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March 24, 2013

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COFFEESHOP: THE TERRIBLE PRICE OF PRIDE AND STUPIDITY INSIDE

The Cyprus Mail will be printing on Monday World UK endures yet more horrendous weather 9

Reportage As everyone has an iSomething is Apple losing its cool? centre

Property London developments are walking on water 24

Sport Hodgson calm ahead of crunch clash back

PAGE 17

Mad scramble to save BoC

20% levy on uninsured BoC deposits, reports say Rehn: only hard choices and a tough future left Anastasiades in Brussels today for crunch meeting

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HERE were mixed reports last night concerning the island’s bailout, with one report suggesting a deal had been struck while another said Cyprus and international lenders were not even close to an agreement.

There was no official confirmation of either report by the time the Cyprus Mail went to print.

Earlier, Reuters reported Cyprus had conceded to a one-off levy on deposits over €100,000 to satisfy European partners and seal an 11thhour bailout deal to avert financial collapse.

Quoting an unnamed senior government official, Reuters said Nicosia had agreed with EU/IMF lenders on a 20 per cent levy over and above €100,000 at No. 1 lender Bank of Cyprus, and four per cent on deposits over the same level at other banks.

However, an hour or so later, the Cyprus News Agency, also quoting an unnamed Cypriot official, said the two sides were not even close due to the stance of the IMF, which tabled new demands “every half an hour”.

Reports suggested that the troika was focusing on the issue of resolving the Bank of Cyprus.

Earlier yesterday, Finance Minister Michalis Sarris, reported “significant progress” in talks with international lenders, with the clock running down to an end of Monday deadline for Cyprus to clinch a bailout deal with the

EU or lose emergency funding for its stricken banks and risk tumbling out of the eurozone.

His counterparts in Europe’s 17-nation currency union scheduled talks in Brussels for Sunday evening to see if the numbers add up, and the EU’s Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said progress was being made towards a solution.

Talks with the lenders continued at the presidential palace before a meeting between President Nicos Anastasiades and party leaders.

Anastasiades tweeted in the afternoon: “We are undertaking great efforts. I hope we have a solution soon.”

The DISY leader was due to lead a delegation to Brussels, also today, to meet heads of the EU, the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, in a sign a deal might be near.

“Hopefully by tomorrow in Brussels we will have the agreement of our partners,” Averof Neophytou, DISY deputy chairman, told reporters.

Government officials held talks through the day at the finance ministry with Cyprus’ ‘troika’ of lenders - the EU, ECB and IMF. Angry bank employee demonstrators outside chanted “resign, resign!”

Sarris said yesterday talks with the troika were centred on a possible levy of around 25 per cent on savings over and above €100,000 at failing Bank of Cyprus.

TURN TO PAGE 3

Biggest demo yet: thousands of bank workers demonstrated across Nicosia yesterday

Distraught and fearful bank workers fill the streets

By Poly Pantelides IN WHAT has been the biggest protest yet, bank workers demonstrated in their thousands yesterday as talks continued to avert Cyprus’ financial meltdown and resolve the banking crisis.

Protesters gathered in the afternoon outside the offices of banking union ETYK, which had said that it had become “obvious” that the

banking system and the economy was being driven to destruction.

On the previous night, parliament approved bills on the resolution of banks and appeared ready to tax big savers, in a dramatic turnaround following Tuesday’s overwhelming rejection of a bank levy on all deposits agreed with the troika of lenders last week.

As negotiations and talks continued throughout yesterday, protesters marched

from ETYK’s offices to the presidential palace, later moving on to the finance ministry and reaching the (empty) House of Representatives by evening.

Amid the sea of people, ETYK members expressed anxiety over the resolution of Popular Bank, their fears that the Bank of Cyprus would also be restructured and the uncertainty over their provident or pension

TURN TO PAGE 5

2 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Home

One dead, three injured in Larnaca land dispute

Weather

Nicosia

20

Troodos 10

20 0 Larnaca

Paphos

Limassol

20

20

By Poly Pantelides

TODAY: Clear and sunny. Temperatures will reach 20C inland and along the coasts and 10C over higher ground.

OUTLOOK: The settled weather is forecast to continue until Tuesday, when thickening cloud and possibly some rain are expected.

YESTERDAY

Nicosia Larnaca Limassol Paphos Paralimni Prodromos

Killing believed to be over Turkish Cypriot property

max/min temp 18 - 10 21 - 10 20 - 13 18 - 14 19 - 10 7- 2

Humidity 40% 34% 40% 52% 20% 66%

SUNSET: 18.01 pm

SUNRISE: 05.45 am

Sunday Mail Established 1945. Number 21,489 NICOSIA 24 Vass. Voulgaroctonou, P.O. B ox 21144, 1502 Nicosia Tel: 22-818585, Fax: 22-676385 email: mail@cyprus-mail.com LIMASSOL 5A Nicolaou, Pentadromos Centre, Thessaloniki St, Tel: 25-761117, Fax: 25-761141 email: cyprusmail@cytanet.com.cy LARNACA Tel: 24-652243, Fax: 24-659982 PAPHOS 62 Apostolou Pavlou Avenue, Office 2, 8046 Paphos, Tel: 26 911383 Fax : 26 221049 email: paphos@cyprus-mail.com

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POLICE yesterday arrested a 34-year-old man on suspicion of killing a man, and seriously injuring three other men and a woman during two separate incidents in Larnaca’s Kofinou yesterday.

The 34-year-old Greek Cypriot is suspected of attacking and killing Panayiotis Stavrou, 54, and injuring his 27-year-old son Giorgos Stavrou.

Police said that at around 10.20am yesterday, a man carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle attacked the father and son at a house in Kofinou, then went over to a local supermarket and shot the owners, two men aged 47 and 36, and a 36year-old woman who happened to be there.

At the time of the attack, the father and son were fixing up a property, which reports said the 34-yearold was claiming for his own use.

The suspect had reportedly tried and failed to be given guardianship of a Turkish Cypriot property that the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties body had given to 27year-old Giorgos Stavrou instead.

All Turkish Cypriot land in government-controlled areas comes under this body which is part of the interior ministry and allocates property to Greek Cypriots to use. The property is not hereditary.

Larnaca news agency said that the 34-year-old was also claiming a piece of government land which

Police officers inspecting the murder scene yesterday (above). The disputed property (right) had been given to the supermarket’s owners.

The 34-year-old allegedly shot at two of them and a woman who was shopping at the time, before a man aged 56 and also one of the owners managed to get the gun off of him.

The attacker then got in a car and left, police said.

The two supermarket owners and the bystander were all taken to Nicosia general hospital with the two men considered seriously injured. Giorgos Stavrou was taken to Larnaca general hospital with superficial wounds.

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A mad scramble to save Bank of Cyprus ‘Voluntary haircut’ would not require House approval (Continued from front page) In a sign of how fluid the situation remains, however, a senior ruling party lawmaker said other options were on the table, including a “voluntary haircut” in exchange for equity that would not require parliamentary approval.

The EU’s Rehn said the bloc recognised the progress made by the Cypriot government, and warned of tough times ahead.

“Unfortunately, the events of recent days have led to a situation where there are no longer any optimal solutions available,” he said in a statement. “Today, there are only hard choices left.”

It was far from certain that a majority of lawmakers would back a revised levy, or whether the government

might bypass the assembly.

Racing to placate its European partners, Cypriot lawmakers voted in late-night session on Friday to split failing lenders into good and bad banks - a measure likely to be applied to No.2 lender Cyprus Popular Bank, or Laiki.

They also gave the government powers to impose capital controls, anticipating a run on banks when they reopen on Tuesday.

A plan to nationalise semistate pension funds has met with resistance, particularly from Germany which made clear that tapping pensions could be even more painful for ordinary Cypriots than a deposit levy.

The senior official who told Reuters of the levy agreement said the pension funds

would not be part of the package to seal the bailout.

The pace of the unfolding drama has stunned Cypriots, who in February elected Anastasiades on a mandate to secure a bailout and save banks whose capital was wiped out by investments in Greece, the epicentre of the eurozone debt crisis.

Then news of the levy on bank deposits broke, an unprecedented step in Europe’s handling of a debt crisis that has spread from Greece, to Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

The tottering banks hold €68 billion in deposits, including €38 billion in accounts of more than €100,000.

Under the latest proposal, Russians are unlikely to be hit hardest by the mooted per cent tax, given that just

five per cent of deposits at Bank of Cyprus come from Russia, according to the bank’s latest results statement.

The board of the Central Bank of Cyprus is likely to hold its first meeting in almost a fortnight today, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told Reuters, in another sign a deal may be close.

Asked about the new plan for a possible 25 per cent levy, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, whose country is allied with Germany in taking a hard line on Europe’s debt-laden southern flank, replied in English: “If it was like this, I think it might be quite suitable because it means that the highest deposits will be taxed.”

Bailout ‘medicine’ Chrysostomos: Anastasiades felt does work, says recovering Ireland betrayed by officials IRELAND’S expected exit from a European bailout programme later this year should be a morale boost to other euro zone countries in crisis, its European affairs minister said yesterday.

Speaking as politicians in Cyprus scrambled to meet a Monday deadline to secure a 10 billion euro bailout and avert financial meltdown, Europe Minister Lucinda Creighton said Ireland’s “tough medicine” had worked.

“We’re really confident that we will get out of the programme this year,” Creighton told reporters at a meeting of European policymakers in Finnish Lapland.

“Hopefully we’ll provide not so much an example but an inspiration for other countries which are going through difficult times,” Creighton said. “If they see Ireland reenter the market, hopefully they’ll have the resolve and also the sense of hope that they can do it too.”

Rescued two-and-a-half years ago with loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, Ireland earlier this month took a major step towards exiting the bailout with a successful sale of 5 billion euros of new benchmark 10-year bonds.

Creighton said Ireland’s experience proved that austerity measures were never easy but that debt-burdened euro zone members had no choice.

PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades apparently felt betrayed by his associates because they were unprepared during a Eurogroup meeting last week that decided to impose a levy on bank deposits, the leader of the Church of Cyprus said yesterday.

In an interview with Greece’s Sky television, Archbishop Chrysostomos defended Anastasiades’ acceptance of the Eurogroup decision, saying there was not much he could have done under the circumstances.

“The president relied on finance ministry and Central Bank experts in Brussels, who unfortunately went there unprepared and they were threatened, they had no alternative solution and they accepted,” Chrysostomos said.

The archbishop suggested that Anastasiades felt betrayed by his officials.

“The president did not want to put on a show, be populist,” he said. “If the president had not accepted everyone would applaud him upon his return to Cyprus. But, realising the responsibility he accepted the decision, which was not accepted by parliament.

It had been reported in the past week that Anastasiades had warned Cyprus’ EU partners that the decision would not be approved by parliament.

People enjoying the sun in Nicosia yesterday as elsewhere in the capital thousands were on the march (AFP)

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4 March 24 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Home THE BANKS’ STAGGERING DECLINE All eyes in global banking have been fixated on Cyprus’ two largest banks for the last week, as the dramatic steps taken to avoid their collapse threaten the cornerstones of banking and the EU’s single currency.

What: With a legacy stretching back to 1899, Bank of Cyprus is the island’s largest. Its value peaked at close to 7.5 billion euros in December 2007, but fell to 400 million euros by March 2013. Its business is largely retail banking in Cyprus and Greece, but it also has some investment banking, private banking and the Kermia Beach Bungalow Hotel in the Ayia Napa resort. It employs about 11,000 people.

Deposits: Just 10 per cent of Bank of Cyprus’s 27.8 billion euros of deposits come from outside the euro zone, in stark contrast to Cyprus’ overall banking sector, where 30 per cent of deposits are non eurozone. Russians and depositors from the UK hold a roughly equal amount, at 1.2 billion euros.

Cypriot depositors account for 66 per cent of the bank’s deposits, and Greeks for 23 per cent. The figures are dated end-September 2012 and published in the bank’s third quarter accounts. (Similar figures for Laiki are not available).

Where: Cyprus (52 per cent of loan book), Greece (33 per cent), and the rest Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Channel Islands, plus representative offices in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and South Africa. The loan book percentages are as of September 30, 2012.

Who owns it: 2011 annual report shows 61 per cent of its shares were owned by Cypriots and another 13 per cent by Greeks. The remainder is listed as “other countries”. Almost 80 per cent of its shareholders were private at that point.

Why it’s in trouble: It lost 1.6 billion euros on Greek bonds in 2011. Provisions for bad loans more than doubled to 800 million in the first nine months of 2012 as non performing loans shot up to 17 per cent of its total book. Greece was the main driver of 2012’s higher loan losses, with 436 million euros of provisions booked there.

What: Founded more than 110 years ago, Laiki Bank Group stretches across 10 markets. Its market value hit more than 8.1 billion in November 2007, before falling as low as 170 million euros in March 2013. Retail and corporate/investment banking are the mainstays, but Laiki also has a wealth management business and other investments.

Where: Cyprus (43 per cent), Greece (48 per cent) United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Malta, Guernsey and a representative office in China. The loan book percentages are as of December 2011.

Who owns it: The government holds 84 per cent after a 1.8 billion euros bailout in June 2012. The rest is owned by around 92,000 private and institutional investors, according to information on the bank’s website dated August 2012. More detailed information dating to December 2011 shows staff owned 2.45 per cent of the bank, private individuals owned 37 per cent and companies owned 54 per cent.

Why it’s in trouble: Laiki lost 2.3 billion euros on its Greek government bonds in 2011. Its results for the first nine months of 2012 showed loan losses provisions almost quadrupled year on year to 400 million euros.

How the new look Laiki will function Who gets paid first, and what happens to pension funds?

By Elias Hazou

T

HE LEGISLATION passed by the House on Friday allows authorities to split the island’s stricken lenders into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ banks, and is designed to prevent primarily Laiki from collapsing due to lack of liquidity.

The healthy bank would keep deposits under €100,000 and all performing loans, allowing it to start with a clean slate.

In line with the Deposit Protection Scheme in Cyprus, deposits up to €100,000 per natural person are guaranteed at 100 per cent, including the accrued interest.

All licensed banks and branches in Cyprus subscribe to the scheme, and all currencies of deposits are covered.

By way of example, where two natural persons hold a joint account of €200,000, that amount will be ‘split up’ for each of the persons and thus be fully guaranteed.

The same goes for a joint account of three persons with €300,000.

The €100,000 cap on compensation relates to the total deposits held by a customer in a certain bank. The net compensation amount is calculated as the difference between the deposit amounts and the pending loans or other credit facilities or claims by the bank on the customer.

The Deposit Protection Scheme does not however cover deposits held by legal entities, such as provident and pension funds, funds held by semi-governmental organisations and municipalities and other collective investment schemes.

Since that would leave hundreds of provident and pension funds in the lurch, the

THE CAPITAL CONTROL LAW IN an unprecedented move for a eurozone member, parliament on Friday night passed legislation placing capital controls in a bid to avoid further destabilisation of its stricken banking sector.

The law gives sweeping powers to the finance minister or the Central Bank governor to impose any of the following restrictions: restrict cash withdrawals ban premature termination of time deposits compulsory reprogramme maturing time deposits ban or restrict opening of new accounts convert current accounts into time deposits ban or restrict non-cash transactions restrict use of credit, debit or prepaid cards ban or restrict cashing cheques restrict interbank transactions or transactions within the same bank restrict transactions between the public and credit institutions restrict movement of capital, payments and transfers any other control measure that the minister or governor will deem necessary under the circumstances for reasons of public order and safety

End of the road for Laiki Bank in its present form government was said to be considering a small levy on all banks as compensation.

Meanwhile dodgy loans and deposits of over €100,000 would be channeled into the so-called bad bank.

The deposits transferred to the bad bank are not wiped out; they remain there nominally, but the account holders won’t have access to the money.

Debts to a bank undergoing resolution - or an orderly wind down - will not be written off or down, whether they end up in the good or bad bank.

Essentially the bad bank will buy up the bad loans of Laiki with significant nonperforming assets at market price. By transferring the bad assets of an institution to the bad bank, the bank would clear its balance sheet of toxic assets but would be forced to take write downs.

Banks becoming insolvent as a result of the process can be recapitalised, nationalised or liquidated - in Laiki’s case, the latter is the most likely scenario as the bank is already under state control.

The bad bank would then seek to recoup as much of its bad assets as possible. The cash would go into the accounts of the ‘sequestered’ deposits of over €100,000. As money flows in, the depositors would be able to draw from their accounts.

But this could take years.

Additionally, it’s doubtful whether ultimately the amounts held in these accounts would be ‘filled up’ completely. Analysts estimate that depositors would recoup anywhere from 30 to 90 per cent in the best-case scenario, but add that a 50 per cent haircut is more realistic.

The good Laiki - whether absorbed into the Bank of Cy-

prus, as rumoured, or whether it stands alone - would almost inevitably have to be downsized. That’s because it would deal almost exclusively with loans and would have to ditch other operations that would become redundant.

As stated in the law passed on Friday, depositors have priority in compensation over shareholders in the event of resolution: Under the law, a ‘Resolution Fund’ is set which is activated in the event that a bank is at risk of defaulting or not meeting its capitalisation or liquidity requirements.

Running out of cash is precisely the problem Laiki faces, after the European Central Bank said it would stop Emergency Liquidity Assistance to Cyprus’ banks unless the Cyprus government struck a deal with international lenders by tomorrow.

It empowers the Central Bank to act as the ‘Resolution Authority’. In the event of a resolution, shareholders would be the first to take any losses, followed by creditors (depositors).

The 61-page document states: “creditors of an institution that is subject to resolution will not be in a worse financial position as a result of resolution measures compared to the position they would be in if the said institution was alternatively wound up.”

Although all sorts are numbers are being banded about these days, analysts said yesterday that Laiki’s restructuring and the dumping of its bad debt would generate perhaps as much as €2.6 billion.

And the sale of all three Cypriot banks’ operations in Greece - rubberstamped by Greek authorities earlier this week - will raise some €250 million in capital immedi-

ately.

That’s €3 billion less than the €5.8 billion figure which Nicosia needs to raise to qualify for a promised €10 billion loan from the EU and the IMF. Efforts yesterday were focused on making up this €3 billion shortfall. One MP told the Sunday Mail that international creditors - known as the troika - were insisting on a large haircut - perhaps as high as 25 per cent - on deposits of over €100,000 for the Bank of Cyprus.

Russians are unlikely to be hit hardest by the mooted 25 per cent tax, given that just five per cent of deposits in Bank of Cyprus come from Russia, Reuters reported.

To avoid a haircut in all but name, the government proposed instead a voluntary scheme where large depositors would contribute part of their money in exchange for bank stock - most probably in the form of preferred shares.

Though still a haircut, depositors would be compensated.

The glitch in the talks with the troika was what would be used as collateral or guarantee for the shares. One proposal was that the collateral could be revenues from a “solidarity fund” created to pool state assets, including real estate, as well as from future gas proceeds. Also, that wouldn’t require the passage of a relevant law, the MP said.

This seemed to tie in with comments made yesterday

by DISY no.2 Averof Neophytou, who said a deal with the troika could be clinched without additional legislation.

The situation remained hazy, however, as the troika team was said to be initially averse to the idea, given that it was far from clear how much cash the “solidarity fund” can raise.

5 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Home

Bank workers on the streets in biggest demo yet (Continued from front page) There were points when anger overwhelmed individuals.

An ETYK member, wearing a bright orange traffic vest, was chanting slogans over a megaphone outside the presidential palace for protesters to copy when he suddenly faltered and shouted simply: “I’ve had enough.”

It was not the only time that same refrain was heard during the protest.

Chanting in unison, protesters shouted “hands off provident funds,” and “provident funds belong to our children”.

“You’ve heard the slogans. This is how people feel,” a 40-year-old Bank of Cyprus

employee said. “This is unfairness in all its glory,” he said although he conceded that with Cyprus now facing an overhaul of the system, “perhaps a deposits haircut would have been better”. He was referring to the bank levy parliament rejected on Tuesday.

Asked what it was they wanted, people said that at the least they wanted their jobs saved and their provident funds safeguarded.

Nicos, a 38-year-old Popular Bank employee who had also protested outside parliament on Friday said that the issue was “about saving Cyprus” adding that the “state (would) collapse” if the banks

were allowed to fall. A 45-year-old woman had said that she was not convinced that “sacrificing” Popular Bank would protect the Bank of Cyprus.

Protesters yesterday said they did not know what the future held for either bank, although some called for a deposits haircut across all banks. “Everyone should contribute,” one woman said.

As the time went on, people started discussing a possible strike even if the banks do reopen on Tuesday as planned. By the time the protest reached the presidential palace the one word protesters shouted in earnest was “strike”. Picking up a megaphone, a man said to general ap-

plause they would be there when parliament voted any further bills and would not go back to work if their jobs would be endangered.

A graffiti scribbled in red on the building adjacent to parliament read, “they invest, they lose, they lend out (and) you pay”.

Another one talked of “robbers in a suit”.

ETYK said that there were many empty promises heard by many “and we do not want to hear any more”.

“We will not sit idle. We are reacting as of today,” ETYK said in an announcement.

Talking of the times to come, a 35-yearold man said he was “watching a horror film”.

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6 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

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US aid: ‘doing the right thing’ In September more than 39 years of US assistance will come to an end

By Stefanos Evripidou

cation.

Other areas of focus for UNDPACT included cultural heritage restoration projects across the island.

The UNDP-Partnership For the Future (PFF) will continue to do so though only in the north, working now on the project to restore Apostolos Andreas.

UNDP-ACT has also collaborated with the UN’s Good Offices mission to support the peace talks by helping to implement confidence-building measures (CBMs).

Since 2008, when bicommunal technical committees were set up to improve the daily lives of Cypriots on both sides of the divide, UNDP has worked to implement around eight projects.

Should President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu choose to restart peace talks with a series of CBMs, there may be a gap in implementation capacity after UNDP-ACT shuts shop in September.

HEN TALKING about American involvement in Cyprus the issue of development aid rarely comes

W

up.

Henry Kissinger and US links to the Greek military junta usually top the agenda of that discussion.

It remains a little known fact, however, that since 1998, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided approximately $130 million (over €100m) to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for a wide variety of infrastructure, environmental, cultural heritage and civil society programmes that promote peace and cooperation in Cyprus.

According to a US Embassy spokesman, the US has had a foreign assistance programme in Cyprus under the guise of various acronyms since 1974.

President John F Kennedy set up USAID in 1961 to provide foreign development assistance “from the American people” in a way which reflects a belief in “doing the right thing”.

For the last eight years, USAID has channelled its funding in Cyprus through the UNDP-Action for Cooperation and Trust (UNDP-ACT) programme, acting as the main donor. Before that it supported the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and before that, the Bicommunal Development Programme (BDP).

On September 30, 2013, UNDPACT will come to a close, bringing to an end 39 years of significant US development aid on the island.

WIDE RANGE Over the years, US assistance has shifted from humanitarian assistance, to infrastructure development and scholarship programmes, to civil society strengthening and peace building, said the embassy spokesman.

“Due to the financial constraints in the US and many competing assistance needs throughout the world, the foreign assistance budgets for most countries in the Europe and Eurasia region have been shrinking steadily over the last few years. The Cyprus budget is no exception,” he added.

However, USAID hopes to continue to work, in some capacity, with a variety of actors on the island to ensure that the peace building legacy left by UNDP-ACT remains intact after September, said the US diplomat.

An important part of maintaining that legacy will be determined by the level of success in finding new donors.

ALTERNATIVE FUNDING

Demetris Christofias and Dervis Eroglu opening the bicommunal Home for Cooperation “We hope that the EU and others will continue to invest in this legacy and the future of Cyprus as well,” hinted the spokesman.

So what has been achieved over the years?

According to the UNDP website, peacebuilding work in Cyprus has undergone various transformations since 1998 when the BDP was launched.

“This history marks one of the most sustained peacebuilding efforts managed by UNDP anywhere in the world,” said the site’s blurb, adding that the knowledge and practical experience gained in Cyprus regarding reconciliation and post-conflict bridge-building could potentially be used in other peacebuilding efforts around the world.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, UNDP-ACT’s programme manager Christopher Louise acknowledged the difficulty when talking about the results of decades of development aid or peacebuilding efforts in Cyprus due to their intangible nature.

“It depends on how you want to look at it and measure those results. So much has been done to try and strengthen a climate where it becomes more normal for the two communities to have functional cooperation and be able to discuss issues,” he said.

“Take 2003 as a starting point, for example, when the crossing points opened. Look at how challenging it was for civil society actors before 2003 when you couldn’t even cross

UNDP-ACT funded the restoration project in Kontea the Green Line, and had to meet at the Ledra Palace.

“Look at the situation now, when outside the Ledra Palace, you have a tailor-built home for peacebuilding and reconciliation (the Home for Cooperation). You have a community media centre which helps to create a more diversified and pluralistic media narrative on the island not just about peacebuilding, but also concerned with the environment, health etc,” said Louise.

The UN official argued that it has become much less “taboo” and almost completely normal for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to have a cooperative relationship where there is a predisposition to

work together to try and solve mutual problems.

The focus on building the capacity of civil society organisations has strengthened this climate.

Some of the projects that UNDPACT has funded over the years include: a project implemented by the chambers of commerce of each community to demonstrate the benefits of economic interdependence; Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC); ENGAGE project encouraging civic engagement in reconciliation; supporting past and current residents of Kontea to restore the village’s cultural heritage, and promoting multiperspectivity and intercultural dialogue in edu-

It is for this reason that UNDP is in talks with USAID to see if some arrangement could be made to ensure the infrastructure is there should the two sides put more effort on CBMs, considered the fall-back position when a comprehensive solution continues to appear out of reach.

According to Louise, a large number of the 90-odd civil society organisations funded by UNDPACT, like CCMC have adapted to the changing circumstance and are now in a position to seek alternative funding to ensure their survival.

Expecting the US to continue providing development assistance in a country which joined the EU in 2004 and ranks pretty high in the UN’s human development index is perhaps a little unfair.

“USAID is still supposed to be development assistance. After Cyprus’ EU membership, it’s less defensible when you’ve got countries like Sudan, where millions are starving,” he said.

“In large part, our aim was to demonstrate that two communities can work together, and in a way that’s beneficial to the future of Cyprus,” said Louise.

Asked if they were successful, he said: “I think it would continue to be a long-term project of Cyprus.”

The UN official argued that if there was a solution on the island, the political space and ability to roll out a series of far-reaching measures to strengthen societal level integration would widen and become much more tenable.

“Remember, we’ve been doing all this work in a political space defined by the conflict, which makes it challenging,” he added.

ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY OF CYPRUS Interruption of Supply The Electricity Authority of Cyprus announces that electricity supply will be interrupted between 7:30 and 13:30 on Tuesday 26th of March 2013 in the following areas: Kalo Chorio Klirou, Gouri, Fikardou, Farmakas, Kampi, Kionia and Macheras area.

SINCE IT IS NOT CERTAIN THAT THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY WILL BE INTERRUPTED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE PERIOD STATED, INSTALLATIONS IN ALL PREMISES MUST BE REGARDED AS BEING “ALIVE” DURING THESE HOURS. We regret any inconvenience which may be caused by the interruption of supply, but this is necessary due to work on the high voltage system. .

7 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Home

Petty grave thefts add to families’ heartache Items from candles to vases are up for grabs

By Poly Pantelides EMETERIES have become a prime target for thieves snatching anything from flowers and plants to buckets, photograph frames and candles because the spaces are nearly impossible to guard, cemetery employees have said.

At Larnaca’s Ayios Georgios cemetery, some people have been robbed ten times, said priest Zacharias Papaphillipos who also minds the cemetery.

Stealing, illicit selling of plots, and even body snatching and hiding murder weapons have all taken place in the country’s cemeteries over the years.

One priest, 37-year-old Panayiotis Triantafyllou, who was defrocked this year after being found guilty of drug trafficking, was caught illegally selling plots at Nicosia’s Constantinos and Eleni cemetery.

In early 2009, the body of former President Tassos Papadopoulos was taken from Ayios Nicholas cemetery in Nicosia, as part of a bizarre, macabre conspiracy by convict Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, aka Al Capone, his brother Mamas and Indian national Sarbjit Singh who were all convicted in April 2011.

C

And a murder weapon used to kill last year pregnant Julia Oborok, 24, and her three-year-old daughter in Paphos in December last year was even found in a family grave in a cemetery at the village of Athienou, Larnaca. Hairdresser Theodoros Theophanous, 30, who was sentenced to life imprisonment last November let Kitas - again - who had won his trust in prison, to arrange to get the gun moved, but then Kitas led police to the weapon.

Such dramatic episodes mean the petty thefts from graves pale in comparison, and stealing has become so commonplace that people will not necessarily mention it every time, with the priest sometimes being informed by others about thefts.

