Gold June Issue First 10 pages

Gold ISSUE 51 JUNE 14 - july 13, 2015 PRICE â‚Ź4.95

t h e

b u s i n e s s

m a g a z i n e

o f

One

c y p r u s

stop solutions

Integrated ICT Solutions for your business 00001 >

5 2 91 2 9 5 0 0 0577

GOLD ISSUE 51 JUNE 14 - JULY 13, 2015 PRICE â‚Ź4.95

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

PRESENTS

LEADING

COMPANIES IN LIMASSOL POWERING THE CYPRUS ECONOMY

00001 >

5 291 2 9 5 0 0 0 5 7 7

Plus

INTERVIEWS, NEWS & OPINION

George Agathangelou Andreas Athinodorou Alexandra Attalides Marios Chiromerides Avgoustinos Constantinides Andrey Dashin Costas Galatariotis Klas Gierow Nicholas Hadjiyiannis Dinos Ioannides Demetra Kalogerou Philippa Kelly Philippos Mannaris Andreas Neocleous Marios Panayides Phidias Pilides Anu Saarela Despina Theodosiou

ISSUE 51 JUNE 14 - JULY 13, 2015

T H E

B U S I N E S S

150+

M A G A Z I N E

O F

C Y P R U S

CONTENTS 6 | EDITORIAL

LEADING

8 | BUSINESS BRIEFING

Economic & Business Highlights of the past month

COMPANIES

12 | MY WAY

Andreas Athinodorou’s management style

IN LIMASSOL

13 | FIVE MINUTES WITH… Demetra Kalogerou

COVER

STORY 29 | 150+ Leading Companies in Limassol 30 | Limassol Calling!

Interview with LCCI Chairman Costas Galatariotis 32 | 150+ Leading Companies in Limassol The list

14 | THEY SAID WHAT?

A selection of memorable recent quotes

16 | Putting Provident Funds on the MAP

The Multi-Employer Aon Hewitt Provident Fund

20 | 2018 Is Just Around the Corner

Philippa Kelly on International Financial Reporting Standard IFRS 9

23 | The 11th CFO Management Forum Looking ahead to the conference

24 | Digital is Inevitable MTN’s conference on the integration of telecoms with IT OPINION 19 | Ctrl+Alt+Delete

By Andrey Dashin

112

22 | Matchmaking for Business

By Marios Chiromerides

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT 53 | 150+ Leading Companies in Limassol 98 | Limassol Marina: One Year On

110

The groundbreaking waterfront project

100 | Bringing People Together Nicholas Hadjiyiannis, Chairman of the Cooperative Central Bank

116

102 | 10 years “By Your Side” Carrefour Cyprus celebrates 10 years in Cyprus

13 SPECIAL OFFER Subscribe today for just €90

OFFER INCLUDES

FREE

ACCESS TO DIGITAL EDITIONS

and get an annual subscription to both Gold & IN Business

Call us on (+357) 22505555

4 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

104 | Northern Lights How the Nordic countries became an economic and social model 106 | Turning the Page The Cyprus-Kuwait Business Association

116 | LUNCH WITH GOLD Alexandra Attalides, Acting Head VM [OL ,\YVWLHU 7HYSPHTLU[ VɉJL in Cyprus

109 | BOOKSHELF Five of the best new business titles

119 | BUSINESS CLASS Despina Panayiotou Theododiou, President of WISTA Cyprus, on her most memorable travel experiences

110 | IN GOOD COMPANY Auditing the life of employees at BAT Cyprus

120 | WHAT’S ON Gold’s guide to the best cultural events

112 | MY COLLECTION Phidias Pilides’ classic cars

122 | A DAY IN THE LIFE Dinos Ioannides

| EDITORIAL |

When Second is First

N

PUBLISHED BY IMH ISSN 1986 - 3543

MANAGING DIRECTOR

George Michail

icosia may be the capital of Cyprus and the seat sea of government but when it comes to the economy, the residents of the island’s second-largest city have every reason to claim that Limassol is the real driving force behind the country’s success. International business, shipping and tourism are the country’s three main economic sectors; the first two are almost entirely Limassol-based, while the city earns a major slice of the lucrative tourism market.

For our cover story in this issue, we return to a listing that we first compiled in December 2013. Then, we presented over 120 Limassol-based companies active in all sectors.

Now, we have expanded the list to more than 150, in recognition of the fact that business in the city has grown, despite the effects of the crisis that affected the whole island more than two years ago. In addition to speaking to Costas Galatariotis, Chairman of the Limassol Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which has played a key role in promoting Limassol for more than half a century, we also asked senior figures from a number of Limassol-based business associations for their views on why their home base continues to deserve its nickname ‘the dynamo of the Cyprus economy’.

