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Twenty five Cyta investors on hold

29/01/2016 09:55
Twenty-five investors, including Russian companies have shown preliminary interest for Cyta, and are waiting for the next steps of the government and the parliament regarding its privatization.

According to the commissioner for privatizations Constantinos Herodotu, Citigroup, which is one of the government's advisers on privatizations, has informed various investors regarding the privatization of Cyta, and 25 of them have shown preliminary interest.

Mr. Herodotu, who gave a speech yesterday at a conference organized by CCCI and the Cyprus - Russian Business Association, explained that Russian companies have also expressed interest at a preliminary basis.

He explained that there have been contacts with the Russian embassy which provided relevant information to organizations in Russia.

He noted that investors are worried about the prolonged delay in the process.

He noted that the aim is to achieve the best possible valuation and the best possible price for Cyta.

As known, the process is currently stuck following union reactions and the negative stance of political parties towards the bill that will change the employment status of Cyta employees and turn it into private company.

During his speech, Mr. Herodotu presented services that are on the privatization list, noting that plans for Cyta and the port of Limassol are at the most advanced stage.

The list also includes the CSE, the security services of airports, the rejuvenating of the Troodos area, a number of properties on the island and the casino.

EAC, as he mentioned, has recently been removed from the list of privatizations.

Mr. Herodotu reported that in the case of Cyta the commission of privatizations works closely with the organization's management and other stakeholders such as trade unions, so that the plans comply with workers’ demands, as this issue is raised in every discussion with potential investors.

Referring to the delay in passing the bill on the creation of Cyta Ltd, Mr. Herodotus said that the bill has not yet been approved by the parliament, so the process cannot begin.

The finance minister made a new appeal to the Parliament yesterday, to speed up procedures for passing draft legislation on Cyta.

Now is the time

Explaining how investors examine and evaluate investment opportunities Mr. Herodotu said that both macroeconomic factors and project factors are taken into consideration.

He stressed that at the moment Cyprus maintains an attractive macroeconomic setting with a dependable system and a stable tax regime which is EU compliant.

Mr. Herodotu said that there are positive growth prospects for 2016 and the following years, while he noted Cyprus’ upgrades by credit rating agencies. He noted that these factors create “a perfect environment for privatizations, not only from the government’s point of view, but also from the investors’ point of view”.

He added that planning is based on projections for future revenues of the organizations under privatization, noting that “from a macroeconomic perspective it is the right time to privatize”.