-rich economy from global gloom. The Aussie dollar edged higher as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) made no mention of whether it might ease again, though neither did it close the door on that option.

The RBA cut rates by half a point in May and a further quarter in June, taking them to the lowest since December 2009. That brought the total easing since November last year to 125 basis points. Still, most analysts suspect policy could be eased again in August should official figures on inflation for the second quarter, due later this month, prove as benign as expected.

Indeed, odds are that annual underlying inflation slowed to 2% last quarter, the lowest reading since 1999 and the very bottom of the RBA’s 2 to 3% target band.

With price pressures tame, there would be plenty of scope for stimulus as insurance against European uncertainty and the slowdown in China, Australia’s single biggest export market.

In contrast, the Australian economy has generally surprised with its resilience so far this year. GDP grew a brisk 4.3 percent to A$1.4 trln in the year to March, its fastest pace of growth in over four years. The country’s booming mining industry continues to spend heavily on expanding production to meet demand from China and India, investment that will run for some years yet. Solid growth in household incomes and a low jobless rate of 5.1% have helped fuel consumption, especially on services such as health, education, travel and eating out. The housing sector has been deep in the doldrums, though data out Tuesday showed a spark of life with approvals to build new homes rising by the most on record in May.

Surge on crops U.S. corn futures surged to a 9-1/2 month peak as a worsening drought in the U.S. Midwest severely stressed crops as they pollinated, a critical stage of development which, if inhibited, can result in sharply reduced yields.

Soybeans climbed to their highest point in nearly four years on a continuous chart, propelled by strong export demand and the stressful U.S. weather, but prices slipped from earlier highs amid very thin trade.

Wheat jumped to a 9-1/2 month high, buoyed by its own tightening supply balance with the outlook diminishing for crops in regions such as the Black Sea, while the surge in corn prices could lead to increased volumes of wheat being used for animal feed. Grain markets remained focused on a deepening drought across much of the U.S. Corn Belt.

WEEKLY ECONOMIC CALENDAR Date Country Detail JUL 4 EUR Final Services PMI due 11.00am JUL 4 GBP Services PMI due 11.30am JUL 4 GBP Housing Equity Withdrawal Q/Q due 11.30am JUL 4 EUR Retail Sales M/M due 12.00noon JUL 4 EUR Final GDP growth Q/Q due 12.00noon JUL 4 US US Markets closed JUL 5 EUR Spanish 10-year Bond Auction JUL 5 EUR French 10-year Bond Auction JUL 5 EUR German Factory Orders M/M due 1.00pm JUL 5 GBP BoE MPC meets - Statement due 2.45pm JUL 5 EUR ECB meets on rates - Press Conference due 3.30pm JUL 5 US ADP Non-Farm Employment Change due 3.15pm JUL 5 US Weekly Unemployment Claims due 3.30pm JUL 5 US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI due 5.00pm JUL 6 CHF Forex currency reserves due 10.00am JUL 6 EUR German Industrial Production M/M due 1.00pm JUL 6 CAD Unemployment Rate due 3.30pm JUL 6 CAD Employment Change due 3.30pm JUL 6 US Non-Farm Employment Change due 3.30pm JUL 6 US Unemployment Rate due 3.30pm JUL 6 US Average Hourly Earnings M/M due 3.30pm Indicated times are Cyprus time

Forecast Previous 46.8 46.8 53.0 53.3 -7.9B -8.5B 0.20% -1.00% 0.00% 0.00% 6.04/3.3 2.46/2.0 0.20% -1.90% 101k 133k 385k 386k 53.1 53.7 303.8B 0.30% -2.20% 7.30% 7.30% 5.2k 7.7k 92k 69k 8.20% 8.20% 0.20% 0.10% Source: Eurivex

FOREX COMMENTARY TECHNICAL ANALYSIS The euro and U.S. dollar climbed off early lows on Tuesday but remained under pressure after dismal factory data from Europe to the United States raised expectations for more action from central banks in both regions.

Investors’ hopes for the European Union’s plan to support debt-laden countries turned to scepticism, which was further fanned

by Monday’s report showing U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in nearly three years.

In the euro zone, the jobless rate rose to a record high in May, and a measure of factory activity held steady at its lowest level since June 2009, lending credence to those who believe the European Central Bank will cut interest rates at its policy meeting on Thursday.

The euro faced additional pressure from news on Monday that Finland and the Netherlands opposed a plan for the euro zone’s permanent bailout fund to buy government bonds in the secondary market. The announcement of the plan on Friday had sent the euro soaring about 1.7 percent, its biggest one-day percentage gain since last October.

The yen outperformed most of its major counterparts and helped underpin high-beta currencies such as the Australian dollar, ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s widely expected decision to stand pat on rates.

The greenback bought 79.72 yen, down from Monday’s high around 79.98 yen, though off a session low of 79.41 yen. A Japanese megabank was seen bidding at 79.30 yen, a market participant said, while the pair’s topside was capped at the top of its daily Ichimoku cloud around 80 yen.

Activity was relatively thin ahead of the Fourth of July U.S. holiday, market participants said. The euro garnered 100.42 yen, moving solidly back above the 100-yen mark from a session low slightly below that level, but well below post-EU plan highs above 101.00 yen.

The dollar managed to outperform the single currency, which slipped to $1.2595 from recent highs just ahead of resistance at 1.2700. Many traders expect the ECB to move to bolster the region’s economy by cutting its main refinancing rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent at its policy meeting on Thursday.

Some also expect the Federal Reserve to announce it will embark on a third round of asset purchases, known as QE3, perhaps as soon as the central bank’s next policy meeting from July 31 to Aug. 1.

In contrast, Australia’s central bank held its main cash rate steady at 3.5 percent on Tuesday, to continue to gauge the effect of back-to-back cuts.

The RBA cut interest rates by half a point in May and a quarter point in June, bringing rates to their lowest since December 2009 and the central bank’s total easing since November last year to 125 basis points.

The Aussie edged up after the move, touching a fresh two-month high of $1.0285 before moving back to buy $1.0257. Immediate resistance is seen at $1.0289, the 78.6 percent retracement of its April 27-June 1 fall.

Disclaimer: The commentary appearing on this page is for indication purposes only and Eurivex does not take any responsibility for investment action taken. Nothing in this report should be considered to constitute investment advice. It is not intended, and should not be considered, as an offer, invitation, solicitation or recommendation to buy or sell any of the financial instruments described herein. Trading on leverage is very risky and may lead to losses.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

MARKETS | 25

Not all of Wall Street ‘friending’ Facebook l Analysts

warn of uncertainty over profit from mobile; shares down 2.6%

Facebook Inc may be having trouble connecting with Wall Street.

Banks behind Facebook’s initial public offering kicked off formal coverage of the social network on Wednesday by warning about its uncertain business model, margin pressures and a difficult transition to mobile technology.

Of 17 brokerages that issued research reports, only eight recommended that investors buy Facebook shares, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan - the Internet company’s three lead underwriters. Eight brokerages gave neutral ratings and one had a “sell” rating.

The panoply of neutral or equivalent ratings is notable because Wall Street research analysts have a reputation for favoring “buy” ratings, particularly in the high-profile Internet industry where “buy” or equivalent recommendations outnumber “hold” ratings nearly 2 to 1, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine data.

“It says there are real questions out there about the strength of this business model, the fundamental strength of this company, together with its valuation,” said Tim Ghriskey, a portfolio manager at Solaris Asset Management.

“We’re not buying right now, that’s for sure.”

Facebook shares fell 2.6% to close at $32.23 on Nasdaq, remaining far below their IPO price of $38.

The reports, released by banks involved in the IPO after a 40day quiet period expired, represent Wall Street’s broadest assessment of Facebook, the first U.S. company to debut with a market value of more than $100 bln.

Banks are required to keep their employees handling IPOs apart from analysts recommending stocks in order to avoid conflicts of interest.

The average target stock price for Facebook was $37.64, but the range was wide, from $25 to $45.

Morgan Stanley, which has come under scrutiny for its role in driving an IPO price that now appears lofty, set a price target of $38 and “overweight” recommendation. It said it remained unclear how Facebook plans to make money from a growing number of users logging on to the No. 1 social network via smartphones and tablets.

“Sell” ratings are rare in stock research, where access to corporate executives is considered crucial.

HOW LOFTY? Facebook’s IPO was to have been the culmination of eight years of breakneck growth for a company that became a social and cultural phenomenon. Instead, it was marred by a series of trading glitches on its debut, and the company and its underwriters subsequently faced accusations of pumping up the price and inadequate disclosure.

In the IPO, banks sold their clients shares in the company started by Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard dorm room, at a price equivalent to a whopping 100 times 2011 net income per share.

have all been near the middle of the pack at stock picking over the past two years, according to Thomson Starmine data ranking analysts’ performance.

Facebook more recently traded around 65 times expected earnings, according to Solaris’ Ghriskey. That compares with Google Inc’s recent price-to-earnings ratio of about 13.