“If they got things stolen ten times, people won’t come to tell me every time,” Papaphillipos said. He added that all items left in graves, from candles to framed photographs are up for grabs.

“People even take the huge plant pots that need two persons to carry,” he said.

The cemetery, that has an area of one square kilometre, is too big to guard properly, Papaphillipos said.

There is little police can do, and there are too many areas for security cameras to be placed, he added.

The cemetery even tried hiring pri-

vate security about five years ago but the guards did not manage to catch anyone in the act, Papaphillipos said.

“Some of these items are worthless but imagine how people feel when they visit their loved one’s grave and there’s nothing there,” he said.

Papaphillipos said that thefts are more common over the weekend when more people visit the cemetery. “And if I see someone visiting a grave I can’t know immediately if the grave belongs to their family or not.”

Although there have been occasional arrests, the most recent one goes back four years when a Cypriot woman was caught stealing items and putting them in plastic bags, he said.

People are resigned to the situation and many simply leave nothing behind, knowing that if they do it might get snatched.

At Nicosia’s Constantinos and Eleni cemetery the situation is much the same, said one of the people in charge, Andreas Karayiorgis.

“Even though we have placed cameras in the church courtyard the situation is exactly the same because it’s a huge space and you can’t find people even when they’re

Stealing family offerings from graves has become commonplace inside (the cemetery) and they might just be part of the faithful anyway,” Karayiorgis said.

“There are 10,000 family graves at the cemetery,” he added.

Over two years ago, frustrated

relatives even started leaving behind written notes at Constantinos and Eleni asking people not to steal from gravestones. Notes would say, “God is watching you and will punish you for it”.

8 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

World

Pope, former Pope meet in extremely rare encounter First such meeting in 600 years

By Philip Pullella A REIGNING pope and expope faced each other for the first time in at least 600 years yesterday when Pope Francis travelled south of Rome to meet his predecessor, ‘pope emeritus Benedict XVI’.

Francis, who was elected on March 13, arrived by helicopter at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for a meeting and lunch with Benedict, who has been living there since he abdicated on February 28.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Benedict and Francis embraced when the helicopter which brought Francis from Rome landed at the residence.

He added that Benedict’s health was normal for a man of his age.

The pontiff and Benedict later prayed together in a chapel and held 45 minutes of private talks before starting a lunch, where they were joined by their two personal secretaries. Lombardi said the atmosphere was “familylike”.

When they went to pray in the chapel, Benedict offered the place of honour, a kneeler before the altar, to Francis, who declined, saying, “We are brothers, we pray together.” The two then prayed together from the same pew, Lombardi said.

Benedict, who became the first pope in 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, is temporarily living in the

Pope Francis (left) and Pope Emeritus Benedict embraced when the helicopter which brought Francis from Rome landed at the Papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo residence in the Alban Hills.

He will move back to the Vatican after the restoration of a convent where he is expected to live for the rest of his life.

Shortly before his resignation, Benedict, now 85 and in failing health, said he would be “withdrawing into prayer” and would live out his remaining days “hidden from the world”.

In February, on the last day of his nearly eight years as leader of the Catholic Church, Benedict pledged his unconditional obedience to whoever would succeed

him.

The conclave of cardinals who elected Francis began on March 12 and chose Francis the next day.

While the Vatican was not expected to give any information on what the two discussed, it was likely that the conversation included problems of Vatican administration.

Before he resigned, Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the so-called ‘Vatileaks’ scandal in which sensitive papal documents were stolen from the pope’s desk and leaked to the media by

his butler.

Last year, the butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and sentenced by a Vatican court to 18 months in prison but Benedict pardoned him and he was freed last Christmas.

The presence of a reigning pope and a pope emeritus is new for the Church in the modern era, but experts say it should not cause difficulties unless Benedict tries to influence Francis’ decisions, something he has promised not to do.

Some Church scholars worry that in the event that Francis undoes some of Ben-

edict’s policies while he is still alive, the former pope could become a lightning rod for conservatives and polarise the Church.

“Benedict XVI could turn into a shadow pope who has stepped down but can still exert indirect influence,” Hans Kung, a dissident Swiss theologian who has clashed with Benedict in the past, told a German magazine.

Benedict now wears a simple white cassock without a cape, while Francis wears a white cassock with a short cape, the traditional garb for a pope.

Taliban threaten to send Musharraf to ‘hell’

By Sheree Sardar

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf is due to return home from exile today to contest elections

PAKISTAN’S Taliban have threatened to despatch suicide bombers and snipers to kill former President Pervez Musharraf when he returns home from exile today to contest elections.

In a Taliban video obtained

by Reuters, Adnan Rasheed, who took part in a previous attempt to assassinate Musharraf, warned: “The mujahideen of Islam have prepared a special squad to send Musharraf to hell. There are suicide bombers, snipers, a special assault unit and a close combat team.”

Musharraf angered the Taliban and other groups by joining the US war on terror following the September 11 attacks and by later launching a major crackdown on militancy in Pakistan.

He is due to return home after nearly four years of selfimposed exile in Dubai and London, in time to take part in parliamentary elections on

May 11.

Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup and resigned in 2008 when his allies lost a vote and a new government threatened him with impeachment. He left the country a year later.

The former army general faces the possibility of arrest on charges that he failed to provide adequate security for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto before her assassination in 2007, and in relation to other cases.

But his most immediate concern may be the Taliban, who are seeking revenge for his crackdown on militants fighting to topple the US-backed government and impose their austere version of Islam.

“When the jackal’s death is near he heads to the town,” said Rasheed, who was among 400 prisoners who were broken out of a jail by militants in 2012.

Militants were especially enraged when Musharraf’s security forces launched a full-scale attack on Islama-

bad’s sprawling Red Mosque in 2007 after followers of radical clerics running a Talibanstyle movement from there refused to surrender.

“The Pakistani Taliban is fully prepared to deal with this pharoah. If God is willing, we will give this devil what he deserves,” said Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan.

It’s not clear whether Musharraf will manage to regain influence in Pakistan, where strong contenders for the election include Nawaz Sharif, the man he ousted in a military coup, and cricketer-turnedpolitician Imran Khan.

But he remains ambitious.

Musharraf has invested in his political party and has been apparently seeking support from influential Saudi Arabia.

But Musharraf has been far removed from Pakistan’s stormy politics and its streets, where demands have been rising for an end to corruption, poverty and crippling power cuts.

In Dubai, he lives in a luxurious part of the emirate.

Kurdish rebels declare ceasefire with Turkey THE Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group declared a “formal and clear ceasefire” with Turkey yesterday after the rebels’ jailed leader ordered an end to the decades-long armed campaign for autonomy.

“Since March 21 and from now on, we as a movement, as the PKK ... officially and clearly declare a ceasefire,” Murat Karayilan, the PKK’s field commander, said in a video address posted on Firat News, a website with links to the militants.

Abdullah Ocalan, held in an island prison since his 1999 conviction for treason, called on the PKK on March 21, the Kurds’ traditional new year holiday, to cease fire and withdraw from Turkey.

Ocalan has been in negotiations with state officials since October to end the conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives since it began in 1984.

Karayilan’s declaration, made to a crowd of Kurds gathered in Bonn, Germany, to celebrate the new year, had been expected but was still an important sign that the outlawed PKK will abide by Ocalan’s orders.

ENORMOUS CLOUT Ocalan still wields enormous clout over PKK militants as well as millions of nationalist Kurds.

Karayilan is based in the remote mountains of northern Iraq from where he directs the PKK insurgency against Turkey.

The United States and the European Union, along with NATO member Turkey, consider the PKK a terrorist organisation.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, taking a big political gamble in pushing talks with Ocalan, must avoid stirring fears among conservatives that any deal with the PKK could lead to the breakup of Turkey.

“We are going through an extremely sensitive process vulnerable to provocations,” Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party officials in the capital Ankara.

“The absence of our star and crescent flag in Diyarbakir was a provocation designed to sabotage the process,” he said, accusing organisers of the celebrations of “insincerity”.

“Today is the day for unity, togetherness and fraternity.”

Ending Turkey’s most intractable conflict would cement Erdogan’s reputation as the country’s strongest leader since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the modern republic from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, and could land him Kurdish support for his ultimate ambition - taking power as a new executive president in elections next year.

9 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

World

Obama plays tourist in Petra at end of Middle East trip

By Steve Holland

Tight squeeze: A motorist drives slowly past another vehicle that has been trapped in snow near Belfast

UK endures yet more horrendous weather MOTORISTS had to be rescued from their cars as blizzards and bitter storms battered the UK. The combination of heavy snow and wind resulted in huge snow drifts of up to 15 feet, prompting an emergency rescue in Cumbria as 70 motorists were trapped inside their vehicles in freezing temperatures.

Large parts of Britain woke to five inches of snow, causing widespread travel chaos yesterday.

With temperatures expected to plummet even further last night, motorists in some areas were told not to travel unless ‘absolutely necessary’.

In what is believed to be the coldest March in 50 years, forecasters warned that the unusual March weather could continue into next week.

Weather warnings are in place across the country,

Met Office warnings in place with major snow alerts in place across much of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and over 70 flood alerts.

While the nation’s travel network has born the brunt of the freak weather, fallen power lines have also left tens of thousands of homes in Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England without power.

Snowfall in North Wales was so severe that the British Red Cross was drafted to transport medical staff to hospitals in 4x4s because roads were impassable.

More than two inches of snow was expected to cover parts of England, Scotland and Wales from London northwards yesterday, with

heavy showers and sleet hitting the south-east, and temperatures struggling to rise abover zero.

Forecasters warned that temperatures were going to drop further last night, with lows of -2C and -3C across England and Wales, with the worst affected areas, such as the Pennines, possibly experiencing lows of -7C. The South-west was expected to be spared the heavy downpours and flash flooding it suffered on Friday, but alerts are still in place.

In the South-west, 24 flood alerts have been issued, while 30 are in place in the South-east.

The Environment Agency has also issued one more serious flood ‘warning’,

whereby flooding is expected, at the River Clyst in the South-west.

Police in Cumbria, where the combination of heavy snow and wind has led to significant drifts, warned motorists not to travel unless ‘absolutely necessary’.

The blockades have closed many roads in the area, while the M6 between Hackthorpe and Shap is only passable with care.

Around 72 drivers were stranded in their vehicles as they were caught in severe snowdrifts overnight, with emergency rescue teams sent to rescue them in Cumbria.

Most of those trapped were forced to stay overnight at Millom High School, which police opened as a reception centre for those unable to return home. Others who were trapped slept in local hotels.

Death of al Qaeda chief Zeid confirmed

By Lionel Laurent and Elizabeth Pineau FRANCE said yesterday it could confirm “with certainty” that Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, one of al Qaeda’s most feared commanders in Africa, had been killed in Mali in February as part of a Frenchled military offensive.

The death of Abou Zeid, accused of earning al Qaeda millions of dollars through the kidnappings of dozens of Western hostages, marks a serious blow to al Qaeda in the region and to Islamist rebels driven out of northern Mali’s towns by the Frenchled campaign.

France has until now only said Abou Zeid was “probably” dead after its closest ally in the region, Chad, said at the beginning of March the Algerian smuggler-turnedIslamist had been killed.

France had been awaiting

A powerful and shadowy figure, mystery surrounds even his real name results of DNA testing before making an official announcement, a diplomatic source told Reuters.

“The president of the French Republic confirms with certainty the death of Abdelhamid Abou Zeid after

an offensive by the French army in the Adrar des Ifoghas (mountains) in the North of Mali, at the end of February,” the Elysee presidential palace said.

A powerful and shadowy figure, mystery surrounds

even his real name. Along with his nom de guerre, Abou Zeid had an alias, Mosab Abdelouadoud, and nicknames, the emir of the south and the little emir, due to his diminutive size. But the Algerian press has raised questions about his legal identity Abid Hamadou or Mohamed Ghedir.

He was viewed as a disciplined radical with close ties to the overall AQIM boss, Abdelmalek Droukdel, who oversees operations from his post in northern Algeria.

Abou Zeid fought with a succession of Islamist insurgency movements trying to topple the Algerian state since 1992. He reportedly joined the brutal, and now defunct, Armed Islamic Group that massacred whole villages in northern Algeria, then joined the Salafist Group for Call and Combat that morphed into al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in 2006.

US President Barack Obama marvelled at the sights of Jordan’s ancient city of Petra yesterday as he wrapped up a four-day Middle East tour by setting aside weighty diplomatic matters and playing tourist for a day.

The visit’s main concrete achievement was Obama’s brokering of a rapprochement between Israel and Turkey. But the tour resulted in little more than symbolic gestures toward peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Before heading to Petra, Obama used a stop in Jordan to ratchet up criticism of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, stopping short of promising military aid to Syrian rebels in a twoyear-old civil war that has claimed 70,000 lives.

US officials privately voiced satisfaction with the results of the first foreign trip of Obama’s second term, but aides had set expectations so low that it was not hard to proclaim it a mission accomplished.

In full sightseeing mode, Obama flew by helicopter to Petra for a two-hour walking tour of the restored ruins of a city more than 2,000 years old some of which is carved into

sandstone cliffs.

Ordinary tourists had been cleared out for the president’s visit, and guards with assault weapons followed his every step.

“This is pretty spectacular,” Obama, wearing sunglasses, khaki trousers and a dark jacket, said as he craned his neck to look up at the Treasury, a towering rose-red façade cut into a cliff. “It’s amazing.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah was on hand at Amman airport yesterday to send Obama on his way home to Washington.

The US president arrived there on Friday after an unexpected diplomatic triumph in Israel, where he announced a breakthrough in relations between Israel and Turkey after a telephone conversation between the countries’ prime ministers.

Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu apologised on behalf of his country for the killing of nine Turkish citizens in a 2010 naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, and the two feuding US allies agreed to normalise ties.

The 30-minute call was made in a trailer near the runway at Tel Aviv airport, where Obama and Netanyahu huddled before the president boarded Air Force One.

US President Barack Obama (centre) marvelled at the sights of Jordan’s ancient city of Petra yesterday

CHEMISTS SUNDAY 24/03/2013 NICOSIA T. Aggelopoulos, 6 Gr. Afxentiou & MakeM. Kyriakoudes, 6B. C Pindarou St. Tel: donias Tel: 25751900, 25328511 (H) 22344877, 22773127 (H) LARNACA D. Sergiou, 18 Delfon St. Tel: 22775613, L. Papadopoulou, 143 Faneromenis St. 22778449 (H) Tel: 24654380, 24624699 (H) E. Frangouli, 58A Athenon St, Strovolos. M. Lambi, corner Makarios & Gr AfxenTel: 22314660, 22492935 (H) tiou Ave. Tel: 24626447, 24361185(H) A. Hadjiapostolou, 36D K. Matsis Ave. PAPHOS Tel: 22311416, 22510679 (H) D. Constantia, 29 E. Venizelou St. Tel: G.S. Charalambides, 64B Ayiou Elefth26935133, 26653809 (H) eriou St, Strovolos. Tel: 22371177, L. Chrisostomou (P.E.O. No. 2), 31B 22353584 (H) Danais St, Kato Paphos. Tel: 26964837, LIMASSOL F. Nicolaides, 29 Paphos St., Tel: 26221624 (H) PARALIMNI 25572303, 25563693 (H) A. Kyriazis, 13 A. Themistocleous, Tel: Ch. X. Alapai, 8 Gr. Dighenis Ave. Tel: 23742002, 23744155 (H) 25364451, 25338317 (H)

DOCTORS ON DUTY NICOSIA Pathologist: Costas Schizas, Tel: 22311077, 99606611 Ophthalmologist: Antonis Glikeriou, Tel: 70000171 Gynaecologist: Aphrodite Elisseou, Tel: 99421050 Paediatric Surgeon: Giorgos Demetriades, Tel: 22442327, 99425445 LIMASSOL Pathologist: Savvas Ioannou: Tel.:

25372003, 99070777 Surgeon: Georgios Xeni, Tel.: 25565940 Neuro-Surgeon: Christos Kyriakides, Tel.: 99696706 Paediatric: Androniki Pampori, Tel.: 25711960,99598668 Paediatric Surgeon: Georgios Christofi, Tel.: 25762586, 99474260 Doctor: Maro Hadjikyriacou, Tel.: 25341814, 25342003

10 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

World

A new exhibition at the British Museum offers a world not so far removed from today

How Pompeii speaks to the life of a modern city O

NE of the stars of the British Museum’s new show - Life and death: Pompeii and Herculaneum - is sure to be the dead Roman dog.

Found still tied up in the doorway of an ample Pompeian house, straining at its chain, the poor thing was overwhelmed by the volcanic debris that poured out of Vesuvius in 79AD. We have no idea whether or not its owners managed to escape the disaster but they certainly didn’t stop to release the dog.

This unfortunate animal has long been a favourite with visitors to Pompeii itself, and to Pompeian exhibitions all over the world perhaps because it is less painful to muse on the life and death of some faithful Fido than on the agonising last moments of the human victims.

And it has had a surprising “afterlife”. In the 1990s American sculptor Allan McCollum created dozens of identical copies of it, lining them up to make a vast installation called The Dog from Pompeii.

Of course, it isn’t a real dog at all. It’s an exact model of a real Roman dog, ingeniously created by pouring plaster into the dog-shaped cavity left in the volcanic debris when the dead animal itself decomposed. It’s an “anti-body” rather than a body. In fact, what we see in the British Museum is not even that. The version that will be on show is a modern plaster cast of the original cast that was made when the cavity was first discovered in 1874.

The 19th-century plaster is now far too fragile to travel, and new replicas take its place anywhere in the world that the dog is wanted for display, from Singapore through London to Mexico City.

All the same, modern or not, the image of “the dog that didn’t escape” retains that capacity to disconcert us that it has always had. There’s a nicely observed Victorian cartoon of an English family peering at it in the

1890s. A little girl is saying to her mother “Oh Mamma, the poor, poor dog”. It’s all right, the Mother reassures her, “he’s very, very old indeed.” Similar halftruths will be told to thousands of curious kids over the next six months at the British Museum.

But the dog does more than touch our sensibilities. It’s also a powerful symbol of what makes Pompeii so intriguing, unsettling and sometimes frankly puzzling.

To be sure, Pompeii and its little neighbour Herculaneum are the only places in the world where we can explore the daily life of ordinary Romans in such intimate detail: a wooden Roman cradle in which a tiny baby was rocked and died, piles of kitchen supplies in the shape of bread, beans and dates carbonised in the eruption, and a drawing of fighting gladiators casually scrawled on a wall by some local fan.

There’s even a precious sample, from a vast cesspit, of what ended up down the Herculaneum lavatories - pots and rags and coins, as well as whatever went through the inhabitants’ digestive tracts. You can hardly get more intimate with the past than that Yet, as the dog reminds us, not everything is quite as it seems, and these vivid details of the ancient Roman world are delivered to us with more modern “help” than we realise. The dog, after all, is really a clever product of modern craftsmanship (which is exactly what McCollum was highlighting). And though many visitors are unaware of it, most of the “best preserved” buildings in Pompeii are largely reconstructed (no flimsy Roman roof could possibly have survived a volcanic eruption).

Even 200 years ago one visitor claimed that the whole ruined town was actually a fake, constructed by the Neapolitan government to boost its tourist trade. It was a joke but with a point: the remains of Pompeii are usually the product of a collaboration between the modern world and the Roman.

The cast of a dog that died, tied up in the doorway of a Pompian house

‘It is less painful to

muse on the life and death of some faithful Fido than on the agonising last moments of the human victims’ The dog captures another paradox too. Is Pompeii a city of the dead, or a city where we see life interrupted in mid-flow, the animals still on their leashes, the bread still in the oven?

Many recent Pompeian exhibitions worldwide have been unashamedly ghoulish, the archaeological equivalent of disaster movies. There’s a long tradition of this. The very word “Pompeii” was guaranteed to get the average Victorian lamenting the inevitability of death.

The British Museum certainly features a few dead “anti-bodies” but the focus of the new exhibition is firmly on life - particularly urban life.

The fact is that Roman Pompeii was not a big town (somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, roughly the size of Saffron Walden). But it had many features of the modern, multicultural metropolis. Ancient city life, this show insists, is something we can still understand. Most people ate on the move: they picked up a takeaway from the bars and cafés that lined their streets.

And one nice painting from the wall of a Pompeian bar introduces a couple of ancient lager louts: it shows a pair of drunks having a row over a game of dice, while the landlord intervenes, with a speech bubble over his head: “If you want to fight, get outside.”

And it was a multicultural community, almost in our sense of the word - from the Eastern pepper that flavoured the diet of the average Pompeian, to the foreign religions (Egyptian Isis, for example) that were part of the urban landscape.

It was a little town full of “diversity” in all sorts of ways. It was also full of deprivation and crime. What exactly was that dog doing, tied up at the entrance of a comfortable Pompeian house? Its regular job must have been to keep guard, scaring off the walk-in burglars, while the affluent owners enjoyed the ancient equivalent of a gin-and-tonic in their back garden.

There really is something poignant, even for the hardest-hearted, in the idea that it died at its post.

Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge

Madness bid farewell to historic BBC Centre

By John Fahey and Olivia Goldhill

My Chemical Romance break up Alternative rock group My Chemical Romance announced on their website on Friday that they were calling it quits after 12 years.

The punk-popsters from New Jersey had played together since 2001, recording four studio albums and notching up an international hit with “Welcome to the Black Parade” in 2006.

In a statement, they said being in the band “has been a true blessing” that allowed them “to see and experience things we never imagined possible”.

“We’ve shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end.”

The group thanked fans for their support and “for being part of the adventure”.

MADNESS kick-started a fond farewell to BBC Television Centre in London with an hour-long, rain-battered concert celebrating the building’s 53-year history.

The band’s performance outside the west London Grade II-listed building, nine days before TV Centre closes, was the last live event at the famous premises.

Hundreds braved the pouring rain to watch the band belt out their hits including “Baggy Trousers”, “Our House” and “One Step Beyond.”

Front man Suggs told the crowd and hundreds of staff watching from office windows and balconies: “Goodbye Television Centre. I’m going to miss you.”

The live concert was broadcast on BBC4 followed by Goodbye Television Centre which was filmed on Monday.

In the pre-recorded show, BBC stars including Sir David Attenborough, Sir Michael Parkinson, Sir Terry Wogan, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Ronnie Corbett and Sir David Jason bid farewell to the famous building.

Madness told the BBC: “We’ve played at some exciting places in London lately but the closing of BBC TV Centre, well, that is close to our hearts, as a band we grew up there, those walls have plenty of Madness tales to tell, a sad day, the end of an era, oh, but what a celebration.

“We’re honoured to be the band the Beeb have chosen for this fond farewell.”

The band also played new material as well as a string of

Close to their hearts: the BBC Television Centre classics.

The 1960s centre, once home of Top Of The Pops and Blue Peter, sold for £200 million and will be made into a shops and offices complex that will include hotels, flats and a cinema.

The final event to go through the studio will be

the Pope’s Urbi et Orbi address, which will use voiceover facilities on Sunday March 31.

Nearly 6,000 BBC staff will move to the BBC’s New Broadcasting House in central London, a transition that began in October last year.

11 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Opinion The economy has become compromised and Cyprus cannot be sure it has any friends

Troika shock therapy has killed our tax haven model Comment David Officer and Youli Taki

T

O PUT it simply, the troika has potentially vaporised the Cypriot-based financial services sector and undermined its status as a tax haven, a deliberate act which aimed to police the wilder shores of capital flow in and out of Europe.

But it was also aimed at shoring up the tax base of EU member states as they came under pressure from their own citizens to maintain comprehensive welfare systems as well as place a cap on future tax rises.

It must have looked so simple to follow this strategy last weekend with a Cypriot president who wanted to clearly distinguish himself from the previous incumbent and to resolve the economic emergency he inherited.

Anastasiades tried to balance a response to the troika’s blunt demands whilst trying to preserve something of the conditions within which foreign capital has been attracted to Cyprus. He tried to spread the burden of the tax on all account holders so as to ensure that the tax on large companies, corporations and wealthy individuals does not exceed 10 per cent and maintain the Republic as a tax haven.

In attempting this balancing act, he assumed that the other parties would buy into this logic as a necessary means of preserving this status. But political parties felt that Cyprus needed to render substantial foreign capital deposits as ‘untouchable’. Further, ordinary citizens rejected the proposition that their accounts would also be raided.

The political elite was now caught in a cleft stick, trying to balance the demands of ordinary voters whilst preventing any hit on wealthy depositors and all within parameters set by the troika.

The financial services sector may now prove dead in the water and the tax haven status of Cyprus has been swiftly and comprehensively compromised. This is not only because corporation tax has risen but the world now knows if you want to hide money and avoid taxes Cyprus is the last place to do business with. If you have money to hide, you are not going to park it in Cyprus any more.

Capital of this sort abhors economic and political instability and the noise which accompanies this. Its preference is for a regime, which functioned until last week, characterised by quiet consensus that this was an economic model to follow, guaranteed confidentiality and a state whose regulatory function is both loose and inefficient.

The interest of the Cypriot political elite has, in large part, been tied to the financial services sector since the early 1990s with lawyers, accountants and others massively over-represented in public life and wielding inordinate power - this to the extent that it is possible to talk of ‘state capture’. And we have seen a situation arise where the broader interests of the Cypriot economy have become, to a significant degree, dependent upon this economic regime which some German politicians have characterised as an ‘unsustainable economic model’.

The troika have now administered a shock to that system but with no attempt to suggest how a different course of economic development could proceed from here.

What they hadn’t calculated was how the political elite and the citizen would cohere together - despite their diverse interests - in an effort to resist this imposition and defend their collective economic well-being.

Neither should it be thought that those interests are imaginary - they are substantive and a large part of the reason why Cyprus has experienced a long period of uninterrupted growth in affluence.

Whilst other industries and services were crowded out by the ever expanding banking and financial services sector, enough money

Cyprus and Russian business interests have proved mutually beneficial since a double taxation agreement in 1982, followed by the collapse of the USSR in 1991 trickled down to others in the Cypriot economy for any serious reflection on what the longer-term consequences of this way of doing business might be.

This opportunistic economic model benefited directly from the failed transition to capitalism by Russia since the early 1990s.

Capital first started to flow in from the former USSR as an outcome of the mass privatisation of previous state assets, itself encouraged by the World Bank and the IMF amongst others, which in turn created a class of oligarchs who sought a safe haven for their newly acquired assets. Cyprus was the perfect location given its Double Taxation Treaty, established as early as 1982, to complement its low tax and secrecy regime.

It is plain that so much Russian money ended up in Cyprus since a successful transition to capitalism has yet to be achieved in Russia. The rule of law is arbitrarily applied there and the right to private property cannot be guaranteed. Cyprus guaranteed property rights and, by removing capital which originated in Russia and nominally converting it into Cypriot-registered capital, you were in a safer position to reinvest in Russia, a phenomenon known as round-tripping.

Oligarchs and others who wished to dodge a rapacious state and the political vagaries of the Russian ruling elite found this both a convenient and confidential route through which to do much of their business But the irony here is that prominent people in the financial services sector in Cyprus are well aware of the dangers of doing business with Putin and his friends since they have an interest in gaining access to bank account details of Russians using Cyprus, which, if conceded, would undermine the secrecy regime Cyprus cultivated for so long.

Why do they want to do this? Those on the levers of power in Russia want to control corruption and tax evasion - not to challenge these phenomena as such but to use charges of this sort as political weapons against any potential rivals to their power.

Since many business people in Eastern Eu-

‘What the troika hadn’t calculated was how the political elite and the citizen would cohere together - despite their diverse interests’ rope are potentially money-laundering and tax evading why some people are targeted and others are not is frequently determined by political criteria. Friends and supporters proceed unhindered whilst opponents are disciplined and their economic resources confiscated.

In this sense, Cyprus has offered a low tax, secrecy regime which has tried to play a complicated game of balancing interests between rich individuals and corporations, the demands of powerful states both east and west, international organisations intent on regulating the wilder shores of capitalism.

Cypriots hitched their interests to attracting passing capital, made considerable sums of money out of this strategy and exploited gaps in the international system as they profited from the pitiful state of many eastern European countries and the socioeconomic mess they remain mired in.

But the train has hit the buffers. Prominent players within the political elite and the banking and financial services sectors (frequently one and the same person) must know that the game is up as they struggle to come to terms with what has happened.

The Cypriot economy is on the verge of spectacularly failing as an outcome of shock therapy administered by the troika - a cruel and unusual punishment visited upon ordinary Cypriot citizens who have never been informed of the perpetual risks which have accompanied the tax haven strategy of economic development vigorously promoted by the political elite since the 1980s.