Last month we introduced our redesigned magazine to you and I am delighted to report that your response has been extremely positive. In fact, we have never received so many e-mails and calls from readers in Cyprus and abroad since we launched Gold in April 2011. Thank you for making the effort to contact us. In addition to our cover story, this month we present a wide variety of interviews and features covering a broad spectrum of topics and sectors from AON Hewitt’s new Provident Fund (page 16), Carrefour Cyprus’ 10th anniversary (page 102), the newly-formed Cyprus-Kuwait Business Association (page 106) and Nordic cooperation (page 104) to Limassol Marina’s first year (page 98), the future of the Cyprus Cooperative Movement (page 100) and the forthcoming new International Financial Reporting Standard (page 20).

In addition, Phidias Pilides, President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry, enthuses about his classic car collection (page 112), Andreas Athinodorou, CEO of the Aspen Trust Group, shares his management secrets (page 12), Alexandra Attalides, Acting head of the European Parliament office in Cyprus, chats about politicians and more over lunch (page 116), Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, President of WISTA Cyprus, talks about her most memorable travel experiences (page 119), and Dinos Ioannides, DHL Country Manager, tells us about life at work and at home in ‘A Day in the Life’ (page 122). Moreover, we have opinion pieces from Andrey Dashin, Founder of ForexTime (page 19) and Marios ChiromeJohn Vickers, rides, Managing Director of Connecor Investments (page 22) and Chief Editor our guide to what’s on over the next month. Enjoy it! john@imhbusiness.com 6 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

GENERAL MANAGER

Daphne Roditou Tang MEDIA MANAGER

Elena Leontiou

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

John Vickers

JOURNALISTS

Kyriakos Demetriou, Effy Pafitis CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Marios Chiromerides, Andrey Dashin, Andrew Lumley-Holmes ART DIRECTION

Anna Theodosiou SENIOR DESIGNER

Alexia Petrou

PHOTOGRAPHY

Jo Michaelides

MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Kevi Chishios

SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Stavros Epifaniou

ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES

Irene Georgiou, Christopher Constantinou 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

MARIA

THE FIRST NAME IN LO N G -T E R M LOYA LT Y

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

BUSINESS BRIEFING IN THE NEWS

MONEY

SALE OF 2015 EURO COINS

Walking and Talking Peace

President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci took a walk through the divided city VM 5PJVZPH [VNL[OLY VU 4H` PU H Z`TIVSPJ NLZ[\YL HM[LY [OL YLZ\TW[PVU VM YL\UPĂ„JH[PVU [HSRZ ;OL [^V SLHKers met at 11am at the Ledra Street checkpoint and walked to the occupied north of the old city of Nicosia.

President Anastasiades spoke of his common vision with Mustafa Akinci to reunite Cyprus, thereby creating the most stable country in the region. “We know that we have a long way ahead of us. We know that we will MHJL KPɉJ\S[PLZ )\[ ZPUJL V\Y ]PZPVU PZ H ZOHYLK VUL 0 ILSPL]L [OH[ ^L ^PSS IL HISL [V OLHS [OL ^V\UKZ [OH[ have been open for decades,â€? he said. Akinci later joked: “It is believed that we Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are very good at eating and drinking together but when it comes to the negotiating table we are not HZ NVVK :V ^L ULLK [V WYV]L [OL VWWVZP[L š 9L\UPĂ„JH[PVU [HSRZ YLZ[HY[LK VU 4H` ^P[O HU L_JOHUNL VM JVUĂ„KLUJL I\PSKPUN TLHZ\YLZ HUK [OL SLHKLYZÂť TLL[PUNZ HYL ZL[ [V JVU[PU\L [^PJL H TVU[O HKLYZ TLL[PUNZ HYL HYL ZL[ L ZL[[ [V JVU[PU\L [^PJL H TVU[O

Y ENERG

BANK OF CYPRUS â‚Ź29 MILLION NET PROFIT IN Q1

MOTORIN G

Vasilikos Storage Terminal Inauguration on President Anastasiades inauguratated the storage and management terminal for petroleum products at Vasilikos on Friday 29 May. The facility, was designed and constructed by VTTI. VTTV CEO Rob Nijst said that Cyprus “has a truly advantageous geographic position to become a regional energy hub. With large refineries being built in the Middle East, the market expects more vessels’ traffic moving oil products through the Suez Canal bound for the Mediterranean markets, and such cargoes will need to be re-sized at a convenient oil terminal to meet regional requirements.� The facility currently comprises of 28 tanks with a capacity of 544,000 cubic meters, and offers access to a deep water marine jetty as well as to road tanker loading facilities.

