Request for the transformation of KEDIPES expected to be submitted to the DG of Competition in July

The request for the transformation of Cyprus Asset Management Company (KEDIPES) into an asset management body and the implementation of the mortgage-to-rent plan is expected to be formally submitted to the Directorate General of Competition next July, said a Ministry of Finance official, stressing that the Government is processing the issues of eligibility so that the new plan for the protection of the first residence and professional housing does not have the same results as the ESTIA plan.

Speaking before the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Anthi Chrysostomou Lapathioti, Director of the Financial Stability Department at the Ministry of Finance, did not provide specific information as the issue is being processed by an external consultant, in order to complete the plan to the General Directorate of Competition.

At today`s meeting of the Committee, the issue of the transformation of KEDIPES into a national asset management body was examined, as well as the procedures it follows in terms of granting restructuring solutions to borrowers.

The operation of KEDIPES in 2018 was approved by DG Competition on the basis of specific commitments, as it concerned the provision of state guarantees in the process of transferring the serviced portfolio of the former Cooperative Bank of Cyprus to Hellenic Bank.

Speaking at the meeting, the President of KEDIPES Lambros Papadopoulos said that KEDIPES since the start of its operation in September 2018 has achieved total solutions of € 2.8 billion, of which the restructuring was € 1.1 billion, received in cash inflows of € 1.2 billion, while state aid repaid in cash amounts to € 570 million, € 140 million in real estate, while € 250 million were paid in liabilities of the former SKT, ie the asset protection plan granted to Elliniki for the voluntary retirement plan, while € 70 million have been paid as tax. Moreover, according to a note submitted by KEDIPES, the write-offs of loans from the start of operation of KEDIPES amounted to € 1.1 billion.

"If we add them all together, we have given more than € 1 billion to the state," he said, adding that in the first six months KEDIPES did not have a license for a credit management company, while there was also the coronavirus pandemic.

Moreover, the General Manager of KEDIPES Marios Papadopoulos stated to the committee that KEDIPES does not proceed with the sale of a main residence with a value of less than € 350,000.