The evidence of ‘state capture’ by those servicing finance capital is demonstrated by how an avowedly left-wing party such as AKEL has never raised any substantive issues about Cyprus as a tax haven, parasitic on the flow of foreign finance capital which passes through. Indeed, as Cyprus has sunk further into a crisis AKEL was one of the prominent defenders of this way of doing business.

Political consensus emerged around this model because it appeared to deliver the goods and common resistance was forged in opposition to any attempt by international organisations - World Bank, IMF, FAFT, EU,. the list goes on - to impose an effective regulatory regime which would undermine this particular cash cow.

However, those international organisations cannot be simply absolved of responsibility.

They are themselves driven by the specific interests of powerful member states. So, for example, some British political forces tend towards a defence of the tax havens model in order to preserve the status of the City of London as a business centre whilst sections of the German elite see their interests as very different. The outcome is an incomplete and sometimes contradictory regulatory regime imposed on international capital - incompleteness and a set of contradictions which Cyprus has been adept at exploiting.

Yet, macro-economic policy in the eurozone is largely driven by the German elite, they call the shots and there is now no-longer any creative ambiguity to exploit. The plan was carefully laid and the Cypriot response lacked any strategic forethought.

First you leak a German secret service report (that no one has actually seen) in order to prepare the ground to vaporise the Cyprus tax haven model. A smart move, since no one can be ‘in favour’ of money laundering.

The response of the Cypriot political elite was frankly inept with the former president of the Republic standing in the European Parliament insisting that there was ‘no dirty money in Cyprus’ and he was joined by former presidents as well as MPs from all the political parties repeating the same mantra. Deploying representatives from MOKAS and the Central Bank to deflect attention away from the actual practice of the regulatory regime to the formality of the legislative framework ultimately proved unconvincing.

The local economy has become steadily compromised and Cyprus cannot be sure it has any friends or allies. There should be limited expectation that other small European states will show any sympathy for the Cypriot predicament. There you will find perpetual complaints in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Finland among others about how Cyprus has undermined their own tax base and provided a safe haven for those seeking to hide their money.

However, you will also see some countries - Luxembourg, Switzerland and others which do function as tax havens looking askance at Cyprus for having brought the tax avoidance system into disrepute.

The fear must be abroad that the ultimatum issued by the troika signals an important disciplining measure aimed at tax havens in general.

David Officer teaches sociology at the University of Nicosia. Yiouli Taki is senior researcher at INDEX: Research and Dialogue

12 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion We’ve paid the ultimate price of avoiding responsibility IN CYPRUS we have a habit of blaming everyone else for our problems. We are always the victims of others, invariably foreigners who are hell-bent on causing us harm or destroying us, either because they are envious of us or want to subjugate us. This narrative has been used by politicians for decades as it allows them to absolve themselves of any responsibility for their poor judgement, mistakes and avoidance of difficult decisions.

The Christofias government and its loyal AKEL followers were the masters of this practice, blaming the continuously deteriorating state of the economy, over the last three years, on the world economic crisis, the systemic weaknesses of capitalism, the thieving markets, the neo-liberal ideology of the EU and, ultimately, the Cypriot banks. The government which was increasing its spending every year while revenue was falling, failed to protect the Cypriot banks from the consequences of the Greek haircut, refused to take measures to reduce the

budget deficit and was excluded from the markets insisted that it was blameless. It was a victim of alien forces.

This political immaturity was at its apogee ever since the Eurogroup decision for a levy on deposits was announced last week.

Politicians, newspapers and TV pundits launched a concerted attack on the Eurogroup for its lack of solidarity, the German government for its vindictiveness towards Cyprus and the IMF for its plain nastiness. While there may have been some justification in these emotional outbursts, nobody was willing to concede that, perhaps, we were squarely to blame for putting ourselves in the position of needing a €17bn loan to save our economy from bankruptcy.

It was not the Eurogroup who told us to live beyond our means for years, building up the public debt as the state gave annual pay rises of six to seven per cent, outrageously high pensions and obscene retirement bonuses

SundayMail to public employees who were constantly growing in numbers. It was not Germany’s fault that our populist politicians, whose only concern was their re-election, happily sanctioned this profligacy because it also benefited them, politically and financially. And the European Commission was certainly not to blame for the Christofias government continuously ignoring its warnings and exhortations to put the precarious public finances in order or that it stalled the talks with the troika for months, allowing the situation to steadily deteriorate.

The avoidance of responsibility and blame-shifting is always combined with a poisonous populism that has led us from one disaster to another. It was this populist mentality that caused all the parties to take an uncompromising stance against the deposits levy that President Anastasiades

agreed with the Eurogroup last weekend. They claimed their heroic negativity would cause havoc in the markets and force the EU to re-consider its outrageous proposal, while they foolishly assured people that Russia would come to our rescue.

Not only was their folly exposed

by Thursday when it became apparent there would be no help from Moscow, but the practical consequences of defiant populism were evident as the re-structuring of Laiki Bank was announced and the deposits levy was no longer an option. The government spent all Friday in efforts to prevent the Bank of Cyprus from suffering Laiki’s fate, bailing in uninsured deposits to the tune of 25 per cent as a compromise.

By Friday, populist deputies recognised that Plan A was not such a bad idea but it was too late. Not too late however, for some parties to carry on engaging in populist irresponsibility.

AKEL abstained from the vote

on the bill for the restructuring of the banks that was a condition for the bailout that would spare us from bankruptcy. It even proposed an amendment that if approved, would render the law unacceptable to the EU. It was rejected, a rare defeat for the politics of populism, which remains the root cause of all our problems. If it had been approved, there would be no bailout and economic catastrophe would follow, which our deputies could have blamed on our nasty partners’ lack of solidarity.

The resolution of Laiki they had blamed on the governor of the Central Bank, as it had nothing to do with their rejection of the deposits levy on Tuesday.

Populism may have been shown up in the last week, but it was the politician who took the responsibility for a very difficult, but correct, decision that came under attack from everyone - President Anastasiades. It showed how much we appreciate real leadership in this country.

Letters to the Editor Solution is a new and different monetary system

Use gas prospects to raise money in Cyprus first off

IT ISN’T just a solution, it’s a just solution. The solution is a new and different monetary system. In the present monetary system all money is provided to the economy via debt of some kind. The only way to increase the money that is needed for the economy to expand is to increase debt.

It is easy for debt to grow faster than the economy.

In the proposed system the money is supplied without debt. The size of the money supply is linked to demographics. The size of the economy is therefore determined by the the size of the population.

Stephen Yearwood

I AM a Serbian national, meaning I have experienced living in a country without a banking system.

My first bank account I opened in Cyprus.

When “Serbia” wanted to collect money from its people, they managed. Of course it was not a good way for the people, because Serbia did not have anything to give them in return. But, they manage to collect the last savings people had in their hands.

Mind you this was all happening, when banking system was already collapsed and people still believed and VOLUNTARILY brought their last cents. Every investment is a risk, and everybody likes to gamble.

I don’t mean that the

There is a legal way out THE supreme law of Cyprus is her written constitution and Article 24 (4) states: ‘No tax, duty or rate of any kind whatsoever other than customs duties shall be of a destructive or prohibitive nature.’

A legal way out under the constitution is a combination of a ‘bail in’ for amounts above €100,000 held as deposits, together with a restructuring of Cyprus’ sovereign debt where prudent.

If there are banks that remain solvent when the banks open next week it would be unconstitutional to expropriate deposits held in them.

M A Bruce-Smith, London Trust

Cyprus government should deceive its people, but then it does not have to, because Cyprus will have gas. Get people to “give money voluntarily” to help Cyprus by investing in “something” that will return in X years.

The details of the deal are for the moment irrelevant, because a good sales person can sell you air and a buyer would think he is buying a piece of gold.

So it’s is all how one will present it. But still, whatever the offer may be I am sure it would be of great interest to all the Cypriots and all those who have money and would like to invest. Who does not want to invest in gas?

If the government comes to the public and says we

are ready to offer shares of gas (again regardless of what the “real” offer will be), and we are offering this FIRST to our citizens and those who have trusted Cyprus until now and have their money in Cyprus, I don’t see how this would not work. You can have a short timeline for receiving offers, and you can say to the public that depending on how much you will collect you may offer to other countries, or may not.

The fact that only companies/individuals who have the accounts in Cyprus will have the right to invest first will not only stop taking money out of Cyprus, but may also bring more money to Cyprus. The fact that Cyprus is offering this

to its citizens will probably create less political issues.

I firmly believe there are so many individuals out there to reach, who are so filthy rich and who are constantly looking to find good places to invest.

I love this country probably more than some Cypriots, and found myself very lucky to live on this island which I always believed it is a heaven on earth. I married a wonderful man, a decent and honest Cypriot who is an area manager of one of the banks. I would not like to see him losing his job, but I much more hate to see Cyprus going down this road.

I sincerely hope your people can do miracles.

OL, Nicosia

A sad end for Cyprus as international business centre AS A friend of Cyprus, I am very sad watching the end of Cyprus as a business centre after 40 years of hard work.

It is not an easy or superficial conclusion. I understand the European cynical financial logic and I admit the Cypriot authorities made many mistakes, and that the people did not react on time to sanction them.

But it is an obvious reality that after admirably working very hard, following 1974 invasion, Greek Cypriots succeeded to build a reputation of offering a good place to live and work for many Europeans and Middle Eastern citizens and firms.

First Cyprus received in 1976 Lebanese “refugees” who brought with them some business, money and

know-how. In the late 80ies the Serbians came evading embargo, then in the nineties, the Russians with their problematic money. That was fatal to this tiny economy, seduced by big capitals fleeing taxes and transparency. They “welcomed” all these in the name of the ‘Orthodox brotherhood”, tolerating all their criminal offences.

Then they increased investments in Greece, the “mother homeland”, and tried to help Athens by purchasing unsafe bonds and debts.

Now that they have to pay for these mistakes and mismanagement, the politicians and the managers of BOC & Laiki, put the burden on all bank depositors, foreigners, nonresidents, among them many Brit-

ish, Lebanese, Syrians and other people who trusted Cyprus with their life savings, most of them in foreign banks keeping branches in Cyprus.

The EU gave €95 billion to Ireland.

Is €15 billion too much to save a country damaged by the Greek financial collapse? Of course the current government chooses the easy way, and the previous one was too hypocritical in leaving the situation to get to this point, after indulging its Russian friends.

If the EU wants to “tax” the Russian money, they have more Russian money in almost all other member state’s banks, but they pretend to ‘re-size’ the Cypriot banking system in a very harmful way for the future

of the country.

Mr Anastasiades can also blackmail parliamentarians and citizens with the big catastrophe of having 3,000 Laiki staff unemployed. But the result of getting €5 billion from simple companies and residents or depositors who do not have a Russian connection, will be worse than the bankruptcy of Laiki.

Whatever is the exit from this unprecedented “legalized” holdup, covered and/or engineered by EU, Cyprus has lost in a matter of days what it took 40 years to build - the confidence and attractions of an international business centre. And this is worth more than €5 billion.

EA, former journalist, Nicosia

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13 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Letters to the Editor

Poor old Cyprus finds itself too small to matter AS ALWAYS with Cyprus, it’s a very complicated situation. Of course the previous regimes were fools for flirting with the Communist bloc and the idiot regimes of Chavez, Castro etc (presumably as a two fingered salute, firstly to Britain the ex-colonial power, but then by implication NATO, the US, Turkey and the EU.) Then having joined the EU (for the wrong reason – solving the Cy-

prob) but still flirting with Russian oligarchs, flaunting EU rules, and welcoming Russian investors; allowing their banks to over-invest in crazy property schemes in places like Bulgaria and Romania, they walked blindly into a trap where their country is virtually bankrupt, they can’t borrow the money on the financial markets, their banks are facing ruin and they have to turn to the Troika to bail them out.

They don’t like the Troika’s terms but have no choice in the matter.

But what about those terms? The Northern ‘hard-working countries’ having heard rumours of huge Russian bank deposits feel that no bailout can be forthcoming unless, in the single case of Cyprus, the ‘lazy club-med country’ with a GDP of 0.2% of the Eurozone total, bank depositors have to take a hit. Until now, all talk coming from

the EU in the case of the bailouts of Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain has been about protecting bank depositors; but suddenly not now.

So poor old Cyprus, it’s banks get caught having been over exposed to Greek sovereign debt, it’s sleepwalking ex-president and his cronies fail to protect them from taking a haircut thus causing a banking crisis, and the terms of

Cypriots have survived much worse AS AN EU-citizen from Austria I would have preferred a more substantive support for Cyprus.

However, I don’t feel any need to panic. Cypriots have survived Ottoman occupation, British colonial rule, the war against the Third Reich and Turkish invasions, and the current economic trouble is minor compared to that. After all, many times it was a question of life and death, not of seven or ten per cent of your savings. Maybe I’m biased - after all, Kurdish friends of mine have returned from safe Austria to war-torn Syria, and I’m working with people in Africa, for whom 20 Euros a YEAR make a big difference. I think Cyprus is facing some much bigger issues, like becoming a leading exporter of natural gas and there, it helps to have friends in Europe who after all provide 10 billion, rather than lamenting about EUgovernments who are under pressure from their own mal-informed electorate.

Remember that in human history difficulties have always brought mankind forward. In this situation society in Cyprus should concentrate on supporting those who have really been caught on the wrong foot and otherwise strive to overcome the hurdles.

Andreas J. Burghofer, Austria

Cyprus was let down by politicians PRESIDENT Anastasiades assurance (Savers to be compensated by shares, guarantee) is curious. Does he really believe savers would want to hold shares in banks close to bankruptcy?

I nearly moved to Cyprus in 2002. I am now deeply relieved I didn’t! Beautiful country, wonderful people, fantastic weather, so why didn’t I move? Because the moment Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 I knew it would be all downhill from there.

Greek Cypriots are a fiercely independent-minded people who don’t need the EU to be dictating to them as if they were at junior school.

Cypriots are an ancient, very able, intelligent people who would have survived without being shackled to the EU. Their politicians let them down.

Moya St Leger, London

the EU bailout require the plunder of the bank accounts of not just rich Russian depositors, but workers, savers, rich, poor, unemployed, sick, Cypriots, ex-pats, airmen and soldiers - not just from the UK but presumably UN peacekeepers as well.

Poor old Cyprus is too small to matter.

Bernadette Hickman-Bruinsma, Limassol

The young people of Cyprus now need reassurances of a viable future

EU and IMF are using Cyprus as guinea pig WHAT are the EU/IMFs real intentions behind the Cyprus bailout? Let’s rephrase this to; what does Germany have to gain in financial terms? Cyprus, a small enough country that can and even might be used as a ‘guinea pig’ and it will not impact that much on the rest of the EU. If Cyprus didn’t have the ‘gas’ as a reserve then I’m sorry to say, but for these giants of EU politicians there really wouldn’t be that much interest in preserving Cyprus as an EU member state or the influence of a world power - Russia.

Not a good start to a presidency who inherited a ‘shipwreck’, but as reported perhaps it’s also a political EU ‘pay back’, a punishment to this island’s present day and former governments.

So much talk of money laundering, but one has to ask why did the ministry of finance, the bank managers, the bank’s board of directors and as we’re

looking at criminal activity – the ministry of justice and the police - allow this to evolve into an acceptable practice? I’m just a simple everyday citizen, but I knew about it, so how come none of the above appears to have or did very little about it?

I feel for those who are suffering financially, particularly those whose life savings are small and bear no comparison to those Cypriots and foreigners who profited from: insider trading from its stock market, siding with criminal elements or cheated and stole to get to their wealthy positions.

It is the young Cypriot adults who need assurance; need to know that Cyprus will be a safe place for generations to come, and allow for its highly educated workforce to develop into a country that offers fair competition when applying for jobs, particularly in the public sector – govern-

ment and local council positions. It needs faith restoring its justice system, a transparency in government that not only allows its citizens access to information and facts behind the decisions made, but an effective and efficient public body that actually rights many of the wrongs, even for domestic assistants from other countries. Enough of turning a blind eye, allowing for human trafficking to continue with lip service paid by Cyprus’s Justice System and its people.

Enough of the Church interfering in politics and condemning other faiths, beliefs and life choices. It is a country that has risen out of the ashes time and time again and I dare say that it will do it again. It’s time for change, but change that looks to human values, moral conscious, and fairness to all its citizens whether they are born here or not!

Paul Thomas, Limassol

Why are you blaming us Germans?

Of course, Cypriots are angry about having to pay the eurocrisis levy, when citizens of other eurostates (Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece) have not been called upon to do likewise.

On the other hand, we German taxpayers are angry about having to step in to cover the debts incurred by the politicians in these other countries, whilst our own economy is under control.

It makes me sad that, in spite of the efforts we Germans have made to help other Eurostates, we are still highly criticised for what we have done.

Derek Murphy, Germany

What EU has offered is NOT a loan The Cypriot haircut is clearly not fair and, even worse, it is not sound policy.

The banks may have given out bad loans (to Greece) but this should not be a reason for their death penalty, which will happen with the proposed EU demands.

Cyprus should use its upcoming hydrocarbon bonanza as a guarantee. I would be ready to head a group of real experts to evaluate the resources and assign a monetary value to them. We will then offer a portion of FUTURE revenues to pay off the loan. We can also pay loan payments as any other loan would imply.

What EU has offered is NOT a loan. It is a punishing and vindictive measure that would take money away from innocent people and businesses and reduce Cyprus vitality to a large degree.

Prof. Michael J. Economides, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston

We will stand fully behind our Cyprus operations SO NOW the Euro-centric financial crisis has hit landfall by way of the beautiful island of Cyprus: a country where only the warmth of the hospitality can outshine its sun-drenched climate.

We have had the very great good fortune to run a business in Nicosia since 1997, culminating in 64 employees today. We find

the quality and loyalty of our colleagues there to be outstanding and second to none around the world.

Now our Cypriot friends face the prospect of confiscated deposits and we face the imposition of a higher corporation tax, even though the latter will only diminish the country’s chance of receiving the additional direct investment

from overseas that it so richly needs and deserves.

We all greatly admire Germany’s pro-European stance. However, as an act of kindness and solidarity to both Europe and the euro it should introduce a dual currency and thereby allow the euro to weaken.

It is not just that exporting austerity will not work. The greater problem is that it

has the potential to trigger political extremism and civil disobedience, which, in turn, has the potential of reversing the European Union’s greatest single achievement: peace.

Of course, we will stand fully behind our colleagues and our operations there.

Indeed, we are currently looking to move to a bigger office and to recruit more

staff. Financial challenges may come and go, but a country’s heart and soul is permanent. Cyprus: please be assured that those who know you best wish you nothing but well.

Simon Ruddick, Managing Director, Albourne Partners

14 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Opinion Gas bonds are appealing only when they are credible financial instruments, and we’re not yet at that stage

Gas cash too far off to offer any real light in the gloom Comment Constantinos Hadjistassou

F

UTURE revenue from Cyprus’ gas deposits has played a vital role this week as the government has scrambled to find the cash to fund its 5.8 billion euro contribution to the island’s bailout. At first, bonds covering future gas revenues were offered to depositors as a reward for not withdrawing their savings from financial institutions for a two-year period. Later in the week future gas revenues were presented as a cornerstone of the national solidarity fund.

The fundamental question in all this is how pragmatic is it to commit potential future revenues from hydrocarbons in this way?

From the energy policy standpoint, the Aphrodite gas field in Block 12 is perhaps the most recognisable achievement of the previous government’s legacy, but it comes with a few caveats. Converting natural resources into proved reserves has to follow a predefined path which ensures that the likelihood of extracting monetary value from an asset commands confidence. In the petroleum industry jargon, natural gas or oil proved reserves (or P90 reserves) are those which “by analysis of geological and engineering data have at least a 90 per cent probability of being commercially recoverable under existing economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations”. Unless a quantity of gas or oil is proved it cannot be included in the assets of an oil company. For the purpose of reporting to investors, major stock exchanges (e.g. New York stock exchange) require oil companies to substanti-

ate their claims of holding assets by valuing them as proved reserves.

More than a year has elapsed since Noble Energy discovered about 200 billion cubic metres (bcm, gross mean) of natural gas in Block 12, but the gas field has yet to be classified as a proved reserve. Usually, appraisal drilling is necessary to upgrade a resource into a reserve. Field appraisal is the process of converting probable reserves, with a probability of at least 50 per cent of being recovered, into proved reserves. In doing so, at least one (appraisal) well is drilled in the formation. The wells designed to delineate the extent of the reservoir, provide more reliable information as to the quantity of the hydrocarbons, characterisation of the reservoir (i.e., pressure, temperature, porosity, etc.) and facilitate future production. More importantly, the objective of field appraisal is to quantify uncertainties regarding the commercial value of the discovered accumulation and to help make a decision as to whether the field is worth developing or not.

Depending on the complexity of the geological formation, the volume of the hydrocarbons and the availability of other pertinent information, the appraisal process could span from a few months up to three years. Once the appraisal process concludes, independent consultants or specialised companies undertake the task of verifying the proved reserves. Even though the appraisal process is time consuming and cost intensive, it is justified in the sense that it mitigates risk which very often outweighs the cost of field appraisal. Simply put, a proved reserve offers assurances to potential investors.

Only then it is possible for a company or country to attach a credible monetary value to the reserves which, when in-situ, command a lower

Noble Gas officials in Cyprus last year. The company which holds concession rights to the resources grants host governments permission to issue hydrocarbon related bonds

More than a year has elapsed since Noble Energy discovered about 200 billion cubic metres of natural gas in Block 12, but the gas field has yet to be classified as a proved reserve

A proved reserve offers assurances to potential investors. Only then it is possible for a company or country to attach a credible monetary value to the reserves price per barrel of oil or $/million BTU for natural gas. Yet higher value can be earned from the reserves if the infrastructure exists to extract the hydrocarbons and source them to consumers, often, via the international market.

Even greater benefits can be realised from the host country if the local oil and gas industry is actively engaged in all phases of developing hydrocarbons, namely: exploratory, appraisal, development, production and decommissioning. As expected an offshore field development, which comprises a floating platform, subsea wells, and possibly a submarine pipeline, requires considerable investments especially when in ultra-deep waters and away from the shore. The development of the Aphrodite gas field is expected to cost about $1.5-2 bn.

Prior to developing the Aphrodite field one should consider the fact that the NobleDelek-Anver consortium will need to recover their costs with a reasonable level of profit. Add to that the cost of the unitisation agreement between Cyprus and Israel due to the fact that the Aphrodite field borders with Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) expected to be somewhere between 80 per cent for Cyprus and 20 per cent for Israel.

Only when the host government is granted the permission from the company/ies which hold the concessions rights is it possible for the country to issue hydrocarbon related bonds tied to its share of the reserve. According to unverified sources, provided the oil companies recover their costs, about 70 per cent of the gas sales from the Aphrodite field will end-up in state coffers.

Coming back to the scenario of issuing natural gas-linked bonds, the prospects are not so rosy. Provided that the Cypriot

parliament legitimises the Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company (or KRETYK), any bonds will bear the same rating, from credit rating agencies, as the national oil company’s (NOC’s) host country. The same holds true for other NOCs such as Petrobras and Gazprom which have the same credit rating as Brazil and Russia, respectively. Hence, if Cyprus’ bonds are rated as “junk” the same would apply to the KRETYK gas bonds.

Due to their inherent risk, subordinate bond ratings bear the burden of offering higher returns. In turn this yield is usually tied to the interest at which the host country raises money from lenders by issuing government bonds. However, a higher return on investment implies that the extraction costs of the natural gas need to be competitive. By virtue of their nature ultra-deep offshore - in water depths exceeding 1,500m - gas fields are capital-intensive projects requiring costly equipment. Notwithstanding the optimism there is an upper limit to the value of the bonds an NOC can issue.

A couple of other hurdles will also need to be cleared before issuing natural gas bonds.

First, investors will require a “roadmap” for exporting the natural gas from Cyprus. Cyprus’ minute natural gas needs for power generation, estimated at about 1.2 bcm/year, do not financially justify the development of the Aphrodite gas field. To make such a development economically viable there is a need to export an appreciable amount of the natural gas, most probably, in liquefied form.

A starting point would be to build a onetrain Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant with an export capacity of about five million tons (of LNG) per annum (mtpa). Raising an estimated €7 billion for a five mtpa LNG plant is no easy task. Second, either more natural gas fields will need to be discovered by the companies which hold concessions in the Cypriot EEZ or Israel and Cyprus should monetise their reserves and decide to go for joint exports. For the latter to happen, Israel has first to approve the export of natural gas and reinforce ties with Cyprus.

Crucially important prior to issuing gas bonds, there is a need to undertake the necessary studies which probably would include a pre-end engineering design (FEED) study, a feasibility analysis, and identifying potential gas buyers.

To summarise, gas bonds can appeal to bank savers only when they are credible financial instruments. No doubt natural gas offers hope in the gloom. Drilling for oil, as indicated by Total, adds to the optimism. If only we had luck on our side and some more space and time for manoeuvring.

Constantinos Hadjistassou is a researcher at the University of Cyprus specialising on hydrocarbons and low-carbon energy technologies. Website: www.energysequel.com

15 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Opinion

Politicians, bankers have destroyed us in just one week Comment

“It is a few dandruffy professors sitting in a cheap office with a slightly insane chess champion ex-Lib Dem MP and a couple of threadbare lawyers and me”.

Actor Hugh Grant gives an unflattering description of the Hacked Off campaign group

Protests: understandable but pointless

Hermes Solomon

A

COLLEAGUE wrote immediately after last Tuesday’s ‘No’ vote at the House of Reps, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.” But it was over before she even dragged herself on stage.

The colleague added that the House of Reps ‘No’ vote was ‘just for show’. But in reality it was to pacify small depositors and keep Russian money here, in no way removing fears of what is about to happen to the average family.

It is time for plain speaking. The ultimate source of Europe’s financial malaise is Deutschland. Die Deutsche finance establishment was complicit in the inflating of some of the bubbles in afflicted nations.

Now it disowns its role in causation but, by forcing austerity on national governments and refusing to permit more than token inflation of the euro, it is twisting the knife into those nations’ wounds.

Berlin is obviously a fatigued paymaster for its feckless friends to the south. But anyone with half a brain would know that this is not the time to suddenly change course over a relatively small bailout sum.

President Nicos Anastasiades, now known as Naïve Nik, failed in his attempt to partially protect the island’s rich by spreading the Eurogroup haircut across all depositors. But many of our Russian friends and rich bitch Cypriots have already transferred their funds out of our banks to Latvia, Malta, London, Zurich or wherever.

After Nik’s debacle, Cypriot banks are set to go pop and rich depositors here will (temporarily) lose a lot anyway. Whatever the outcome, a total freeze on bank deposits is imminent, permitting controlled withdrawals from a ‘restructured’ banking sector.

The Cyfi-prob has taken pride of place on the world stage. Nauseating day long TV coverage outside the House of Reps and the Megaro (Government House) supported by innumerable studio interviewers cross questioning endless ‘elite’ guests, has failed to assuage fears of complete economic collapse. Good talkers don’t pay bills!

This past week thousands of angry and disillusioned citizens crowded barbed wire barriers shielding the House of Reps from an invasion of the money snatchers.

The world’s press gravitated unharmed in no-man’s land, reporters dancing between Das Haus arrivals and departures - occasionally interviewing ‘quelque manifestants’ in a practised sortie to allay accusations of favouritism.

Some supermarkets are now refusing credit card payments for goods. Parents are failing to transfer funds to student kids abroad. ATMs are limiting cash withdrawals to 260 euros as queues grow longer and citizens evermore frustrated.

Cheques are no longer worth the paper they’re written on, and a siege mentality is setting in as those with sufficient cash stockpile food/fuel to last a month. Shopkeepers sit twiddling their thumbs while take-away is doing a roaring trade as restaurants stack chairs and tables. Bars and cafés are pessimistically half empty.

Nobody is spending on anything other than ingestible essentials.

A sovereign debt fund, which nobody

The poor judgement of the political and economic leadership of the West today rivals that of their predecessors of the 1970s will trust our government to honour, will fall flat on its face. Exercises in robbing Petros to pay Pavlos will end in tears.

We’ve been doing it for years and now, finally, the shit has hit the fan and all trust in authority and our institutions has evaporated.

Whatever our brainless politicians and economists say, the Eurogroup have demanded we find 5.8 billion euros by bankrupting one or both of our major banks, protecting deposits up to 100,000 euros and haircutting those above at a rate anywhere between 15 and 25 per cent.

All other proposed solutions by our government have been met with contempt.

And so they should be!

I am not defending the Eurogroup, but there is something we really must get into our heads. We are the beggars and they the paymasters. If Nicosia was Troy of 3,000 years ago and German finance minister was Agamemnon and Eurogroup president, Menelaus, the rape and pillage of our economy would have been a lot worse. They know full well that we still have 60 billion of savers’ deposits in our banks, whether liquid or ‘gas’. They also know how much we need to survive as an economic entity deprived of our corrupt financial services sector.