8 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) has announced the sale of Cyprus euro coins minted in 2015. Only 100,000 pieces per denomination have been produced, of which 7,000 pieces have already been used by the CBC in the preparation of equal number of coin sets. The coins on sale are euro circulation coins of all denominations, in uncirculated conKP[PVU ;OL JVPUZ ^PSS VUS` IL VɈLYLK in rolls and at a nominal amount plus handling (5% on nominal amount), dispatch, insurance charges and VAT (where applicable).

CAR Sales Up Car registrations in the Ă„YZ[ MV\Y TVU[OZ VM YLJVYKLK HU PUJYLHZL VM JVTWHYLK ^P[O [OL JVYYLZWVUKPUN WLYPVK VM 5L^ JHY YLNPZ[YH[PVUZ YLHJOLK \W I` ^OPSL \ZLK car registrations recorded an PUJYLHZL VM `LHY VU `LHY [V :HSVVU JHY YLNPZ[YH[PVUZ U\TILYLK HU PUJYLHZL VM

JVTWHYLK ^P[O ZVSK PU [OL WYL]PV\Z `LHY ;V[HS JHY YLNPZ[YH[PVUZ OH]L YPZLU PU LHJO VM [OL Ă„YZ[ MV\Y TVU[OZ VM 1HU\HY` -LIY\HY` 4HYJO (WYPS

The Bank of Cyprus Group anU UV\UJLK Ă TPSSPVU HM[LY [H_ WYVĂ„[ attributable to the owners for the quarter ending 31 March 2015, compared c to a loss of â‚Ź337million in the fourth quarter of 2014. On 31 March 2015, gross loans and cusM tomer to deposits totalled â‚Ź24.1 billion and â‚Ź13.6 billion respectively, with a the L/D ratio improving to 138%, compared to 141% on 31 December 2014.

G.A.P. VASSILOPOULOS EXPANDS TO BELGIUM

The G.A.P. Vassilopoulos Group is further expanding its reach, having signed a Master Agency agreement to represent Western Union in Belgium. The Cyprus-based group is already responsible for the workings of Western Union – the World-wide leader in International Money transfers with a network of over 500,000 points in more than 200 countries – in Cyprus, the UK, Israel, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. G.A.P Vassilopoulos’ business plan for operations in Belgium provides for the development of a network of 500 associates throughout the country.

THE MARSHALL ISLANDS FOREX RETAIL

TOMMY HILFIGER at Kings Avenue Mall

A

new Tommy Hilfiger store has opened at the Kings Avenue Mall in Paphos, making it the third in Cyprus and the latest addition to a growing portfolio of Tommy Hilfiger locations worldwide.

The store is operated by Stazo Trading Ltd.. The Kings Avenue Mall store showcases the latest Spring/Summer 2015 Tommy Hilfiger collections, in a new store design concept that highlights men’s sportswear, women’s sportswear, and accessories in dedicated areas that celebrate the unique vibe of each category.

CYPRIOT BUSINESS COMPANIES WIN EUROPEAN BUSINESS AWARDS

G

reen Dot Public Co. Ltd and Remedica Ltd were awarded the Ruban D’Honneur at this year’s European Business Awards sponsored by RSM, at a ceremony at London’s Hilton Park Lane Hotel in May. The awards recognize and reward entrepreneurship, good practices and innovation across Europe. About 24,000 companies from 33 countries participated in this year’s competition, surpassing the number of last year’s WHY[PJPWH[PVUZ HUK PUJYLHZPUN JVTWL[P[PVU ZPNUPÄJHU[S` The winners for each of the 11 categories of awards were announced at the Ceremony. Two Cypriot companies were ZLSLJ[LK MVY [OL ÄUHS HUK H^HYKLK [OL 9\IHU K»/VUUL\Y The title is awarded to the ten best companies from all over Europe in each category.

Green Dot Public Co Ltd won the Ruban d’Honneur in the Environmental & Corporate Sustainability category, while Remedica Ltd’s award was in the Import/Export category.

Corporate Registry

FOREX

President Inaugurates Park Donated

by IronFX Global

P

resident Nicos Anastasiades recently inaugurated the Grigoris Afxentiou Public Park, located adjacent to the IronFX Global Headquarters in Limassol.