“I respect that a Chinese wall exists, but I think it feeds into the cynicism that Main Street has for Wall Street - that one side of the business was telling them to buy at $38 and the other side of the business now at $32 says we shouldn’t buy it,” said Steve Birenberg, a portfolio manager at North Lake Capital in Winnetka, Illinois.

Most analysts expect Facebook’s large user base to help it corner a substantial share of the Internet advertising market in the long term.

BMO Capital Markets’ Daniel Salmon began his coverage with an “underperform” recommendation and a $25 target, translating into a nearly 25% discount from current levels.

“Slowing user growth is one of our primary concerns for Facebook’s current valuation,” said Salmon, the only analyst giving Facebook a negative rating on Wednesday. He estimated Facebook’s annual user growth would be 22% next year and 16% the year after, much slower than expansion in the past.

The 33 banks that participated in the stock listing were required by securities regulators to wait until 40 days after the first day of trading on May 18 before publishing their views, limiting the research on Facebook until now to a handful of analysts.

Scott Devitt at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley, who told the firm’s major clients that he had cut his revenue estimates on Facebook just days before the IPO, said he expects Facebook’s ability to turn its mobile features into profit to be a challenge for the next several quarters to several years.

He expects revenue to climb 31% in 2012, far less than the 88% growth in 2011. “No one is debating the potential opportunity in front of Facebook,” said Channing Smith, a portfolio manager at Capital Advisors. “However, there is disagreement in the analyst community on the trajectory of the earnings and revenue growth in the coming years. The assumptions analysts are making are guesswork at this point.”

Morgan Stanley’s Devitt, BMO’s Salmon and the two lead analysts at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs covering Facebook

TOPSY-TURVY IPO Analysts at JP Morgan set a price target of $45 for the stock, suggesting a rise of 36% compared with its earlier close of $33.10.

The company’s stock offering, one of the most highly anticipated in history, was marred by a series of technical glitches at the Nasdaq exchange.

Facebook’s decision to increase the size of the offering by 25% just days ahead of the IPO, as well as concerns about decelerating revenue, also weighed on the stock, which traded as low as $25.52 before regaining some ground to trade in a $31-$33 range in recent days.

The rush of research comes ahead of Facebook’s secondquarter results, expected sometime in mid-to-late July.

With about 900 mln users, Facebook has become one of the Web’s top destinations, challenging established players such as Google and Yahoo.

Even so, revenue growth from ads and other services is slowing. The company, which last year was more than doubling the amount of money collected every quarter compared with a year earlier, reported growth of 45% in the first three months of 2012, and revenue declined from the preceding quarter.

General Motors’ announcement a few days before the IPO that it would stop advertising on Facebook has added to the concerns about Facebook’s ability to generate business from advertising.

Despite $4.8 bln in expected revenue in 2012, the average amount of money that Facebook makes through each user is still relatively low, said BofA Merrill Lynch, which expects new advertising formats to accelerate revenue growth in the second half of the year.

In recent weeks, Facebook has unveiled a string of enhancements to its advertising service, allowing marketers to target ads to users on the mobile version of Facebook and to show Facebook users ads based on previous websites that they have visited. “The company is in the midst of a mobile usage transition and we are cautious on Facebook’s revenue trends until new mobile ad revenue models start driving the top line,” the analysts at BofA Merrill Lynch wrote.

Several analysts working for the underwriters, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, cut financial forecasts for Facebook days before the IPO, after the company cautioned about revenue growth due to a rapid shift of users to mobile devices, where Facebook is less effective at generating revenue.

The analysts briefed some institutional clients about their revised forecasts, sources have previously told Reuters, but retail investors were left in the dark. That revelation has resulted in lawsuits alleging the banks and Facebook failed to fully disclose the company’s weakened financial outlook ahead of its IPO.

Shenzhen’s ‘mini-Hong Kong’ to test China’s financial ambitions China’s southern boomtown of Shenzhen, a pioneer of economic reforms but long in the shadow of Hong Kong, is plotting another bold ploy: a $45 bLn ‘mini-Hong Kong’ to return it to the limelight and aid China’s rise as a financial power.

On a barren stretch of reclaimed land in western Shenzhen and near the Hong Kong border, China wants to build another financial services hub from scratch in the Qianhai Bay economic zone, offering the low taxes, rigorous legal regime and anticorruption vigilance enjoyed by its affluent neighbour.

For the former British colony, which is marking the 15th anniversary of its return to China, the project could bring fresh business opportunities and bolster its position as China’s financial window on the global markets.

But Shenzhen’s ambitions are running into the brick wall of Beijing’s caution over reform, as China’s grand hopes of becoming a global financial powerhouse struggle to overcome its fear of freeing markets from government control.

Local officials have given up, for example, on the idea of an independent antigraft body similar to Hong Kong’s, set-

tling for a hybrid that mixes features of the Hong Kong and mainland systems, said Cao Hailei, head of the Qianhai Authority overseeing the project.

“The structure of the two governments is different,” Cao told Reuters.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is expected to announce preferential tax rates and other incentives for the Qianhai Bay zone when he visits Hong Kong this week.

China has been steadily expanding the role Hong Kong plays in internationalising the yuan, which it hopes one day will be a global currency like the dollar.

Beijing announced a series of new measures for Hong Kong, including allowing joint ventures among the stock exchanges of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and letting Hong Kong financial firms set up consumer arms in Guangdong province, which includes Shenzhen.

BUCOLIC BACKWATER Now a bustling metropolis of 10 mln crammed with ports and skyscrapers and home to Chinese corporate goliaths such as carmaker BYD Co and telecoms firm Huawei

Technologies, Shenzhen was no more than a bucolic backwater of 30,000 villagers living off paddy fields and the sea in 1980.

Shenzhen’s stock market, while smaller than its Shanghai counterpart, has become the most active global IPO centre on a wave of domestic listings, eclipsing London and Hong Kong.

China has also laid out plans to build up Shanghai, which already boasts the world’s fourth-largest stock market by value of shares traded, into a bona fide global financial centre by 2020, but it still has far to go to compete broadly with established centres such as New York and London.

Despite giant economic strides in the past two decades, China’s still difficult and fickle business environment needs to mature into one of greater openness and legal rigour, foreign investors say, and those are elements that have long been part of Hong Kong’s institutional and commercial fabric.

Qianhai, which will focus on financial, logistics and IT services and is set for completion in 2020, would allow the mainland to leverage Hong Kong’s expertise.

July 4 - 10, 2012

FinancialMirror.com

26 | WORLD MARKETS

Hedge funds bet Glencore will raise bid for Xstrata

Can EU deal lift stocks for more than a day?

U.S. stocks finished the first half of the year with a bang as investors welcomed news that the euro zone is a step closer to solving its 30-month-long debt crisis. Now for the question: Is this rally strong enough to last for more than a day?

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their best daily percentage gains since December on Friday after an agreement by European leaders to stabilize the region’s troubled banks, a pact that helped remove some of the uncertainty that has plagued markets. “That is the major question.

Can this fuel a longer-term rally? It can, but only to some degree if, over the weekend and the course of next week, we don’t see any major push back or headlines that suggest that this deal is not going to happen,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial.

“But I don’t think this is a major game changer. I do, however, think that this is really the first time we got a relatively immediate answer to what they (the euro-zone leaders) are going to do about the issue.”

PARTY TIME Wall Street’s previous reaction to euro-zone bailout packages or other rescue plans had been somewhat muted. Initial gains would quickly disappear by the day’s end as investors realized that there isn’t a quick fix to the region’s problems.

On Friday, it was a different story. The three major U.S. stock indexes jumped 1.5% to 2% shortly after the opening bell on news of the euro-zone agreement.

By the close, stocks ended at session highs with the major indexes up between 2% and 3%.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 277.83 points, or 2.20%, to end at 12,880.09. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped 33.12 points, or 2.49%, to finish at 1,362.16. And the Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 85.56 points, or 3.00%, to close at 2,935.05.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.9%, the S&P 500 advanced 2% and the Nasdaq gained 1.5%.

For the month, the Dow added 3.9%, the S&P 500 rose 4% and the Nasdaq climbed 3.8%.

But for the second quarter, the Dow dropped 2.5%, the S&P 500 slid 3.3% and the Nasdaq lost 5.1%.

Despite the weak second quarter, the three major U.S. stock indexes wrapped up the first half of the year with decent gains: The Dow was up 5.4%, the S&P 500 was up 8.3% and the Nasdaq was up 12.7%.

Any market reaction to further developments this week could be exaggerated by lighter-thanusual volume. Wall Street trading desks may be more sparsely populated because it will be a short week. The U.S. stock market will be closed on Wednesday, the Fourth of July, in observance of Independence Day. ALL EYES ON THE ECB The market’s focus will shift to the European Central Bank this week as investors wait to see whether it cuts interest rates to complement the measures taken by EU leaders to shore up banks and bring down borrowing costs for Spain and Italy.