The Eurogroup’s intention is to get Mercs off the roads, never mind the pavements, our people paying taxes at the same rates as EU member states, reorganise our corrupt construction industry, legal system, grossly overweight civil service, privatise our telephone and electricity companies, and several government departments to boot, close down Cyprus Airways then force us to go for the thieves, get them into court and make them pay.

Nobody here, from the small to the tall,

uotes of the week

is prepared to pay the price of bank and business failures, which will cause a huge rise in the numbers of unemployed! It’s too late now to shout and demonstrate.

We should have moved against corruption and waste years ago.

The Bank of Cyprus paid employees, Andreas Iliades 980 thousand, 898 thousand and 706 thousand euros between 2009 and 2011 and Giannis Peklivanides, 340 thousand and 504 thousand in 2010 & 2011.

The Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) paid Evthimios Pouloutas 1.083 million euros in 2011, Christos Stylianidis, 241 thousand euros, Panayiotis Kounis 242 thousand euros and Eleftherios Chiliadakis 162,000 euros, all at a time the bank was bankrupt and already at the beck and call of the then commie government. To rub salt into depositors’ wounds, the bank gave Pouloutas a 1.543 million euro golden handshake in December of 2011! Let’s hope he deposited it in Laiki!

European affairs minister, Alexander Stubb told Reuters he was confident Cyprus would accept EU rescue terms “because there are no other options”.

This means that those irrelevant reforms passed last Friday night at the House of Reps will have no bearing on the Eurogroup’s rescue terms.

We will know the outcome by Monday at the latest - but instead of 9.9 per cent haircuts on deposits in excess of 100,000 euros, the figure now wobbles between 20 and 25 per cent. After all, these were the real catastrophic terms of the Eurogroup bailout in the first place - hit the ‘stinking’ rich!

Time to get serious, stop the courtly talking and start the court actions - the State versus the State!

“I can build a fire. I know how to pitch a tent. I can rescue kittens from trees.

Most importantly, I know how to scout for boys. I think they should change their stupid rules”.

Pop legend Madonna whose latest fashion statement is to dress up as a boy scout

titude. When times are tough, we crave stability and switch to lower heels”.

Julie Donnelly, top fashion retailer “Like Gordon Brown before him, George Osborne has a grim look, a touch of arrogance and a personality problem.

He lacks charm, appears distant and inhabits a sphere of his own”.

Publisher Naim Attallah on the present Chancellor of the Exchequer “The idea of the genius struggling in solitude in a cockroached and frozen garret with only a crust of bread and syphilis for company is an historically specific vision no longer, if ever, of relevance. Artists are not solitary. They rely on human support systems, often of a very sophisticated sort”.

Design guru Stephen Bayley

“Change here for the rest of the world”.

Train conductor’s announcement on approaching Gatwick “Exactly what do we need to do to accelerate global warming?”

Andrew Shouler of Grays, Essex, in a letter to the Daily Telegraph “Sexual activity creates glandular excretions that makes your hair and nails grow”.

Former Australian spin bowler Shane Warne

“We are calling it the Footsie Index. High heels represent a carefree at-

“I have never been offered a role in a movie, which just goes to show I must be really rubbish”.

Football pundit Gary Lineker “I get out of bed, look through my little black book for a likely phone number, pop a handful of Viagra into my mouth and put my teeth in” Sir Roger Moore, 85, on his youthful lifestyle “I don’t think the human body is something to be ashamed of. Every other person on the planet has the same parts as I do.

So seeing them should not be a huge shock to most people”.

Actress Rooney Mara

16 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

World in pictures

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, reads the Gospel according to Matthew in Canterbury Cathedral during his Enthronement (AFP)

Indian Hindu devotees throw coloured water at the Radha Rani temple during the Lathmar Holi festival

(AFP)

Volker Kraft decorates his apple tree with easter eggs in Saalfeld, Germany (AFP)

Nomads vie for the ball during a match of nomad hockey, played on sand, in the Moroccan desert

(AFP)

Cardinals take their places during Pope Francis’ grandiose inauguration mass in St Peter’s Square (AFP)

A visitor looks at a mural by German street artist El Bocho at the Urban Art Graffiti 21 exhibtion (AFP)

Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visit the Nizwa Fort in Oman (AFP)

US President Barack Obama waves after speaking on US, Israel and Mideast relations at the Convention Center in Jerusalem (AFP)

A model displays chocolate jewels during a fashion show at Le Salon du Chocolat (Chocolate exhibition) in Zurich (AFP)

17 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Coffeeshop

The terrible price of pride THE RE-CREATION of the resistance hysteria of the 2004 referendum, when we heroically told the international community to go to hell and politicians were still boasting about it as recently as a month ago, lasted only a few days this time.

The TV pundits and politicians who were celebrating our deputies’ ‘resounding no’ to the Eurogroup’s proposal for a deposits levy last Tuesday have all gone silent. So have the deputies who had less than 48 hours to glory in their courageous act of resistance - or to be more precise stupidity packaged as resistance.

By Thursday evening, when news of the collapse of Laiki bank broke and it had become obvious that Mother Russia was not prepared to move her little finger to help poor, defenceless Kyproulla, Tuesday’s resistance heroes had lost their voice and will to fight for our dignity and pride.

By Friday they were all prepared to swallow their heroism and vote for the haircut of deposits, but it was too late. The haircut had been removed from the negotiating table by the Eurogroup, stunned by the universal criticism of its decision to support the bail-in of insured deposits.

Worse still, the terrible troikans were demanding that the Bank of Cyprus also be restructured, because under current market conditions its numbers did not suggest it was a viable concern. Hopefully our deputies will now have learnt to confine their acts of heroic resistance and bravery to the low-cost Cyprob because when they apply them to the economy, GDP contracts by several per cent.

DID THEY not see how the former comrade president’s acts of resistance and bravery kept lowering GDP, dashing economic prospects and pushing the banks closer and closer to bankruptcy?

He put up a tenacious resistance to the troika, completely ignoring its proposal for months and, when he could no longer do that, refusing to sign a memorandum, thus laying the foundations for the economy’s meltdown.

Through his other acts of resistance he saved CoLA which nobody pays and the 13th salaries which only public parasites now receive.

And he saved the semi-governmental organisations from privatisation, for a couple of months.

The comrade also ensured that his successor at the presidential palace would inherit a totally bankrupt Laiki, the state-owned bank that he allowed to draw €9.5 billion of emergency liquidity that it could never pay back without restructuring. He will of course claim that he knew nothing of Laiki’s problems, because the Central Bank governor he appointed to destroy the banking sector had not informed him.

GOVERNOR, Professor, Dr. Panicos Demetriades was the most successful appointment of the village idiot as he accomplished his mission to destroy Cyprus’ banking sector, as he had been instructed by our commie rulers.

On Thursday he saw his indefatigable efforts of the last 10 months come to fruition when he told the president that Laiki was insolvent and had to be restructured. It was also insolvent three months ago, but the professor was not so keen to re-structure it back then, because his comrade master did not want this to happen during his rule.

He would love to order the restructure of the Bank of Cyprus as well

and he has the troika’s support, but - as this was being written - the government was fighting against it because it was aware of the devastation the restructuring would cause to the business world.

Professor Panicos had seen his chance to wreak havoc in the banking sector last Sunday by saying he was allowing the banks to open on Tuesday, something that would most certainly have sparked a bank run. Although at a meeting on Sunday at the presidential palace it was decided that the banks would not be opened on Tuesday, the day of the vote on the haircut bill, the professor informed deputies on Monday that after consultations with the ECB, he had decided the banks would open for business.

When the president was informed of the governor’s intention he flipped his lid. He immediately issued instructions to Panicos to issue a circular informing the banks that they would not open for two days. What Central Bank Governor decides to open the banks when their opening is certain to lead to a bank run?

PANICOS, being a good socialist, had been advertising for months that the banks were bankrupt and needed restructuring. He did everything in his power to inflate their needs, preventing bank executives from even speaking to the consultants whom he hired to estimate their capital requirements.

This may have suited AKEL’s propaganda purposes, but only in Cyprus could the state have appointed a governor who did everything in his power to sink the ailing banks. In the end even AKEL turned against its appointee, party chief Andros launching a scathing attack on Panicos at a meeting of the party leaders.

The rest of the party leaders took digs at him, during Friday night’s parliamentary debate, for the Laiki ultimatum he issued. But if we are to judge the professor on results, we must concede he was a successful governor, because he achieved what he set out to.

AT THE BANK of Cyprus ‘grown men were crying,’ over the bank’s predicament, according to one executive. The top execs would go into the bank’s HQ and mope while they waited to hear news about what would happen to the once mightiest and wealthiest company in the country.

It was now at the mercy of the terrible troika technocrats. It is difficult to feel sorry for the dear B of C, whose pathetically weak board of gutless directors sat passively and awaited their fate, allowing Panicos to bully them into submission.

Although they knew the bank was in trouble for almost a year, the B of C directors did nothing to cut its massive payroll. It was the only business in the country that did not cut wages or benefits of its overpaid employees, in order to have a fight-

dignity.”

Yiorkos was not only engaging in cheap politicking. He had used his influence in the Russian Duma to seek help for his suffering country by writing to some inconsequential deputy (Mikhail Emilianov - first deputy-president of the Committee of Political Economy of the State Duma) asking for a loan between five to 10 billion euro, at an interest rate of 2.5 to 3 per cent.

He offered Emilianov the opportunity to invest up to 30 per cent in Cyprus’ energy infrastructure and the real sweetener - shares in Laiki Bank. Emilianov and other deputies were to make efforts that the “Lillikas package” would be a basis of the negotiation between the governments of Russia and Cyprus.

In what capacity was Lillikas asking for loans and offering Cyprus state property to the Russians?

Does our constitution say that failed presidential candidates can offer bankrupt banks for sale to other states?

How The Economist views our predicament ing chance of survival.

Until last June, when he was forced to resign the CEO Andreas Eliades, who had led the bank to the brink, was on an annual salary of €1 million, none of the directors having the guts to say anything in case he told them off.

WHENEVER Kyproulla is in trouble, rumours that Mother Russia is ready to come to our rescue start to spread. This trend dates back almost 50 years ago to the time of the Soviet Union, when the Kremlin’s puppets in AKEL would start spreading news of the Soviets’ imminent arrival to help us out.

We heard these claims on countless occasions before and after 1974, but the Soviets never arrived. This week everyone was placing their hopes on Russia saving us from the dastardly designs of the evil Europeans. The rumour mills were operating at full capacity and web-sites, seeking to boost hits, were reporting these fairy-tales, with Gazprom always starring.

On Sunday night, the authoritative state broadcaster, RIK also reproduced a Gazprom fairy tale. Its news boss, Yiannis Kareklas, interrupted the panel discussion he was hosting to give viewers news of a breaking story. Gazprom would offer the €17bn needed by the state in exchange for some of our plots and for participating in the liquefaction unit that we were going to build.

Kareklas said he did not know the source of this wonderful news and conceded that it had not been confirmed. However, one of his guests immediately seized this fib to strengthen his argument against the humiliating haircut imposed by the troika. With Gazprom coming into the picture we did not need the help of the Europeans.

CyBC’s pseudo-story had been picked up from the reliable Mega TV. THE SOURCE of the Gazprom rumours could have been DIKO

which had been pressuring the government to seek help from Russia.

On Monday both the government and Gazprom denied the reports that they had been in contact, but this did not stop the rumour mills.

Gazprom had become the banner of all those opposed to the deposits haircut. We even heard that Gazprombank would take over bankrupt Laiki, presumably it is part of its policy to buy insolvent banks with debts of billions and no hope of ever recovering.

Even after the denials, the ubiquitous TV economist Stelios Platis insisted in one of his television appearances that Gazprom would be coming.

And later in the week, the leading light of all ‘no’ campaigns, independent deputy Zacharias Koulias, angrily claimed that the president had refused to see a Gazprom representative that had visited the presidential palace.

IT WAS inevitable that the opportunist Yiorgos Lillikas, another committed ‘no’ demagogue, would try to exploit the opposition to the haircut for his personal ends. Standing in front of the sign ‘Candidate of the citizens’ he urged the legislature to reject the deposits levy and accused President Anastasiades of having ‘low resistance’ in contrast to the heroic Paphite.

Had nobody told the candidate of the citizens that elections were over? They had, but after the president’s unpatriotic retreat at the Eurogroup meeting, the ambitious Yiorgos felt that presidential elections should be held because Nice Nik had ‘betrayed his mandate’.

The country was in meltdown and all that the bash-patriotic Lillikas could think of was how to exploit the disaster to become president.

THE PAPHOS demagogue congratulated the legislature for its historic ‘no’ which “protected our state sovereignty and national

FINANCE minister Michalis went to Moscow on Tuesday night and was there until Thursday afternoon, but the ‘Lillikas package’ was not discussed in his talks with his Russian counterpart; neither was Gazprom’s offer of a €17bn loan.

In fact, he got absolutely nothing out of Mother Russia, even though he offered gas exploration, a naval base (according to some rumours), energy infrastructure projects and of course shares in our flagship bank Laiki.

The Putin government did not even agree to extend the repayment period of the €2.5bn loan that the village idiot had secured at an interest rate of 4.5 per cent. It should be noted that the only assistance Kyproulla ever receives from Russia, is when we want a couple of words or phrases changed in UN Security Council Resolutions.

There was one positive outcome from Russia’s snub. Lillikas disappeared from public view, embarrassed that his package for our rescue turned to be a bigger joke than the man himself. He may also feel it is not wise to appear after his vocal opposition to the haircut led to the closure of the bank he wanted to sell to the Russians.

THE CRISIS of the last week has produced a plethora of TV economists, as stations have been running non-stop studio shows covering developments and need guests to talk when there is no news to report.

The thing is that whichever channel you turn you are guaranteed to see the same faces. They are running from one station to the other in order to repeat the same stuff over and over again. The man with a record number of appearances must be Stelios Platis, who is everywhere, followed by Andreas Aloneftis who is happy to appear at any time of the day.

Platis, once a sensible commentator on economic issues, appears to have dumbed down and sounded a lot more like a politician than an economist. He has been passionately advocating the rejection of the haircut and a return to the Cyprus pound as well as claiming that Gazprom could save us.

IF THERE is one thing we learnt in the last week it is that stupidity remains invincible in Kyproulla, where deputies bank on the rejection of the haircut causing chaos in the European markets and forcing the Eurogroup to offer us a better deal. They should not lose hope because Gazprom is on its way.

18

SUNDAY MAIL

Reportage

CRUNC Paper boy: Berg’s webenabled Little Printer

AST September, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent Mark Zuckerberg a present: a brand new iPhone 5. King geek Zuck declared himself delighted with the “wonderful device” on American television, but has since reportedly swapped his iPhone 5 for a Samsung Galaxy Note II. He recently ordered Facebook employees to do the same and abandon using Apple devices in favour of Android phones.

Naughty, but Apple has bigger problems. In September, the Cupertino-based company’s stock reached a high of £468.7; now it’s trading at £279. According to FactSet, the 50 biggest hedge funds sold £1.92 billion of Apple stock in the last quarter of 2012. More and more, people are switching to phones running Google’s Android software. Six times more people are signing up to Android devices than to Apple’s, according to KPCB investment analyst Mary Meeker. In late February, Steve Wozniak - a man who plays Segway polo for fun - wondered out loud whether Apple was losing its cool. The legendary computer programmer, who cofounded Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976, told Bloomberg that Apple was, in the past, “always the cool guy”, adding, “And ouch, it’s painful, because we’re kind of losing that.”

The fattest worms in Apple right now are other phone makers. “They’ve got some valid competitors,” says Matt Webb, CEO of London product design firm Berg.

“Android is excellent. Windows Phone is brave and experimenting in all the right places.” Apple keeps its product line trim, offering big updates only every couple of years. Samsung, meanwhile, seems to release a new phone every couple of days. Since June 2009, it has released 45 versions of the Galaxy series alone; Apple has released six versions of the iPhone, ever.

That refusal to keep up is hurting Apple; it completely missed out on the ‘phablet’ market - handsets sized between a tablet and a phone, such as the Galaxy Note. Apple would rather charge people for a phone and a tablet, both made by Apple, but the format has proved less popular in lower income areas around the world (especially in Asia, where Samsung is booming). Nor does Apple have a low-cost version of the iPhone, although it has cut the price of older smartphones. Apple still outsells

Its phab: Samsung’s Galaxy Note II

L

Vision of the future: Google founder Sergey Brin and Diane von Furstenberg wearing Google glasses last year

Samsung in the US market (only just - by less than a million devices in the last quarter of 2012, according to Strategy Analytics), but worldwide Samsung has 31.3 per cent of the smartphone market (up from 8.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2010), compared to Apple’s 14.6 per cent, according to market intelligence firm IDC. Why hasn’t Apple kept pace with Samsung? “Apple just isn’t into bitty iteration like some other people,” says Tom Chatfield, author of the forthcoming book Netymology. “We’re seeing this with phones in particular at the moment, as their consistency of design and core concept begins to fall behind others’ rapid updates.” And, even though it is being outflanked on the mass-market side, Apple’s huge commercial success also means it has lost its elite-badge status.

“There is simply no longer the same aura of the exceptional around Apple,” Chatfield says. “It makes great phones, but so do a lot of other people now, and often for less money with more features. So the perception of Apple’s product has definitely shifted away from iconic one-of-a-kind cool towards one-among-many.”

That feeling is even more pronounced among the early adopters of Silicon Valley. Robert Scoble runs scobleizer.com, an influential tech blog. He used to queue overnight to secure the newest iPhone; now, he’s waiting for the next Samsung. “I won’t be the last of the defectors,” he says. “There are a few reasons I switched. I’m really getting into Google Glass” - the ultra-functional, ultra-unfashionable eyewear developed by the search giant. Glass is Google’s vision

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976

of the future of computing: instead of a phone, users wear a dorky-looking ‘glasses’ headset, which displays the same sort of information as a smartphone: messages, missed calls, emails. It’s voice-activated, internetconnected and can record video, creepily. Google says the glasses will be out by the end of 2013, for less than £1,000. Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google founder Sergey Brin, wore a pair to the Oscars. Brin himself has said that smartphones are “emasculating” (and Google Glass isn’t?).

Still, Google is undeniably pushing boundaries - its other projects include self-driving cars and space elevators (which are just what they sound like). “We just haven’t seen much innovation from Apple,” Scoble complains.

In the past, all you needed to do to prove yourself as a member of the tech cognoscenti was to take Apple’s latest tablet from the customtailored iPad-size pocket in your jacket. Now Apple is a mass-market proposition, the tech-savvy look for bragging rights in bijou, one-off products, like music snobs with new bands: the more obscure the device, the better.

Products such as the Jawbone Up, or the Basis watch, a timepiece that can also measure your skin temperature, how much you’re sweating, your activity level, sleep cycle and heart rate - are in vogue. Or even more niche products such as Berg’s Little Printer, a frankly adorable device that spits out paper

Apple products, with their slick d transformed the tech world. But has an iSomething, serious comp and suddenly the company foun looking so shiny. Tom Cheshire a updates from the internet.

“It’s our belief that the future of technology won’t be shiny and black, it will be full of character,” Webb says.

Many of these more characterful tech projects make their public debut on Kickstarter. The crowd-funding platform’s biggest success is the Pebble watch, a wearable computer that syncs with your smartphone. Its makers asked for £66,455 on Kickstarter and ended up raising more than £6.6 million. Apple is itself said to be working on its own wrist-worn computing device, inevitably dubbed the iWatch. “It’s the right impulse,” Scoble says.

But an iWatch may not be enough. “The risk [for Apple] is not that internally they’re unable to come up with products, it’s that the technology landscape is changing again,” Webb says. “All of

these smart, shared objects in the home are going to be chipping away at the idea we have of big computers doing a lot of stuff, or personal computing devices we carry in our pockets or on our wrist.

‘We may be returni there are many de different manufactur way more available an them by wor It’s a really big market shift that will play out over a long time.” The internet will live in the real world rather than in shiny glass boxes - which wouldn’t suit Apple at all,

19

L • March 24, 2013

H TIME Steve Wozniak: is Apple losing its cool?

design and intuitive systems, just when it seems everyone petition has entered the market, nded by the late Steve Jobs isn’t asks, what’s eating Apple? according to Scoble. “Apple doesn’t know enough about the world - look at the Maps disaster.”

When Apple kicked Google Maps - tried and tested in the real world over several

ing to an era where evices from lots of ers, because they’re nd people hear about rd of mouth’ years and millions of miles last year and replaced it with its own mapping app, it was a disaster. Among the numerous errors gleefully reported, Apple Maps classified an en-

tire city as a hospital, placed Greenland in the Indian Ocean and offered directions to Washington Dulles airport that would get a driver run over by a jumbo jet. Cook was forced to apologise.

This “internet of things” seems to be leading to a cottage tech industry producing myriad internet-enabled objects. “We may be returning to an era where there are many devices from lots of different manufacturers, because they’re way more available and people hear about them by word of mouth,” Webb says. “Thriving in that kind of world is quite different.” And especially difficult for Apple, a company that doesn’t hide its distaste for openness.

Under Jobs, Apple was on lock-down. Employees working on new devices would turn on red warning lights

when their prototypes were on display on work benches; the company regularly hunted down and fired employees leaking details to the press.

According to Wosniak, Jobs was worried about bigger companies finding out details and rushing out copies.

It was also a useful marketing device; Jobs loved the big reveal. This Illuminati-level secrecy also gave the company room to experiment and perfect designs: Apple worked on phones for six years before the iPhone was revealed. Secrecy can work well for physical products, but it isn’t helpful for social applications such as Twitter and Facebook, which rely on having real people using them, in the real world.

Microsoft crushed Apple in the 1990s by letting any machine run its software, and letting any company build its own software on top. The closed, secretive approach favoured by Apple worked in the early 2000s because with each innovative product iPod, iPhone and iPad - it created whole new markets: there were no other devices to interact with. And the closed approach worked with

Hands free: the Pebble watch

an aggressive, perfectionist CEO such as Jobs, who told customers complaining about the iPhone’s reception problems that they were, in fact, holding their phones incorrectly. Now, there are many devices on the market and the technology world is changing - innovation is happening on Kickstarter and in plain view. Android software runs on a huge number of devices and anyone can build applications on top. “Google is doing its research and de-

Cyprus Handicrafts

velopment in public with these glasses,” Scoble says.

“Sergey is wearing them around. This stuff needs to be tested in the real world. So is Apple testing these watches in the real world by wearing them around? Hell no!”

Apple’s secrecy was down to Jobs himself, a man who, according to his FBI dossier, would “twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals”, but when Cook took over in August 2011, he told one tech conference, “We’re going to double down on secrecy on products. I’m serious.” Maybe, but Apple has seemed more relaxed with Cook in charge.

Jonathan Ive, the British designer behind Apple’s most iconic products, invited the BBC children’s television programme Blue Peter into Apple’s research lab, and Apple executives such as Phil Schiller appear in public far more than they used to. Cook went so far as to apologise for Apple Maps; Jobs would have told consumers that geography was to blame. Cook has also, to his credit, opened up the company to scrutiny about its ethics, especially in its supply chain (in particu-

lar, with regard to the suicides of low-paid workers at Foxconn factories in China).

Maybe communication isn’t a good thing, though: the last six times Cook has spoken in public, Apple’s share price has dropped.

With a market capitalisation of £263.9 billion, Apple is still the world’s most valuable technology company and, on a good day’s trading, the most valuable company in the world of any kind. It still makes brilliant products: the iPhone was, after all, a device so easy to use and seamless that rapper Rick Ross could sell “dope straight off” his device (see the lyrics to ‘9 Piece’). Apple’s design, marketing and retail operation are unparalleled. It has a cash pile of £91 billion, which it could use to buy companies that do have expertise in the real world and social media. And the last time Apple was written off it came back with the iMac and the iPod. “We’re probably seeing a lull before Apple makes a big effort with the next product,” Webb says. “Historically, when Apple has competition it does much better.” It’s time for Apple to bite back.

Lefkara handmade lace, embroideries, crochet and needlework. Woven cotton cloth in traditional Lefkoniko, Karpass and Phiti styles. Handwoven traditional costumes, leather goods, silverware, copperware, pottery, mosaic, wood-carved items, baskets and other rush-made articles.

CYPRUS HANDICRAFT SERVICE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND TOURISM Lefkosia: 186, Athalassa Avenue, Tel: 22305024 Lemesos: 25, Themidos Street, Tel: 25305118 Larnaka: 6, Cosma Lysioti Street, Tel: 24304327 Pafos: 64, Apostolou Pavlou Avenue Tel: 26306243

20 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Lifestyle

How not to do the splits Her parents’ multiple marriages left novelist Afsaneh Knight with a very modern family, she tells Katie Law

“H

O W E V E R black my parents’ divorce was, before they parted I grew up watching their great love for one another, and that fed me and shaped me far more than any divorce ever could,” says Afsaneh Knight.

Divorce is a recurrent theme for the 34-year-old novelist. Her half-sister India Knight has also devoted her Sunday Times column to the subject more than once, most recently describing how she and her first husband Jeremy Langmead have parents who between them have managed to rack up 12 marriages.

Afsaneh, whose second novel, The Sunshine Years, centres on a bunch of thirtysomethings who discover that life isn’t all about Happily Ever After, has been heavily affected by her parents’ divorce. The various relationships that followed also left their mark, although a succession of extra marriages and divorces has spawned an impressive network of A-list steps, exes and exsteps.

But it is to her parents and her two sisters that she still feels closest, apart from her “strapping” Sky Sports presenter husband Rupert Cox and their children, Atticus, six, and Irsia, four. Her father is thricemarried Andrew Knight, who at 72 has just reprised his position as chairman of Times Newspapers and whom she describes as a workaholic. Her mother is 64-year-old Sabiha Rumani Malik, founder of Sanghata Global, a charity aimed at alleviating world poverty, while her middle sister Am-

aryllis is an interior designer based in Los Angeles.

She and her sisters grew up in Hampstead. “Things were completely lovely, everyone was extremely happy and I have only happy memories from my childhood. Then when I was 12, my parents divorced pretty spectacularly. It came entirely out of the blue. For everyone it was very difficult. It wasn’t a model, amicable, friendly divorce, it was high emotion.”

Malik, whom Knight describes as “beautiful and exquisite and little and perfect”, moved to Battersea and married bigwig architect Norman Foster, Andrew Knight stayed on in Hampstead, and Afsaneh Knight shuttled between the two households. It was clearly a painful upheaval, not least, one suspects, having Foster as a stepfather.

“I’m not sure I should say this actually but I had my own opinions, my own feelings, shall we say, on the people they [her parents] were with. My instincts were correct.” Malik’s marriage to Foster ended four years later. “But really the hurt and the upset was not seeing them with the other people, it was them not being together and of having to absorb someone else’s family.”

Her response, aged 14, to her parent’s split was to drop out of school. “I refused to go and my mother thought this was wonderfully cavalier and really a fabulous thing to be doing.

She took me out to lunch and museums for the week, then realised I meant I’m not going to school ever.”

Eventually her parents

Literary sibling: India Knight persuaded her to sit her GCSEs and do A-levels and at 17, with help from her father, she moved into a flat in Notting Hill on her own and worked as a musician until he suggested she should apply to university.

Did she feel under pressure? “I’ve never, never, never felt pressure. My parents have always been incredibly supportive and unjudgmental about everything. They didn’t even know what my homework was.” Still, she agreed to be interviewed at St Catherine’s College, Oxford to please her father, and in spite of having only two Alevels got in. After graduating, she spent an unhappy spell in Los Angeles but returned to London after she met Cox. Marriage, children and writing followed and she’s currently working on the next novel. Does she not, I wonder, feel a little daunted, given the success of big sis, widely regarded as one of our best comic novelists and columnists writing today?

“No, not at all. We’re such

Formative years: ‘Before my parents parted I grew up watching their great love for one another, and that fed me and shaped me,’ says Afsaneh Knight completely different writers. She’s so talented she can write books standing on her head in five minutes,” Knight says tactfully, while admitting that she herself struggles, having a tendency to fall asleep at her laptop and having a “terrible” work ethic.

She is strikingly beautiful, yet says she is dreading the photo-shoot for the interview, calling herself “the least photogenic person in the world”, and it’s clear she’s genuinely hung up about mortality and ageing. Interestingly, India Knight, who has admitted

to having Botox, includes a scene in her almost entirely autobiographical novel, Mutton, in which the main character’s younger sister rails at her for having the Botox, insisting that there’s nothing wrong with getting older. “I think lines are beautiful. They tell a story,” says the younger sister. So what does she really think?

