Filenews 19 June 2022
By Socrates Ioakim
The environmental authority has given a green light to the project of Asimoula Constantinou concerning the construction of a School of Hotel Studies of Higher Education (College) in the Municipality of Geroskipou in the Pafos District, with a total number of 300 students.
The proposed project also includes landscapes, green spaces and parking spaces for 171 cars. The total area of the plot is approximately 35,580 sq. m. The total area of coverage of the development will be 5,800 sq.m., approximately, while the total building area of 8,540 sq.m. According to the information report, the proposed hotel school will consist of the following:
• Student dormitories, which will include 3 two-storey building units. One of them will consist of 24 apartments on each floor, while the rest will consist of 12 apartments.
• Classrooms and laboratories, which will include 2 two-storey building units, with 3 classrooms each
• Teaching amphitheatre, which will consist of 2 floors
• Library, which will consist of 2 floors
• Offices of directors / professors and secretariat
• Cafeteria / canteen / recreation areas
• Ground floor, which will include 4 warehouses, changing rooms and toilets
• Gym with men's and women's locker room areas, 3 warehouses, stands
• Open sports area of 3,000 sq.m., approximately
• 3 parking spaces, which will include a total of 171 parking spaces.
The entrance and parking spaces of the proposed project will be located on Ierokipion Street. The total cost of the construction of the hotel school is estimated at € 7 million, while the school is estimated to operate in the academic year 2023-2024.
The Artists' Park is coming to Larnaca
Larnaka Municipality announced this week a tender for finding a contractor - contractor for the creation of the Artists' Park "MESOGEOS" in the coastal T/C District of SKALA, in Larnaca. The project concerns the creation of an Artists' Park "Mediterranean" in the coastal T/C District of Skala, which will be connected to Piale Pasha Street and will be adjacent to the new Municipal Parking Area in the area of the former Turkish Cypriot cinema. The project concerns the rehabilitation and sprucing up of Turkish Cypriot plots which have been leased to Larnaka Municipality for the creation of an open square area with paving, planting, lighting and installation of urban equipment. In the space under development, artists will have the opportunity to create and place artistic works outdoors and to hold expressions of cultural interest. The construction of the Artists' Park can be co-financed by the European Union's Fisheries Programme and is expected to be completed by September 2023. The estimated cost of the project is €600,000 + VAT. Tenders must be submitted in accordance with the tender documents by Friday, July 22, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. through the Electronic Public Procurement System www.eprocurement.gov.cy
New country manager at Mastercard
Mastercard announced this week that Panagiotis Polydoros is taking over as Country Manager for Greece, Cyprus and Malta, taking over from Aspa Palimeri. Mr. Polydoros comes from the field of Strategy Consulting, with experience in Deloitte. He has also worked as a Bond and Derivatives Analyst, as well as an Account Manager at Bloomberg. Academically, he holds a Masters in Management from the London Business School and a graduate of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Polytechnic School of Patras.
New growth beyond € 6 million in Germasogeia
In front of the Department of Environment for consultation is the construction and operation of office development in the municipal boundaries of Germasogeia in Limassol, which is planned by Marcuji Ltd. The main use of the proposed project will be the office, while it will also include parking spaces and mechanical spaces. In total, the proposed building will consist of nine above-ground levels, plus a mezzanine, as well as two underground levels, while the total height of the building will be approximately 49 meters above ground level. Finally, the estimated cost of the project is €6,100,000, while according to calculations by the architects of the project, 115 people will work in the office facilities and 10 people will work in the commercial premises.
Subsidized holidays forever?
Thoughts on extending the subsidised holiday plan to hotels and tourist accommodation in Cyprus, not only for the month of August, but all year round, are being made according to information in the column by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism. Savvas Perdios will in fact try to convince with arguments, his colleague in the Council of Ministers, Konstantinos Petrides, of the need to continue the plan, which was embraced with great fervour by the residents of Cyprus, while giving breaths of liquidity to the tourism businesses. However, no final decisions have been taken on the matter, but, as we are informed, there is a good chance that this thought will materialise. This column will track the topic and come back when it has newer information to let you know.
The doubling of the ATA in 2023 and the national minimum wage
According to a circular from the Ministry of Finance, automatic indexation (ATA) is expected to be doubled in 2023, due to the surge in inflation and the wave of accuracy. Specifically, based on what it says in the context of the preparation of the state budget for 2023 and the medium-term fiscal framework 2023-2025, the percentage of ATA in 2023 will reach 2.25% of salaries, compared to 1.27% in 2022, in 2024 to 0.75% and in 2025 to 1%. It should be remembered that, according to the agreement between the social partners, the ATA is paid once a year, provided that in the second and third quarters of the previous year there is a positive growth rate and its performance is limited to 50% of the annual increase of the Consumer Price Index. The guilds, however, are pushing for it to return to its old form, while the employers' organizations and especially the OEB are raising the issue of its abolition. For the record, however, today ATA pays to the EU only two countries, namely Cyprus and Malta. The employers' organizations believe, however, that with the introduction of a national minimum wage, which will be announced out of the blue, this month, the labour costs will increase significantly and there will inevitably be redundancies. However, in relation to the level of the national minimum wage, based on the information in the column, it seems to lock in an amount close to €960.
"Boom" Profits for Logicom
Logicom announced a large increase in its earnings for the first quarter of 2022. Specifically, the profit attributable to the company's shareholders increased significantly, by 42.3%, compared to the corresponding period of 2021, from €5.8 million. to €8.3 million. The significant profits are due to the increase in sales and profit share from affiliated companies and this despite the increase in administration expenses and net financing costs, due to increased interest payable and currency loss. Turnover showed a significant increase of 23.1% compared to the corresponding period of 2021, reaching €271m. from €220.2 million. Finally, as far as the prospects are concerned, the group's management closely monitors the developments with the aim of maintaining and strengthening the growth prospects without affecting its sustainability and strong financial position. The planning for 2022 has been formed on the basis of the ongoing effort to grow both in existing and new markets and to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the market.
