Mediation proposal by Financial Commissioner Paul Ioannou for targeting the suspension of divestments was presented at the afternoon session of the parliamentary Finance Committee, which discussed the referral by President Nicos Anastasiades of the law passed by the Plenum of the Parliament to extend the suspension of divestments.
In particular, Stavros Papadouris, MP of the Ecologists' Citizens' Co-operation Movement, cited a conversation he had with Mr Ioannou, who, as the Ecologists' MP said, agrees with the revision of the legislation.
Specifically, Papadouris said, Mr Ioannou's proposal concerns the suspension of the sale of primary residences worth up to €350,000 based on the income criteria of the ESTIA plan, as opposed to the commitment of credit redemption companies not to sell primary residences, which concerns vulnerable groups.
With regard to professional housing, Mr Ioannou's proposal, according to Mr Papadouris, concerns companies or self-employed with a turnover of up to €350,000 (instead of €750,000) and a maximum value of professional housing of up to €600,000. He explained that the turnover and the maximum value were not put in arbitrarily, but on the basis of the Financial Commissioner's Act.
As regards land parcels, it is proposed to target farmers, companies or individuals who are registered as such in the Register of the Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation (CAPO).
Mr. Papadouris asked if this amendment is put forward, there should be a response by Friday for the Parliament to know in order to make its decisions.
The Director of the Financial Services Directorate at the Ministry of Finance Avgi Lapathiotis said that the proposal should be submitted in writing in order to be considered.
The proposal will be put in writing and sent to the Ministry of Finance for consideration. It was reported that depending on the response from the President and the Ministry of Finance, there might be a partial acceptance of the referral and the proposed amendment would follow.
Lapathiotis pointed out before MPs that she could not definitively state that any suspension, even if targeted, would not cause an impact on the assessments of subsequent disbursements from the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
DISY MP Onoufrios Koulla clarified that the party's parliamentary group will accept the referral, adding that the mediation is for the opposition parties that want the partial amendment.
AKEL MP Andreas Kavkalias said that the whole procedure has led to a one-month delay allowing the continuation of a procedure to the detriment of borrowers, adding that the party insists on its original position. If there is any new evidence that will come before us which we will evaluate and take a position in plenary, he said.
Alekos Tryfonidis, MP for DIPA said that the proposal is moving in the direction of the amendments that DIPA wanted to table and questioned whether the executive would accept these amendments.
Source: CNA
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