Recently the rapidly ageing and beleaguered government spokesman Mr. Stefanou told us that state has cash reserves to last till October but there is no way the Government will default on its payments! According to EUROSTAT the unemployed in Cyprus have now reached 11.9% signaling the 3rd biggest 12 month increase amongst the Euro countries, well above the EU average. In high streets all over Cyprus, shops are closing down at an alarming rate and once highly profitable public companies are registering significant losses for the first time.
The million dollar (or euro) question is what action will our government take to try and avert  the total collapse of our economy

On Thursday, late afternoon, I went to the Hilton Hotel to meet up with a friend.

As I was entering the hotel - from the Makarios Avenue entrance - I saw two buses parked just outside the entrance. This is something that occurs almost every time there is a European football match in the capital.

The two buses were clearly obstructing the view for anyone who wanted to exit the hotel from the exit/entrance (see photo).

As I parked my car I noticed at least 6-8 policemen huddled together in the shade. I walked up to them and told them about the danger and illegality of the parked buses. The officer in charge replied, ‘Where else can they park. There is no other space.’

‘We have the smile of satisfaction, happiness, success; the smile of fun, hospitality and service. There are so many different smiles but they all start from yours. Join the change of hospitality. Show the brighter side of Cyprus!’

This is part of a new campaign by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) to promote professionalism in all aspects of the tourist industry. Not a bad idea as our tourism industry definitely needs a major facelift and this may be a step in the right direction.

However, they seem to overlook what I, as a local, find irritating to say the least.

WE JUST came back from a week long break in Spetses. I must admit I was a bit skeptical when my wife first suggested a Greek island for our holidays as all the negative press the Greeks had been getting had got to me as well.

 However I’ve found out after 20 years of marital bliss, that when your significant other sets her sights on something she will achieve it sooner rather than later, so what’s the point of arguing and in this case she was absolutely right.

Spetses, is an idyllic island in the Saronic Gulf with less than 4,000 inhabitants. It’s a two and a half hour boat (Flying Dolphin) ride from the port of Pireaus. The island is rich in vegetation and in many areas pine trees descend right down to the shorelines. 

I was owed a sizeable amount of money by an acquaintance/business associate and given the lean times we are experiencing I decided that it was time I confronted him and asked for my money back. 

I knew, or I thought I knew, that he was a man of his word and that collecting my dues would be a formality. When I told him the reason for my visit he just looked at me in a perplexed way as if I was demanding something unreasonable.

‘My friend, are you living in cuckoo land’ he said. ‘There is no money, no cash. The banks have squeezed us to the point of no return and it’s a struggle to feed my family and you are asking for your money? However since you have been so patient (stupid) with me I can give you some building material, cement, tiles lots of stuff. ’

Having been humiliated by the enemy a couple of weeks ago it was with great anticipation that I looked forward to the Arsenal – Milan contest, expecting another resounding win for the Rossoneri and an utter and total humiliation for Wenger and his nearly men. 

At half-time of this encounter I felt numb and speechless. My wife tried to attract my attention by offering me a glass of wine but I was ‘lost’. All I could see in front of me was Wenger lifting the Champions League Cup surrounded by jubilant Arsenal players. For me humiliation had taken on a new dimension.

I was reading recently in a financial newspaper that it’s not all doom and gloom and that one can actually take advantage of the financial mess everybody seems to be in and make a lot of money. Reading further into the article it transpired that it was the usual economist’s mumbo jumbo where assumptions and ‘if’s and buts’ were key to success. In this case the assumption made was ‘you have some cash on the side…’. 

However I did a bit of research of my own to see which industries/businesses were flourishing in Cyprus due to the meltdown and I came up with two, one directly and the other indirectly related.

Last Monday, Savvas Kakos, president of Anorthosis football club, issued a statement strongly attacking the Cyprus Football Association (KOP). He stated that his team is the victim of an orchestrated attempt to deprive them of their chance of winning the league. He concluded, “Anorthosis will provide very shortly audiovisual proof that shows football results are not determined by how a team performs on the field as game officials appointments, penalties, red cards among others, are all made ‘on demand’.”

Every now and again reports surface about the creation of casinos in Cyprus. Over the past couple of months the frequency of these rumours has increased considerably with various ministers (finance, communications) being quoted and billionaire investors itching to be the first to acquire the much coveted licence.

This goes against our President’s anti-gambling principles who stated a couple of years ago that as long as he is in power there will be no casinos. However an Akel MP (Mouskallis) said around the same time that AKEL will favour the creation of a casino provided the time is right. It appears that the recession, rising unemployment, shortage of liquidity are the pre-requizites for such a venture.

The air traffic controllers (ATC) refusal to accept the government’s austerity measures and their subsequent strike action has brought government and all political parties in unison for the first time in years. Even the PASYDI union chief, Mr Hadjipetrou seemed a bit annoyed by the controller’s stance and this is no mean feat. Given the circumstance it’s quite hard to side with the controllers as their main argument is that if their salaries are reduced then the inflow into the state’s coffers will also be reduced.