Cyprus Mail www.cyprus-mail.com
Friday, March 29, 2013
€1
CYPRUS
WORLD
FILM
House puts off vote on sacking Central Bank boss
Mandela responding to hospital care
G.I Joe: Retaliation opens on big screens today
3
10
centre
All calm as banks open their doors Many who waited patiently in line were the elderly who did not have cards to use ATMs
T
HE FEARED stampede on banks when they reopened yesterday after two weeks of crisis never materialised with queues remaining moderate and the public waiting calmly and patiently for up to an hour to enter the guarded premises. Long queues formed early although the banks were not due to open until noon but by early afternoon the queues were gone. The banks closed at 6pm with not a single incident reported islandwide. Private security at each branch were only allowing up to five people inside the banks at a time and early on, priority was being given to the elderly. Bank staff turned up for work early as cash was delivered by armoured trucks. According to Reuters, the European Central Bank flew €5.0 billion to the island late on Wednesday. An ECB spokesman said the bank notes came from its logistical reserves, which were stored by Germany’s Bundesbank on behalf of the ECB. The fact that temporary capital restrictions were in place as of yesterday also helped prevent a run on deposits as withdrawals were limited to €300 per person per day. Authorities say the emer-
gency rules imposed to limit withdrawals and prevent a bank run would be temporary, initially for seven days. Later yesterday however Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said the capital controls might not be fully lifted for a month. “A number of restrictions will be lifted and gradually, probably over a period of about a month according to the estimates of the central bank, the restrictions will be fully lifted,” Kasoulides told reporters. A police source told Reuters that passengers leaving the island’s airports were subject to extra searches due to the €1,000 limit on taking cash abroad. Notices at Larnaca airport warned travellers of the new restrictions and officers had orders to confiscate cash above the limit. Most of the morning before opening their doors yesterday, bank staff carefully studied the capital controls so customers could be correctly informed. Yiannos Louras, a cashier at Laiki (Popular) Bank said that although nothing was clear yet, he was preparing himself for a very long day. “We hope the public understands we are doing our best to serve them,” he
TURN TO PAGE 5
A manager unlocks the door at a Nicosia bank yesterday where priority was given to the elderly
(Christos Theodorides)
Lindt loses German case over Easter bunny trademark SWISS premium chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli has lost a court battle to protect its gold foil-wrapped Easter bunnies from imitation by a German rival. Lindt, which traces its origins to a Zurich confectionery shop set up in the 1840s, has been fighting German chocolate maker Confiserie Riegelein since 2000 to try to stop it producing similar chocolate bunnies. But Germany’s Federal Court of Justice rejected a final appeal by Lindt & Spruengli yesterday. “We are very glad that this case has found a happy ending for us after some
12 years,” Peter Riegelein, head of the family-owned German business, said in a statement.
HALF-CENTURY INCLUSION “The sitting gold-wrapped bunny has been a firm part of our offering for at least a half century,” he said. “Now it is finally clear that it can stay as it is.” Lindt will respect the decision even though it does not share the court’s judicial interpretation, a spokeswoman said. “Lindt & Spruengli invests substantial amounts into advertising and promo-
tion to further increase the degree of brand awareness,” she said. “We will continue to defend our Lindt gold bunny in the future whenever necessary.” Last year, the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) upheld a decision of the EU trademarks agency OHIM, which rejected Lindt’s application for a trademark of its sitting bunny shapes wrapped in gold foil with a red ribbon bow tie. Earlier last year, however, an Austrian court ruled that family-owned rival Hauswirth could no longer produce Easter bunnies that look like those made by Lindt.