Gold issue 79 first 10 pages

ISSUE 79 OCTOBER 15, 2017 PRICE €2.00

FOREIGN INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE LAWYERS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES HNWIs LIFESTYLE COMPLIANCE OPPORTUNITIES NATIONALITY FAMILY LIFE BUSINESS RESIDENCY NATURALISATION BENEFITS TAXATION ENERGY FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT FUTURE WEALTH SAFE SECURE LARGE PROJECTS REGULATION FINANCIAL SYSTEM INCENTIVES MONEY DUE DILIGENCE HEALTHCARE INFLOW MARKET FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS RETURN ON INVESTMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

BY INVESTMENT SCHEME FUNDS START-UPS THEAND INNOVATIONS PRIVATE BENEFITS | THE DANGERS | THE FUTURE SECTOR SUCCESSION STRATEGY REAL ECONOMY CONSTRUCTION LISTED COMPANIES DEPOSITS SALES CULTURAL DIVERSITY LIQUIDITY ACQUISITION ACCOUNTANTS ASSETS MANAGEMENT GOLDEN VISA’ CONTROL LEGAL SECTOR EUROPEAN UNION ENGLISH COMMON LAW DOUBLE TAX TREATY TRANSPARENCY 5 291295 000577

00001 >

THE CYPRUS CITIZENSHIP

CHINA

INTERVIEWS

BREXIT

PLUS

Huang Xingyuan on relations with &\SUXV DQG WKH ZRUOG

George Casey 7KHRGRURV .ULQJRV Christos Michael

Roger Bootle on how leaving the EU will impact the UK

%XVLQHVV %ULHÀQJ :KDW·V 2Q %RRNV 2SLQLRQ DQG PRUH

CHRISTOS THE FIRST NAME IN ETHICS

We are one of the world’s largest independent providers of trust, fund and corporate administration services.

We are committed to helping our clients protect, nurture and grow their wealth.

Above all, we are a people business.

To find out more about our services and to get to know us better, visit www.firstnames.com

ISSUE 79 OCTOBER 15, 2017

T H E

B U S I N E S S

M A G A Z I N E

O F

C Y P R U S

CONTENTS 6 | EDITORIAL 8 | BUSINESS BRIEFING

Economic & Business Highlights of the past month.

12 | MY WAY

COVER

Symeon Kassianides’ management style.

STORY

24 | 7+( &<3586 &,7,=(16+,3 %< ,19(670(17 6&+(0( Welcomed by many but criticized by others, the Government’s Citizenship

by Investment scheme has been a topic of lively discussion in Cyprus, in Brussels and elsewhere ever ZPUJL P[Z VMÄJPHS SH\UJO PU The experts give us their views.

14 | FIVE MINUTES WITH… Andrea Hadjigeorgiou

17 | THEY SAID WHAT?

Some of the most remarkable statements made about Cyprus over the past month.

OPINION 16 | Leaderhip

By Dimis Michaelides

38 | A Job Well Done

By Dr. George Theocharides

FEATURES

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL FEATURE 39 | The Cyprus Funds Industry Presenting the products and services of 14 firms involved in the investment funds sector.

18 | One China, One Cyprus

16

18

Interview with Huang Xingyuan, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Cyprus.

34 | A New Game

Christos Michael on the need to establish a long-term strategic framework for the Professional Services industry.

78

36 | The 4th European Union

Anti-Money Laundering Directive

By Michael Economides.

82

68 | Doing business in the United

Arab Emirates Interview with Theodoros Kringou, Managing Director, Infrocredit Group.

72 | An Ocean of Expertise

Interview with Arthur McWhinnie, Managing Director of BSM Cyprus.

76 | Hard Work, not Good Luck!

How to become a one-of-a-kind B2B sales person in eight easy steps.

4 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

78 | Brexit and the Slow

Death of the EU Leading UK economist Roger Bootle speaks about the forthcoming impact of Brexit on both the UK and the EU.

Ć ` The Ace in Hermes’ Hand George H. Casey, Chairman and CEO of Vantage Airport Group talks about the success story of Cyprus’ two airports.

86 | BOOKSHELF

Five new business titles.

87 | BUSINESS CLASS Maria Zavrou

88 | IN GOOD COMPANY

98 9 96 | WHAT’S ON

How Tototheo’s energy motivates is workforce.

GOLD’s guide to the best cultural events of the coming month.