“When India and I first had the conversation, she actually said, ‘You have no right to an opinion, it’s worthless, meaningless, so shut up. Of course it’s not relevant to you’.” What are

her objections to Botox?

“I suppose I don’t like the thought of getting to a stage when it’s so normal that you’re making a statement by not having it done.

My mother’s very genetically blessed but I already have little lines and I do wonder when I’m 50 and have a face full of lines I don’t like that I may turn into a massive hypocrite and go, ‘Doctor, just do your best’. Who knows?”

One thing’s clear though, regardless of what happens to her face, and that’s that she’ll do everything in her power not to get divorced.

Fleet Street Fox on why we secretly love a bad divorce

By Susie Boniface THERE is something about the idea of an angry wife that everybody loves. When my marriage ended after I found out about an affair and got arrested for trying to murder them both with a flowerpot, it made me and my friends laugh so much I knew it was a good story.

Now that bonkers episode is the start of a book telling the truth about divorce - it’s a handbook for the broken-hearted which I could really have done with when I split up. Instead I had long, expensive and painful months of lawyers and arguments, and another year or two of putting myself back together after that.

If my ex had been better about things, I would have been less angry, and I’d have been in one

piece a lot sooner. I would also have used something more effective than a flowerpot, if only I’d known. But then the woman scorned, all that hell-hath-no-fury business, is something humans like to read about. It’s like we want a vengeful Boudicca in our lives every now and again to kick some righteous arse - it tastes good, doesn’t it?

Lorena Bobbitt cutting off her abusive husband’s John Thomas?

Fantastic. Elin Nordegren going at Tiger Woods’s car with a golf club?

Good on her. And Vicky Pryce bringing down one of the smuggest men in Westminster? Hoo, brilliant! From Liz Taylor and Richard Burton to Katie Price and Peter Andre, it makes the rest of the world feel a little better about their own imperfect relationships to see someone else making more of a mess with theirs.

With celebrities and politicians, it’s good to know they are capable of screwing up just like the rest of us. And as a divorcee myself, it’s sheer joy to see I’m not the only one capable of elevating a crappy divorce into an art form.

In Vicky Pryce’s case, she greeted news of Huhne’s affair with bisexual aide Carina Trimingham with laughter because it was a “preposterous idea”, and labelled her “that f***ing man” before helping journalists to print damaging stories about her husband. All very funny. But the truth behind all these gossipy stories is that we go about both marriage and divorce in entirely the wrong way. We treat a wedding as though it is a sign of success, job done, now the ring’s on put your feet up and stop working at it, and we treat divorce as though it’s a failure followed by a

prizefight.

In fact, a wedding is no more than a party. If you want your marriage to be a success, you have to work from day one and treat it as a 40-year project. And if you want divorce to be a success - unlike Vicky Pryce’s, Katie Price’s or mine - you have to do it together.

The whole business is set up with lawyers taking sides from day one, and each party is told the other is out to take their mental health and all their money. It becomes a series of points to be scored, a fight to win, and you end up being petty, spiteful and furious.

No one says: “You used to love them once.” Nobody reminds you this was your best friend, your lover, that perhaps it was inevitable but let’s at least be polite to each other.

We treat the end of a marriage

as something shameful that should be brushed under the carpet, and if anything’s going to make a woman angry, it’s unnecessary housework. We should get our divorces out in the open, and learn from them.

There are almost 120,000 divorces in the UK every year. While some of them might be friendly, most will, at best, be filled with pain. But sometimes getting divorced is the best thing you can do. It led me to write a book (Diaries of a Fleet Street Fox), and if it helps someone else out there with a broken heart, then my heartbreak will be worth twice as much. The best thing about divorce isn’t the drama at the start it’s the quiet bit, right at the end, where you’re really glad you’re not married to him any more.

Concentrate on that, Vicky Pryce. It could be so much worse.

21 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Business & Jobs

Living longer becoming increasingly expensive

Airfares soared in 2012 with June the priciest month

Tax and inflation are the two main threats to wealth for older people

By Patricia Reaney

Investment Bill Blevins Bill Blevins is managing director of Blevins Franks International. Tel: 26-912315 PROVIDED we are of sound health and mind, most of us would relish the prospect of a nice long life. Thanks to advances in science and medicine, it is already becoming more common for someone retiring at the age of 60 to live another 30 years.

There are however financial implications at both personal and government levels, with the key issue being: can we afford it?

Governments will need to raise more funds to cover their pension obligations and increasing health care costs, and tax revenue will play a key role in this. On a personal level we need to ensure that our wealth will last us comfortably right to the end of our days, even after inflation and (very possibly increasing) taxation.

Tax and inflation are key threats to our wealth, particularly for retired people. You should consult with a professional wealth manager like Blevins Franks to ensure your finances and assets are set up to provide protection from both as much as possible.

As life expectancy increases, so does the length of time we need our savings and investments to last and provide an income. The last thing anyone wants is to have to reduce comforts and items like private healthcare in their later years.

Your financial planning needs to take inflation into account. If, for example, you typically spend around €5,000 a month nowadays, assuming a personal inflation rate of three per

Inflation means that those living on €5,000 a month now, could need around €6,720 in 10 years’ time

cent, in 10 years’ time you could need around €6,720 a month to maintain the same spending and in 20 years around €9,030.

From the government’s point of view, rising life expectancy will only add to the already high burden on the state.

The more older people there are, the higher the national health bill for the treasury, not to mention the need to pay out state pensions for longer than in the past.

Governments rely on taxes to fund their costs. In the past, there were more people in work than in retirement. Taxes were largely collected from the working population, who pay both income tax and national insurance/social security. Today, with less people in work and more people in retirement, there is much less tax coming in to support social services for retired people.

So, what are governments to do?

One solution is to increase tax revenue, and there are already steps towards this.

The UK government will freeze the tax free threshold for inheritance tax until 2019. This is expected to generate an extra £1 billion for the Treasury each year, which will be used to help fund care for the elderly.

This is effectively a tax rise in real terms, and will cost thousands of families up to £95,000 or more – if the threshold increased with inflation, it would reach £420,000 by 2019.

We have also seen a massive step up in the global campaign against tax evasion.

Many of the current tax rises in Europe were introduced to help lower budget deficits, but we should not rely on them to fall back to pre-crisis levels once it is over. Governments

will still need to increase tax revenue.

Retired people should set up their financial planning to shelter as much of their income and wealth from taxation as possible, ensuring that all methods used are fully legitimate.

There are arrangements available to expatriates living in the EU which will provide tax mitigation within a legitimate framework.

As always, it is essential that you ensure that any financial decisions you make are fully in line with your personal situation and objectives. Advice from a professional firm like Blevins Franks will help you get your affairs in order and ensure that you get your tax planning right from the outset.

To keep in touch with the latest developments in the offshore world, check out the latest news on our website www.blevinsfranks.com

AIRFARES to some of the most popular US and international destinations rose by 25 per cent or more last year, and June was the most expensive month to travel, according to the website Kayak.com.

The costs of flights from North America to Lima soared 33 per cent, London fares were up 30 per cent and tickets to New Orleans, Madrid, Munich and Sydney jumped 28 per cent.

Data compiled by the website, which compares hundreds of travel sites at once, showed a ticket to Paris,Beijing, Key West in Florida and Hong Kong was 25 per cent more last year than in 2011, while the airfare to Toronto slumped three per cent.

“We found that overall airfare increased 17 per cent across the board from 2011 to 2012,” said Maria Katime, a Kayak spokeswoman said.

“Toronto, of all the popular destinations that we looked at, was the only one where the airfare decreased,” Katime added. Kayak did not analyse the reasons for the price increases.

Despite the jump in airfare to London, which hosted the Olympics and celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, it was the top international destination for North American travellers, followed by San Juan, Cancun, Paris and Rome.

Gambling mecca Las Vegas topped New York, Los Angeles, Orlando and San Francisco as the most popular US city to visit.

22 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Business & Jobs

More of Cyprus’ pain on its way James Saft, a Reuters US columnist, on the lessons bank depositors worldwide should learn from Cyprus’ experience VEN if you have zero exposure to the euro, the sad tale of Cyprus teaches investors about important old and new realities.

This tutorial comes compliments of the tiny euro zone Mediterranean island which has been a favoured haven for billions of euros from mostly Russian investors but is now facing a financial meltdown.

First, there is still no free lunch. High-reward, low-risk investment products aren’t.

Second, off-shore havens for money may save you money in taxes but could well cost you far more in the end.

Third, financial repression isn’t a psychological disorder, it is the new way of the world.

So-called financial repression is any one of a number of tactics which a government uses to capture any money from any available source to help it meet its goals.

These are lessons that depositors in Cyprus banks are learning to their cost. It would behoove international investors to take note as well.

Cyprus is a tiny country and arguably someone else’s problem. US investors might easily dismiss its troubles, even though they are huge. Still, they illustrate trends which will apply worldwide, even though they are highly unlikely to be replicated on anything near this scale in the United States.

Cyprus is struggling under the weight of a bloated and dangerously shaky banking sec-

E

Big centres are becoming far more aggressive in going after tax evaders, as shown in recent US efforts to go after Swiss accounts

tor which has grown to more than seven times the size of its economy, largely on the back of taking in off-shore deposits from wealthy Russians. While this is a risky business model for an economy under the best of conditions, it becomes a disaster when that huge banking sector invests heavily in domestic real estate and Greek debt, both of which have plunged in value.

A member of the euro currency, Cyprus first struck a deal with the EU and the International Monetary Fund for a bailout which included an involuntary contribution, called a levy, from bank depositors. This deal, now in flux, called for accounts under 100,000 euros to be snipped by 6.75 per cent and larger accounts, many off-shore money, by 9.9 per cent.

Cyprus has been on an extended bank holiday since the bailout was first mooted, effectively trapping deposits.

TOO GOOD A DEAL Let’s be clear: there is no sign anything anywhere near this is going to happen in the United States, so cancel those freeze-dried food orders.

While deposits in Cyprus banks are insured to up to 100,000 euros, and any policy which violates the spirit of that is an outrage, the truth is that depositors should have known better. And here I am not even talking about an in-depth analysis of a bank’s balance sheet,

or even spending one’s time reading about the euro crisis and its potential knock-on effects.

There was a very easy way that everyone with money in a Cyprus bank could tell they were sitting at the end of a very long limb: the deal was too good. Deposit rates for euro accounts in Cyprus were recently at 4.45 per cent, as against just 1.5 per cent in banks in Germany.

In fact, a depositor who put one euro each in a typical German and Cyprus bank five years ago would have enjoyed nearly twice the cumulative returns, according to central bank data.

Repeat after me: there is no extra reward without extra risk.

Much of the money in Cyprus banks came from Russia-based depositors. McKinsey & Co estimates that there is some $21 trillion globally in offshore accounts, a figure which has grown sharply in recent years.

All of that money is today in more danger than it was a year ago, and very likely will be less secure yet in another year. First off, big centres are becoming far more aggressive in going after tax evaders, as shown in recent US efforts to go after Swiss accounts.

As well, we live in a time of rolling bank crises. While you might do well to make sure that your bank is sound, ultimately your bet in a bank is a bet on the domicile, because those banks depend in turn on the backing of their governments. Offshore centres have large financial systems relative to their

economies, and, like Cyprus, could easily be caught in situations where a banking crisis is beyond their ability to solve without seizing assets.

Financial repression, which takes many forms, has historically been a popular way for governments to dig themselves out of debt holes. A prime way to do this is to keep interest rates artificially low - quantitative easing anyone? As well, governments can and do try to capture pools of capital by, if not confiscating it, then at least channelling it in ways which will be useful to the government in addressing its debt problems.

GOVERNMENT DEBT A great example of this is forcing pension funds to invest in government debt, or, as is being considered in Cyprus, in a kind of national fund.

Any roadblock to the free movement of capital is a form of financial repression. Cyprus, where depositors are likely to receive either shares or bonds issued by the banks in which they hold money, is a perfect example.

More of this is coming. My guess is you are better off at home than abroad, as it is harder to do voters out of their capital than honoured guests, as the Russians have learned.

Bottom line on Cyprus is: don’t over-react, but don’t be surprised if more of this kind of thing happens.

London’s Canary Wharf plans low A welcome lull in US’ fiscal rise future, moves away from banks battle as Senate passes budget LONDON’S Canary Wharf district is turning to smaller office blocks, apartments and street-level shops for its next phase of development as the financial crisis brings the era of the bank-branded skyscraper to an end.

The plan relates to a 20-acre site called Wood Wharf which is adjacent to the main estate and aims to tap into demand from “creative industries” like fashion, technology and the media, said Songbird Estates, the majority owner of Canary Wharf Group, alongside its full-year results on Friday.

“We have the space to cater for these different types of companies,” said Canary Wharf Group company secretary John Garwood. “In Shoreditch there is not a lot of spare space,” he said, referring to the scruffy east London area on the fringe of the traditional City financial district popular among fashion and media tenants.

As part of a plan to become less reliant on the ailing banking sector, this month Canary Wharf opened an area for new technology companies on level 39 of One Canada Square, the area’s tallest office block.

Demand from banks for new offices has dried up in the wake of the financial crisis and rents are dropping in some buildings in the City district where floors are still empty.

By David Lawder

More space given to tech companies While developers say the technology and media industries will buoy demand, some have questioned whether it will be enough to plug the gap.

“The residential element of Wood Wharf makes perfect sense given strong demand and rising prices in central London,” said Investec analyst John Cahill.

“But you’d have thought technology and media companies would prefer the West End. I can’t see it being a driver for Songbird in the way it will be for Great Portland, Derwent London and Workspace,” he said, referring to the area of the city popular among tourists and shoppers.

More details on how Wood Wharf will evolve over the next 10 to 12 years, including the number of apartments and office space, is due this year, Garwood said.

THE US SENATE passed on Friday its first federal budget in four years, a move that will usher in a relative lull in Washington’s fiscal wars until an anticipated summer showdown over raising the debt ceiling.

The Democratic-focused budget plan from the Democratic-controlled Senate squared off against a Republican-focused budget passed on Thursday by the Republicandominated House of Representatives.

Neither was passed by their opposite chambers, but the plans gave each party a platform in coming months from which to tout vastly different visions for shrinking US deficits and growing the economy.

Passage of a stop-gap government funding measure on Thursday lowered the temperature in the budget debate by eliminating the threat of a government shutdown next week.

“We’re going to get a breather here. Congress will let things cool off a bit and there’ll be other issues that come to the forefront in the spring,” said Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research Group, a firm that advises institutional investors on Washington politics.

These include legislation on gun control, immigration reform and initial work on simplifying the tax code, which is particularly important to Republicans.

After 2013 started with high drama over the Jan. 1 “fiscal cliff” tax increase on the wealthy, Republicans in the House of Representatives chose not to press demands for deep spending cuts on a February debt-limit increase or on this week’s funding bill.

Some $85 billion in automatic spending cuts were triggered on March 1, but their effects are just now starting to become apparent, and the funding bill will ease some of the pain for government agencies.

After a two-week Passover/Easter break, appropriations committees will also start work on spending bills for the 2014 fiscal year starting on Oct. 1 that could give agencies further spending flexibility within their reduced budgets.

In the lead-up to the Senate vote, the body considered dozens of largely symbolic, nonbinding amendments to the budget aimed at scoring political points and staking out positions.

But in these votes, the Senate signalled strong support for allowing states more authority to collect sales taxes on Internet purchases, for approval of the controversial Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline and for repealing a tax on medical devices imposed by President Barack Obama’s health care reform law.

The Senate also voted 99-0 to end policies that subsidise large banks considered “too big to fail”.

23 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Property Room layouts are changed for different markets

LEGAL ISSUES WITH GEORGE COUCOUNIS

What is a banker’s lien and when to use?

IKEA turns global local for Asia push Same model does not work in all markets Scandinavian giant finds

By Anna Ringstrom WITHOUT a willingness to lug cheap flat-pack wardrobes home and wrestle with self-assembly, there would be no IKEA, but in Asia, where the locals have other ideas, the Swedish furniture giant thinks it still has a bright future.

As it expands in China and prepares to break into India, IKEA Chief Executive Mikael Ohlsson trusts that its core concept, influenced by painstakingly acquired local knowledge, will, over time, give it an edge.

“Most people don’t really know and can hardly imagine that we visit thousands of homes round every store in the world every year,” he said.

“We sit down in the kitchen and talk to them... that’s the way we try to learn and understand. ‘What are you annoyed with? What are your frustrations? What would you like to have? How much can you afford? What are your alternatives?’” he said.

The group has already taken its huge out-of-town stores packed with modern Scandinavian style to 26 markets, with the product and experience instantly recognisable across them all.

But as it ventures further afield, it is tweaking its range and showrooms and adding services to accommodate new cultures.

One size doesn’t fit all. In regions where apartments have smaller rooms, its showrooms have to be smaller. A sample

balcony exhibit will be kitted out differently in northern China, where balconies are widely used for food storage, than in the south, where they often double as laundries.

“As we become more and more global and we expand more in China and we grow into India, we will need, probably, to have a wider range,” Gillian Drakeford, IKEA’s China retail chief said.

In developed markets, IKEA is positioned as a low-priced mass-market brand, but in emerging markets where low prices are the norm, it targets a growing middle class that aspires to international lifestyle products. For these customers, design and a comprehensive range under one roof are the attraction.

Price is much less a selling point in these new markets.

“IKEA loves little slogans like ‘for the many people’. Those things are still true, but might be less true for some emerging markets,” said Neil Saunders at retail consultancy Conlumino.

Having more than doubled sales in the past decade to €27.6 billion last year, the firm plans to double them again by 2020 and open 20-25 new stores a year from 2015. Growth will mainly be in existing markets - in China it has reached 11 stores in about a decade and aims to triple that pace - but also in new; in India, where it is expecting the final go-ahead to enter soon, it has a plan for 25 stores.

Ohlsson expects it will take four or five years to open its first stores in India once it has the all-clear.

WHAT YOU GET FOR

Another issue for China has been the sheer volume of visitors, with 28,000 on an average Saturday in Beijing - roughly what a European store has in a strong week.

That means IKEA is building larger stores in China. It also builds them closer to customers, as fewer people have cars, and is likely to aim for the same in India.

“I’m not sure if I will want to travel to the end of the city to buy their furniture.

Plus I have heard about how you are encouraged to pack your furniture up and then take it home and set it up yourself, and that is not something we Indians are used to,” said Ridhika Mandavia, a playschool teacher in Mumbai.

“So if they can change that model and help pack and deliver furniture at no extra cost, it may work.”

In China, buyers tend to buy lowerpriced articles - last year the Beijing store was IKEA’s biggest by volume, but only number nine by sales, Drakeford said.

Drakeford said IKEA’s main advantage in a country with a growing urban population with Western aspirations, but little knowledge of Western styling, lay in its co-ordinated range and in presentation.

“IKEA is their knowledge bank.”

Turning a profit in India could also take time, but IKEA can afford to be patient.

“They have the financial strength to just bank upon sales growth without worrying too much about profit margins,” said Kantar Retail’s Himanshu Pal. “If they don’t make money for the next two, three years, it does not become a huge crisis.”

THE relationship between a bank and its client allows the bank to offset the client’s debit and credit balances irrespective of the type of his accounts. The bank has the right to ascertain how an account of a client stands through a simple calculation and to offset any balance due from any other account. This right is called banker’s lien. The said right is recognised by any banking institution to offset different accounts of the same client even in the absence of an agreement. This right is distinct and differs from the general lien.

A lien generally exists where there is a debt owed to the creditor and the latter retains the possession of an object given to him by the debtor until the debt is paid off. Such an object may be a car, machinery or any other item given to the creditor for repair or for any other lawful reason. If, in the meantime, the creditor loses the possession of the item, he also loses the right of lien. The creditor has the right to retain only possession of the item and he cannot sell it unless a court order is issued.

Whereas in the case of the banker’s lien, if the account of the client is overdrawn and a cheque is presented to the bank for payment, the bank has the right to retain the cheque or its amount until the client pays off the overdraft or even to cash it and use the money to re-pay the overdraft. It should be noted the bank does not lose the banker’s lien if in the meantime it allows the client to withdraw money from the cheque.

The question which may be raised is whether the bank is entitled to offset a credit with a debit account of a client. The bank has such a right, it can offset at any time the two accounts and it will be responsible to the client only for any credit balance, unless there is an expressed or implied agreement with the client to keep the two accounts separate.

It is well known that every bank and banking institution accepts deposits, loans and other credit facilities under a licence issued by the Central Bank. The client, when depositing money, is considered to be a creditor and the bank is considered as his debtor and vice versa when the client is in credit or borrows money.

The bank, seeking to safeguard its rights, requires the client to sign certain documents, agreements or orders which clearly define the bank’s authority or give it the right, among others, to exercise the banker’s lien or offset the client’s accounts whenever the bank thinks necessary. It is a common practice and most of us do not care to know the contents of the documents and the agreements we sign, even though they are binding.

The right of the bank to offset one account with another or to joint accounts of the same client is generally applied, unless there is an agreement to the contrary. The banker’s lien is not similar to any other lien and derives from the relationship between the bank and the client. In view of the above, it is advisable to everyone who is a depositor, a creditor or a guarantor to agree and clarify his relationship with the bank to exclude his deposits from any other liabilities or obligations he may have towards the bank to avoid the banker’s lien and be able to withdraw money whenever he wishes.

The above does not apply with regard to the present situation in Cyprus, since the issue is now different and relates to deposits and the rights of the depositors being secured up to €100,000.

George Coucounis is a lawyer specialising in the Immovable Property Law, based in Larnaca, Tel: 24 818288, coucounis.law@ cytanet.com.cy, www.coucounislaw.com

€37,000 compiled by Peter Stevenson

How much: €30,000 What you get: This two-bedroom semi-detached village house in the village of Asgata in the district of Limassol has two levels.

From: www.foxrealty.com.cy Tel: 80080082

How much: €37,000 What you get: This studio in Ayia Napa very near to the town centre and all its amenities and is a two minute walk to the nearest beach.

From: www.propertyincyprus.com Tel: 70003211

How much: €35,000 What you get: This top-floor one-bedroom apartment located on the outskirts of Paralimni, in a prime location.

From: www.buysellcyprus.com Tel: 80000222

24 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Property

London will walk on water Boris Johnson has pledged to double river traffic by 2020.

David Spittles unveils the plans for the Thames superhighway, eco-parks, boardwalks and floating villages

M

AYOR Boris Johnson and Transport for London have announced a £10 million (€11.75m) scheme to double the number of passengers on the Thames by 2020 - plans are being drawn up to create “floating villages” on the river.

The first of three new piers will open later this year with the aim of turning the Thames into a commuter highway. A string of events is planned to boost the international profile of London’s waterways - including the launch of the city’s first floating cinema.

The floating villages project is intended to give Londoners the choice of modern, eco-friendly homes, where residents have security of tenure and own their property, and where they take out 50year leases over the water below them. These permanent villages promise to be a far cry from the makeshift, bohemian houseboat communities that have sprung up along London’s waterways.

Houses would look “normal” rather than futuristic and be linked by pedestrian and cycle bridges to

Waterworld: John Robertson Architects vision of London in 2050, with floating river eco-parks creating bridges from the City to transport links across the Thames parks and islands, transport interchanges, leisure and cultural attractions.

Inspiration is coming from Holland, specifically the district of Ijburg on the eastern fringe of Amsterdam, where a floating neighbourhood for 45,000 residents is under construction on a lake and neighbouring nature reserves.

“The Dutch way has thrived under an advanced culture of planning, procurement and design and there is no reason why it cannot work in London,” says architect Alex de Rijke, whose firm dRMM is showcasing the ambitious idea

at a new exhibition called Venice Takeaway, at the Royal Institute of British Architects until April 27.

Royal Docks, around the river bend from Canary Wharf, is an obvious first location for floating villages, he adds. “It’s one of London’s last great regeneration opportunities - only four miles from the Square Mile and with vast expanses of waterways waiting to be transformed into a new district.”

A raft of water-based projects that is part of the Olympic legacy initiative seeks to exploit the Thames for housing and recreational use and also promote it

as a transport artery. New piers, promenades, pontoons and moorings are being created. Launching this summer is a floating cinema, which will bring screenings, tours, talks and workshops to the canals of east London.

Also proposed is 10 metre-wide floating boardwalk along the north bank of the Thames between Millennium Bridge and Tower Bridge.

The platform will be linked by eight event and entertainment pavilions and include a lido and a jetty for Thames ferry services.

Meanwhile, the Mayor continues to champion a Thames Estuary

Inspiration: the Dutch, masters of water management, are leading the way in floating village design. Just east of Amsterdam, Ijburg - a new water neighbourhood to house 45,000 residents - is being built over a lake and among watery nature reserves. Left: the UK’s first amphibious house is to be built beside the Thames in Marlow, Buckinghamshire

airport with a floating runway.

Engineers and architects say floating houses are necessary to cope with worsening wet weather and flood risks. The UK’s first “amphibious house”, designed by Baca Architects, is set to be built on the banks of the Thames in Marlow.

The house is to be erected on a floating foundation, a waterproof concrete base that gently rises and falls as the water level changes (in line with Archimedes’ principle).

Baca specialises in “floating and flood-resilient architecture” and is involved in much bigger projects, including a proposed 250-acre lagoon development on threatened farmland at Littlehampton, West Sussex, and a cluster of “on-water neighbourhoods” at nine docks in Liverpool.

“Docks are more suitable for floating homes because the water is static, whereas rivers are moving and alive, and you have to be more cautious,” says Baca’s Richard Coutts. “Building more levees is not the answer to flooding because we always lose the battle with Mother Nature.” The Dutch are leading the way with “non-defensive” methods that seek to work with water rather than against it, he adds.

Developers are supposed to ensure that water draining from new housing estates soaks into the ground, and that it doesn’t run off to cause local flooding. From April next year, so-called “sustainable urban drainage” will be mandatory for developments of more than one home. Instead of running off hard surfaces or saturated land to flood homes nearby, or disgorging through drains into rivers which burst their banks, the flow of heavy rain is attenuated through the local landscape and back into the system slowly, to avoid floods.

25 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

ADVERTISER helps you find what you’re looking for

Advertiser Only

€14 (plus VAT)

a week for classifieds (up to 40 words)

Send your classified by fax or email and pay by credit card, cheque or cash. It couldn’t be simpler!

Nicosia - email: classified@cyprus-mail.com Limassol - email: limassol@cyprus-mail.com Paphos - email: paphos@cyprus-mail.com

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Nicosia - tel: 22 818583 fax: 22 676385

Paphos - tel: 26 911383 fax: 26221049

WANTED

FOR SALE LAND in Anthoupoli (half plot) 288 sq.metres. for information 99621554.

***************************** WANTED: Experienced Dog Groomer - Full/Part time hours For wellestablished business in Limassol. For more info please contact: 96578094

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LESSONS

***************************** PROFESSIONAL UPHOLSTERY CLEANING, also carpets, rugs and mattresses. Special offers now available. FREE STAIN GUARD FOR LIMITED TIME For a quote call Rickys Cleaning Services on 99131044 (all areas) info@ rcs-cyprus.net / www.rcs-cyprus. net

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PRIVATE TUITION experienced, UKqualified teacher offers full-time or part-time private home tuition in Maths, English, the Sciences, I.C.T., Geography, History, Business Studies and Economics, from KS3 to iGCSE, AS and A2 levels. 9 years experience in Cyprus; references available. Telephone 99318796 – Paphos

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MISCELLANEOUS WANTED: COUPLES OF EU CITIZENS LIVING IN CYPRUS We are currently conducting research as regards European families living in Cyprus. If both you and your spouse come from the same or a different country of the EU (except Cyprus and Greece, e.g. both from Germany, or Germany and France), if you have children over 6, and if you are interested in taking part in some research financed by the University of Cyprus please contact us 96530033. Participants will complete a questionnaire and participate in a face-to-face interview.

They will also receive a symbolic amount of money.

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PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH PAINTER AND DECORATOR City and Guilds Advanced 46 years experience of interior and external finishes. Quality work, reliable, estimates and advice freely given. Tala based Phone Terry 96407703

***************************** K.D.FLYSCREENS LTD. We manufacture top quality sliding screens, opening doors and roller systems.

We also do repairs. For a FREE QUOTE please contact Phone: 99119582 Website: www.kdflyscreens.com

***************************** SWIFT SERVICE AND REPAIRS air-cons, commercial and domestic fridges and freezers, ice machines, cool rooms, supply and fit air-cons VRV S. Call Nik on 99579602 Limassol

**************************** DO YOU WANT A SHINY LOOKING FLOOR? Full repair & restoration of chipped, scratched, dull and stained, Marble, Terrazzo, Stone & Ceramic tiled floors and surfaces.