Donated by IronFX Global as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, the park was officially opened by the President, the Mayor of Agios Athanasios, Kyriakos Hadjittofis, the CEO & Chairman of IronFX Global Markos Kashiouris, and Co-Founder & Board Member Petros Economides.

Other dignitaries included the Bishop of Amathus and the Commander of the National Guard.

FXTM Launches Russian Website

L

eading forex brokerage firm ForexTime (FXTM) has announced the launch of its Russian-language website. This development is a result of “high demand” from Russian investors, FXTM representatives have revealed, and follows the addition of the Thai, Malay and Urdu languages to the site.

Having established a global presence in European, Asian and Middle Eastern regions, FXTM has reaffirmed its commitment to make its website available in as many languages as possible.

The leading jurisdiction for: $VVHW 0DQDJHPHQW 9HVVHO 2ZQHUVKLS 5HDO ,QWHOOHFWXDO Property Holdings ,QLWLDO 3XEOLF 2IIHULQJV 3XEOLFO\ 7UDGHG &RPSDQLHV

IRI Hellas Ltd. MR EJ½PMEXMSR [MXL XLI 1EVWLEPP -WPERHW 1EVMXMQI 'SVTSVEXI %HQMRMWXVEXSVW

tel: +30 210 4294 404 piraeus@register-iri.com

www.goldnews.com.cy | GOLD | 9

www.register-iri.com

BUSINESS BRIEFING

TRAVEL &TOURISM

(WOYVKP[L /PSSZ (^HYKZ

Aphrodite Hills has been honoured by the World Luxury Spa Awards which recently named it Best Luxury Resort Spa in Cyprus.

The awards are presented to luxury ZWHZ PU KPɈLYent categories on a country and global basis. Meanwhile, the Aphrodite Hills Golf & Spa Resort Residences have received a TripAdviZVY *LY[PĂ„JH[L VM Excellence award.

Qatar (PY^H`Z ,_WHUZPVU

Since 3 June, Qatar Airways has operated a daily direct service from Larnaca to Doha to help meet demand for both leisure and business travel.

(SS ÅPNO[Z VU [OL Doha-Larnaca route will be operated with Airbus A320, featuring a two-class conÄN\YH[PVU PUJS\KPUN up to 12 seats in Business Class and up to 132 seats in Economy Class.

*SHZZPJ /V[LS /VUV\YLK

The Classic Hotel, was recently awarded a 2015 Trip Advisor *LY[PÄJH[L VM ,_JLSlence and recognised as a Top Performing Hotel for the fourth consecutive year by the world’s largest travel site. The WYLZ[PNPV\Z *LY[PÄJH[L of Excellence Award recognises establishments that consistently earn great Trip Advisor reviews from travellers and achieve to deliver excellent hospitality services to customers.

)PaZLY]L (WWVPU[Z 5L^ /LHK VM *VYWVYH[L HUK 3LNHS (ɈHPYZ

T

he Nicosiabased corporate and trustee service group, Bizserve Consultants, has appointed Antigone 2VYĂ„V[P HZ [OL NYV\WÂťZ UL^ Head of Corporate and Legal (ɈHPYZ 2VYĂ„V[P ^OV QVPULK [OL Ă„YT HZ HU HZZVJPH[L SHZ[

Cyprus’ beaches have been named the cleanest in Europe for the 10th consecutive year, with a total of 57 local coastal areas receiving Blue Flag JLY[PÄJH[PVU [OPZ year. In addition, many more beaches were declared to be excellent swimming spots by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). After Cyprus came Greece, Croatia, Germany and Malta.

;V\YPZ[ (YYP]HSZ 9PZL

The number of tourist arrivals rose by

PU [OL Ă„YZ[ quarter of 2015, a further indication of the successful summer season that industry experts have predicted. In April 2015 alone there was an 11.3% increase year-on-year, with visitors numbers reaching 201,495.

The data is based on the results of the Service’s most recent Passenger Survey.

(PYSPULZ (WWS` MVY *`WY\Z Licence

Three airlines – Cobalt Air, Tous Air and Orion – have applied to the Civil Aviation Department for an operating licence in Cyprus. Transport Minister Marios Demetriades has expressed the hope that, if licensed, the airlines will employ local personnel, and noted that Cyprus’ connectivity with destinations in Europe will improve with the addition of more airlines.

PEOPLE

year, specializes in corporate, commercial and European law and she has a broad academic knowledge and practice in banking law. Prior to becoming an associate of )PaZLY]L *VUZ\S[HU[Z 2VYĂ„V[P worked for two of the biggest SH^ Ă„YTZ PU *`WY\Z I\PSKPUN extensive professional experience. She has been a member of the Cyprus Bar Association since 2011. She received her LLB Law with Honours from the University of Bedfordshire and an LLM in European Law (commercial) from the University of Leicester.

