Filenews 3 October 2021
By Socrates Ioakim
The recipe that followed in Nicosia Mall, namely to invest some money with its own funds for the configuration of the space and then proceed to its sale, is being studied, according to information in the column, by Remu of the Bank of Cyprus. The bank, seeing that with the current condition of the building, which is priced at € 34 million, the investment interest is not transformed into an official proposal, has in fact before it two possibilities. Firstly, to transform the building into a state-of-the-art office space, and secondly, to turn it into a state-of-the-art hospital, as it sees that for the health sector there is a real interest of foreign investment funds, since in 2020 it was also impacted by an American investment fund.
For the first possibility, the government is also aware of the bank's intentions, which, as is well known, is looking for places for relocation of government agencies. The Shopping Center was a creation of the businessman Christos Orphanides and was erected at the end of the 20th century. It is located alongside Spyrou Kyprianou Avenue, in Strovolos. It is three floors (basement, semi-basement, ground floor, one floor) and covers a total area of 59,437 sq.m. It has a total of 1,126 parking spaces, of which 516 parking spaces are in the basement and the remaining 610 are located on the ground floor of the store. It consists of 7 commercial premises, offices, meeting rooms and employee changing rooms.
Route Larnaca-Thessaloniki
Competition on the Larnaca-Thessaloniki route is increasing, as Sky Express, as from October 31st, with the new Airbus A320, will connect Larnaka International Airport four times a week with Thessaloniki - Macedonia International Airport, thus expanding passenger choice and creating new opportunities for interaction between the two destinations.
With the addition of the new flight, Sky Express confirms its strong interest in Cyprus, which it strategically highlights as a hub for the company, along with Athens and Thessaloniki. SKY express is the fastest growing Greek airline. It has the largest network at home and systematically enhances its flight work abroad. covering a total of 48 destinations in 9 countries. It has entered into important interline agreements with world-class airlines. such as KLM, Air France, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Middle East Airlines, but also with Cyprus Airways.
However, we as consumers will expect to see both the prices of the airline's air tickets and the service it will offer, in order to judge it. The company, however, in the last year acquired 6 new Airbus320 and 6 new ATR 72-600, making one of the largest investments, worldwide, in the field of air transport, in a difficult period.
25 new hotels in L/Ka
Applications for 25 new luxury hotels are under the microscope of Larnaka Municipality, according to mayor Andreas Vyras. The applications concern hotels in the city centre, while a significant number of investors visit the services of the municipality and seek suitable space on Ermou Street, Finikoudes, Zenonos Kitieros, for the creation of small hotels, within the city centre. With these moves, it seems that there is huge potential for the development of the city centre and that Larnaka now has a serious long-term perspective in the tourism sector, thus gaining its fair share.
At the same time, new hotel units will be made in the region. Specifically, the Radisson Larnaca Beach Resort, which is being built on the Larnaka – Dhekelia road, in the area of Voroklini, will open its doors in the tourist season of 2022, if the situation allows it. The luxurious unit will have 404 beds, while it will also include rooms with private pools.
Also, the luxurious Solar Boutique Hotel, which has been built on the site of the former Michael's Hotel, is ready and will operate in April 2022, while in the area where the ruined former Beau Rivage Hotel in Pyla is located today, a four-star hotel will be built, along with apartments, while a five-star hotel complex will be built in an adjacent area, from the same company. Also, in Pyla is expected the issuance of a building permit for the construction of a luxury hotel east of Golden Bay, by local and foreign investors.
MG Motors is coming to Cyprus
Following the government's announcements to promote the use of electric vehicles and the national target set, such as 25% of new registrations to be electrified by 2030, importers are seriously considering bringing new dealerships to Cyprus. As the column is in a position to know, a well-known motor vehicle dealership is at an advanced stage of discussions to bring in the coming months to Cyprus the Chinese-owned MG Motors, with the aim of gaining significant market share in the field of electric vehicles.
MG is a British automaker that has produced sports cars since 1924. Since 2000 it has been part of the MG Rover Group and stopped producing vehicles when the company collapsed in April 2005. The MG-branded cars began to be produced again from March 23, 2007, under the new ownership of the Chinese Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC). On 22 July 2005, NAC acquired the assets of the MG-Rover Group in liquidation, with an offer of £53,000,000.
MG acquired its name from Morris Garages. The William Robert Morris, starting from repairs and the manufacture of bicycles and machines, eventually moved on to the manufacture of sports cars. Morris Garages began producing their own creations, according to the plans of Sales Manager and racing driver Cecil Kimber, who joined the company in 1921. MG returned to the European market in 2019 after a 14-year absence, not with new variants of the legendary TF roadster or redesigned sports Rover, but as a fully electric automaker. And as the company's motto "a legend is reborn" puts it.
It is also worth mentioning that, based on official data, there are currently 201 registered electric vehicles in Cyprus and the goal is to increase their number to 36,000 by 2030. At the same time, the aim is to install 1000 charging points for electric vehicles by 2026, of which 20 will be fast-charging, in areas accessible to the public, businesses, private spaces and local authorities. Finally, from 2030, all purchases of new service vehicles, where possible, will be for electric vehicles.
Fixed telephony is losing ground
According to data released by the Office of the Commissioner for Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation, in the first half of 2021 there was a decline in fixed telephony connections, while during the same period fixed broadband access connections and mobile users increased significantly, compared to the second half of 2020.
In detail, based on the data, in the first half of 2021 there was a small drop in total fixed telephony connections compared to the second half of 2020 (2.7%). In the first half of 2021, stable broadband access was significantly increased (6.2%) in subscription rates with a speed rate of ≥100Mbps, due to the continuous increasing coverage of fibre optic networks. In mobile telephony, according to data from the first half of 2021, the total number of mobile telephony users showed a significant increase by 55,949 users compared to the second half of 2020. Finally, the ratio of the total number of mobile telephony users to the population of the Republic of Cyprus showed an increase of 6.3% in the first half of 2021 reaching 145.9%.
socratis@phileleftheros.com
