On the citizenship for investment program
Press Conference by the General Secretary of AKEL A.Kyprianou
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 5th September 2020, Nicosia
The citizenship by investment scheme of the Republic of Cyprus was introduced in 2007 according to a specific logic. That is to say, the applicant investors had to be in Cyprus and invest several millions of Euros in the Cyprus economy. At the same time, the necessary scrutiny had to be carried out by the state on the investors and their investments and, accordingly, a Cypriot passport would be granted to them.
Previous governments granted citizenship on the basis of existing criteria and cautiously. Their goal was not the illicit enrichment of a privileged few, but the fulfillment of specific goals: the introduction of new and innovative technologies, the promotion of research, the creation of quality jobs and the growth of the real economy.
It is characteristic that by 2013 less than 200 passports were issued to investors by the two previous governments, whereas from 2013 onwards the Anastasiades-DISY government have issued more than 4,000 passports.
This is due to the fact that the Anastasiades-DISY Government gradually promoted during the first three years of its rule the relaxation of the criteria and the dismantling of the procedures in place. They went so far as to issue passports from a distance to persons who had never set foot in Cyprus. The numbers speak for themselves and have been submitted to the House of Representatives. The Anastasiades-DISY government has increased the granting of passports twenty times over during its own administration. It is certainly isn’t just about the number of passports issued, but also about the rest of the ramifications of this non-transparent policy that was pursued in recent years.
Mrs. Kalogirou, on behalf of the Tripartite Committee that undertook the task of investigating numerous cases, said that out of the 12 files that the Committee has studied, 7 are problematic. They may also include criminal responsibilities. Of the 42 passports that were issued, 19 must be revoked. That in itself says a lot. The Anastasiades government should at least have taken these things into account, instead of accusing others of exercising unfair criticism.
The money from the investments is a lot, but as the investigations show they end up in the pockets of a few, specific law firms, various intermediaries and collaborators, without the country and the majority of society benefiting. On the contrary, they led to property prices rising to unprecedented levels, especially in Limassol. Furthermore, the greedy abuse of this scheme caused a bubble in the Cyprus economy and led it to rely on fragile shaky foundations.
From September 2016 onwards, when the scheme’s criteria were weakened, warnings from the international environment began to be issued. The first to make representtaions were the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Moneyval Evaluation Committee of the Council of Europe, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the International Monetary Fund, the US State Department, the World Bank and the Organization Economic Cooperation and Development which put Cyprus on a black list. Dozens of press reports were recorded by NGOs active against corruption, such as Transparency International, the Basel Institute, the Organized Crime and Corruption Observatory (OCCRP), Global Witness and others. Dozens of articles have been published all over the world in the international mass media such as the Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Le Monde, Die Welt, MediaCorp, Al Jazeera and others. A documentary has even been made about Cyprus. It has become a movie and an episode in numerous television series of international networks. There is no end to the shaming.
All this proves that it is not AKEL that is responsible for the criticism being exerted of the Anastasiades-DISY government. Let’s take a look at all those who exerted criticism.
In the face of all this, the Anastasiades-DISY government reacted by denying everything.
It pretended that nothing was going on. Mr. Anastasiades at some point claimed that Cyprus is being targeted for competition reasons. The then Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades, characterized the various references as “exaggerations”.
The government ruling forces weren’t disturbed even when the then EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova referred to “Trojan states that are issuing passports to criminals”.
They werent bothered even when the IMF, which they once were praising, warned that “Cyprus’ gross dependence on investments through the issuing of passports could put its financial stability in danger.”
They weren’t disturbed when EU Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen called for measures to be taken because “golden passports have been granted to people with some shady activities”.
They weren’t bothered even when the Political Group of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, to which DISY is a member, urged the termination of the issuance of “golden” passports.
They continued to be in denial, with Haris Georgiades stating that “the controls are strict, which is why to date no case whatsoever has been recorded of a person issued with a passport.” He was, unfortunately for Cyprus, refuted in the most categorical way, when we started to discover suspicious compatriots with Cypriot passports in Malaysia, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. The term “suspicious” of course may be lenient, for our fraudster compatriots.
Even when Cyprus was shocked by the scandal with Mr. Anastasiades’ Saudi Arabian friend, he himself denied everything, saying “Let them examine the citizenships granted at the request of my former law firm. If there is any case, I stress, that will show that either my former law firm or I personally, for selfish purposes, have proceeded to any illegal action in favor of anyone, I will submit my resignation the next day.” I leave this statement to the judgement of the people.
