Filenews 22 October 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
The preparatory work at the level of legal processes and the conclusion of commercial agreements for the operation in the port of Kato Paphos of one of the largest catering chains in Cyprus, which was in progress since last summer, have now "dug up" and everything "points" to a shipwreck. Now, in the onshore area of the heart of the city's tourism, only the iron structures that were created in front of the shops remain to act as a lure to increase the usable space of would-be tenants.
While stakeholders such as the Ports Authority and the Municipality of Paphos were at an advanced stage of consultations with a specific group of companies in the catering industry in order to agree on all aspects of the big deal and to follow the signing of the contracts, things took a different turn when entrepreneurs who were previously active in the area and left the buildings due to disagreement with the increases that had been decided, took legal action against the state and municipal authorities. This, according to our revealing information, was done because the operators in question considered that the rent prices preliminarily agreed with this chain were much lower than those requested by them, which they argued constituted unfair competition and illegality, since no tender for the rental had even been launched.
Following these developments, the completion of the lease agreement for the buildings in the port of Kato Paphos with the chain of the catering industry that has under its management responsibility in Cyprus some of the most famous brands in the catering industry, has been frozen. The group had expressed in the contacts that had begun its intention to proceed with the rental of three premises in the port, which under the previous management regime operated two of them as fish taverns and the other as a café, with the intention of converting one of them into a café and the other two into restaurants.
Now, the developments are uncertain after the reactions of previous tenants, a competent source told "F" yesterday. The completion of the agreement was deemed vital for the survival of all businesses in the area, even by the entrepreneurs who traditionally operate in the harbour with businesses such as fish taverns, restaurants and cafes. As some of them characteristically stated, although under normal circumstances a place that is the trademark of a tourist area should move with different types of businesses from the global chains that exist everywhere, however, any move that brings general commercial activity to the area is welcome.
"The kind of food and beverage business that this company represents," they said, "would obviously bring new customers to the port, mainly younger customers who in recent years have abandoned coffee in the area and moved to the centre of Paphos, after its redevelopment."
Due to the expected agreement, the iron additions had been placed in front of the shops on the land of the port to allow the placement of table seats, acting as vertical protective shades during the winter months. These constructions, however, caused waves of reactions in citizens and organized groups anyway, considering them as completely "foreign" elements in the picturesqueness of the space.
