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Private and state abattoirs go head to head in inquiry

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Former interior minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said state and independent services would pressure the Kophinou abattoir to pay its dues, but were more lax as regards Cypra.

Privately owned meat slaughtering plant Cypra appeared to know in advance about the state’s rescue plans for Kophinou abattoir and would file objections to the European Commission, Kophinou’s former deputy head said on Monday.

Yiorgos Gavriel was testifying before a committee of inquiry set up to investigate Cypra, which is owned by the husband of the state treasurer. The business found itself in the eye of the storm last November after some 100 staff at the facility tested positive for the coronavirus. It later emerged that the majority were asylum seekers who had not been declared to the department of social insurance.

The matter gradually snowballed, revealing building code and environmental violations that were never properly addressed, ostensibly due to slow bureaucratic and legal procedures.

“Cypra operated in secrecy. It moved against the board of Kophinou abattoir, ministries and government actions, arguing that Kophinou abattoir was receiving illegal funds,” he said. No such illegal state aid given to Kophinou abattoir, he assured.

Had Kophinou been rescued, the other abattoirs would have closed as production exceeded daily demand, he argued.

There were three scenaria to rescue Kophinou, of which the government should have chosen one but there were delays in implementing the plan past the six-month deadline.

“The responsibility for choosing the scenario belonged to the interior ministry. I do not know the reasons for the criminal delay,” he said.

Asked about other financial aid to Kophinou abattoir, he said that the union of municipalities had given about €500,000 to pay the 13th salaries of employees but this was paid back with state land.

And he suggested the committee investigate how Cypra came to be given Turkish Cypriot property.

Gavriel said the abattoir was struggling because of debt, and unfair competition with Cypra employing foreign nationals for lower, non-union rates and longer hours. Because of higher rates at Kophinou business started going to Cypra, he said.

Also on Monday former interior minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said state and independent services would pressure the Kophinou abattoir to pay its dues, but were more lax as regards Cypra.

He said he sensed Kophinou was being undermined while the complaint filed by Cypra with the European Commission contained data which raised questions as to where it had been obtained.

The policy and the atmosphere of the time led to the closure of a public benefit organisation. Instead we now have a private monopoly with a dominant position in the market which is at the expense of Cypriot consumers, he said.

He also spoke of a ‘war from the inside’ against the Kophinou abattoir after 2006 when Cypra was established. He referred especially to the loan commissioners’ council which had pressed Kophinou abattoir for repayment of the €1m loan. The council is chaired by the deputy state treasurer which in 2007 was Rea Georgiou, he told the committee.

 

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