92 | LUNCH WITH GOLD

98 | A DAY IN THE LIFE

Frances-Galatia Lanitou Williams

Christodoulos Angastiniotis

| EDITORIAL |

The Citizenship Issue

PUBLISHED BY IMH ISSN 1986 - 3543

MANAGING DIRECTOR

George Michail

GENERAL MANAGER

Daphne Roditou Tang

I

“I am a citizen of the planet / I was born here / I’m going to die here / Come what may” Citizen of the Planet by Paul Simon

n recent months, major international newspapers and websites have been full of rather uncomplimentary stories about Cyprus’ Citizenship by Investment scheme, under headlines like EU Passports for Sale in Cyprus Lure Rich Russians (Bloomberg) and The billionaires investing in Cyprus in exchange for EU passports (The Guardian). The articles quote people who are apparently enjoying an anonymous life of ease in Cyprus and elsewhere in Europe, having shelled out a few million euros for the privilege – and a Cypriot passport.

You may have seen the ads online promising that if you buy a home, you can get a passport too. If not, they are more difficult to avoid upon arrival at Larnaca Airport (some even have replica passports to help you understand). And if the message has still not reached the wealthy visitor, there is every chance that it will be pressed upon anyone who wants to listen by a friendly taxi driver on the way to the hotel. What began as a short-term initiative to attract foreign investment at the height of the 2013 financial crisis has clearly been to transformed into a scheme that is ripe for abuse. Fortunately, the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency and two government ministries – Finance and Interior – have been alerted to the unexpected negative consequences of what has generally been viewed as a well-organised and protected scheme and have decided to do something about it, including the possibility of a total ban on any passport- or citizenship-related advertising. Having experienced the consequences of reputational damage four years ago, Cyprus cannot afford to even appear to be doing anything remotely ‘dodgy’ anymore. Hopefully, the Government will move swiftly to ensure that the Citizenship by Investment scheme is adequately protected.

Simon & Garfunkel may have sung about us all being ‘Citizens of the Planet’ but, while this is undoubtedly true, albeit romantic, the planet is still divided into 195 countries. Cyprus is among the smallest and China is the biggest in terms of population but, as the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China told GOLD recently, they have much in common (including a shared Independence Day – who knew that?). In an extensive interview (page 18), Huang Xingyuan examines these links and talks about China’s economy and role on the global stage. We also have, among others, fascinating interviews with George H. Casey, Chairman and CEO of Vantage Airport Group (page 72) John Vickers, and UK economist Roger Bootle (page 78) as well as all our regular and Chief Editor popular features. I’m sure you will enjoy this issue. john@imhbusiness.com 6 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

MEDIA MANAGER

Antonis Antoniou EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

John Vickers JOURNALISTS

Artemis Constantinidou, Pan Charalambous CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Michael Economides, Dimis Michaelides, Dr. George Theocharides, Stefanie Yiangou ART DIRECTION

Anna Theodosiou

SENIOR DESIGNER

Alexia Petrou

ASSISTANT DESIGNER

Stephanie Andreou, Marios Kouroufexis PHOTOGRAPHY

Emma Louise Charalambous, Jo Michaelides, Christos Tsekouras, MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Kevi Chishios

SALES MANAGER

Neofytos Constantinou SALES EXECUTIVE

Erika Phylakti

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Voulla Nicolaou

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Myria Neophytou PRINTERS

Cassoulides Masterprinters CONTACT 5 Aigaleo St., Strovolos 2057, Nicosia, Cyprus Mailing address: P.O.Box 21185, 1503, Nicosia, Cyprus Tel: +357 22505555, Fax: +357 22679820 e-mail: gold@imhbusiness.com subscriptions: goldsubscriptions@imhbusiness.com www.imhbusiness.com

136 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

BUSINESS BRIEFING

AWARDS

Windsor Brokers Ltd

W

NEW TO CYPRUS

FRESHLY CHOPPED

T

he Irish healthy fast food chain Freshly Chopped is to open two new outlets in Cyprus as part of its expansion across Europe. The company said that its first store – in Nicosia – will open in early 2018, followed by a restaurant in Larnaca before Freshly Chopped continues its rollout throughout the island. The new outlets will join the 30 existing Freshly Chopped outlets across Ireland.