Professional cleaning, repair & sealing of internal/external ceramic tiles & grout lines. For a free professional consultation & demonstration contact Mark at Premier on 70006766 All areas

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PETS

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS - CYPRUS Is drink costing you more than just money? AA could be the answer.

***************************** FOR SALE: Electric Cooker, Bosch 4 ceramic hotplates and oven, used 1 1/2 year, €350 Washing Machine LG 7 kg, silent, used 1 1/2 year €200 Big Electric heater, Matestar, used 8-10 times €25 For further information contact phone 9918 2310

************************** OFFICE FURNITURE FOR SALE with 50% discount, price per unit: 1. ECO Desk 160x80x71 – 8 units/ €96.

2. Extention 120x60x71 – 6 units/ €76.

3. Small under-desk Cabinet with 3 pullout drawers – 7 units/ €99.

4. ECO Low cabinet with 2 low doors - 8 units /€107.

Tel: 25 200 600, 99 316 582

************************** FOR SALE – PAPHOS CATERING EQUIPMENT 1. Industrial freezer – CORECO Height 200cm, width 68cm, depth 58cm 2.

Electrolux Freezer, model EUC3109X, width-595mm, height-1800mm, depth623mm, freezing capacity-24kg/24hours, energy class A

3. CONVOTHERM OVEN modelOBG 6.10Combi Oven-Steamer with Gas Steam Generator Extra: Stand with stainless steel shelving, extractor fan, water supply system and gas installation connections, PLUS CHAFING TRAYS & THERMO BOXES, ALL IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AT REDUCED PRICES. PLEASE CALL : 99622678

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FOR SALE MOTOR VEHICLES

Meeting at the following locations/ days. Call to speak to an AA member.

Larnaca Tuesday (Polish spk) 96616589 Thursday 24645523 / 99259264 Limassol Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday / Saturday 25368265 / 99559322 Nicosia 99013596

Wednesday/Sunday

Paphos Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday 99916331 / 99399240 Details of meetings are available on www.aa-europe.net

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PERSONAL ***************************** GERMAN MAN, 50 searching a nice Mobil:00491736590562

LOST HUSKY – PAPHOS Answers to the name of Chico went missing on Monday the 4th of February around the International School area chipped Paphiakos Animal Welfare have advised that many large dogs have been taken from the Mesogi/ Anarvagos/Ttremithousa areas.

Please call 99622678 if you have seen him

years, women.

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HONEY is a 3 month old pincher/ terrier mix. She is very small sized and very sweet and playful. Honey is looking for a loving family to be hers forever! She will remain small sized so she is ideal for a family with an apartment! For adoptions call 99 520 511 Monday-Friday between hours 10-2 or email ndsadoptions@gmail.com

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***************************** WANTED: Toyota RAV or Nissan Quasquai built 2007 or younger in a very good condition only.

Nonsmoker car, accident free and with full service history is a must. Tel: 99906823 or 26813975. Email: info@terramarna. com

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FOR SALE BUSINESS/ PROPERTY/LAND

PROPERTY TO LET NICOSIA FOR RENT a spacious two bedroom apartment, near Hilton and Central Bank. Living/dining room, sitting room, large veranda, kitchen, c/h, s/h, covered parking. Title deeds.

Tel. 99519370.

***************************** HOUSES/FLATS

***************************** FOR SALE plot of land with sea view.

In Chlorakas area. Very quiet and private location. Title deed. Tel. 99519370.

**************************** LIMASSOL 1) GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY PLOT OF LAND FOR SALE 1,789 sq.m, IN THE AREA OF AGIA ZONI BUILDING FACTOR 140% WITH TITLE DEED. The land is located at a central point in the city, very close to various amenities and has excellent accessibility. Tel: 96885030 owner 2) RESIDENTIAL LAND FOR SALE GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY The plot of land is located in the area of Foinikaria Total area 5,686 with a 20% Building Factor Tel: 96885030 owner

**************************** PAFOS 1) PLOTS OF LAND FOR SALE ANAVARGOS AREA GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY The plots can be sold as a single unit or individually. From 626 sq.m up to 776 sq.m with building factor 60% and title deeds. Mountain and sea view with nice villas developing around the area. Tel: 96885030 owner 2) COMMERCIAL PROPERTY FOR SALE IN KATO PAFOS 96sq.m The shop is within the ‘’Limnaria Complex’’ and faces the main road Melina Mercouri Avenue It’s in good condition with suspended ceiling, recessed lighting, VRV AC, fitted carpet, motorised shutters, CCTV and more. Tel: 96885030 owner

2 bedr. lux. flat, Ayioi Omoloyites, wooden floors €800, 3 bedr.

Acropolis c/h a/c wooden floors €650, Mak/ssa 3 bedr., modern, open plan €1000 f/f €1200, Nicosia 3 bedr., f/f, luxury €1000 f/f, Latsia 2 bedr., pool €430, Strovolos f/f house 4 bedr €1300, Mak/ ssa ground floor house detached €850 Photos www.markidesestates.com Markides 22- 378898 / 99464764 Reg.No. 487 E 16

***************************** LUXURIOUS APARTMENT FOR RENT - A luxurious one floor apartment situated in central Nicosia in an area of exceptional Beauty at 3 Museum Street, is available to let.

It has been recently renovated and consists of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, big dining and sitting rooms, kitchen and a huge veranda. Approximate covered area 250 sqm. Tel: 99622370.

TO LET 1 bedroom upper floor house, large veranda near restaurant Periyiali in Acropolis 5 Aeantos Street €300 call 99680208 NEW LUXURIOUS spacious (130m²), 2 bedrs flat, 2 balconies, 2 WC, indep. CH, solar system, A/C, granite floors, shutters, Italian kitchen and appliances, storeroom, covered parking in small quiet building (4 flats) in Ay. Dhometios 1.5km form Alfa-Mega Engomi. €590 p.m.

Same building very large ONE bedr flat (75m²) with similar amenities €480 p.m. TEL:99 544141

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SUZUKI VITARA Saloon 1.6 benzini, dark green from 2002, mileage: 135.500 km. MOT till 2015. Road Tax paid all 2013. €2.200. Call 99182310.

LAND FOR SALE MITSERO. 7 skalas. 10% build. South facing, unobstructed views. Access road, water, electricity. Fenced compound with 48sq.meter timber framed 2 bedroom unit, septic tank, grey water system, storage, workshop. €135,000 mobile 99594205 pumpitch@hotmail.com

FLATS/HOUSES FOR RENT Ag. Andreas studio €290, Kennedy €300, 1bdrm Str/los €400, Makarios av. €500, 2 bdrm European University furnished top floor €600 Ag. Dometios ground floor + garden €450, Lycavitos furnished €530, Ag. Paylos rear house newly built €450, 3bdrm M/ssa ground floor €700, Archangelos detached with pool €1,200, 4bdrm Kosta Theodorou new house €1,100, Ag. Andreas g/f €900, Ag. Omologites colonial traditional house pool €2,500. 21 property Finder Ltd. 99474839, 99646822, A.M.627 A.A.108/E

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Ayia Napa Monday 97798043 HONDA 400 TWIN, blue, 1984 in very good condition, chrome exhausts, only 38.000 kms, road tax up to date, €900 o.n.o, please call : 99266282 Paphos area.

TOYOTA IQ 2009. Automatic 1ltre. White pearl, 33.000km.

Medium tinted windows, Zenon lights. Perfect condition only €8500.00. Call 99511737

************************** BLACK HONDA CBR1100XX SUPERBLACKBIRD registered new in June 2011 as new condition with 12000 km. Any inspection welcome. €6950.

Call Philip 99680747

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Larnaca - tel: 24 652243 fax: 24 659982

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FOR SALE MISCELLANEOUS

SERVICES

Limassol - tel: 25 761117 fax: 25 761141

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PLOT FOR SALE IN KATO PLATRES in a pine tree area. It comes with title deeds, 1095 square feet.

Tel. 99881051.

**************************** DOG GROOMING BUSINESS FOR SALE Do you like animals? If you do you would love doing this. Well established client base for 7 years.

Willing to train if needs require.

Open to offers for a quick sale this includes training, equipment and transport. For more information please call: 96301768

LUXURY HOUSES: 1. 4 bedr luxury detached house built in 3/4 of a plot, office space, central heating, full a/c, big sitting and dining area, separate big kitchen with family room and all the electrical appliances, blinds and curtains on all windows, aluminium shutters, big garden with grass, 3 wc, covered parking, in a quiet area – Strovolos €1000 (H4ST10051-R), (photos in the website) 2. 3 bedr luxury terraced house, 210sq.m,central heating, full a/c,

classified contents Employment Opportunities pg 25 Employment Miscellaneous 22 Pets 22 Lessons 22 Health & Fitness -Personal 22 Services 22 For Sale Miscellaneous 22 For Sale Land/ Property Business 22 For Sale Motor vehicles 22 Properties Wanted -To Let Nicosia 22 To Let Limassol 24 To Let Larnaca 25 To Let Paphos 25 To Let Protaras, Ayia Napa, Paralimni -For Sale Nicosia 27 For Sale Limassol 27 For Sale Larnaca -For Sale Paphos 27 For Sale Ayia Napa -For Sale Famagusta Protaras 27 For Sale Athens -Property& Home Services display ads --

abbreviations bdrm c/h a/c s/pool f/f apt pm pw sw nw st rd p/s c/l swb r/cass e/w

bedroom central heating air conditioning swimming pool fully furnished apartment per month per week south west north west street road power steering central locking short wheel base radio cassette electric windows

Please note tel nos. that begin with: 22 = Nicosia 23 = Paralimni/Protaras 24 = Larnaca 25 = Limassol 26 = Paphos

26 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA marble floor in the sitting areas and solid parquet floor on stairs and bedrooms,4 wc,3 bathrooms, 2 en suite, big verandas, electrical appliances in the kitchen, 3 covered parking spaces, roof garden access, in a quiet neighbourhood on Mon Parnas hill – Engomi €800 (photos in the website).

3. 3 bedr detached house with extra room for office, 250sq.m, central heating independent, 4 a/c, big renovated kitchen with cooker and oven, big sitting and dining room with parquet floor and fireplace, 1 bathroom, 2 shower, 3 wc, 2 covered parking, double glazed windows and shutters in bedrooms, big verandas surrounded by trees and bushes off 28th October street IN the central part of Makedonitissa – €1100 (H3MAK0004-R) (photos on the website) 4. 3 bedr luxury semi-detached house with character, 200sq.m, central heating, full ac, sitting and dining room with fireplace, big kitchen with cooker and oven, dishwasher and refrigerator, nice mature garden with flowers, trees and small garden with grass, covered parking, 3wc, 2 bathrooms in a quiet neighbourhood. Available middle of January. Agios Andreas - €1200 H3AAD0001-R (photos on website).

TO LET NICOSIA attic room, with central heating, full a/c, separate kitchen, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, 2 verandas, in a quiet area – Lakatamia €680 (H4LAK009-R), (photos in the website).

6. 3 bedr + attic room with shower and wc luxury detached house with central heating, a/c, fireplace, modern kitchen open plan with expensive electrical appliances, blinds, garden with grass, over flow swimming pool, covered parking in a quiet area. – Makedonitissa €1600 (H4MAK0023-R), (photos on the website).

7. 4 bedr luxury detached house with big sitting and dining room with parquet floor, separate big kitchen with family room and all the electrical appliances, small garden with grass and bbq area,3wc, central heating, full a/c, covered parking, in a very quiet neighborhood – Archangelos €1200 (H4AR0017-R), (photos in the website).

5. 3 bedr luxury house, office space,

8. 3 bedr +office space partially renovated detached ground floor house, 280sq.m, central heating with oil, full a/c, 3wc, separate tv room, big sitting and dining area, big verandas around the house, bbq area, covered parking, private yard near the parking.– Strovolos €1200 (H4ST10048-R), (photos in the website).

FOR RENT

English-Painter & Decorator

2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in Larnaca near new hospital. €400 per month including service charge and refuse collection Call 99358916

Fully Qualified 30 years’ Experience SUMMER OFFER 30% OFF ALL AREAS • External & Internal painting • Damp Damage Repairs • Spritez Repairs • Free Estimates + very clean work • All areas. All types of woodwork stained and preserved • All work guaranteed

Tel. Tony on 99176557

TO LET NICOSIA 9. New modern luxury very good quality finished semi detached house built in 3 levels. Upstairs 1st level 3 bedrs all en suite+ laundry room, 2nd level big attic room which can be used for office space or bedroom. Ground floor with 2 sitting areas ,dining area and breakfast area, kitchen with all the electrical appliances, central heating, full a/c units. Basement with kitchen with cooker and oven, dishwasher, microwave and 2 refrigerators, sitting room with fireplace, and 2 bedrooms with one bathroom. Outside private fenced garden with artificial grass, bbq area and covered veranda. The house has blinds and shutters on all windows, false ceiling with spot lights throughout house, pressure system, covered parking, satellite dish, central music and network system, storage room, very good double glazed windows.

Behind General flooring in the centre of Makedonitissa - €2000 (H4MAK0001-R), (photos on the website).

10. 4 bedr semi detached house with central heating, 4 a/c, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, 180sq.m, electrical appliances, small yard, bbq area, off Kostantinoupoleos street near French ambassador residence.- STROVOLOS €700

TO LET NICOSIA (H4ST10043-R), (photos in the website).

11. 4 bedr new luxury finished detached house with central heating independent, full a/c, 3wc, 2 bathrooms, big kitchen with cooker oven, dishwasher and big family room, aluminium shutters in all the house, separate big sitting and dining room with parquet floor, 2 covered parking, alarm system, big covered patio, SWIMMING POOL, in a newly built area near Falcon school – Strovolos €2000 (photos in the website).

12. 3 bedrs luxury 2 storey, FULLY RENOVATED LISTED HOUSE with high ceilings in the centre of Nicosia, 260sq.m, 2 small attic rooms, big sitting room upstairs, big sitting room and dining area downstairs, wooden floor, kitchen with all the electrical appliances, 2 bathrooms(one en suite),3wc,CH independent, A/C, big garden – Nicosia Centre €1400 (H4NIC0002-R), (photos in the website).

13. 3 bedr upstairs and 2 separate bedrooms in the basement luxury detached house (all the bedrooms with en suite bathrooms/shower), also separate kitchen and sitting room in the basement which also has separate entrance from the

SELECT Fencing & Decking Specialist For all your Garden and Security Fencing ♦ Quality approved workmanship ♦ 15 years experience + guaranteed work ♦ English workers ♦ also garden gates ♦ sheds ♦ chain link fencing ♦ free estimates ♦ all types of fencing & decking

Roofing flat & tired roofing repairs and construction Tel. SELECT fencing 99176557

TO LET NICOSIA house, central heating, full a/c, solid parquet floor throughout house, big sitting and dining room with fireplace, big fully equipped kitchen with breakfast area and family room, big over flow, swimming pool with covered patio area with fully equipped bar (bbq, fridge, freezer, cooker), mature garden around the house,2 parking places, alarm system near the Cyprus Conference Centre – Platy Aglantzias €3500 (H5PAG0002-R).

14. 4 bedr very big luxury semi detached house 350sq.m, with big separate basement 80sq.m with 2 rooms, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom. Consists of big sitting and dining areas upstairs, big kitchen with big family room and breakfast area, big bedrooms, 3 showers, 1 bathroom, central heating, full a/c, black out blinds on all windows, cooker and oven in the kitchen, covered parking and patio with bbq in a very quiet neighbourhood close to Makarios football stadium.CAN BE RENTED FUR-

TO LET NICOSIA NISHED, PARTIALLY FURNISHED OR UNFURNISHED - Makedonitissa €1500(H4MAK0032-R), (photos in the website) 15. 4 bedrs new luxury detached house, all the bedrooms very big and all with big bathroom/shower, sitting room upstairs, attic room with shower and wc, office space/ maid’s room with shower and wc, central heating, full AC,450sq.m, big sitting and dining areas, big kitchen with sitting area and fitted cooker and oven, 6wc, 2 covered parking, yard with tiles and SWIMMING POOL, bbq area in a very quiet neighbourhood near CYBC ( RIK) station and near a neighbourhood park – Platy Aglantzias €2500 (H4AGZ0005-R), (photos in the website) For many more properties with photos visit our website at w w w.landtouristest ates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22422225/96 - 422225/96422226,

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27 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

TO LET NICOSIA www.landtouristestates.com

***************************** LUXURY FLATS: 1. 3 bedr luxury finished spacious floor apartment with very big sitting and dining areas with family room with fire place, solid parquet floor all through, central heating independent, full a/c, all the bedrooms with en suite shower/bathroom, 4wc, big kitchen with all the electrical appliances, blinds on all windows, big covered veranda, covered parking, big storage room, on a small 3 storey building in a quiet neighbourhood – Agios Andreas- €1300 – A3AAD0005-R (photos on website).

2. 1 bedr spacious fully luxury renovated apartment,60sq.m, big sitting and dining room, big bedroom, fully newly modern furnished with LCD TV 32’, covered veranda, covered parking, storage heaters, full a/c, near Cyta, Laiki and Hellenic Bank headquarters – Dasoupolis €550 (photos in the website).

3. 2 bedr penthouse apartment, 100sq.m + 80sq.m veranda with flowers and bbq, big sitting and dining room with big 60” TV, storage heaters, full a/v, 2 wc, en suite bathroom/jacuzzi, roman blinds, cooker, oven, microwave, wash-

Advertiser TO LET NICOSIA

TO LET NICOSIA

ered veranda, big sitting room off Kyriakou Matsi street, 1 km from the centre €460 (A1AOM0002-R), (photos in the website).

ing machine and refrigerator in the kitchen, covered parking, near Metro supermarket – Aglantzia €600 (photos in the website).

4. 2 bedr luxury ground floor apartment with central heating-independent, full a/c, structure cabling internet and satellite network, FULLY MODERN EXPENSIVE FURNISHED, with 46”LCD TV, covered parking, double glazed windows, aluminium shutters, on Pericleous street near Klimataria traffic lights – Strovolos €650 (A2ST10054-R) (photos in the website) 5. 4 bedr new spacious luxury finished floor apartment with floor heating independent, full a/c, 3wc, electrical appliances in the kitchen, blinds on all windows, very big 50sq.m covered veranda, fireplace, covered parking and big over floor heated covered swimming pool on the ground floor, on a small 3 storey building in a quiet neighbourhood near a playground and near Ippokration private hospital – Engomi €1500 (A4ENG0003-R) (photos in the website) 6. 1 bedr new luxury apartment in a modern building(TSENTAS),with central heating ind, 2 a/c, cooker and oven, refrigerator and washing machine in the kitchen, parquet floor, NICELY FURNISHED big cov-

7.

1 bedr cozy luxury apartment,60sq.m,parquet floor, nicely furnished ,all fitted electrical appliances (cooker, oven, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher, fridge), roman blinds, provisions for home cinema, big covered verandah, storage heaters, 2 a/c ,covered parking in Dasoupolis near Alpha Mega supermarket and Areteion hospital.

– Dasoupoli €470 (A1DAS0009-R) (photos in the website)

8. 2 bedr spacious renovated apartment 100sq.m with separate big kitchen, air condition for hot and cold in all the rooms, covered veranda, nicely newly fully furnished , off Kyriakou Matsi street very close to the centre on foot– Agioi Omologites €500 (A2AOM0003-R) (photos in the website) 9. New top quality 2 bedr apartment, 93sq.m+20sq.m veranda, on a small modern building with 6 flats only. Central heating independent, full a/c, 2 bathrooms, 2wc, fully fitted kitchen with all the electrical appliances, water pressure system roller blinds and shutters on windows, big sitting and dining room, big bedrooms, covered parking and storage room, in a quiet neighbourhood near Akropolis park. AVAILABLE end of March – Acropolis €800 A2ACS0002-R (photos in the website) .

10. New luxury finished 1 bedr penthouse apartment with big verandah with nice view, in a small modern building,55sq.m,storage heaters,2 a/c, blinds on the windows, expensive electrical appliances(cooker, oven, extractor, refrigerator, washing machine, dryer),covered parking and storage room, off Kalippoleos street opposite Dessange Day Spa near the University – Lykavitos €420 (A1LYK0002-R), (photos in the

TO LET NICOSIA website).

11. 3 bedrs luxury penthouse one floor apartment in a small building with 3 apartments,250sq.m plus big covered verandas, fire place, solid parquet floor,2 bathrooms,3 wc, cooker, oven, fridge, washing machine and dishwasher in the kitchen, CH independent, full a/c, big reception areas opening to the verandas, pressure system and 2 Pcovered with remote control entrance, walking distance to the centre very close to Debenhams €1300 (A3NIC0028-R), (photos in the website) 12. 2 bedr new modern luxury finished apartment with parquet floor, central heating independent, 2 a/c, modern kitchen with all fitted expensive electrical appliances, blinds on the windows, big covered veranda, FULLY NICELY FURNISHED, covered parking in a quiet neighbourhood off Kallipoleos Street - Lykavitos €700 (A2LYK0024-R) (photos on the website) 13. 3 bedr luxury penthouse apartment with central heating independent, full a/c, 2wc, big sitting and dining room with fireplace, separate kitchen, NICELY MODERN FURNISHED, big covered and uncovered veranda, covered parking, in Strovolos near the Municipal building - €650 (A3ST10014-R) (photos on the website) 14. 3 bedr spacious luxury finished apartment 150sq.m+30sq.m covered veranda, central heating independent with petrol, full wall a/c units, solid parquet floor, expensive electrical appliances in the kitchen, 3wc, curtains and blinds on windows, 3 COVERED PARKING, storage room, near Pizza Hut in Strovolos €1100 (photos in the website).

15. 3 bedrs luxury penthouse,165sq. m+80sq.m verandah with bbq, central heating ind, full AC, 3 wc, 2 bathrooms, solid parquet floor

TO LET NICOSIA all the flat, big kitchen with dining area, fully MODERN FURNISHED, covered parking off Athalassa Avenue near Stephanis Electrinics and English school – Strovolos €800 (A3ST10013-R) (photos in the website) 16. New luxury finished 4 bed PENTHOUSE apartment in a small modern building, 186sq.m+90sq.m big veranda with nice view, separate floor heating, fully air conditioned, 4wc, 2 en suite bedrooms with shower,1 bathroom, solid parquet floor all through, big sitting and dining areas with electric modern shutters opening to the veranda, fully equipped kitchen with expensive electrical appliances, 2 parking places (1 covered), in a very quiet neighbourhood ,near the Russian Embassy. AVAILABLE END OF MARCH –Engomi €1900 (A4ENG0005-R) (photos in the website) For many more properties with photos visit our website at w w w.landtouristest ates.com which is updated daily. LANDTOURIST ESTATES LTD 22422225 / 96-422225 / 96422226 www.landtouristestates.com

***************************** 2 BDRM flat in the centre of Nicosia.

Rent €450. For information call 99453663, 99663927.

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LIMASSOL ***************************** FOR RENT office of around 85m2, with partitions, kitchenette and parking in a peaceful, green yet central area at Helladion House(off.

302; 3rd floor), 5 Andrea Kalvou Str. For viewing, please call Ms. Jenny on 25-340987(3rd flloor of building; office hours). For further details, please call 25-521873 after

TO LET LIMASSOL 8:00pm.

***************************** FOR RENT IN IPSONAS near highway, first floor house, 3 bedrooms, C/H, A/C, fitted kitchen with all electrical appliances, and TV room.

Roof garden with extra kitchen, BBQ, pergola. Rent €600pm. Tel 99672925

***************************** UN-DETACHED HOUSE for rent in Apshiou village, 2 bedrooms, kitchen, sitting room, bathroom with solar water heater. A/C, satellite, 15mins to roundabout. €350.

Tel 25369219, work 10.30-17.30 25542968 home 99773151

***************************** TO LET Large 4 bedroom unfurnished house in the village of Asomatos nr Akrotiri Limassol. Fully A/C & Heating (storage heaters). 5 wc’s, large kitchen/diner, lounge and sitting room. Large loft with own shower/ wc (suitable for office/playroom/ gym). Carport - prominent position in cul-de-sac - lots of parking. €850 pcm (negotiable). Available from April 2013. Tel. 99831431

***************************** FOR RENT 1,2,3,4,5 bedroom houses, flats and villas furnished or unfurnished and in some cases with swimming pool in all areas of Limassol town, Erimi, Episkopi, Kolossi, Ypsonas, Souni, Kivides, Agios Tihonas, Pyrkos, Pareklisia, Trahoni, Zakaki and Yermasoyia Tel: 99675752

***************************** FOR RENT 4 bedroom detached house situated in a quiet area of Erimi, with spacious, living area, kitchen, guest WC downstairs, and four bedrooms upstairs with ensuite master bedroom, and bathroom. It has central heating, and air-condition. beautiful garden and parking. €800. 99675752 FOR RENT 4 bedroom detached house in Episkopi, on top of a hill with panoramic views of Curium

28 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET LIMASSOL

TO LET LIMASSOL

Beach and garden all around (very private). It has a spacious living area, separate kitchen, utility room, guest WC downstairs and four bedrooms with bathroom upstairs.

Central heating, air-conditioning, parking. €750. (negotiable) Tel: 99 675752 FOR RENT five bedroom villa for rent in Agios Sylas (7 minutes from town of Limassol) detached with beautiful panoramic mountain and sea views. It has large sitting dining area, separate kitchen, utility room, office, laundry shoot, four w/c, en-suite master bedroom with walk-in-wardrobe. Small kitchen area upstairs between bedrooms, large bedroom balconies. Central heating, air-conditioning, barbaque area. Also has a separate apartment below the house with small kitchen and shower with WC. A nice large gargen and covered parking. €1300. 99675752 TRADITIONAL VILLAGE STONE HOUSE IN APESHIA. Very quiet village, 20mins from Limassol.

Road to heritage school/Troodos.

2 bedrooms, office available top floor with veranda great view of mountains. Small courtyard with trees. Electric solar water. A/Ctoilet in main bedroom. Semi/full furnished. Fitted kitchen with electrical appliances, fireplace. Toilet/

TO LET LARNACA

shower. €550pm negotiable. Tel 96891800.

ment, nr the Metro/American Academy Larnaca. Ref. TLL1654

GROUND FLOOR HOUSE, furnished renovated this year. Laminated parke floor, and big wardrobes in the 3 bedrooms. Rent €590.00 Tel 99497576 99886775

Please call to arrange a viewing Tel. 24815926

LARNACA HOUSE FOR RENT 3 Bedrooms, 3 WC, A/C, C/H, white goods, VERGINA Larnaca. €570 per month Tel. 99 478749 FOR RENT fully furnished 1 bedroom flat near Larco hotel Larnaca. Price €370. Tel 99202543 1 BEDROOM flat in Ermou Square area Larnaca - 2 bedroom flat in Phaneromenis area Larnaca. Call 96693375

3. www.superiorrealestatelarnaca. com – LARGE RANGE OF RENTAL PROPERTIES. From studio apartments to 5 bedroom villa’s for rent, all properties have detailed descriptions, professional photographs. Interactive Virtual/Video Tours. Please visit our website. www.superiorrealestatelarnaca. com 4. www.superiorrealestatelarnaca. com - License No. 419. LANDLORDS AVERTISE YOUR PROPERTY WITH US FOR FREE. Tel. 24815926 Email. info@superiorrealestatelarnaca.com

2. Superior Real Estate Larnaca.

2 bedroom fully furnished apart-

STUDIOS FOR RENT

Landlord & Owners please call 99329357. Or please view at are website www.cyprussands.com 3 BEDROOM luxury house for rent, 2 bathrooms, furnished, fire place, central heating, a/c, panoramic view, large kitchen and sitting room in Paphos, Armou village. €500 per month. Tel: 99613556 CHLORAKAS: 3 Bedroom unfurnished villa private swimming pool, utility room, walking wardrobes, en suite shower 180 m2 covered area fenced garden fully a/c, € 575 p/m For more information’s phone 99400697

*****************************

PAPHOS

KISSONERGA - Beautiful Detached U/F 3 Bedroomed Villa, Large Pool, 2 Bedrooms Upstairs Master En-suite, Family Bathroom, modern Fitted Kitchen, Downstairs Bedroom with En-suite Shower room, Low maintenance Garden, Large Terraces and Separate Storage Room €600.

FOR RENT a selection of 1 to 5 bedroom houses & apartments F/F & U/F Universal, Peyia, Tomb of the Kings, Tsada, Timi & Kato Paphos

TALA - Modern 2 and 3 bedroom apartments U/F, P/F and F/F, some with communal pool, A/C, Separate Storage and own Parking

*****************************

***************************** 1. Superior Real Estate Larnaca.

3 bedroom detached unfurnished property set on a fantastic development in the village of Tersefanou. Available for immediate occupation. Ref. TLL973. Tel 24815926

TO LET PAPHOS

Are you looking to meet an Attractive, Beautiful, Gorgeous, Successful lady who has a lot to offer, love, beauty and personality.