Under pressure exerted by the international community, AKEL and other political parties in Cyprus, the Anastasiades government was forced to proceed to improvements in the criteria for granting citizenship. Until then, the rules were approved by the Council of Ministers and not by Parliament, while it is characteristic that ruling DISY voted against a draft bill tabled in Parliament that would have approved strong and specific rules. Other than that, the government says that it led the way in improvements being made to the specific scheme.
Under the pressure exerted due to the constant revelations, the House of Representatives called for and insisted on the adoption of rules to regulate the scheme with transparency, more specifically for specific criteria and controls from Parliament itself and not through Ministerial decisions. The rules were sent to Parliament a whole year later. DISY changed them as they had been formulated in the Parliamentary Committee on Internal Affairs through various amendments. The main ones concern the amendments enabling the program to continue focusing on the construction sector, that is to say, on the building of towers for obvious reasons.
The Al Jazeera reports were just the tip of the iceberg at this stage. The Anastasiades-DISY Government, instead of recognizing the situation and taking action to address it, was only interested in its own image on the domestic front, ignoring the damage being done abroad. The government began putting forth arguments which it abandoned as soon as it understood that they weren’t convincing. It began with the argument that this situation was all a lie. It then went on to state that the Al Jazeera media outlet is pro-Turkish and ended up with the “Christofias is to blame” narrative. This attempt is condemnable and unacceptable. The evident intention is to shift the discussion in other directions. Simultaneously by insisting on the examination of the cases that concerned exclusively the Christofias government, they are demonstrating their intention to attempt to blackmail AKEL in order to ensure its silence. These behaviors are endangering Democracy in our country and are both unacceptable and condemnable.
At the same time, certain forces and circles are leaking information in a selective manner seeking to mislead public opinion. Our demand is that the document concerning the Christofias government be made public so that there will be a discussion on specific facts. We reiterate that it is immoral to leak information about a deceased person who cannot defend himself.
AKEL makes it clear that it is feels neither threatened, nor can it be blackmailed. Wherever and whenever it considers that the public and popular interest is being served, AKEL will continue to express its positions with courage and boldness.
For several years now, international and European institutions and organizations have been referring to the growing corruption in Cyprus. Based on the updated data issued by the World Bank which record each country’s governance indicators, Cyprus showed in the five year period 2013 to 2018 the biggest increase in levels of corruption across the EU. At the same time 95% of public opinion in Cyprus considers that corruption is rife in our country.
What has been the response of the Anastasiades-DISY government to all this?
It resorts to the cheap narrative “Christofias is to blame”.
But it wasn’t the Papadopoulos Government, nor the Christofias Government that granted passports to international swindlers/fraudsters that were wanted all over the world and that issued passports to Ministers of foreign governments.
It wasn’t Papadopoulos, nor Christofias who granted passports to a total of 36 people from Saudi Arabia, in violation of the regulations according to the Auditor General and donating to investor “friends” millions in taxes because they had the honor of taking and hosting them in the Seychelles.
It was neither during the Papadopoulos government, nor the Christofias government that the EU Justice Commissioner is asking the Commission to study the possibility of legal action being taken against Cyprus. This has happened during the term of the Anastasiades government.
At a time when the government ruling forces think that the whole affair is nothing serious, the image that prevails about Cyprus internationally is being strengthened around the world. Namely, that Cyprus is sinking in corruption because it is not just the issue of “golden passports”.
Cyprus has made a name for itself internationally ever since the haircut on bank deposits was imposed on everyone except the relatives of the President of the Republic and some other of his friends.
Ever since the President of the Republic testified as a defense witness in a trial for a friend of his who he appointed as Assistant Attorney General who was subsequently accused and convicted of jury-tampering, bribe-taking, bribery, corruption, abuse of power and conspiracy.
Ever since the employees of the President’s law firm changed their names to be present in discussions for the sale of Cyprus Airways held at the Presidential Palace.
Ever since the feast that the Anastasiades government set up surrounding the Cyprus Co-operative Bank was revealed before it sold it off and for many other reasons.
We can no longer tolerate the international shaming of Cyprus.
It is our obligation to point out these issues and bring them to the knowledge of the Cypriot people.
It is our duty to resist the corruption and demand that measures be taken to rectify the situation.
As far as our role is concerned, we clarify in all directions that we will not abandon this role. We will constantly strengthen this role to serve the interests of Cyprus and our people.
I would like to conclude by saying the following on this issue. Since last June, the government has called for an investigation to be carried out and for the police to find out from where the documents were leaked to Al Jazeera. The newspaper “Politis” announces today that tomorrow it will publish a confidential document that the President of the Republic sent to the political leaders. I wonder, will the government order an investigation to find out from where this specific document was leaked or will it be totally indifferent in this specific case? I clarify that we as AKEL are not asking for an investigation to be carried out against “Politis”.