BUSINESS

CLIMATELAUNCHPAD GLOBAL GRAND FINAL The Global Grand Final of ClimateLaunchpad, the world’s largest green business ideas competition, takes place in Limassol on the 17-18 October, with 105 start-ups from 35 countries participating. The event is organised and hosted

by Chrysalis LEAP, co-organised by the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency and held under the auspices of the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades.

STELIOS HAJI-IOANNOU TO LAUNCH EASYFOOD

EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is launching a takeout delivery service to rival Just Eat Plc, in an effort to grab a slice of the UK’s fast-growing online market.

According to Bloomberg, EasyFood will let people order home deliveries from local restaurants and takeouts through its website or a mobile app. The service will initially target Birmingham and London.

indsor Brokers Ltd was voted ‘Most Trusted Broker’ at last month’s 2017 UK Forex Awards in London. CEO Johny Abuaitah commented, “We are very proud to have been voted º4VZ[ ;Y\Z[LK )YVRLY» HZ [OPZ PZ H YLÅLJ[PVU of our continuous efforts in gaining investors’ trust and making them feel that, in the ÄUHUJPHS PUK\Z[Y` ^OLYL THYRL[Z JHU IL volatile, we remain a stable choice and our customers and business partners can really count on us”. Windsor Brokers is an interna[PVUHS PU]LZ[TLU[ ÄYT IHZLK PU 3PTHZZVS for almost 30 years.

K

K CYPRUS 64TH IN COMPETITIVENESS

Cyprus climbed 19 places and now ranks 64th among 137 countries in the comparative table of economies, published last month by the World Economic Forum. Switzerland once again topped the list, followed by the USA and Singapore (which switched places from last year). They were followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, the UK Japan, and Finland.

8 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

VOICI LA MODE

Cyprus group Voici La Mode is taking over the Marks & Spencer (M&S) franchise in Romania and plans to open new stores. At present it is taking ownership of Marks & Spencer’s three stores in Bucharest.

Voici La Mode is a Cypriot family I\ZPULZZ ^OPJO ÄYZ[ PU[YVK\JLK the products of Marks & Spencer to Cyprus in 1960.

KPMG

PMG has been named in Consulting magazine’s list of ‘Best Firms to Work For’. For 2017, it jumped six spots to reach No. 7 – the highest ranking of any of the Big Four professional services ÄYTZ ¶ L_JLSSPUN PU [OL HYLHZ VM J\S[\YL and career development. Constantinos Kallis, Head of Human Resources at KPMG Cyprus said that “Improving our people’s professional development, performance and sense of belonging is amongst our top priorities. By relying on our people and their skills, we ensure that we deliver high-quality solutions and services to our clients.”

Kapodistrias Automotive Parts

apodistrias Automotive Parts was recently awarded ”Best Shareholder 2016” by the international trading group TEMOT International at the organisation’s World Congress in Budapest. TEMOT represents 70 leading automotive aftermarket companies from 67 countries. Kapodistrias won the award by topping TEMOT’s sales and performance index for 2016, which is based on the number of cars in each company’s main market. Executive Directors, Constantinos and Marios Kapodistrias said, “This award not only OVUV\YZ V\Y JVTWHU` P[Z VMÄJLYZ LTWSV`LLZ HUK HMÄSPH[LZ 0[ HSZV OVUV\YZ *`WY\Z HUK brings recognition of our combined efforts.”

IN THE NEWS INDEPENDENCE DAY

F

INVESTMENT

A

loan agreement of €26 million

by European Investment Bank (EIB) to the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, guaranteed by the government was signed recently at the Institute’s premises in jectt Nicosia. The loan will go towards a €35 million projec project i k which will see the Institute expand its premises, make the most of new technology and engage in new research work and synergies.

CYPRUS TALKS REPORT

DESPINA PANAYIOTOU THEODOSIOU

At the 37th International Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) in Rotterdam this month, Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, President and founding member of WISTA Cyprus, was elected President of WISTA International, succeeding Karin Orsel, who has held the position for the last six years. Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, CEO of Tototheo Maritime, has served on the Executive Committee of WISTA International as Secretary for the last two years. She is also a Member on the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber.

ollowing the October 1 Independence Day TPSP[HY` WHYHKL ^OPJO ZH^ H Å`WHZ[ I` .YLLR ÄNO[LY QL[Z 7YLZPKLU[ 5PJVZ (UHZ[HZPHKLZ sought to reassure Greek and Turkish Cypriots alike that efforts to reunify the country will continue through resumed peace talks. He was later criticized for inviting the Greek airforce to participate, at a time when Cyprus is trying to convince the world that it wants to be a ‘normal state’ without outside intervention.