Very energetic, sweet, pretty and stylish lady. She is divorced 42. Scientist self employed, well-off financially. She prefers to spend her free time playing tennis, swimming and exploring nature. ID-ALAN

Tel: 25-324800 (office hours)

If interested please call 99 314108, 70005150, Email: singles@kronos2.net

EMBA

Fully furnished renovated studios for rent at Dassoudi beach Limassol. They have air-conditioning, balcony and private parking area.

INDOOR MARKET & CAR BOOT SALE FRIDAY – SATURDAY – SUNDAY 8:00AM – 2:00PM ALL YEAR ROUND VISIT US NOW FOR:

ba m ch Le ur Ch

FRESH VILLAGE FRUIT AND VEGETABLES WATCH REPAIRS & JEWELLERY POTTED FLOWERS NEW & USED HANDBAGS & CLOTHES SECOND HAND BOOKS COMPUTERS & TELEPHONE ACCESSORIES SECOND HAND FURNITURE & ANTIQUES INDIAN TAKE AWAY HOME MADE FRESH CAKES & PIES FROZEN FISH CHILDREN’S TOY’S AND MUCH MORE ….

GREAT PRICES FOR ALL !!!

STALLHOLDERS & CAR-BOOTERS WELCOME COFFEE SHOP ALL ENQUIRIES CALL: 96533839/99771532

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS €325.

TREMITHOUSA - Traditional Spacious 3 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom, and Large Mature enclosed Garden, Open Fireplace, Beautiful Fitted Kitchen, A/C, Wonderful Family Home €400.

EMBA - Spacious 2 Bedroom Corner house ,U/F, Separate Downstairs Cloakroom, Balcony, no garden €300.

URGENTLY WANTED – 2/3 Bedroom F/F Properties MORE PROPERTIES AVAILABLE FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 99862922

***************************** TOK’s – 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, Immaculate, very high spec top floor apartment, Luxury furnished with Flatscreen TV’s in living room and bedrooms, lift, pool, beautiful development, fantastic location €425

pm Lower Peyia – 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom Modern Unfurnished Villa with beautiful sea views. Spacious villa with wood burner, utility room, white goods, storage area, alarm system, low maintenance manicured garden & private pool €1100 pm Lower Peyia – Good size detached 3 bedroom Villa in lovely residential no through road, separate kitchen, well maintained, large balcony, private pool and garden with sea views €750 pm Universal - 2 bedroom fully furnished ground floor apartment, a/c, large bedrooms, communal pool, o/s parking €350 Please contact us whatever your rental requirements as we have many other properties available. LANDLORDS/OWNERS – We always require more properties to list for

29 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

TO LET PAPHOS waiting clients. Please call NOW: 96241965

***************************** PEYIA, luxury villa, 3 double bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, fully or part furnished, private pool, quiet location, paved garden area, sea and mountain views. Sky satellite, euro 650 ono, please call: 99771532 – no agents

***************************** KILI – PAPHOS, 3 bedroom villa, with swimming pool and garden, unfurnished, gas central heating, large verandas, lovely mountain views, very quiet and tranquil area, ₏475 per month o.n.o. Call : 99479006

***************************** LOW COST, long term 3 bedroom bungalow, Polis area, Gialia village, on 3 acres of property, large variety of fruit trees, extremely private with panoramic mountain and sea views, unfurnished, swimming pool, a/c and ďŹ replace, fence around the property â‚Ź550 per month ono – available from 1st of April For more info call: 99 442485

***************************** MR RENT PAPHOS, THE LEADING PROPERTY RENTAL AGENCY IN PAPHOS OFFICE: 26271858 (00357) IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY TO RENT WE ARE THE RENTAL AGENCY TO CONTACT

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS

OFFERING FULL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT & RENT COLLECTION SERVICE

surised water system. Pets allowed at owners discretion. Website reference number: RTL_497

da & private pool. Available unfurnished. Website reference number: RTL_669

1. ANARITA â‚Ź375 beautifully furnished modern 2 bedroom townhouse situated on a quiet complex with air conditioned spacious gym also communal pools & well tended gardens. Townhouse offers modern quality furniture & ďŹ ttings. Guest wc and small patio garden. Viewings highly recommended. Website reference number: RTL_667

4. MESOGI â‚Ź700 spacious 4 bedroom villa plus playroom or ofďŹ ce including gas central heating. one bedroom & bathroom on ground oor. available unfurnished. enclosed low maintenance garden with private pool offering privacy & views over countryside. situated in a quiet residential area. Website reference number: Rtl_618

2. PEYIA â‚Ź550 modern detached 2 bedroom villa situated on private road. Available unfurnished though includes central heating throughout, pressurised water & security alarm system. Modern ďŹ tted kitchen & bathrooms. Roof terrace with sea views & private pool. Website reference number: Rtl_447 also available modern detached 3 bedroom villa on this private road. Website reference number: RTL_572

5. LOWER CHLORAKA â‚Ź750 spacious detached 3 bedroom villa offering stunning views of the sea.

Situated in a quiet residential street opposite orange groves. Gated entrance enclosed good sized low maintenance mature garden with fruit trees & private pool. Spacious living area with real ďŹ replace.

Downstairs guest wc.

Master bedroom with ensuite. Available fully furnished. Website reference number: RTL_550

7. PEYIA â‚Ź950 we are delighted to offer this ultra modern 4 bedroom villa with luxury furnishings & ďŹ ttings.

Offering spacious accommodation with breathtaking sea views. Finished to a very high quality. Spacious living area with modern ďŹ tted kitchen & utility area. One bedroom on ground oor with ensuite & kitchenette. Guest wc. Private inďŹ nity pool & enclosed low maintenance garden. A must to see! website reference number: RTL_670

3. KISSONERGA â‚Ź650 stunning detached 3 bedroom villa situated in quiet residential area with sea & rural views. Private drive with car port. Enclosed low maintenance garden with sea water private pool.

Modern villa, master with ensuite plus downstairs guest wc. Beautifully furnished with good quality furnishing & ďŹ ttings, including black out blinds, nilesat satelitte & pres-

6. KAMARES TALA â‚Ź850 a stunning detached villa offering 4 bedrooms plus ofďŹ ce in a quiet & private residential area with large parking bay for numerous cars and covered off street parking. Offering spacious living accommodation and breathtaking views of the sea. This property includes a lift to all 4 oors.

Lovely garden with spacious veran-

8. CHLORAKA â‚Ź2,200 substantial luxury 4 bedroom villa, spacious (350 sq meters), beautifully designed with unique detail. Conservatory with views of landscaped gardens.

Large modern ďŹ tted kitchen, living room with working ďŹ replace. Circular dining room with vaulted dome ceiling. Stunning private pool area.

Available unfurnished. Website reference number: RTL_579 Tel: 97790883 Tel: 99133422 ofďŹ ce: 26271858 visit our website for many more properties www. mrrent-paphos.net email: info@ mrrent-paphos.net

***************************** FOR RENT A SELECTION of 1 to 5 bedroom houses & apartments F/F

In Op ves p o tm r t en un t ity

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No Negative Months Since inception just less than 5 years ago this Isle of Man based fund has outperformed the FTSE 100 Index, the Consumer Price Index and the Investment Property Database

TO LET PAPHOS

TO LET PAPHOS & U/F Universal, Peyia, Tomb of the Kings, Tsada, Timi, Chlorakas & Kato Paphos Landlord & Owners please call 99329357 Or please view at are website www.cyprussands.com Fully Registered Company in Cyprus

***************************** MANDRIA PAFOS 2 bedroom furnished bungalow within walking distance of the village. Large bedrooms, kitchen, sitting room/dining area with ďŹ re place, large bathroom.

Outside gated area and fenced off, pets welcomed Ref: 1217 â‚Ź450 AYIA MARINOUDA PAFOS 2 bedroom furnished bungalow in lovely quiet complex with communal pool.

Property has ďŹ replace, off street parking, nice stone features, character property. Ref: 1224 â‚Ź500 MESOGI PAFOS 4 bedroom house offered furnished, near all amenities. Property has sitting,dining area, kitchen, storage, downstairs bedroom, guest wc. Upstairs 3 additional bedrooms, master en suite, family bathroom. Off street parking, back garden with lawn Ref 1211 â‚Ź690 SEA CAVES PAFOS modern bungalow offered furnished or unfurnished, 3 bedroom, master en suite shower, family bathroom, kitchen, sitting area, outside private pool, roof garden, outside shower-toilte, yscreens nice location with sea views. Ref: 1213 â‚Ź750 MELANOS/CHLORAKA PAFOS Partfurnished, modern 4 bedroom villa, with private pool and amazing sea views. Has modern appliances, off-street covered parking in a nice quiet location. Pets welcome. Ref: 1206 â‚Ź800 PEGEIA PAFOS 3 bedroom unfurnished villa with great sea and mountain views. Property has sitting/dining area, kitchen, 3 bed-

rooms, master en suite, private pool, covered parking. Ref: 1214 â‚Ź550 CORAL BAY PAFOS 3 bedroom Villa offered furnished or unfurnished in a lovely private and peaceful location. Property is cosy with a small kitchen, sitting room and dining area with a ďŹ re place, ac, guest wc, 3 bedrooms master en suite, family bathroom. Nice views Ref: 842 â‚Ź750 CHLORAKA PAFOS 2 and 1 bedroom apartments in a lovely modern complex offered furnished or unfurnished with y screens, nice large kitchen, bathroom, communal pool, nice location. Ref 1219 from â‚Ź300 Please call for a free viewing on OfďŹ ce 26600450 Mobile: 97614070 many more properties on our website at www.owron.com Your Vision is our Mission LANDLORDS IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT, PLEASE CALL US!!!!!!

***************************** PEYIA – 3 bedroom villa with modern quality furniture and ďŹ nishes.

Central heating, sky, alarm, inďŹ nity pool and stunnning sea and mountain views â‚Ź700 per month, call: 99389426 BRAND NEW APT, opposite Poseidonio Gym, near Carrefour, F/F, a/c, great quality, 1 bdrm, from â‚Ź340p.m.Tel 99403261

***************************** RENTAL POINT - PAPHOS PROPERTIES AVAILABLE TO RENT IN THE PAPHOS DISTRICT. JUST A SMALL SAMPLE OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES. ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL. CALL 97648440 FOR MORE INFORMATION.

7JTJUJOH "UIFOT

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info@centurycyprus.com

70 000 970

30 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Advertiser TO LET PAPHOS LANDLORDS CALL IF YOU HAVE A PROPERTY FOR RENT.!!!

1. MESA CHORIO– 2 bed 2 bath fully furnished ground floor apartment set on an elevated position on this prestigious development. Open plan living area. Good sized kitchen. 2 double , bedrooms, master with en-suite shower room. Family bathroom. Large patio areas with enclosed gardens and lovely sea views. Covered parking and security gates.. Comm swimming pool.

Euros 400.00 per month 2 FYTI 3 bed, 3 bath furnished villa in a very quiet location. The property offers stylish accommodation and has many luxury features.

Open plan living area with feature fireplace. Dining area. Large fully fitted L shaped kitchen with appliances and breakfast bar Doors out to rear garden and pool. Guest WC. Stairs up to 3 very spacious bedrooms. Master with ensuite.

Family bathroom and storage cupboard. Stairs up to roof garden with panoramic views. Outside there is a feature pergola, swimming pool and landscaped gardens. Euros 700.00 a month.

3. OLYMPUS ESTATE, NR TSADA – 3 bed, 2.5 bath furnished bungalow set on this prestigious estate. The house has central heating, A/C, fireplace, shutters & flyscreens. Spacious open plan living area with dining space.

Large “L” shaped kitchen. 3 double bedrooms all leading to pool and gardens. Master with en-suite.

Covered patio with sea and rural views, swimming pool and garden areas. Feature outside dining area. Breakfast area to the side of the property. Easy care gardens.

Pool with Roman steps. Parking for 3 cars. Bargain price!!! Euros 800.00 per month furnished, unfurnished by arrangement at lower cost.

4. TALA - 3 bed 3 bath quality furnished villa. Set in enclosed gardens the villa consists of open plan living area with dining space.

Fully fitted kitchen with all appli-

TO LET PAPHOS ances, door to rear garden. Storage room. Ground floor bedroom with adjacent shower. Stairs to two double bedrooms both en-suite, one with Jacuzzi tub. Small seating area with adjacent balcony.

Pool and off street parking. Landscaped gardens Euros 650.00 per month 5. AYIOS DEMITRIANOS (POLEMI) – 3 bed, 2 bath furnished villa (bungalow style) set in a private and quiet location. Open plan living area with fireplace. Fully fitted kitchen with quality appliances.

Utility room and storage. Master bedroom with adjacent shower.

Two more double bedrooms with family bathroom with Jacuzzi bath.

Garden areas, large terraces with outstanding views. Private pool 10x5, Covered parking. Euros 700.00 per month furnished, 650 unfurnished.

6. UNIVERSAL AREA. 2 bed, 2 bath fully furnished penthouse apartment. Living area with dining space. Doors out to massive balcony area overlooking the pool and gardens. Fitted kitchen.

2 double bedrooms, master bedroom has ensuite shower. Family bathroom. A/C, Comm pool and parking. Euros 450.00 a month or offers.

7. LOWER PEYIA - 3 bed, 2.5 bath unfurnished villa situated in quiet cul du sac. Open plan living and dining area with doors out the to pool and garden. Very large breakfast fitted kitchen. Doors out to garden and pool. Separate guest WC. Stairs to 3 double bedrooms.

Master bedroom very large with en-suite shower. Family bathroom.

Private pool, gardens, shutters.

Euros 550.00 per month or close offers only.

8. CHLORAKAS – 2 bed 1 bath large furnished apartment in quiet area.

Spacious open plan living area with doors out to balcony. Good sized modern fitted kitchen and breakfast area. Small balcony off the kitchen.

Two double bedrooms. Family bathroom. Off-street parking, comm

TO LET PAPHOS pool. Euros 380.00 per month.

FOR FULL LISTINGS OF APARTMENTS/ TOWNHOUSES AND VILLAS, PLEASE SEE www.rentalpointpaphos.com ALL TYPES OF PROPERTY URGENTLY REQUIRED FOR LONG TERM RENTAL LANDLORDS/OWNERS PLEASE CALL WITH DETAILS PLEASE CALL 97648440 or email:inforentals@aol.com

*****************************

PROPERTY FOR SALE NICOSIA ***************************** FOR SALE a very nice, large, two bedroom apartment near Hilton and Central Bank. Living, dining room, sitting room, large veranda.

Spacious kitchen, c/h, s/h, covered parking. Title deed. Tel. 99519370.

*****************************

FOR SALE LIMASSOL 99330632.

LIMASSOL ***************************** SMART EASILY MAINTAINED BUNGALOW. Pano Kivides. 110 sq.m.

2 beds. Gas CH. Double glazing.

Mains drainage. Plot 730 sq.m. Fruit trees flower beds. Large workshop.

Jacuzzi. Car port. Open view. Easy drive to Limassol. TITLE DEEDS 187500 Tel 99995906.

***************************** EXECUTIVE PENTHOUSE for sale in central Limassol (Glastonas Street area). Five minute walk to the beach.

4/5 bedrooms. Private rooftop walkin swimming pool with large terraces and conservatory. Total area: 800m2 (300m2 covered) €825,000 negotiable Tel: 99169485 Photos & more info: http://penthouse-forsalecyprus.blogspot.com/

PAPHOS FOR SALE large, beautiful, nice designed, sea view house. In Chlorakas area, very quiet and private

*****************************

Cello & piano duet

STROVOLOS, Symi street, Tseriou new one bedroom apartment, 55 sqm, large sunny balcony, airconditioned, private parking, lift, title deeds, reduced price €95.000 (including VAT) (no offers) tel: 99266282 (no agents)

***************************** FOR SALE upper floor house 210 sq.m built on 301 sq. m land, Lapatsa area, Pereous 1a. 4 bedrooms with attic room (not finished), c/h ,4 a/c, aluminium doors& window, covered parking and storage room.

Price €310.000 pm call 22431095

location. 4 en-suite bedrooms.

Spacious living - dinijng room, sitting room, kitchen with all electrical appliances, breakfast room, two fireplaces, built-in bookcases, eletrical shutters, a/c, swimming pool, garden, patio, garage, store room.

Option for second floor. Title deed.

Adjacent to above. Sold separately plot of land, with sea view. Title deed. Tel. 99519370.

***************************** 2 BEDROOM top floor apartment built in 2006, 75 sqm, large sunny balcony with sea views, 2 bathrooms (en-suite), communal pool, air conditioning. Small block of 9 apartments, located behind darmart store, near the debenhams

Tel: 99753334

****************************

PROTARAS FOR SALE special offer, €79, 000 first floor apartment in Protaras, fully furnished with 2 bedrooms and a swimming pool. Walking distance to the beach of Ayia Triada and all amenities. Tel: 97 608941.

*****************************

TO BE HELD ON SUNDAY 7TH APRIL WE NEED DONATIONS OF THE FOLLOWING LADIES/GENTS AND CHILDRENS GOOD CONDITION CLOTHING TOYS/GAMES BOOKS BRIC-A-BRAC

wide repertoire available for bars, cafes, hotels, receptions etc.

99947442 or 99418282

CAKES/SAVOURIES IF YOU CAN HELP PLEASE CONTACT: HELEN 99 447482 OR GEORGINA 99 673841 OR DROP OFF AT: KIVOTOS PET SHOP (COCA COLA TRAFFIC LIGHTS ) Or ANGEL PAWS PET SPA, 35 ARMENIAS STREET, STROVOLOS The deadline for dropping off will be Thursday 4th April. Except for Cakes or saviories which can be brought on the morning of the 7th April.

Thank you for your support – “together we make a difference”

ARIS EMPIRE BINGO Address: Paphos street 207, next to Carrefour Kato Polemidia, Limassol Email: arisempire@yahoo.com

roundabout, underground private parking, storage room and lift, reduced price: €98.000 (including VAT) with title deeds (no agents) please call: 99266282

FUN AND FASHION FAYRE - FUNDRAISING EVENT

*****************************

FOR SALE OFFICES, ground floor space, suitable for offices or any other business. Centrally located, off Arch. Makarios Avenue, in the Commercial Centre of Nicosia, near Hilton. Also mezzanine, basement, small kitchen, a/c, parking. Title deeds. Tel. 99519370.

FOR SALE PAPHOS

FOR SALE PAPHOS

A new and very different place has opened its doors today to the bingo world, inviting people to come and try their luck. Aris Empire Bingo is impressively and luxuriously decorated and can host up to 1000 people providing all the comforts for a night of fun or relaxation.

Visitors can have fun, playing bingo, trying to win one of the big money prizes that are handed out each time. People can also choose from the large choice of food on the menu, which is reasonably priced. The meticulous work done by the owner is apparent at every corner, even in the kitchen which is HACCP certified, with everything designed by the CTO. Bingo has now taken-on a different character of being more enjoyable and of more quality for all those who love the game but have kept their distance as they could not find a place that expressed them. The spacious hall has good ventilation and Aris Empire Bingo has a large parking, making it easier for any visitors.

Opening hours is from 8pm till 2am Restaurant hours from 8pm Bingo starts at 9pm

31 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Compiled by Rosie Ogden

Motorists put off repairing accident damage to vehicles Thousands unaware that safety of their vehicles compromised NEW research suggests that, in the UK, more than a million cash-strapped motorists are driving accident-damaged vehicles, and judging by the number of battered cars spotted on roads in Cyprus, the picture is much the same here.

According to Accident Exchange, which calculated the estimate, tens of thousands of drivers could be unaware that the safety of their vehicles has been compromised by minor prangs.

As petrol prices soared, annual car travel in Britain fell by over 9 billion miles – or 2.9% – between 2006 and 2012. While the number of accidents remained largely static, the percentage reported to the authorities fell by 2.2% and the number of recorded repairs fell even more significantly – a massive 21%.

That leaves an estimated 1,092,000 drivers who opted not to have their vehicles repaired following an accident in the last 12 months alone.

Analysts at Accident Exchange, which manages thousands of accidents annually, say that a combination of crippling insurance costs and squeezed household incomes have underpinned the potentially worrying trend.

With motorists maximising excesses in an effort to reduce insurance premiums, the financial impact on already stretched household incomes has seen a rise in ‘delayed repairs’.

Accident Exchange CEO, Steve Evans, said: “The double whammy impact of losing their No Claims Discounts and paying increased excesses on insurance claims has seen the number of private settlements between fault and non-fault drivers rise. The innocent

Research suggests that more than a million cash-strapped UK motorists are driving accident-damaged vehicles, and judging by the number of battered cars spotted on roads in Cyprus, the picture is much the same here party is then choosing to pocket the money rather than seeking to repair what they see merely as cosmetic damage.”

For a driver with a £500 excess, cosmetic damage caused by a car parking bump or lower-speed accident is often cheaper to settle privately rather than claim through their insurance policy.

Some insurers are offering excesses as high as £750, which can dramatically re-

duce monthly premiums, but one in three motorists admit that they could not afford to pay the excess they agreed to on their policy.

The risk is that damage done by minor prangs is more than cosmetic and that the structural integrity of the vehicle may be compromised, despite not being visible.

Components at the front of the car such as the ‘crash box’, radiator or airbag sensors, if damaged or moved

even at low speeds, could compromise the effectiveness of the car’s safety features in the event of another accident.

On some models in particular, hydraulic suspension parts at the front of the car can be shifted out of place and weakened by a minor bump, greatly increasing the risk of suspension collapse later.

The ‘crash box’ is a collapsible zone at the front of the car, specifically-designed to

be weaker than the structure of the passenger compartment so that, in the event of a frontal impact, it absorbs the kinetic energy of the crash rather than the occupants.

At speeds of under 10mph, this safety feature will minimise repair costs but any weakening of the crash box could hinder its ability to dampen the effect of future collisions, decelerate the vehicle and protect those in the car from serious injury.

Motoring e-up! the first all-electric Volkswagen VOLKSWAGEN recently presented its first fully electric production vehicle, the e-up!, at the Annual Press and Investors Conference in Wolfsburg.

The e-up! has an electric drive and four seats and is billed as ‘a car for daily use in the city’ - but it can handle distances of up to 150km and can be recharged to 80% of its energy storage capacity within 30 minutes.

With nearly zero noise, the e-up! is powered by an electric motor with 60 kW / 82 PS peak power. Its continuous power is 40 kW / 55 PS and its maximum torque of 210 Newton metres is available immediately with the first revolution. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h within 14 seconds and reaches a top speed of 135 km/h.

The lithium-ion battery integrated in the underfloor area has a total energy storage capacity of 18.7 Kilowatt-hours (kWh); this means that the car can cover up to 150 km on a single charge – largely thanks to its low vehicle weight of 1,185 kg.

The port for charging the battery is hidden behind the ‘fuel filling flap’. As an option, the Combined Charging System (CCS) is used, which has been standardised

by Volkswagen and other carmakers. It supports both DC and AC charging, so that drivers can easily charge their cars at most charging stations – regardless of the power sources or charging rates that they offer.

In autumn, the e-up! will make its show debut at the International Autoshow in Frankfurt. First right-handdrive deliveries are expected from early 2014.

Rolls-Royce exhibition opens

The Munich exhibition includes 15 original Rolls-Royce cars dating from 1907 to 2012

THE first ever Rolls-Royce Motor Cars exhibition at the BMW Museum in Munich officially opened this week.

The unique exhibition, entitled ‘Strive for Perfection’, celebrates the tenth year of the renaissance of the Rolls-Royce marque under BMW Group ownership.

The exhibition also commemorates another key milestone in the history of the Rolls-Royce brand – the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Henry Royce.

The displays tell the story of the world’s leading superluxury goods manufacturer in chronological detail; from the meeting of the company’s founding fathers, Sir Henry Royce and the Honourable Charles Stewart Rolls in 1904, through to the present day.

Situated in the landmark BMW Museum bowl

and covering more than 1,000 square metres over five floors, the exhibition includes 15 original Rolls-Royce cars dating from 1907 to 2012. The collection includes the famous Rolls-Royce 10EX, one of the most significant experimental cars in the world, built in 1926 to demonstrate the performance potential of the ‘New Phantom’. Sir Henry Royce engineered and drove 10EX himself in his relentless pursuit of automotive perfection.

The historic cars are complemented by descriptive displays, with themes including coach-building, craftsmanship, bespoke design, engineering and advertising. The narrative includes historic displays of the famous Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament and the ‘Pantheon’ radiator grille, both unmistakable

icons associated with RollsRoyce cars.

The exhibition is accompanied by displays of timeless craftsmanship from other British luxury manufacturers, including men’s and women’s fashion, leather goods, time pieces, shoes, silver and glass ware.

“This outstanding and historic exhibition proudly celebrates the tenth anniversary of the renaissance of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars under BMW Group ownership”, said Torsten MüllerÖtvös, Chief Executive Officer. “Our contemporary motor cars present a unique blend of German expertise and technology and outstanding British craftsmanship and design. It is therefore appropriate that this key moment in the story of this great British manufacturing success story is told in the BMW Museum.”

32 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport ‘Billy Whizz’ says Wales will light up Lions after England fizzle out Former electric wing Jason Robinson backs the tourists to win in Oz

By Chris Jones

IN BRIEF

JASON Robinson believes Wales’s destruction of England gives the Lions the chance to grab a Test series triumph over Australia.

Robinson - a player renowned for being able to light up a game - was disappointed by England’s lack of attacking spark in the Six Nations.

But the World Cup winner was thrilled by Wales’ style of play - highlighted by last Saturday’s 30-3 victory - and believes the Lions will take that on board Down Under this summer.

The Lions have not won a series since the 1997 triumph over South Africa and the 2013 version will be heavily influenced by the power and pace of Wales, leaving England, Ireland and Scotland playing catch-up with the selectors.

“Wales will be the dominant partner on the tour,” said Robinson, who played in five Lions Tests.

“Australia are a fantastic team and you will need smart players to take them on. We need players who can cause them problems and with England - while they only lost the Six Nations on points difference - can you imagine how good we could be if we got the attacking area right?

“Who are scoring the tries in the Premiership? It’s not the guys in the England team - it is players like Christian Wade and Tom Varndell at London Wasps.

“At the start of the Six Nations, after a run of defeats, it seemed to be going away from Wales and now all of a sudden they demolished England on the final day.

The Welsh performed under pressure and that’s very important heading to Australia.

“Ireland have been poor, Scotland have provided some good stuff while Eng-

Heat stretch winning streak to 25 games HIS Miami Heat team is 25 games into the secondlongest winning streak in NBA history, and the fact that they have fallen behind by double digits in three straight games does not seem to bother the superstar forward.

“I’d rather finish strong,” LeBron James said, “than start fast and finish weak.”

James did the former yesterday, putting up 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in the Heat’s 103-89 victory over the Detroit Pistons at American Airlines Arena.

Miami is closing in on the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA record win streak of 33 in a row. Miami’s 25 wins have come in a span of 48 days.

BIGGEST OBSTACLE

The champs: Wales’ Gethin Jenkins (left) and Adam Jones hold aloft the Six Nations Trophy after a comprehensive 30-3 victory over England last Saturday land had a good start. While I don’t want to sound like one of those former players having a go, the final game really exposed where we are as a team.

“England have got worse as the Championship has progressed and what the Wales game showed is that we are struggling in the same areas where we have found problems since 2003. “ Attacking wise, England are not great to watch. We have talked about finding a No.12 since Will Greenwood stopped playing and we are continuing to do that.

“The team that played Wales were just a steady one and it has exposed that we cannot rely on the boot of Owen Farrell.

“We cannot just aim to

take three points and I have mixed feelings watching this team because my game was all about attack.

“Clive Woodward didn’t

Jason Robinson won 51 caps for England

bring me over from rugby league to kick and it seems that this is still lacking.”

Robinson, 38, burst onto the rugby union Test scene as a try-scoring member of the 2001 Lions in Australia having switched from league.

He won 51 caps for England, having been brought into the union game to add a spark of genius that is now so often lacking at Test level.

Robinson’s electric ‘Billy Whizz’ counter-attacking style was one of England’s main attacking weapons during his union career but it was the team in red last Saturday that lifted the former wing’s spirits.

“We got exposed by Wales and I looked at their style of play - backs using width

and also forwards - and thought, ‘I would want to be part of that’. There was a different mentality and you knew they would score more tries, ” said Robinson, at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens.

Robinson will be in Australia for the three-Test series and the memories of having been so close to helping the Lions triumph in 2001 - they lost 2-1, going down 29-23 in the final Test – are still strong.