Most economists polled by Reuters expect the ECB to cut borrowing costs on Thursday, July 5, at its meeting, which takes place against a darkening economic backdrop.

But internal resistance to the central bank reviving its bond-buying program remains high.

The ECB has already loosened its collateral rules to make it easier for banks in Spain to access its funds. “Investors have to be cautious because the market may be getting ahead of itself. We really don’t have any details. The big question is still what direction the ECB takes” this week, said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

“It’s (the EU deal) certainly not a silver bullet for the debt crisis, but the market is kind of acting like it is. It may set us up for another push down in the weeks ahead.”

Stocks had enjoyed a run earlier this month on hopes that global central banks would announce additional measures to stimulate economic growth, which has been tepid.

On June 20, the Federal Reserve extended its “Operation Twist” program to sell short-term securities and buy longer-term ones to keep long-term borrowing costs down. But investors were disappointed when U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who spoke at a news conference after the Fed’s two-day policy meeting, gave few hints that further monetary stimulus was imminent, denting hopes of cheap money in the equities market.

European bond yields will be closely watched this week. Madrid will auction three-year, fouryear and 10-year bonds at a primary auction on Thursday in another big test for Spanish yields that are still not far below 7%.

France will sell between 7 bln and 8 bln euros in long-term bonds on Thursday.

JUNE JOBS DATA AHEAD This week’s data includes U.S. manufacturing index and construction spending, followed by factory orders and June car sales.

After Wednesday’s holiday, investors will face a blitz of economic indicators. On Thursday, weekly jobless claims and mortgage data, ADP’s private-sector payrolls report and the ISM’s U.S. services-sector index will be released.

Hedge funds are betting commodities trader Glencore will raise its bid for Xstrata and win over disgruntled shareholder Qatar Holding, hoping to turn a tidy profit from the belief chief Ivan Glasenberg won’t flinch in his efforts to buy the mining group.

Funds are staying long in shares of miner Xstrata in spite of the fact Qatar, which owns around 11% of the miner, shocked markets last week with a late demand for better terms, forcing both firms to push back the timing of the deal.

Several hedge funds and analysts reckon a fresh offer of around 3 new Glencore shares for every Xstrata share, a rise from the current offer of 2.8 but below Qatar’s demand for 3.25, will be enough to win over the Middle East investor.

If Glencore successfully buys Xstrata at a ratio of 3.1, this would hand hedge funds an annualised gain of around 20% - a big payout for these so-called merger arbitrage funds, which make money by betting on the outcome of M&A deals.

Glencore and Xstrata stock has traded at a ratio of around 2.6 last week, implying markets were not expecting better terms.

The possible tie-up has proved tough for many funds to trade, however.

In order to protect their downside if Glencore walks away - which could send their Xstrata shares hurtling lower - funds short the shares of the commodities trading giant.

This is because Glencore shares could also fall if the deal collapses, protecting them from losses on their Xstrata stock.

The limited availability of shares also poses a challenge, although Glencore’s free float rose to over 50% in May after lock-ups on a big chunk of employees’ shares expired.

Amit Shabi, partner at Paris-based Bernheim, Dreyfus & Co, told Reuters his fund had reversed the typical merger arbitrage bet by shorting Xstrata and buying Glencore shares, but had sold the position a few weeks ago when the deal spread widened.

He said he is considering buying Xstrata and shorting Glencore, but has not put on the bet because finding Glencore shares to borrow is “almost impossible”, while the cost makes the trade unattractive.

AB InBev in talks to buy Mexico’s Modelo Anheuser-Busch InBev SA’s interest in buying the rest of Mexico’s Grupo Modelo warmed investors eager to see fresh consolidation in the global beer market. Shares of both brewing giants rose after Modelo and Belgian-based AB InBev, which has a 50.4% noncontrolling stake in the Mexican company, said they are discussing expanding their joint relationship.

Fueled by Mexico’s growing beer market, AB InBev could unlock big cost savings and give the company control of exports of Corona beer, the No. 1 imported brand in the U.S. The deal, which would follow a series of recent mergers in the industry, could be worth well over $10 bln, though the family-controlled Mexican brewer said nothing was set in stone. An agreement would give AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, access to the Mexican beer market which is growing by 2 to 3% a year.

Mexico is the world’s sixth-biggest beer market and the fourth-most profitable, and is a virtual duopoly between No. 1 player Modelo and Heineken.

In terms of volume, Modelo is the world’s seventh-biggest brewer.

In April, AB InBev agreed to buy the Dominican Republic’s Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana for more than $1.2 bln, while in the same month Molson Coors bought East European brewer StarBev for 2.65 bln euros ($3.5 bln), and last year SABMiller purchased Foster’s for $11.8 bln.

Lloyds agrees terms with Co-op on Verde branch sale Lloyds Banking Group has reached an understanding over the terms of a deal to sell over 600 branches to the Co-operative Group, creating a new competitor for Britain’s established but unpopular high street banks. Lloyds, 40% owned by the government, said it was ending talks with new banking venture NBNK, which will now be wound up.

NBNK, set up by former Lloyd’s of London insurance head Peter Levene and run by former Barclays and Northern Rock executive Gary Hoffman, said it had concluded that there are no other UK banking assets available to buy.

The Verde business has around 5 mln customers and represents 6% of all bank branches in Britain. When combined with the Co-op business, it will have 7% of the total market for current accounts in Britain.

Lloyds must sell the branches, code named Verde, under European State Aid rules, having been bailed out by Britain in 2008.

Lloyds said the proposed transaction would be based upon it transferring a smaller balance sheet into the new business than previously anticipated, so there will be no funding gap in terms of assets and liabilities. It is likely to have equity capital of 1.5 bln pounds supporting it.

Lloyds has until November next year to sell the branches.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

WORLD MARKETS | 27

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

28 | WORLD MARKETS

Barclays chiefs go over rate rigging l Outgoing chairman to lead search for new CEO as Bob Diamond’s decision boosts shares Barclays Plc Chief Executive Bob Diamond quit on Tuesday under fire from politicians and regulators, the highest-profile casualty of an interest rate-rigging scandal spanning more than a dozen big banks across the world.

“The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise - I cannot let that happen,” said Diamond, 61. The terms of his severance were not announced.

His resignation was a sudden reversal, hours after he said it was down to him to clear up the mess at Britain’s third-largest bank, fined 290 mln pounds for its part in manipulating a global benchmark interest rate.

Prime Minister David Cameron had announced a parliamentary inquiry after calling for Diamond to take responsibility for the scandal, and the Financial Services Authority regulator had also brought pressure to bear on the board.

FSA Chairman Adair Turner said on Tuesday he had had private conversations with Barclays since Friday morning about the need for “cultural change” at the bank.

Diamond sent a long letter to staff on Monday showing his resolve to continue. But he and the board decided he should quit later that day after Cameron and finance minister George Osborne announced the parliamentary inquiry.

Politicians and newspapers have zeroed in on the scandal which revealed macho e-mails of bankers congratulating each other with offers of champagne for helping to fiddle figures - as an example of a rampant culture of wrongdoing in an industry that stayed afloat with huge taxpayer bailouts.

Diamond’s resignation was “a first step towards that change of culture, that new age of responsibility we need to see”, Osborne told BBC radio.

“The chairman of Barclays phoned me last night to let me know that this was the decision of the board and of Mr Diamond, and I think Mr Diamond made the right decision,” Osborne said.

Diamond will appear before the parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday and could reveal details that may be awkward for

the Bank of England, if he suggests that regulators turned a blind eye towards manipulation of the interest rate.

Outgoing chairman Marcus Agius will lead the search for a new CEO, despite having announced his own imminent departure a day earlier. Newly-appointed Chief Operating Officer Jerry del Missier, long a Diamond lieutenant, also left.

The reversal was a shock within the 322-year-old bank, which in recent years has boasted an aggressive culture cultivated by Diamond, first as head of investment banking and then as CEO. One Barclays banker said staff were disappointed.

“Everyone here has been bandying around names, but it’s going to be hard to find someone of the same quality as Bob and John (Varley, his predecessor). I guess it would be hard to appoint someone from the investment banking side now.”

Barclays has admitted it submitted low-balled estimates of its borrowing costs to calculate interbank rates from late 2007 to May 2009, a time when Diamond ran investment banking.

Large banks’ estimates of the interest rates they pay each other are used to calculate the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, basis for trillions of dollars in contracts around the globe.

By manipulating the figures, banks could give flattering impressions of their financial strength. Barclays says it submitted low figures because it thought rivals were doing the same and higher rates would have made it seem to be in trouble.

EMBARRASSING DETAILS The Financial Times reported that Diamond is threatening to reveal potentially embarrassing details about Barclays’ dealings with regulators if he comes under fire at the parliament hearing on Wednesday, when his evidence will have legal immunity. A conversation between Diamond and Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker in 2008 was cited in documents released by U.S. authorities last week, after which some people at the bank may have mistakenly believed they had been granted permission to falsify the Libor submissions.

Opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, who has said he wants to see criminal prosecutions of Barclays bankers, wel-

comed Diamond’s resignation but said a parliamentary inquiry was not enough and demanded an independent probe led by a judge.

The government said a judgeled inquiry would take too long to be of use shaping new laws to tighten rules. Cameron, elected in 2010, has repeatedly made the point that Miliband’s Labour was in power at the time of the wrongdoing.

NAMES IN THE FRAME Antony Jenkins, currently chief executive of Barclays retail and business banking, is the most likely internal candidate to replace Diamond, said Oriel Securities analyst Mike Trippitt.

However, the firm may choose to look outside for a new leader to turn the page on the scandal.

Other names in the frame include former JPMorgan investment banking co-head Bill Winters and Naguib Kheraj, the exBarclays finance director and former CEO of JPMorgan Cazenove. “You must remember that in contrast to RBS, Barclays is two-thirds an investment bank ... You couldn’t put a dull, boring banker in charge of the beast because you do need someone with a strong investment banking heritage to take the helm,” said a top 40 investor. Barclays shares, which rose on the news of the departure of Agius on Monday, added another 3.7% on Tuesday morning, rising to 174.7 pence, outpacing a 0.8% rise in the European banking stocks index. The shares were still down more than 10% from Thursday’s open.

Barclays was fined $453 mln by U.S. and British authorities, the first bank to settle in an investigation that is looking at more than a dozen others, including Citigroup, UBS and RBS. Some analysts say Barclays has been unfairly punished for admitting to practices rife across the world’s big banks.

BoE attacks “deceitful” bank culture Bank of England Governor Mervyn King launched an angry attack on British banking culture, saying something had gone very wrong with an industry which he derided for resorting to “deceitful” methods to make money.

King, the country’s most powerful monetary official, said a a fundamental overhaul was needed for a sector that is reeling from a string of financial scandals.

The banking industry is one of the largest cogs in Britain’s economy and has thrived over the past decades in a climate free market laissez-faire. Protecting it has often caused major clashes between Britain and it EU partners.

Barclays found itself in the firing line last week after U.S. and British authorities fined it $450 mln for manipulating the rate at which banks lend to each other overnight. More banks are expected to be drawn in.

The row has angered voters and prompted politicians across the political spectrum to attack what many see as a culture of greed in a country struggling to revive the shrinking economy.

Speaking after a week of stinging revelations, King said problems ranged from “shoddy treatment of customers” to “deceitful manipulation of one of the most important interest rates”, as well as excessive salaries. “What I hope is that everyone now understands that something went very wrong with the UK banking industry and we need to put it right. ... We need a real change in the culture of the industry,” he said in a news conference presenting the central bank’s financial stability report.

It is an awkward moment for Prime Minister David Cameron, accused by critics of being out of touch with the hardships of ordinary people - an image reinforced during an intense public inquiry into his government’s cozy links to the

media elite.

Some politicians called on the government to set up a similar inquiry — or investigation — into banks as the row engulfing the financial community threatened to spill over into a wider political scene.

Financial Services Authority said it had settled with four banks - Barclays, RBS, HSBC and Lloyds - after finding evidence they mis-sold products to protect small businesses against a rise in interest rates. Under pressure to act decisively, Cameron said those breaking the rules of corporate responsibility must “face the consequences” but made no policy proposals.

The financial industry, which employs around 1.4 mln people in Britain, had been a major tax source before the financial crisis but the government had to bail out several big banks with tens of billions of pounds.

RBS computer fiasco a gift for new banks A software debacle that caused chaos for millions of Royal Bank of Scotland customers is a gift for new arrivals such as Metro Bank and Aldermore, aiming to grab business from Britain’s established but unpopular lenders.

The fiasco, which led to media reports of house purchases falling through and workers going unpaid, was followed last week by an interest-rate rigging scandal that hammered Barclays and could spread to others including RBS. Although a fraction of the size of the incumbents, challengers such as Metro Bank, Virgin Money and Aldermore are looking to pick up customers unhappy with the service they’re getting or who have been shunned by the bigger players as they focus on shrinking their balance sheets and building up capital reserves to meet new regulations.

For years, Britain’s banking system has been dominated by a

handful of large lenders. But after taxpayers had to bail out Lloyds and RBS during the 2008 global financial crisis, the government decided to stimulate competition. Consumers have typically been reluctant to move banks because they think it will be difficult. The 2012 World Retail Banking Report from Capgemini found that, although 40% of customers were unsure if they would stay with their main bank in the long term, only 9% planned to switch in the next six months. Staff at a branch said several RBS

customers had enquired about switching since the bank suffered a computer systems meltdown last week preventing it from processing payments for individuals and businesses.

Metro, the first new high street bank in Britain for over a hundred years when it opened in 2010, markets itself on being open every day and for longer hours than traditional high street names. It also makes it easier for customers to switch by giving them their new bank cards on the day they open an account.

Aldermore, set up by former Barclays banker Phillip Monks with private equity backing in 2009, has adopted an entirely different model. It has no branches and doesn’t offer current accounts, instead focusing on savings products and lending to small businesses and homeowners. Unhampered by the cost of running branches, Aldermore broke even in July 2011. Metro Bank is still lossmaking.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

GREECE | 29

ECB warns Greece over softer bailout The European Central Bank told Greece on Monday not to waste time trying to renegotiate its international bailout as government ministers hashed out a plan for easing its punishing terms before a review by the country’s lenders.

Echoing Greece’s euro zone partners, ECB policymaker Joerg Asmussen signalled that Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was unlikely to win much leeway in imposing austerity measures demanded by the European Union and IMF under its bailout programme.

“The first priority for the new Greek government has to be getting the programme back on track,” Asmussen, an ECB Executive Board member, said in a speech in Athens.

“The new government should not lose precious time looking to avoid or loosen the programme.”

Facing huge public pressure, Samaras wants more time to meet targets and to dilute the austerity measures that have helped condemn Greece to a fifth year of recession.

Ministers from the conservative-led coalition were huddled in talks on Monday to work out the plan before “troika” inspectors from the EU, ECB and IMF begin their review of Greece’s faltering progress in fiscal adjustment and reforms.

Greek and troika sources said the inspectors would start their work on Wednesday, with mission chiefs also visiting to meet the new government. The process could take weeks.

“We haven’t seen any numbers for some

time now. We need at least a week to catch up,” a troika official told Reuters.

Samaras’s election victory on June 17 over a radical leftist bloc committed to tearing up the bailout deal removed the immediate threat of Greece crashing out of the euro.

But his uneasy coalition of right and left was forged on a promise to ease the burden on a society struggling with the tax hikes, job losses and wage cuts imposed as the price of two multi-billion-euro bailouts since 2010.

Samaras, 61, says the harsh austerity is only choking the Greek economy and delaying recovery.

The euro zone says the programme can be adjusted to take account of weeks of political paralysis during elections in May and June and the deeper than expected recession. However, lenders led by Germany, the biggest contributor to the bailout, have ruled out any radical changes.

Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, whose leftwing Syriza bloc surged into second place in the June election on a promise to reject the bailout, said Greece was “just chasing its tail”.

“Continuing the bailout’s austerity will push our country to voluntarily withdraw from the euro zone,” he told the Economist Conference where Asmussen spoke. “The most important parts of society, the young scientists, the pioneers of Greece’s future, are being pushed to the margins of society and fleeing abroad.”

MANUFACTURING SLUMP Tsipras, 37, said Greece should demand that the concessions granted to Spain at last week’s EU summit also be applied to Greece, particularly the direct recapitalisation of banks from EU rescue funds. In Greece’s case, direct recapitalisation would cut about 50 bln euros from the national debt.

But in a newspaper interview on Sunday, Asmussen said there should be no illusion that the summit’s conclusions would change things for Greece. He cautioned on Monday that granting the country more time would only cost more money.

“Delaying adjustment is risky,” he said.

“And it is also not free.” Asmussen, a former adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, later met Greece’s outgoing and incoming

finance ministers, saying afterwards only that they had a “good first meeting”.

There was some relief when the government received the remaining 1 bln euro portion of its latest bailout tranche worth 5.2 bln euros.

Greece’s state coffers are almost on empty.

Underscoring the scale of the problem, a survey released on Monday showed a manufacturing slump worsened in June between the two elections, leading to sharp drops in production and employment.

Markit’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ Index (PMI) for Greece dropped to 40.1 points last month from 43.1 in May, its weakest reading since February’s record low of 37.7 points and well below the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction.

Credit Agricole in talks over Emporiki 8 bids for oil, l NBG confirms talks as more than three lenders

have also declared interest Credit Agricole is in talks to sell all or part of struggling Emporiki Bank as it continues its drive to resolve the Greek risk that has dogged it in recent months.