10 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

)S\L -SHN Beaches

TR &TOUARVEL ISM

NE PROD W UCT

KEO Launches Cyprus’ First Light Beer

2,6 WSJ [OL SHYNLZ[ IL]LYHNL JVTWHU` PU *`WY\Z OHZ SH\UJOLK [OL ÄYZ[ L]LY *`WYPV[ SPNO[ ILLY 2,6 3PNO[ ;OL UL^ WYVK\J[ 2,6 YLWYLZLU[H[P]LZ HɉYT YLZWVUKZ [V J\YYLU[ JVUZ\TLY [YLUKZ HUK HKKYLZZLZ [OLPY KLTHUK MVY H\[OLU[PJ WYVK\J[Z ^OPJO JVTWSLTLU[ H OLHS[O` SPMLZ[`SL >P[O

HSJVOVS I` ]VS\TL HUK Q\Z[ JHSVYPLZ WLY TS 2,6 3PNO[ VɈLYZ [OPZ ^P[OV\[ JVTWYVTPZPUN [OL VYPNPUHS [HZ[L VM 2,6 ILLY 2,6 3PNO[ ^PSS IL KPZ[YPI\[LK PU IV[[SLZ HZ ^LSS HZ TS JHU T\S[PWHJRZ

Real Estate >LIZP[L MYVT *VVWLYH[P]L Central Bank

T

he Cooperative Central Bank has set up a real estate website which will serve as its main portal for information on issues regarding its property portfolio. The Bank says that the website was created with a view to promoting the sale of property in the Bank`s and the Cooperative Credit Institutions` portfolio as well as real estate for which assisted sale is being implemented. The website

REA ESTATL E

currently accommodates 43 properties worth approximately â‚Ź33 million.

A description, photos and other information about each property is provide on the website, which also provides a search function based on three criteria (district, type of property, target sale price). Properties will be made available through an open bidding procedure and bids must be submitted in writing.

Those interested can visit www.ccb.coop. com.cy or www.realestate.coop.com.cy

Cyprus Team Wins NASA Space Apps Challenge

T

he ‘Arachnobeea’ project from Cyprus has won the NASA International Space Apps Challenge in the Best Mission Concept. The project was the runner-up in the Space Apps Challenge Limassol 2015.

Arachnobeea, a ‘quadcopter drone’ resembling a spider and a bee and designed to fetch items for astronauts, was selected by a NASA judging committee as one of the six global winners from more than

INNOV ATION

950 projects from 135 locations worldwide. The Cypriot team won the international competition in the ‘Best Mission Concept’ category.

Team Leader Aleksandar Bozic said that they were very proud to be among the top six in the ^VYSK HUK Ă„YZ[ PU [OLPY JH[egory. He did not rule out the

possibility that NASA might use some parts of the Cypriot project on the International Space Station. The team, which will be invited by NASA to watch the launch of a resupply ship to the International Space Station in September, is made up of members from Cyprus, Ukraine, Serbia and Armenia.

â‚Ź798,907 5V 3VUNLY )V\UJPUN

Our local knowledge, your global advantage.

1#" ', '!-1' A 5# -j#0 bespoke BVI and Seychelles 1#04'!#1A ',!*3"',% 1&#*$ companies. *-1# *',)1 5'2& -30 -k!#1 in both the BVI and the Seychelles means that we ! , .0-4'"# 0#*#4 ,2A *-! * ),-5*#"%# $0-+ 2&#1# *-! 2'-,1A %'4',% -30 !*'#,21 2&# "4 ,2 %#@ -,2 !2 -30 '!-1' 2# + 2-" 7 $-0 +-0# ',$-0+ 2'-,@ -0" ,1 0312 -+. ,7 H 7.031J '+'2#" T +357 22 767 294 E ',$-:(-0" ,1@!-+@!7

;/, =(3<, 6- <5*6=,9,+ */,8<,: 0::<,+ 05 ;/, -09:; 465;/: 6- 3(:; @,(9 ;/, *699,:765+05. (46<5; >(: Ă 05 4(@ (365, ;/, =(3<, 6- )6<5*,+ */,8<,: >(: Ă ;/, 36>,:; -0.<9, :05*, ;/, *,5;9(3 )(52 6- *@79<: :;(9;,+ 7<)30:/05. 9,*69+: @,(9: (.6

www.jordanstrustcompany.com www.goldnews.com.cy | GOLD | 11