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/ Louis controversy spreads to the Church
/
CONTROVERSY continued to dog the Louis Cruise Lines (LCL) share issue in
yesterday's papers, after it was revealed that the Archbishopric had also
been given preferential treatment by the company. The Church bought 187,500
shares in the private placement.
_Simerini
_ reported that the shares bought by the Church were sold on to a "select
eight" members of the close circle of Archbishop Chrysostomos, at 50 cents
per share (the church had paid 40 cents for them). The total profits from
the shares was in the region of £500,000, which meant that the "select
eight" had each made a profit of £60,000.
The paper claimed that church circles were furious with the Archbishop's
action, insisting that the church -- and not a chosen few -- should have
benefited from the profit. It also said that certain bishops had taken
exception to the Archbishop's action and would demand explanations at the
next Holy Synod meeting. In a letter of protest sent to Chrysostomos by
nine aggrieved employees of the Archbishopric, it was claimed that the
preferential treatment given to the "G8" constituted "fraud".
_Politis
_ reported that the LCL shares "continued to provoke serious shocks to the
political and religious stock exchange". The stock market had been
"elevated to a major issue of political life with the majority of political
parties opposed to the acquisition of shares, through private placement, by
political parties," the paper said.
It noted that two Disy deputies had written to their party leader Nicos
Anastassiades to call a meeting of the political bureau to discuss the
matter raised by Disy's purchase of LCL shares, which was opposed by
another two members. Diko parliamentary spokesman Tassos Papadopoulos
insisted that the purchase of shares would in no way make the parties
dependent on LCL. Papadopoulos is a member of the LCL board.
_Alithia
_ insisted that President Clerides was wrong in saying that he would not be
able to reshuffle his cabinet before November. The paper cited three
reasons why Clerides would be forced to carry a cabinet reshuffle next
month. First, the Minister of Communications, Leontios Ierodiaconou had
given notice that he would be quitting his job in September.
Second, the sacking of government spokesman, Costas Serezis, was a
certainty, as he could not be left at his post until November, considering
the poor relations with government backers Disy. Third, in November,
intercommunal talks are scheduled and Clerides' attention would be focused
on these.
_Machi
_ reported that the 92 National Guard officers and NCOs, sent to Crete to
operate the Russian S-300 missiles, are demanding that they return to
Cyprus. However, their requests for repatriation have been ignored by the
Greek army, which considers them irreplaceable.
The main gripe of the 92 is that the wages they are getting are too low.
They were receiving, on average, £550 a month. The Cyprus government had
not kept its promise to pay them double this amount while they are serving
in Crete.
_Phileleftheros
_ reported that the Greek government had been bracing itself for
investigative contacts from the US government, with regard to the Cyprus
peace talks. These contacts would take place ahead of President Clinton's
visit and before the start of peace talks.
Greece's government had set up working groups, consisting of senior
diplomats and academics, to prepares papers on all major aspects of the
Cyprus issue. The groups would have an advisory status, assisting Greek
Prime Minister Costas Simitis in his negotiations with US envoys.
_Haravghi
_ reported that the US State Department, Pentagon and White House were
preparing proposals covering EU-Turkish relations, Greece-Turkey
differences and the Cyprus problem, that would be presented as a package by
President Clinton.
© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999