Greece’s biggest lender, National Bank, said in a bourse filing that it was in talks with the French bank over a “strategic alliance” regarding Emporiki.

Europe’s No. 4 bank by assets has been scrambling to scale back its 4.6 bln euro exposure to Emporiki after concern that a Greek exit from the euro zone would prompt massive writedowns and force a capital increase.

“There were discussions between the managements of National and Credit Agricole regarding the potential for future strategic alliances, which are at an initial phase,” NBG said, adding that it would inform investors if the talks bore specific results.

National is the first lender to confirm it is in discussions with Credit Agricole over a possible takeover of Emporiki, partial or otherwise.

Credit Agricole may decide to retain a minority stake in the Greek lender, which at the end of last year had 1.3 mln customers and 22.3 bln euros in outstanding loans.

Last week Alpha Bank denied a report that it was in talks to acquire Emporiki assets.

Emporiki later issued a statement saying it was in “preliminary discussions” with other Greek lenders and regulatory authorities.

Credit Agricole shares jumped as much as 8.4% on the news on Monday, their biggest percentage rise since January, and closed up 6.9% at 3.71 euros.

The shares are down over 20% in the past 12 months and touched a record low in early June.

The news of a potential sale is the latest in a series of positive Greece-related developments for the French bank in recent weeks. In early June sources said Emporiki had gained access to emergency liquidity funds provided by Greece’s central bank to prop up the country’s ailing lenders.

Later in the month the bank said it was hiring Xavier Musca as executive vice-president in charge of international retail banking. Musca, who played a key role in the shadows during former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s handling of the euro zone crisis, could already be making his mark with the Emporiki sale talks.

“Clearly, at Credit Agricole’s share price today, there is some huge value-destruction component of the Emporiki subsidiary, so I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of them selling it for $1,” one London-based analyst said. “What they’re clearly doing is preparing for a worst-case scenario and hoping for the best and that’s probably not a bad management strategy in these uncertain times.”

Greek media reports suggest that two other Greek lenders, EFG Eurobank and Alpha Bank, have also declared an interest in Emporiki.

gas exploration Greece has received eight bids by companies to search for oil and natural gas in three blocks in the western part of the country, the energy ministry said, as the debt-laden country seeks to save money on energy imports.

Greece, which produces almost no oil or natural gas, aims to develop potential hydrocarbon reserves as part of an effort to overhaul its economy and lessen dependence on energy imports.

“It is important that Greece returns to the energy map again,” Energy Minister Evangelos Livieratos said in a statement. “Our country can attract new investment, create new jobs and boost its geo-strategic position and competitiveness to exit the crisis.”

Eleven companies, some in alliance with each other, submitted a total of eight bids.

They included UK-based Chariot Oil and Gas, Schlumberger, the world’s biggest oil service company, Arctic Hunter, Hellenic Petroleum, Edison International and Melrose Resources. The latter three teamed up to bid for two of the three projects.

The three blocks combined, two off-shore and one onshore, may contain as much as 280 mln barrels of oil, Greek officials said last year. They are near the towns of Patras and Katakolo as well as in Epirus, in the country’s northwest

Deposit flight hits record high in May A rush by firms and consumers to pull their money out of Greek banks accelerated to record levels in May, European Central Bank data showed, piling further misery on the country’s already crippled banking system.

Speculation about Greece possibly quitting the euro was at its most intense in May when anti-bailout parties saw a strong showing in elections, and analysts and bankers said the situation might have improved since then.

After slight increases in the two previous months, private sector deposits in Greek banks fell almost 5% last month, the ECB data showed.

Deposits fell to 163 bln euros, the lowest level in six years and about one third below their peak hit in December 2009.

“The deposit flight will be linked to the messages coming of Greece and the euro zone with respect to Greece’s contin-

ued chances of membership,” Hellenic Bank economist Michalis Florentiades said.

“Interest rates Greek banks are paying are fairly high, so it’s quite attractive to park money, but if the risk of Greece exiting the euro zone (is there), it obviously makes sense to take your money out of the Greek banking system.”

Bankers have said that deposits are trickling back since a pro-bailout party’s victory in elections earlier this month.

July 4 - 10, 2012

FinancialMirror.com

30 | CSE PRICES CSE CODE OASIS Index performance CSE General Index FTSE/CySE 20 FTSE/XA & XAK Banking MAIN MARKET MAIN MARKET INDEX BANK OF CYPRUS CYPRUS POPULAR BANK HELLENIC BANK LOGICOM LOUIS LTD A. TSOKKOS HOTELS ORPHANIDES SECTOR TOTAL / OΛIKO PARALLEL MARKET PARALLEL MARKET INDEX WOOLWORTH (CYPRUS) PROP VASSILIKO CEMENT ERMES DEPARTMENT STORES A&P (ANDREOU&PARASKEV.) MARFIN CLR PUBLIC CO A. ZORBAS & SONS K. ATHIENITIS CONTR. - DEV. G.A.P VASSILOPOULOS KANIKA HOTELS MITSIDES LIBERTY LIFE INSURANCE PHIL. ANDREOU LORDOS HOTELS HOLDINGS LORDOS UNITED PLASTIC SECTOR TOTAL / OΛIKO ALTERNATIVE MARKET ALTERNATIVE INDEX A. PANAYIDES CONTRACTING AD SHOPPING GALLERIES ALKIS HADJ. (FROU-FROU) A.L. PROCHOICE FIN. SERV. AMATHUS PUBLIC LTD ASTARTI DEVELOPMENT ATLANTIC INSURANCE AVACOM PUBLIC CO. LTD. BLUE ISLAND FISH FARMING CCC TOURIST ENT. CHARILAOS APOSTOLIDES CHRIS JOANNOU LTD CLARIDGE INVESTMENTS CLR INVESTMENT FUND CONSTANTINOU BROS. CPI ENTER. DEVELOPMENT C.T.O. PUBLIC CO CYPRINT LTD. CYPRUS CEMENT CYPRUS FOREST IND. CYPRUS TRADING CORP. CYVENTURE CAPITAL DIMCO PLC DISPLAY ART LTD ELLINAS FINANCE ELMA HOLDINGS EMPIRE CAPITAL INV. EUROPROFIT CAPITAL EXELIXIS INVESTMENT FILOKTIMATIKI K & G COMPLEX KARAOLIS GROUP KARKOTIS MANUFACTURING KEO LTD KOSMOS INSURANCE KRONOS PRESS DIST. JUPITER PORTFOLIO INV. L.P. TRANSBETON LEPTOS CALYPSO HOTELS MALLOUPAS & PAPACOSTAS MINERVA INSURANCE MODESTOU SOUND & VISION NEMESIS CONSTRUCTIONS O.C. OPTIONS CHOICE PANDORA INVESTMENTS PIPIS FARM PETROLINA HOLDINGS PIERIDES HOLDINGS PRIMETEL PLC PROODOS AGROS RENOS HADJIOANNOU FARMS ROYAL HIGHGATE LTD SALAMIS TOURS SFS GROUP PUBLIC CO. STADEMOS HOTELS STARIO INVESTMENTS TOP KINISIS TRAVEL TOXOTIS INVESTMENTS UNIFAST FIN. & INV. VISION INTL PEOPLE GROUP SECTOR TOTAL / OΛIKO

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1 795 141 1 611 111 308 020 74 080 460 547 246 214 80 966

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473 917 130 500 52 671 19 409 10 593 20 436 5 506 713 032

1.54 0.38 1.45 0.78 0.25 0.53 1.72 0.95

0.17 0.21 0.12 0.34 0.09 0.16 0.04 0.16

FWW VCW ERME APE LI ZRP ACD GAP KAN MIT LIB PHIL LHH LPL

ΓΟΥΛ ΤΣΙΒ ΕΡΜΕ ΑΝΠΑ ΛΕΠΕ ΖΟΡΠ ΑΘΗΕ ΒΑΣΙ ΚΑΝΙ ΜΙΤΣ ΛΙΠΕ ΦΙΛΑ ΛΟΞΕ ΛΟΡ∆

114 252 71 936 175 000 182 725 285 713 15 296 13 416 38 750 60 250 8 200 90 804 45 000 35 000 48 006

0.34 0.43 0.34 0.17 0.27 0.34 0.35 0.17 0.35 1.03 0.10 0.17 0.35 0.35

114 320 33 091 22 225 36 180 14 286 10 707 5 635 5 425 8 134 4 756 3 814 4 185 3 080 2 880 268 717

1.75 3.04 0.45 0.26 0.27 2.40 4.39 0.33 0.68 3.50 0.09 0.12 1.69 0.56 1.39

0.16 0.15 0.28 0.77 0.19 0.29 0.10 0.43 0.20 0.17 0.47 0.76 0.05 0.11 0.29

6 217 11 604 15 818 3 173 8 578 4 996 21 119 9 433 2 779 7 085 3 000 201 5 408 2 881 11 250 7 314 6 261 1 234 20 642 5 751 35 911 2 096 7 290 810 5 280 6 967 39 239 627 4 760 1 874 11 000 447 956 18 587 2 158 12 036 4 371 1 971 7 118 7 778 1 568 149 15 875 464 29 710 773 58 625 1 547 18 012 5 816 2 729 1 980 2 557 3 991 6 825 386 3 175 414 200 75 000 555 816

