Filenews 5 June 2025 - by Fanis Makridis
Developments in the case of the Blue Ocean company and specifically its debt of a total amount of €14 million.
According to reliable information from "F", the Commissioner of Taxation, Sotiris Markidis, ended up initiating legal proceedings in order to put pressure on former officials who participated in the administrative structure of Blue Ocean. The same information states that yesterday he gave relevant instructions to the lawyers of the Tax Department in order to obtain a decree in order to re-establish the company and then to bring criminal prosecution against former officials of the company in question on the basis of the "Value Added Tax Law of 2000 (95(I)/2000)".
Article 48 of that legislation provides: 'Where a criminal offence referred to in this Law is committed by a legal person, the directors or managing officers of the legal person shall be deemed to have participated in the commission of the offence and to have been guilty of it if they had or are involved in the taking of the relevant decision. (2) For the purposes of this Article, "managing officer", in relation to a legal person, means any director, secretary or other similar officer of the legal person or any person allegedly acting in relation to any such capacity or as a consultant.'
Against officials
In practice, this means that the Tax Department, following the relevant decision of the Commissioner of Taxation, Sotiris Markidis, will take legal action against the officials who appeared in the administrative structure of Blue Ocean in the period between 2005-2010.
We remind you that in 2012 the then Tax Commissioner claimed €13,936,755 from Blue Ocean. The amount concerned Value Added Tax for activities between the years 2005-10 (tax period 1/12/2005 – 31/8/2010). The company's lawyers disputed the amount, first with an objection and later with legal remedies.
The Administrative Court on 28/9/2018 concluded to dismiss Blue Ocean's appeal and uphold the contested VAT decision. The company appealed the decision of the Administrative Board. However, the company was later deleted. As the Registrar of Companies, Irene Mylona Chrysostomou, said last Thursday (29/5) to the Parliamentary Audit Committee, the company, due to pending issues and based on the "Companies Law", placed Blue Ocean on a list of thousands of company names that are being deleted due to non-compliance with their obligations.
He pointed out that it is a procedure that is always followed. As Mrs. Mylona Chrysostomou explained, initially the Tax Commissioner had submitted an objection for deletion, however, he withdrew it in the summer of 2024 (17/6/2024) and paved the way for its deletion. It should be noted that on the basis of competent information received by "F", the lawyers, who handled the appeal on behalf of Blue Ocean, due to the inability to communicate with their clients, did not even forward the appeal to the Supreme Court.
The recommendation of the Registrar of Companies
The way that the Commissioner of Taxation, Sotiris Markidis, decided to proceed is based on what was competently reported at last Thursday's meeting. We remind you that the Registrar of Companies, Irene Mylona Chrysostomou, had explained that the company can be reconstituted as if it had never been deleted. She indicated the way in which the amounts due can be claimed by Blue Ocean, saying verbatim: "Anyone who has a legitimate interest (eg the Tax Department in this case) in reinstating the company can reinstate it immediately by court order (...) The company is re-registered as if it had never been deleted". In fact, at the same meeting of the Parliamentary Audit Committee, the representative of the Legal Service, Senior Lawyer of the Republic, Eleni Symeonidou, stated that pressure can be exerted, referring to Article 48 of the "Value Added Tax Law of 2000 (95(I)/2000)".
Markidis' second thoughts
At the meeting, the Commissioner of Taxation, commenting last Thursday on the possibility of exercising the powers given to him by the Law, had expressed reservations, explaining that the data during this particular period were very different. He referred to bad practices of the past decade and a lack of a regulatory framework. He also mentioned that many university graduates were employed for livelihood reasons in companies providing administrative services and their names were inevitably placed in the administrative structure of a large number of legal entities. In the end, it seems that he had second thoughts, which led him to the decision and yesterday's instructions to the lawyers of the Department of which he heads.
The legal and natural persons of Blue Ocean
According to data collected by "F", Blue Ocean was founded on 11/11/2002 under the name BLUE OCEAN YACHT MANEGEMENT. Its directors were a person of British origin, two Greek Cypriots and MeritServus Secretaries LTD. The first shareholder was FINSERVUS. In March 2005, another person of British origin was added to the administrative structure. In August 2009, one of its Greek Cypriot officials was replaced by another Greek Cypriot. The above refer to the differences in the administrative structure related to the period 2005-10. These are the people who are put under the microscope after the relevant decision of Mr. Markidis.
The registration of the matter and the discussion of intervention
The issue had been registered in the Parliament for discussion by the independent MP, Alexandra Attalidou. Two meetings were held on this subject. At the second meeting, that of last Thursday, which lasted about two hours, information was raised for discussion that the former President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, made a telephone intervention in September 2013, specifically on the 22nd of the month, to the then Minister of Finance, Harris Georgiadis, in order to give away a tax amount at the expense of Blue Ocean, which allegedly belonged to Roman Abramovich's interests. The information was published by the author/researcher Makarios Drousiotis. "President [Anastasiades] of Haris [Georgiadis] called about an issue from New York. In the end, it was a case of Abramovich, who has some boats written to a company controlled by (...)," he noted, among other things, on his personal website (28/5/2025).
The Minister of Finance during the period in question, Harris Georgiadis, although he is not a member of this parliamentary committee, attended last Thursday's meeting and gave his own positions, saying that he did not remember that something like this had happened and that he certainly did not make any intervention in favour of Blue Ocean.