Despite a great career, Robinson knows that 12 years ago he had the chance to achieve something special. He added: “Losing that series is the biggest disappointment of my career. But this year I believe we can do it.”

The biggest obstacle to the Heat breaking the Lakers’ record appears to be a March 31 date at San Antonio. Before that, a trip to Chicago could be tough. An April 2 date with their rivals, the New York Knicks, is another potential roadblock.

The Heat play a stretch that includes, in order, Charlotte, at Orlando, at Chicago, at New Orleans, at San Antonio, the Knicks and at Charlotte.

If the Heat clear all those hurdles, they could tie the record with a home win over Philadelphia April 6 and break the mark with a home game against Milwaukee (April 9).

“It’s crazy,” James said of Miami’s streak.

“We were a little bit flat in the first half,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “In the second half, the urgency was much better.”

Spoelstra said the Heat’s recent slow starts are on his “radar.”

“We need to put together a complete game,” the coach said. “We haven’t had that energetic start we want. But this team, over the past couple of years, has shown that they can address things and improve.”

Boxer Morales banned over failed drugs test

Super Bowl champion Ravens Kiradech leads in Malaysia forced to open on the road as Donald misses cut

ERIK Morales, the Mexican fighter who won world titles at four different weights, has been suspended from boxing for two years after testing positive for banned drug Clenbuterol.

He tested positive for the prohibited anabolic agent in October 2012, said the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

The 36-year-old won super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight and light-welterweight world titles.

The man nicknamed ‘El Terrible’ claimed a memorable 2005 win over Manny Pacquiao.

Morales has had 61 professional fights with 52 victories.

THE Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens have been forced to open their 2013 National Football League (NFL) season on the road due to a scheduling conflict with the local Major League Baseball (MLB) team.

For the past decade, each NFL season has officially started with the defending Super Bowl champions playing at home.

The 2013 NFL season will open on Thursday, September 5 but the Ravens will have to play away from home because the Baltimore Orioles, the city’s MLB team, are scheduled to play at home that same night against the Chicago White Sox.

BIG-HITTING Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat will take a one-shot clubhouse lead into the final round of the weather-hit Malaysian Open today as world number three Luke Donald missed his first cut on the European Tour.

South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, who was flown in by helicopter for his third round, was a shot behind after two holes as the $2.75 million co-sanctioned Asian Tour event was reduced to 54 holes.

The leaders managed just two holes of their third round before play was suspended for the third day in succession at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

33 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Sport

Speedy Djokovic wins in Miami, while Azarenka withdraws

US Open to revert to Sunday finish from 2015

By Julian Linden

Del Potro is beaten by outsider Kamke NOVAK Djokovic and Maria Sharapova both survived unscathed but the Sony Open lost two other grand slam champions when Victoria Azarenka and Juan Martin Del Potro exited the Miami tournament.

Azarenka withdrew from her opening match because of an ankle injury she suffered playing at Indian Wells last week.

“I’m very disappointed ... But I have to take my health into consideration,” said Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in January but has struggled with injuries since.

“I tried everything I could but couldn’t make it. It’s an unfortunate part of our job.”

Azarenka’s withdrawal proved an unexpected bonus for American teenager Lauren Davis, who failed to qualify for the tournament.

She was given a ‘lucky loser’ pass into the event when Azarenka pulled out then saved three match points in defeating Madison Keys 6-1 5-7 7-6.

“I just hoped and I wished and I prayed that I would get in,” said Davis. “I was just so happy. I didn’t care if I won or lost. I just was so grateful for the opportunity to play.”

Former U.S. Open champion Del Potro, suffered a surprise 7-6 6-1 loss to Germany’s Tobias Kamke.

The towering Argentine had two set points in the opening set but lost his way just a week after making the men’s final at Indian Wells.

“He didn’t play obviously his best tennis,” said Kamke. “But still I think I did a good job and pretty satisfied with that.”

There were no other major casualties amongst the top seeds, with Djokovic and Sharapova both winning in straight sets.

Sharapova romped to a 6-2 6-0 win over Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard while Djokovic, playing in the late night match, cruised to a 6-1 6-0 victory over Lukas Rosol.

Djokovic took to the court later than expected due to a three-hour rain delay and 27-minute power cut.

He took just 53 minutes to hammer Czech Rosol.

“It is a great start,” the Serbian top seed said. “After Indian Wells, I tried to rest. There are different conditions here, but tonight was perfect for tennis.

I enjoyed every moment of it and I love this court.”

Third seed David Ferrer advanced to the third round without having to set

foot on court as his Russian opponent Dmitry Tursunov withdrew due to a stomach bug.

Ferrer will next face Fabio Fognini after the 32nd seed from Italy toppled Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4 6-1.

Ferrer’s fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos also advanced, upsetting 12thseeded Argentinian Juan Monaco 6-2 4-6 6-3.

Seventh-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic beat Dudi Sela (Isr) 6-2 6-4, while 11th seed Gilles Simon ended Lleyton Hewitt’s run by defeating the Australian 6-3 6-3.

James Blake had six breaks of serve en route to seeing off 24th seed Julien Benneteau in just over an hour.

He was not the only seeded casualty in the men’s draw, with Jeremy Chardy (22), Florian Mayer (23) and Marcel Granollers (31) also crashing out - at the hands of Xavier Malisse, Grega Zemlja and Jurgen Melzer, respectively.

Thirteenth seed Kei Nishikori did advance, though - as did Tommy Haas (15), Alexandr Dolgopolov (19), Kevin Anderson (26) and Somdev Devvarman.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic thrashed Lukas Rosol and later said he loves the court in Miami

England up against it against NZ

By David Clough

Steven Finn (right) is congratulated by Matt Prior after equalling his career-best tally of six for 125

ENGLAND have discovered for sure what they insist they suspected all along - that New Zealand are more than a compliant warm-up act for this summer’s Ashes.

While Australia continue to struggle in their Test series in India, England have encountered plenty more resistance in New Zealand than many experts thought likely.

After day two of the final Test - a potential decider, with the series score locked at 0-0 - England were off the pace on 50 for two in reply to 443 all out at Eden Park.

Steven Finn equalled his career-best six for 125 to ensure the tourists made much better progress than yesterday, taking nine wickets for 193 to follow their one for 250 24 hours earlier.

But they then lost Alastair Cook cheaply, and also Jonathan Trott, in 25 overs of batting before stumps.

It all means that, however they fare over the final three days, there is no doubt England have come up against worthy opponents on this tour - and can expect more

of the same in the return Tests back home in May, before the first of their backto-back Ashes series.

Finn acknowledged that, but pointed out too that England were never under any illusion that the Kiwis would test their mettle.

New Zealand’s lowly world ranking, compared to England’s second place in the International Cricket Council Test table after their historic victory in India before Christmas, persuaded many that they would coast to success.

Rain, as well as the skills of Brendon McCullum’s hosts, prevented that happening in drawn Tests in Dunedin and Wellington.

Here, Peter Fulton’s 136 his first Test hundred - and Kane Williamson (91) shut England out for 68 overs on a very good batting surface.

Asked whether New Zealand might end up being every bit as hard to beat as Australia this year, Finn said: “Yes, certainly.

“By no stretch of the imagination did we come over here believing that this was going to be an easy series.

“We know that the wickets are good over here, and we’d

have to work hard to win games of cricket.

“Through the Twenty20 and one-day series, and now the Test series, it’s been a pretty even contest all the way through.”

England have struggled to get the ball to swing as New Zealand piled up a formidable total; then when the hosts set out with the new ball, Trent Boult immediately found lateral movement in the air and was rewarded with Cook and Trott’s wickets.

Finn added: “By no stretch of the imagination have we under-estimated New Zealand.

“They’ve played some excellent cricket - and so they should, because they’ve got some excellent players.

“We know we’ve got a fight on our hands ...”

Finn’s own contribution, if a little flattering after he cashed in with four wickets for 13 runs to see off the tail, was significant.

“I felt as though I’ve bowled better in this game than in the previous two,” he said.

“I was fortunate to get some of the wickets today.

But as a team, we felt we deserved some fortune.”

THE US Open will revert to a 14-day tournament from 2015 after United States Tennis Association (USTA) officials reached an agreement with players on restructuring the playing schedule and increasing prize money.

The USTA announced in December it was adding an extra day in 2013 and 2014 to the last grand slam of the year to give players a day off between the semi-finals and final, extending the tournament to 15 days with the men’s final being played on a Monday.

But after discussions with players, the USTA announced this week that the finals would move back to their traditional time slots from 2015, with the men’s championship on Sunday and the women’s title match on Saturday.

“We’ve had conversations for the past several years with the players about the advisability of playing backto-back on Saturday and Sundays for the semis and finals,” US Open tournament director David Brewer told a news conference.

“It’s simply taken us some time to get to the point where structurally we could provide that promised day of rest, and the day of rest is now locked and loaded going forward.”

The men’s semi-finals, which have generally been held the day before the final as part of the US Open’s controversial ‘Super-Saturday’, would be brought forward by a day to Friday to give the players a rest.

The men’s first round, which had been spread over three days, will be held over two days, bringing the US Open in line with the other grand slams.

The changes will not come into effect until 2015 because the initial changes had already been locked in as part of an agreement with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

The five-year deal also included a hefty increase in prize money for the US Open. Officials had already announced this year’s event would increase by $4.1 million to $33.6 million, but said the total purse would be raised to $50 million by 2017.

“Over the last year, we’ve had some spirited discussions with players but nothing like a threat,” USTA executive director Gordon Smith said.

We have to recognise that the players mean everything to the Open and they’re incredibly valuable to the sport and valuable to the success of the Open, and we have to reward them accordingly.”

The U.S. Open programme has been hotly debated by players for years after rain delays wreaked havoc on the event.

34 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport

Missing luck and X-factor leaves champs Spain fearing play-offs

Dzeko double sinks sorry Greeks

‘We took a risk and it worked well,’ say Finns

EDIN Dzeko scored twice as Bosnia-Herzegovina brushed aside Greece in their top-of-the-table clash in Zenica to move three points clear in World Cup qualifying Group G. Manchester City striker Dzeko opened the scoring in the 30th minute and made it 3-0 with his second eight minutes after half-time to all but wrap up the points for the hosts. In between those two efforts Vedad Ibisevic also got his name on the score-sheet, following up to score after Zvjezdan Misimovic had seen his 35th-minute penalty parried

by Greek goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

Greece managed to pull a late goal back through Theofanis Gekas, but it was not enough to prevent them losing their unbeaten record in Group G and a share of top spot.

In contrast, things are now looking good for Bosnia to win the group and reach their first major finals, as they have already drawn in Greece and now boast a five-point lead over thirdplaced Slovakia.

Safet Susic’s men were quickly on the front foot with Dzeko and Misimovic both testing Karnezis in the opening five minutes. Karnezis also denied Dzeko in the 28th minute, but Bosnia did not have to wait much longer to take the lead as the giant City forward glanced home a free-kick from Misimovic.

Misimovic should have made it 2-0 himself five minutes later after BosniaHerzegovina won a penalty when Mensur Mujdza was sent crashing inside the area by Avraam Papadopoulos, but the Guizhou Renhe forward saw his spot-kick saved by Karnezis.

Greece’s joy was short-lived, though, as Ibisevic turned in the loose ball following a scramble which saw the penalty rebound turned back on to his own post by visiting midfielder Jose Holebas.

Greece tried to get something back before the break, but neither Georgios Samaras or Vassilis Torosidis could find the target with efforts from outside the box, and their attempted fightback was ended in the 53rd minute when Dzeko made it 3-0 with another header from another Misimovic assist.

Bosnia were unable to keep a clean sheet as Gekas netted a 92nd-minute consolation from close range, but they will not be overly concerned with that after securing a potentially decisive victory.

“I’m now gripped by a kind of fear,” said Bosnia coach Susic. “After this terrific result ... nobody would forgive us if we fail to reach the finals in Brazil.

“We have to seal it with victory in Latvia,” he added, referring to their next qualifier on June 7.

By Mark Elkington SPAIN’S trip to play group leaders France on Tuesday assumed even greater significance after a shock 1-1 home draw with Finland left the champions contemplating the playoffs to make the World Cup finals.

Some resolute defending and Teemu Pukki’s 79th-minute strike on the counter-attack left Vicente del Bosque’s side second in Group I, two points behind France with four games left to play.

Only one team from each group earns direct qualification for the finals in Brazil next year, with the eight best runners-up entering a playoff for the last four European berths.

“Another big slip-up,” was the front page headline in sports daily Marca yesterday, after a second consecutive home draw in qualifying following last October’s 1-1 draw with France.

“The World Cup is in danger,” read Sport’s front page, but the message from the team itself was less alarmist.

“We completely dominated for 90 minutes but we didn’t have luck in the final third,” coach Del Bosque, who guided the team to victory at the 2010 World Cup and at Euro 2012, told a news conference.

“We have been touched by a

Tempers boil over: Spain became increasingly frustrated with Finland’s defensive tactics magic wand in terms of luck in recent years, but we didn’t have any today.

“There is no need to be pessimistic because we still hold our destiny in our own hands.

We have to go to France and win and after that there are still three more games.”

Finland coach Mixu Paatelainen said he had studied Barcelona matches to find the best way to foil Spain, who started with seven players from the La Liga leaders.

The game resembled last season’s Champions League semi-final second leg between

Barca and Chelsea, when the English side snatched a draw to progress despite overwhelming possession for the hosts.

“We took a risk with a tactic that is little like cat and mouse and it worked well,” Paatelainen said. “We succeeded in frustrating Spain.”

France are unlikely to employ a similar tactic in Paris, but Spain will also be better equipped to deal with a massed defence as midfield stalwarts Xavi and Xabi Alonso are expected to return on Tuesday.

The experienced duo were rested for Friday’s encounter as they recover from nagging injuries.

“Spain were without Xavi, the hand that rocks the cradle, and Xabi, who provides the framework,” sports daily AS wrote yesterday.

“Spain’s play needs a degree of precision which wasn’t there last night.”

Spain had taken the lead in Gijon with a header from captain Sergio Ramos, who at only 26 was celebrating his 100th appearance for the national team.

The straight-talking Real Madrid defender was brutally honest about a below-par performance.

“When you don’t win you have to know how to handle the criticism. It should make us reflect and react,” he told Spanish radio.

“After our goal we eased off a little. We relaxed. It seemed we had done enough.”

Barcelona fullback Jordi Alba finished with a muscle strain which was to be checked over later yesterday, making him a possible doubt for Tuesday.

Messi inspires Argentina to win

By Rex Gowar

Lionel Messi, who converted a penalty, is two goals short of the 34 Diego Maradona scored for Argentina

LIONEL Messi produced another brilliant performance to lead Argentina to a 3-0 win over Venezuela in World Cup qualifying, but Colombia kept up the chase on the group leaders with a 5-0 demolition of Bolivia.

The duo are the front runners in the nine-nation South American group heading into the final straight of the qualifiers with their coaches looking to ensure there is a good balance of hard work to go with the immense skill.

Messi, who stated his World Cup goal once again in midweek, is at the fulcrum of everything that is good about a dynamic team coached by Alejandro Sabella in which midfielders Javier Mascherano, Fernando Gago and Walter Montillo also shone.

Fans chanted favourite World Cup victory songs as Argentina displayed their attacking skills and also

showed improvements in defence that reflect their work under Sabella.

Messi, who converted a penalty, is two goals short of the 34 Diego Maradona scored for Argentina, while Gonzalo Higuain’s brace put him top of the South American scorers chart.

“We have a forward line that can be considered among the best in the world,” Sabella told reporters.

“Venezuela are a tough team, very compact, who know what they want. What happened was that Argentina played very well, especially in the first half and were very superior.”

Sabella said he asked for and got plenty of defensive help from his forwards and this will be important for Tuesday’s match away to Bolivia in La Paz where visiting teams suffer the effects of the high altitude. Argentina lost 6-1 on their last visit.

Compatriot Jose Pekerman, whose second-placed

Colombia side have notched up 19 goals to Argentina’s 23, might have been talking about Argentina too when he referred to his Colombia team’s strong form.

“It’s hard to find teams with such skills and ball control although there are moments when you can’t keep up the rhythm in these kinds of matches,” he said after another win.

Colombia have a very realistic chance of ending a 16-year wait to play at the World Cup finals but Pekerman attempted to quash the hype.

“We have to keep calm and not get anxious. We don’t think about the points we need to get to the World Cup, we’ll carry on working,” he said.

The other teams have their work cut out to keep pace although Ecuador, who had a bye on Friday, are in good shape in third place with the top four making it to the finals.

35 SUNDAY MAIL • March 24, 2013

Sport Captain Keane takes heart from Sweden point

Wales manager Coleman accepts ‘brutal’ challenges

By Andy Hampson

‘I think they were clever, it was nothing nasty, they weren’t trying to break anybody’s legs’

By Ronnie Esplin CHRIS Coleman accused Scotland of making some “brutal” challenges on his players after Wales came from behind to win 2-1 in their 2014 World Cup qualifier at a blizzard-bound Hampden Park.

Defender Grant Hanley gave the hosts the lead against the run of play with a header from a Charlie Mulgrew corner in first-half stoppage time but an earlier challenge from the Blackburn defender on Gareth Bale saw the Tottenham star fail to return for the second half.

Wales fought back and in the 70th minute Aaron Ramsey levelled from the spot after Scotland forward Robert Snodgrass was dismissed for picking up a second yellow card following a lunging challenge on Welsh defender Chris Gunter.

Hal Robson-Kanu headed in the winner just over a minute later, with Ramsey ending the game on a sour note when he was shown a straight red card for denying James McArthur a goalscoring opportunity.

Coleman, who will miss Ramsey and Joe Allen for Tuesday’s visit of Croatia with Bale’s participation in doubt, said: “We knew it was going to be a tough game, it was quite physical, there

were one or two brutal challenges but within the rules.

“I think they were clever, nothing nasty, they weren’t trying to break anybody’s legs but it was get the ball and get the man, in the laws of the game.

“There is nothing wrong with that, Scotland are entitled to do that.

“I like that, football is a contact sport, I don’t want to see non-contact but there were one or two heavy challenges and we guessed there would be but we didn’t want to get sucked into that because that is not our game.

“If we had tried to fight Scotland I would have been sitting there with a frown because we would have lost, we had to try and play our game which we did.”

Coleman claimed it was a deserved win for his side who now have taken six points from five games with Scotland still sitting bottom of Group A with two.

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan, who was “hugely disappointed” at losing his first competitive game as boss, denied his side were over-physical.

“I don’t think I saw a bad tackle the whole game, I really don’t think so,” he said.

“If I felt it was brutal and people were doing anything untoward I would say but I don’t think so.”

The Scotland boss, whose plans were disrupted when

Steven Fletcher had to be replaced by Kenny Miller after injuring his ankle in the second minute, promised changes for the trip to Serbia in midweek.

He said: “It is not an easy period for us. We need to try to win games.

“We will experiment and find out what is right for us and take it from there. It is an opportunity for other people to stake their claim “The game changed on the penalty. At 1-0, it flattered us but you have to score the second and we had chances to do that but we never took them.

“Steven Fletcher’s injury spooked us a bit.

“The penalty causes us a problem, they score right away after that and it is uphill fight after that.”

On Fletcher’s ankle injury, Strachan said: “His ankle buckled. Fletcher was a bit shocked but he is more relaxed now. He is getting assessed and he will get assessed by his club.”

Bale later took to Twitter to allay fears about his fitness.

The 23-year-old Tottenham man posted: “Just clearing the air... nothing wrong with my ankle. I came off at HT due to the stomach virus I’ve had all week. Should be ok for Tuesday.

“Great win by the lads, hopefully we can take this on to the next game.”

Aaron Ramsey levelled for Wales with a penalty before being sent off at a blizzard-bound Hampden Park

Vintage Olic steers Croatia to win over bitter rivals Serbia

By Zoran Milosavljevic

Croatia’s veteran striker Ivica Olic scored and set up another as the high-risk game passed without any trouble

CROATIA’S veteran striker Ivica Olic scored and set up another for Mario Mandzukic to help secure a 2-0 win over bitter Balkan rivals Serbia in an emotional World Cup qualifier.

Serbia have four points from five matches and face a tough task to qualify for next year’s finals.

“We knew this game was Serbia’s last chance to haul themselves back into the race for one of the top two spots in the group and that’s why we had to be patient,” Croatia coach Igor Stimac told a news conference.

“We are overjoyed and I can only congratulate my players and the staff for doing an outstanding job but this result is history as of now, because we have a tough visit to Wales on Tuesday and anything less than a win would devalue this

success.”

The match at Dinamo Zagreb’s Maksimir stadium was played under tight security amid fears of crowd trouble but apart from sporadic volleys of abuse that pockets of home fans directed at Serbia’s players, it was an incident-free event.

Both federations had agreed not to take away fans to either fixture with the reverse fixture set for September 6 in Belgrade.

While Stimac fielded an adventurous 4-4-2 formation, Serbia counterpart Sinisa Mihajlovic surprisingly left out several regular starters and his experiment backfired as the visitors were punished for a cagey approach.

Croatia took the first meeting between the two sides as independent nations by the scruff of the neck after a cautious opening and the Serbians were lucky not to have trailed by a bigger margin at

halftime.

Mandzukic fired Croatia ahead midway through the first half when Olic capitalised on a calamitous error by Serbia’s left back Aleksandar Kolarov and squared the ball back to his strike partner, who prodded it home past two defenders from close range.

The 33-year-old Olic doubled the home team’s advantage in the 37th minute, chesting in from the edge of the five-yard box a teasing Darijo Srna free kick after Kolarov was booked for a rash tackle on Mandzukic.

Mihajlovic took the blame for a tepid Serbian performance. “We conceded two very cheap goals and it was very difficult to come back into the match after that, although we improved in the second half and created some good chances,” he said.

“We lost to a better team and I take full responsibility for the defeat.”

CAPTAIN Robbie Keane believes the Republic of Ireland can take huge encouragement from their goalless World Cup qualifying draw in Sweden.

The Irish successfully shackled Zlatan Ibrahimovic and company at Stockholm’s Friends Arena to claim a valuable point in their Group C campaign.

They slipped to fourth in the standings, but are just a point behind the secondplaced Swedes and can head into Tuesday’s clash against the team in third, Austria, in Dublin with confidence.

Keane said: “We can take a lot of credit from this game.

“We had an inexperienced team compared to Sweden, who had senior players who have been around a long time.

“We have got a lot of younger players coming through and I think that showed with the energy we had from start to finish. We showed a lot of heart and I am delighted with that.

“I felt quite comfortable.

Usually you are a bit nervous but I felt comfortable.

“They certainly didn’t deserve to get a goal because overall I felt we were the better team.”

Ireland produced a performance that did their manager Giovanni Trapattoni much credit.

The veteran Italian’s position has been under scrutiny since last summer’s failure at Euro 2012 and he was almost axed after the 6-1 thrashing

by Germany last autumn.

But Ireland have still not lost an away qualifying fixture since the 74-year-old took charge five years ago and his latest gameplan worked well.

He was forced into a late rethink by injury to midfielder Glenn Whelan but James McCarthy - a controversial omission from the side named on the eve of the game - excelled in his place, giving the team drive.

The wide men, particularly James McClean and, from deep, Seamus Coleman, offered threat while the much-maligned Paul Green brought the defensive balance required.

Record goalscorer Keane played a more withdrawn role behind strike partner Shane Long but, despite a lack of clear-cut chances, the shape worked well.

Keane was replaced in the hole by Wes Hoolahan 14 minutes from time but the skipper had no issue with that.

The 32-year-old, who is now just two short of equalling Shay Given’s record 125 caps, said: “It is a squad game. I did a lot of running.

“That is why you have a squad, to keep it fresh.

“We made three changes.

With the energy we showed and all the running around we did, it was only right we did change it.”

36 March 24, 2013 • SUNDAY MAIL

Sport

‘Billy Whizz’ says Wales will light up Lions 32

Coleman accepts ‘brutal’ challenges after beating 35 Scotland

Hodgson calm ahead of Montenegro showdown Three Lions in confident mood after thrashing San Marino

By Simon Stone

R

OY Hodgson is refusing to bill Tuesday’s clash with Montenegro as a group de-

cider.

England head into the game in good heart after thrashing San Marino, but still two points adrift of the eastern Europeans following their narrow win in Moldova on Friday night.

With Ukraine securing an unexpected victory in Poland, Group H has now taken on a lop-sided look, with a six point gap opening up between second-placed England and the rest.

It means victory in Podgorica for either side would leave them in a strong position to claim the single automatic qualification spot for next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

But Hodgson does not view the situation in quite such simplistic terms.

As Ukraine are all but guaranteed six points from two matches against San Mari-

Too easy: Frank Lampard (left) and Wayne Rooney were both on target as England put eight goals past FIFA’s lowest ranked team San Marino in their World Cup qualifier no, and still have England to face on home soil, the Euro 2012 co-hosts remain clear dangers to the Three Lions hopes.

“I know Ukraine had a bad start but they are a good team,” said Hodgson.

“I would certainly put them up there as one of the serious rivals, especially on the basis of what we saw in the Euros and what they did when they

came to Wembley.

“I always thought it was going to be a bit of a dog fight between some of these teams.

“Montenegro have stolen a march but I don’t really dismiss the others.”

Juventus striker Mirko Vucinic scored the winner for Montenegro on Friday.

Hodgson will hardly need telling that Vucinic will

present more of a threat to his side than San Marino managed.

On home soil they are strong opponents, as was proved during a qualification game for Euro 2012 when they roared back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw against England in front of 12,500 passionate fans.

“Whatever the result in Moldova it would have still

been a big game for us on Tuesday,” said Hodgson.

“Montenegro are one of our serious rivals for the top spot and we must do our best to get a win there.”

What Hodgson must be delighted about is having some selection posers to deal with.

No game against San Marino is going to unearth a star of the future.

Yet England approached Friday’s dismantling of the world’s worst team with far more relish than they managed in the reverse fixture.

The speed and fluidity of their movement was perfect for such limited opponents, allowing them to rack up the goals such an obvious imbalance in abilities deserved.

Kyle Walker was amongst those singled out for praise

by Hodgson.

But two-goal Jermain Defoe and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were also worthy of mentions as two of the players not previously thought likely to figure against Montenegro.

“Yes, absolutely,” said Hodgson, when asked whether he now had a selection headache.

“It’s important when you get a chance to play for England, regardless of the opposition, the manager’s faith in you is justified.

“A young lad like Kyle Walker must have come off the field pretty happy because he did what he had to do and what was expected of him.

“We are not stupid. We realise it was San Marino, not Brazil. But I don’t think there is much more you can do other than pass the ball properly or show good movement and application.”

The only downside was the confirmation Theo Walcott would be returning home for treatment on the groin strain he sustained in Thursday’s training session.

In addition, Gary Cahill will not be joining up as he has failed to shake off a knee problem.

Champ Vettel on pole at rain-hit Sepang

By John O’Brien

Number one: Red Bull ace Sebastian Vettel clinched his second straight pole position and 38th of his career

RED Bull’s Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel made the most of a well-timed change of tyres in a rainy qualifying session to seize pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday.

Vettel will be joined on the front row for the second round of the season by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, with the Brazilian outqualifying his Spanish team mate Fernando Alonso for the fourth race in succession.

Alonso, last year’s winner in Malaysia and second in the Australian season-opener last weekend, will start in third place.

Lewis Hamilton will com-

plete the second row in his Mercedes with Red Bull’s Mark Webber disappointed to be fifth after getting his timing wrong in the final session.

“If you start in the front, you always want to finish there as well,” Vettel told reporters after his 38th career pole and second of the season.

“It will be a long race and it’s difficult to know the true pace. We confirmed what we saw in Melbourne.

I’m happy with the balance of the car.”

Vettel’s raw pace in Australia was negated by excessive tyre wear in the race and after finishing third there, the German adopted a cautious approach in the first two rounds of qualifying

yesterday.

“It was one of those qualifyings you just want to survive,” said team principal Christian Horner after the rain had caught some others out. “Q1 (the first phase) was a bit close for comfort.”

The first drops fell in the second phase but the Red Bull’s speed shone through once the 10 cars in the final round were all fitted with intermediate tyres as a downpour soaked half of the Sepang Circuit.

Melbourne winner Kimi Raikkonen qualified down in seventh place for Lotus but was later handed a three-spot penalty by stewards for impeding the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg (sixth).

Massa was unsure if his car was quick enough to finish as high as it did had the weather stayed dry, but the Brazilian, like Vettel, used an early change of tyres in the third phase to secure a first front row start since Bahrain in 2010.

“There were some other fast cars but it was a good qualifying from us, we took the right decision to change tyres so maybe the rain helped a bit,” the Brazilian said.