0.90 0.06 0.51 0.04 0.52 0.26 0.73 0.29 0.77 0.51 0.25 0.46 0.44 0.09 0.75 0.65 0.12 0.36 1.66 7.84 1.82 0.49 0.23 0.35 0.76 0.06 0.05 0.20 0.79 2.47 0.62 0.07 0.12 3.71 0.48 0.74 0.3920 0.41 0.94 0.62 0.14 0.02 0.57 0.22 0.24 0.36 1.29 0.42 0.04 3.43 0.04 0.16 0.52 1.89 2.34 0.05 0.41 0.05 0.12 0.15 0.75

0.19 1.50 0.31 0.57 0.15 0.19 0.74 0.44 0.23 0.10 0.24 0.04 0.11 0.11 0.09 0.46 0.26 0.68 0.09 0.24 0.21 0.29 0.39 0.17 0.43 0.33 16.40 0.10 0.18 0.16 0.18 0.27 1.04 0.16 0.25 0.80 0.56 0.07 0.29 0.14 0.43 0.45 0.04 0.29 0.22 0.52 0.17 1.67 0.47 0.25 0.38 0.13 0.03 0.09 0.64 0.43 0.17 6.61 0.70

APC AD FBI PROP ANC AST ATL ACS BLUE CCCT CHAP CJ CLA CLL CBH CPIH CTO CYP CCC CFI CTC EXE DES DISP ELF ELMA EMP ERP EXIN PES KG KARA KARK KEO COS KRO ARI TRB LCH MPT MINE MSV NEM OPT PND PIPF PHL PGE PTL AGRO FRH ROY SAL SFS SHL STAR TOP COV UFI VIP

ΑΠΑΝ ΑΘΩΣ ΦΡΟΥ ΠΡΟΠ ΑΜΑΘ ΑΣΤΑ ΑΤΑΣ ΑΒΑΚ ΜΠΛΕ ΣΙΤΟ ΧΑΡΙ ΙΟΑΝ ΚΛΑΡ ΣΛΕΠ ΚΩΝΣ ΚΕΑΕ ΣΤΟ ΣΑΙΠ ΚΕΤΣ ∆ΒΚ∆ ΣΤΣ∆ ΒΕΝΤ ΝΤΙΜ ΝΤΙΑ ΕΛΛΗ ΕΛΕΠ ΕΜ ΓΙΟΥ ΕΞΕΠ ΦΙΛΟ ΚΚΟΜ ΚΑΡΚ ΚΕΟ ΚΟΣΑ ΚΡΟΝ ΤΖΕΠ ΤΡΑΝ ΛΕΠΤ ΜΑΠΑ ΜΙΝΕ ΜΟ∆Ε ΝΕΜΕ ΟΚΑΣ ΠΑΝ∆ ΠΙΠΗ ΛΙΝΑ ΠΙΕΡ ΠΤΕΛ ΑΓΡΟ ΡΕΝΟ ΡΟΧΑ ΣΑΛΑ ΕΣΕΦ ΣΤΑ∆ ΣΤΕΠ ΤΟΚΙ ΤΟΕΠ ΦΑΣΤ ΒΙΖΝ

36 572 128 936 98 861 158 660 107 226 99 925 39 109 72 562 15 438 141 692 50 000 10 070 108 163 288 141 160 714 24 379 208 700 5 140 137 611 3 059 92 079 14 973 80 999 13 506 16 000 348 333 47 853 31 344 34 000 4 805 100 000 22 343 7 967 30 978 17 985 20 400 62 446 8 571 101 683 43 211 78 415 14 900 61 056 46 355 424 435 9 660 87 500 22 100 300 194 3 590 272 915 33 000 36 529 66 520 32 500 38 581 12 212 20 700 9 988 75 000

0.35 0.17 0.26 0.09 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.34 0.17 0.43 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.08 0.35 0.17 0.87 0.43 0.43 1.73 0.85 0.43 0.09 0.35 0.62 0.09 0.87 0.09 0.29 0.87 0.17 0.34 0.35 0.43 0.31 0.43 0.20 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.17 0.14 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.35 0.35 0.34 0.17 1.73 0.03 0.17 0.43 1.00 0.69 0.17 0.34 0.03 0.05 $ 0.10

Profit/(Loss)

Book Value 2010 Times EUR ('000) Tιµή προς Κέρδη µετά λογιστ. αξ. φορολ.

3M 2011 EUR ('000) Kέρδη 2011

3M 2012 EUR ('000) Kέρδη 2012

Profit/(Loss)

2011 EUR ('000) Κέρδη µετά φορολ.

2010

3M '11

3M '12

2011

306 000 87 100 8 889 3 274 -10 243 -17 397 3 328 380 951

74 000 71 017 916 2 194 -17 892 1 039 346 131 620

295 000 54 819 8 063 2 400 -20 414 -3 103 -1 504 335 261

-1 371 000 -3 650 380 -100 658 3 585 -82 674 -6 894 -8 648 -5 216 669

2010

3M '11

3M '12

2011

8 848 1 310 6 309 4 108 -47 1 846 25 987 -1 903 -703 2 574 -8 419 -1 453 456 71 38 984

1 684 -1 077 -3 708

805 -796 -4 411

578

11

-2 523

-4 391

6 674 -1 174 245 4 122 -1 734 989 2 133 -1 600 -77 -947 -2 667 -1 333 759 -1 302 4 088

2010

3M '11

3M '12

2011

1 767 -3 960 4 363 -5 724 -1 339 -11 422 4 108 -2 203 257 -6 512 1 542 -622 -3 641 -7 007 440 -157 1 211 -1 031 -6 432 568 13 270 1 157 2 183 -380 575 -5 602 -504 -980 1 048 614 -1 668 -844 -738 -3 358 -760 969 -2 094 -501 -3 469 -1 746 -4 952 -594 5 981 -9 573 -9 238 313 8 617 11 -5 231 362 14 344 131 -9 983 1 165 -1 062 -181 -25 -43 -330 -62 896

-1 977

-1 977

-3 350

-3 350

373 -12 265 2 334 -2 594 -2 121 -6 400 2 306 -2 754 570 -3 519 -7 900 -375 -3 942 -7 654 -4 006 -65 -3 921 -513 -4 630 -4 127 5 693 1 104 1 604 -526 -257 -551 -212 -15 562 1 608 5 130 -2 198 -110 -3 948 -804 100 -1 392 -438 -6 299 1 345 -3 185 -281 2 076 -2 192 -16 880 -1 314 10 753 -868 -6 352 73 151 546 964 -19 100 1 577 -1 737 -689 11 -37 2 753 -110 647

P/E ratio 2011

Earnings Per

Dividend Per

Dividend Yield

Share

Share 2011 Cents

%

Results Cents

n/a n/a n/a 5.41 n/a n/a n/a 0.15

4.83 n/a 90.71 8.78 n/a 10.83 2.64 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 4.06 n/a 9.72

2012 High Low EUR EUR Aνώτατο Kατώτατο

Last Close EUR Kλείσιµο

Price 31/12/2011 EUR Tιµή 31/12/2011

31/12/2011 Ποσ. Μετ.

31/12/2011

% Change

since

385.85 134.85 365.45

119.93 45.57 116.68

131.79 49.82 168.22

295.94 104.60 196.84

-55.47 -52.37 -14.54

377.70 0.76 0.39 0.36 0.34 0.04 0.08 0.12

109.22 0.23 0.08 0.17 0.26 0.02 0.05 0.07

121.73 0.26 0.08 0.17 0.26 0.02 0.08 0.07

286.83 0.61 0.30 0.36 0.27 0.04 0.05 0.12

-57.56 -56.72 -72.73 -52.63 -2.60 -37.84 62.75 -43.80

Cents -76.37 -226.58 -32.68 4.84 -17.95 -2.80 -10.68

Cents

%

2.50

9.54

Cents 5.84 -1.63 0.14 2.26 -0.61 6.47 15.90 -4.13 -0.13 -11.55 -2.94 -2.96 2.17 -2.71

Cents 5.80

% 20.57

704.24 0.34 0.57 0.17 0.20 0.07 0.80 1.10 0.18 0.14 0.65 0.05 0.10 0.12 0.07

621.66 0.27 0.35 0.13 0.16 0.05 0.46 0.42 0.13 0.10 0.58 0.03 0.09 0.08 0.06

621.66 0.28 0.46 0.13 0.20 0.05 0.70 0.42 0.14 0.14 0.58 0.04 0.09 0.09 0.06

656.6 0.32 0.35 0.167 0.18 0.06 0.65 1.00 0.18 0.11 0.63 0.05 0.10 0.08 0.06

-5.32 -11.60 33.33 -23.95 10.61 -20.63 8.02 -58.00 -22.22 22.73 -7.94 -10.64 -5.10 6.02 0.00