EIB lends CING €26 million

MILESTONES

MITSIDES GROUP

The Mitsides Group celebrates its 85th anniversary this year and, to mark the milestone, throughout October it will be donating 2 cents for every pack of Mitsides pasta sold in Cyprus to the One Dream, One Wish charity and the Hope For Children CRC Policy Centre. Mitsides began in1932, when timber merchants Chrysostomos and Costas Mitsides, purchased a traditional stone mill opposite Famagusta Gate in the old town of Nicosia. The brothers set up a partnership and HKKLK ÅV\Y TPSSPUN WHZ[H THU\MHJ[\YPUN HUK PJL THRPUN [V [OLPY [PTILY trading activities.

ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINERS

POLITICS

T

he UN Secretary-General finally issued his report on Cyprus this month, stating that “historic opportunity” for a settlement had been missed in talks in Switzerland. Antonio Guterres did not blame either side for the collapse of the talks but noted his conviction that, “The prospects of finally pushing this process ‘over the finishing line’ will remain elusive without the strongest of political will, courage and determination, mutual trust and a readiness on the part of all parties to take calculated risks in the last and most difficult mile of the negotiations.”

3,600,000 THE EXPECTED ALL-TIME RECORD NUMBER OF TOURIST ARRIVALS IN CYPRUS IN 2017, AS PROJECTED BY THE CYPRUS TOURISM ORGANISATION (CTO). THE PREDICTION WAS MADE ON WORLD TOURISM DAY (SEPTEMBER 27)

;OL *`WY\Z *OHW[LY VM [OL (ZZVJPH[PVU VM *LY[PÄLK Fraud Examiners was inaugurated this month.

In a statement, ACFE Cyprus described itself as “the driving force for meaningful change in the prevention of combating fraud and corruption in Cyprus.” George Zornas, Internal Audit Director at Bank of Cyprus, said that “We have a long way to go before we have instituted effective control and governance mechanisms in private and public organisations” and so the new Chapter would help foster trust in the PU[LNYP[` VIQLJ[P]P[` HUK WYVMLZZPVUHSPZT VM JLY[PÄLK MYH\K L_HTPULYZ

FML SHIP MANAGEMENT LTD

Fleet Management Cyprus (FML) celebrated its 10th anniversary in Cyprus with a cocktail party and dinner at the Hilton Park Hotel in Nicosia. The 350 guests included the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Marios Demetriades, the High Commissioner of India, Ravi Bangar, and a large number of shipowners. Sunil Kapoor, Director of Fleet Management Cyprus (FML) highlighted this year’s 30% growth and spoke about the company’s expansion plans. The *`WY\Z ÄYT PZ H Z\IZPKPHY` VM -SLL[ 4HUHNLTLU[ 3[K OLHKX\HY[LYLK in Hong Kong and part of the Caravel Group.

CYPRUS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

An event was held at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia this month to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry. President Anastasiades described as noteworthy the fact that the organisation is 33 years older than the Republic itself and said that ^P[OV\[ [OL ***0 P[ ^V\SK OH]L ILLU KPMÄJ\S[ UV[ [V ZH` PTWVZZPISL [V V]LYJVTL [OL ÄUHUJPHS JYPZPZ CCCI Secretary General Marios Tsiakkis expressed his conviction that the Chamber will continue to work for the good of future generations of Cypriots.

www.goldnews.com.cy | GOLD | 9

Landas Colour Ltd was founded in August 2008. From the beginning of the operations, company managed to establish itself among the pioneers in the field of design and printing specialist in Cyprus, specializing in creating products from various materials, characterized by excellent quality, innovation in design, flexibility in orders, and reasonable prices. Thereby, Landas Colour provides services in various categories of clients, such as natural people, companies and organizations.

The company has partnerships with many expert agencies and consultants on productive and organizational processes. This leads to an exchange of views and experience, and maintain an excellent cooperation at all levels.

Production unit located in the Industrial Area of Nicosia, which is also used as a distribution center for customers of the company throughout Cyprus.

Working with a cutting-edge printing technology we can ensure that every project is produced to the highest quality, on time and in budget, enabling us to become one of the leading large format digital printing companies in Cyprus.