CyTA chairman Christos Patsalides said the loan was renewed for another three months. Meanwhile, the respective committee at the electricity company (EAC) postponed a meeting to discuss whether to renew their loan of the same amount.

Workers oppose a renewal but stress that it has nothing to do with the recent approval of a bill that paves the way for the privatization of semi-government organisations including CyTA and EAC. The meeting was rescheduled pending the ratification of the appointment of the new EAC chairman Othon Theodoulou. Theodoulou has asked the workers’ unions to accept the renewal for a month, as per a finance ministry request.

The two semi-state organisations, and the ports authority, had agreed to lend cash out of their employees’ pension funds in December 2012 following stark warnings of imminent default issued by the administration of former president Demetris Christofias. “If these additional financing needs are not secured we will be talking about a state default in the next few days,” finance ministry permanent secretary Christos Patsalides had then told the House Finance Committee. The ports authority had put up around €20 million.

Source: Cyprus Mail