Cents 1.02 -9.51 2.36 -1.63 -1.98 -6.40 5.90 -3.80 3.69 -2.48 -15.80 -3.72 -3.64 -2.66 -2.49 -0.27 -1.88 -9.98 -3.36 -134.91 6.18 7.37 1.98 -3.89 -1.61 -1.15 -0.68 -45.77 33.47 5.13 -9.84 -1.38 -12.74 -4.47 0.49 -2.23 -5.11 -6.19 3.11 -4.06 -1.89 3.40 -4.73 -3.98 -13.60 12.29 -3.93 -2.12 2.03 0.06 1.65 2.64 -28.71 4.85 -4.50 -5.64 0.05 -0.37 3.67

Cents

%

740.44

665.96

0.91

5.69

7.00

12.96

1.20

6.67

8.50

12.69

2.00

9.52

665.96 0.17 0.09 0.16 0.02 0.08 0.05 0.54 0.13 0.18 0.05 0.06 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.07 0.30 0.03 0.24 0.15 1.88 0.39 0.14 0.09 0.06 0.33 0.02 0.82 0.02 0.14 0.39 0.11 0.02 0.12 0.60 0.12 0.59 0.07 0.23 0.07 0.18 0.02 0.01 0.26 0.01 0.07 0.08 0.67 0.07 0.06 1.62 0.01 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.21 0.01 0.26 0.02 0.02 1.00

738.87 0.17 0.11 0.16 0.02 0.10 0.05 0.83 0.16 0.21 0.07 0.06 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.09 0.31 0.05 0.32 0.18 3.20 0.32 0.17 0.09 0.06 0.38 0.02 0.62 0.03 0.15 0.48 0.12 0.03 0.14 0.70 0.09 0.65 0.09 0.23 0.08 0.19 0.04 0.01 0.21 0.01 0.11 0.08 0.52 0.06 0.06 1.62 0.01 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.23 0.01 0.26 0.02 0.02 1.00

-9.87 0.00 -18.18 0.00 0.00 -20.00 0.00 -34.94 -18.75 -14.29 -28.57 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -22.22 -3.23 -40.00 -25.00 -16.67 -41.25 21.88 -17.65 0.00 0.00 -13.16 0.00 32.26 -33.33 -6.67 -18.75 -8.33 -33.33 -14.29 -14.29 33.33 -9.23 -22.22 0.00 -12.50 -5.26 -50.00 0.00 23.81 0.00 -36.36 0.00 28.85 16.67 0.00 0.00 0.00 -25.00 -22.22 -40.00 -8.70 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

CSE PRICES | 31 CSE CODE OASIS

ΟΑΣΗΣ

Kωδ.

Number

Nominal

Market

Book Value

Shares ('000) Aριθµός µετοχών

Value euro Aξία EUR

Cap. ('000) Kεφαλ.

EUR

Per Share euro Λογιστική αξία

APPROVED INVESTMENTS / EΠEN∆YTIKOI OPΓAN. INVESTMENT INDEX ACTIBOND GROWTH FUND ACT ΑΚΕΠ APOLLO INVESTMENT FUND APOL ΑΠΕΠ FINIKAS AMMOCHOSTOU CONF ΚΟΕΠ CYTRUSTEES INV. PUBLIC CO CYTR ΣΑΕΠ DEMETRA INV. PUBLIC CO. DEM ∆ΗΕΠ DODONI PORTFOLIO DOD ∆ΩΕΠ HARVEST CAPITAL HCM ΧΑΕΠ INTERFUND INVESTMENTS INF ΙΝΕΠ ISCHIS INVESTMENT ISXI ΙΣΕΠ REGALLIA HOLD. & INV. REG ΡΕΕΠ TRIENA INV. INCOME TINC ΤΕΕΠ TRIENA INV. CAPITAL TCAP ΤΚΕΠ TRIENA INTERNATIONAL TINT Τ∆ΕΠ UNIGROWTH INVESTMENTS UNI ΓΙΕΠ SECTOR TOTAL / OΛIKO SHIPPING COMPANIES SECTOR

58 430 56 582 49 385 44 494 200 000 282 483 14 000 56 545 11 000 20 247 2 729 2 729 1 364 13 468

SPECIAL CATEGORY / AIANTAS INVESTMENTS CEILFLOOR CYPRUS AIRWAYS D.H. CYPROTELS D&M TELEMARKETING DOME INVESTMENTS EFREMICO HOLDINGS KARYES INVESTMENTS KNOSSOS INV. K. KYTHREOTIS HOLDINGS LASER INVESTMENT GROUP LIBRA GROUP OCEAN TANKERS ROLANDOS ENTERPRISES SAFS HOLDINGS SEA STAR CAPITAL SUPHIRE HOLDINGS USB BANK WOODLAND DESIGNS PLC SECTOR TOTAL / OΛIKO

81 202 5 055 391 155 157 138 7 700 25 000 11 385 2 000 21 827 42 450 61 739 189 377 296 665 54 166 70 220 629 785 124 009 60 674 13 000

Price to

Profit/(Loss)

Book Value 2010 Times EUR ('000) Tιµή προς Κέρδη µετά λογιστ. αξ. φορολ.

NAV

Disc/Prem

1 169 5 658 988 4 449 44 000 2 825 1 260 3 393 440 405 2 183 5 458 818 3 906 76 952

0.0434 0.2826 0.0157 0.3314 0.7474 0.0174 0.0634 0.1819 0.0673 0.0344 1.0430 2.1427 0.6125 0.2719

-53.92 -64.61 27.39 -69.82 -70.56 -42.53 41.96 -67.01 -40.56 -41.86 -23.30 -6.66 -2.04 6.66

812 202 23 469 1 571 385 16 250 228 540 218 5 519 8 643 1 894 5 933 5 417 702 6 298 1 240 36 404 83 330 199 056

0.1767 -0.61 -0.06 -0.11 -0.01 1.35 0.086 0.2491 0.11 0.45 0.06 -0.34 -0.27 0.29 0.000 -0.04 -0.1180 0.53 0.13

2010 0.17 0.34 0.10 0.30 0.87 0.02 0.17 0.51 0.51 0.09 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.17

3M 2011 EUR ('000) Kέρδη 2011

3M 2012 EUR ('000) Kέρδη 2012

2011 EUR ('000) Κέρδη µετά φορολ.

3M '11

3M '12

2011

0

-737 -4 301 -1 465 -10 771 -14 687 -6 357 -255 -9 493 -165 -150 331 -136 -36 -303 -48 525

-760 -3 213 -2 533 -10 875 -15 581 -5 227 -6 -12 850 -112 -195 389 -446 -7 -127 -51 543

0

2010 AIAS CFL CAIR DHH TLM DOME EFR KAR KNO KYTH LAS LHG OCT ROL SAFS SEAS SUP USB WOOD

ΑΙΕΠ ΣΙΦΛ ΚΑΕΡ ∆ΡΟΥ ΤΕΛΕ ΝΤΟ∆ ΕΦΡΕ ΚΑΕΠ ΚΝΕΠ ΚΥΘΡ ΛΕΕΠ ΛΙΠΡ ΤΑΝΚ ΡΟΛΑ ΣΑΦΣ ΣΕΑΣ ΣΑΠΦ ΤΡΑΓ ΓΟΥΤ

0.21 0.03 0.086 0.17 0.12 0.43 0.43 0.43 0.17 0.17 0.06 0.01 $0.20 0.17 0.17 0.04 0.09 0.57 0.17

MARKET TOTAL / OΛIKO AΓOPAΣ

1 813 572

-94.34 -0.07 -1.05 -0.09 -5.00 0.48 0.23 1.08 0.09 0.29 2.47 -0.03 -0.07 0.35 33.33 -0.26 -0.08 1.14 50.55

Profit/(Loss)

P/E ratio 2011

Earnings Per

Dividend Per

Dividend Yield

Share

Share 2011 Cents

%

Cents

%

Results Cents

Cents -1.26 -7.60 -2.97 -24.21 -7.34 -2.25 -1.82 -16.79 -1.50 -0.74 12.13 -4.98 -2.64 -2.25

2012 High Low EUR EUR Aνώτατο Kατώτατο

529.63

441.63

Last Close EUR Kλείσιµο

Price 31/12/2011 EUR Tιµή 31/12/2011

31/12/2011 Ποσ. Μετ.

31/12/2011

500.99 0.02 0.10 0.02 0.10 0.22 0.01 0.09 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.80 2.00 0.60 0.29

454.51 0.02 0.09 0.03 0.14 0.19 0.01 0.10 0.10 0.04 0.02 0.80 2.00 0.60 0.25

10.23 0.00 11.11 -33.33 -28.57 15.79 0.00 -10.00 -40.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 16.00

0.01 0.04 0.06 0.01 0.05 0.65 0.02 0.27 0.01 0.13 0.14 0.01 0.02 0.10 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.60 6.41

0.01 0.04 0.06 0.01 0.05 0.65 0.02 0.27 0.01 0.13 0.14 0.01 0.02 0.10 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.60 6.41

0.00 -

% Change

since

0.00

2011

-214 -1 353 232 -31 800 -335 -1 938 221 -180 774 999 -2 378 -7 100 -50 257 93 -173 -50 598 -764 -6 534 -916 -152 221

`

0

0

-27 -1 856 -18 954 -9 100 -245 -701 35 -180 87 612 -2 656 -11 700 -32 272 -328 -320 -16 501 -60 -6 248 -4 062 -104 476

153 275

127 120

327 520

-5 476 229

-0.03 -36.72 -4.85 -5.79 -3.18 -2.80 0.31 -9.00 0.40 1.44 -4.30 -6.18 -10.88 -0.61 -0.46 -2.62 -0.05 -10.30 -31.25

0.06

0.03

source: Eurivex Ltd. PAT:Profit After Tax

NAV: Net Asset Value

Bold: Final results

EPS: Earnings per Share based on existing number of shares.

P/E: Price to Earnings ratio. Weighted P/E ratio: Calculated based on market cap weighting of profit reporting companies, Book Value: According to our estimates. N/A Indicates Not Applicable, Price 31/12/2009 is the closing price or in case of New Listings the opening price.

EMERGING MARKET (N.E.A.) FOCUS FINANCIAL SERVICES CONSTANTINOU BROS PROPERTIES CYPRUS LIMNI RESORTS & GOLF PHONE MARKETING S.A. ITTL TRADE TOURIST & LEISURE INT'L LIFE GENERAL INSURANCE SA ORCA INVESTMENT PLC P.C. SPLASH WATER PUBLIC CO. WARGAMING PUBLIC CO. ECHMI S.A. INVESTMENT CONSULTANTS EPILEKTOS ENERGY S.A. KERVERUS IT (CYPRUS) LTD TOTAL

CSE Code EXTE/EXTE ΚΩΑΜ/CBAM ΛΙΜΝΗ/LIMNI PHONE/PHONE ΙΤΤΛ/ITTL INLE ΟΡΚΑ/ORCA ΠΚΣΓ/PCSW ΓΚ/WG EXMI/ΕΗΜΙ ΕΠΙΕΝ/EPIEN ΚΕΡΒ/KERV

No. of Shares (000) 1 690 1 950 300 000 1 575 100 000 8 057 1 200 35 052 3 400 321 10 906 1 810

Market Cap EUR (000) 11 830 36 855 300 000 5 513 75 000 21 834 14 280 42 062 3 400 1 528 43 624 2 444 558 370

Latest price Nominal EUR Value EUR 7.00 0.30 18.90 0.01 1.00 0.10 3.50 0.30 0.75 0.50 2.71 1.00 11.90 0.01 1.20 0.25 1.00 0.10 4.76 1.00 4.00 0.32 1.35 1.00

Listing Date 29/3/10 29/3/10 29/3/10 29/3/10 06/8/10 21/7/11 10/9/10 10/10/11 2/11/11 10/04/12 28/06/12 29/06/12

WARRANTS EUROPROFIT (WAR. 2005/2012) ALKIS HADJ. FROU-FROU (WAR. 2015) AMATHUS NAVIGATION (WAR.07-2013) UNIGROWTH INV (WAR.10/12) TOTAL EMERGING MARKET (N.E.A.) GreenTea SA

Ignores weighted number of shares in circulation Forecasted profits are liable to change without notice and responsibility

No. of warrants (000) 893 24831 17606 2218

Mkt Cap (00) 1 25 176 22 224

CSE Code

No. of Bonds

Exercise Period

Exercise Price euro cents

Expiry Date

41212 20-30 Jun 2001-2015 1-15 May & 1-15 Nov 07-13 1-15 Nov 2010 and 2012

8.67 173 20c or EUR 35c 29

30-10-2012 30-06-2005 15-11-2013 15/11/2012

Latest Close 0.001 0.001 0.010 0.010

GRTEA

1 040

Market Cap EUR 104 000 000

Latest price EUR 100 000

Listing Date 8 Nov 2011

Latest NAV N/A

Kappasquare Ltd Nugreat Ltd Zetadynamic Ltd

KPSQ NGRT ZETA

17 000 23 000 9 000

1 700 000 2 300 000 900 000

100 100 100

30 Mar 2012 30 Mar 2012 30 Mar 2012

100.580 56.780 82.150

Akcern Ltd

AKCN

2 001

200 100

100

9 May 2012

93.900

DISCLAIMER: The information, comments, analyses and financial data published in this newspaper were obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but their accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed and may change without notice. Any of the information or opinions published herein should not be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell investments.

No liability is accepted whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this publication.

FinancialMirror.com

July 4 - 10, 2012

32 | BACK PAGE

Policy baton passes to central banks The market spotlight falls on central banks this week in hopes they might follow the lead of Europe’s politicians with measures to address mounting economic concerns, but investors may be underwhelmed Monetary authorities in Europe, the UK, Australia and Sweden are all scheduled to meet, while a data flow dominated

by Friday’s U.S. payrolls report and a clutch of manufacturing and service sector surveys is expected to point to slowdowns on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The world economy is slowing, and markets are increasingly impatient for a major policy boost,” Andrew Milligan, Head of Global Strategy, Standard Life Investments said.

The debt crisis in Europe, the huge budget adjustment facing the United States - dubbed ‘the fiscal cliff’ - and political transition and economic reform in China show that the remedial actions governments can take are often of limited value.

But barring a possible interest rate cut by the European Central Bank that seems unlikely to kick-start lending activity, the slowdown may not be sharp enough yet to prompt more than a cursory response from the world’s major central banks.

“It may be the world economy has to slow more before the central banks respond,” said Milligan.

RISK PUMMELED IN Q2 As they enter the third quarter, most world asset markets will be licking their wounds after three difficult months. The safest of safe havens — U.S. Treasuries and the dollar — dominating the gainers, though emerging market debt also did well.

The dollar measured against a basket of major currencies gained 4.8% in the second quarter, while U.S. 10-year Treasuries returned 6.8%.

Global equity markets, as measured by the MSCI All Country World index, fell 8% after an 11% rise in the first three months of the year, when central banks opened the liq-

GLOBAL MARKETS WEEKAHEAD uidity taps.

The quarter’s weak performance masked some regional divergences: the S&P 500 index in the U.S. fell around 5.7% while Japan’s Nikkei average fell 11%.

In the euro zone, where the political crisis in Greece and the funding problems facing Spanish banks dominated, the STOXX Europe 600 Index ended down around 5.4% for the quarter with Spain’s IBEX off 13.7%.

CENTRAL BANK RESPONSE Markets should get off to a stronger start in the third quarter as investors respond to surprise policy action at a European summit, where leaders agreed to cut borrowing costs for Italy and Spain, and eventually recapitalise the region’s banks.

Most attention in the coming week will focus on Thursday’s ECB meeting with expectations of a rate cut rising.“Overall you have picture of weakness in the euro area and a contraction likely to continue in the third quarter so the ECB will have to react,” said Thomas Costerg, European economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

“On top of this, the summit did not address all the risks, in particular the growth risk,” said Costerg, who expects the ECB to cut by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.75%.

The ECB has pumped more than 1 trillion euros into the banking system and there are hopes it could announce more cheap long-term loans or other non-conventional measures such as a resumption of its bond purchasing scheme.

But the latest poll by Reuters found only a minority of economists expect it to go this far. “As regards non-conventional measures, the ECB is more likely to wait and see for a bit longer,” said Frederik Ducrozet, senior euro zone economist at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.

An easing in policy is also expected from the Bank of England on the same day, but this will likely be limited to the purchase of an additional 50 bln pounds of government bonds.

That move has been so widely flagged that all but two of 55 economists polled by Reuters expect it, against only two of 50 who forecast the policy change at a similar poll in June.

On the other side of the world, Australia’s central bank is likely to leave its cash rates unchanged at 3.5% at its meeting on Tuesday, having already cut rates in May and June.

But many analysts expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut rate further in the coming months if the slowdown in the global economy gathers pace.

GROWTH WORRIES The big data release of the week will be the June nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, though liquidity in North American markets will be affected by Independence Day holiday midweek. Market expectations are for an anemic rise of around 90,000 new jobs leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 8.2% and creating the weakest quarter for jobs growth since the middle of 2010.

Ahead of the jobs report, investors will be looking closely at the ISM index for manufacturing and service sector activity in the U.S. and the final purchasing manager’s indexes for June for confirmation of a global slowdown.