Addressing the General Assembly of telecoms authority CyTA union ASET, Georgiades said that as Cyprus exits a three-year bailout, the government is firm on its position that the country must not become complacent.

“The period of great responsibility begins now. Either we will remain stable and continue the effort, consistently and seriously, or we will become complacent and slip slowly into a new cycle of instability and uncertainty,” he said.

“The Government’s positionand attitude over this matter is given and non-negotiable,” Georgiades stressed.

The Finance Minister said that decisions on the future of CyTA will be taken without third party intervention, noting that the telecoms authority is at a crucial crossroads.

Intense debate on the future of state telecoms workers in the event of a new, privatised company to replace the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA), continuedat a session of the House Finance Committee on Tuesday.

The idea is for the creation of a new private company, called ‘CyTA Ltd’, which would see the transfer of telecommunications operations and assets belonging to the current state-owned CyTA to the proposed private-law company.

Privatisation of CyTA was one of the government’s main obligations in return for the €247 million final instalment of bailout money.

Georgiades assured lawmakers that any staff that will not be absorbed by a proposed ‘CyTA LTD’, will he said, be used in other areas of the public sector to cover existing needs.

The Finance Minister reiterated that the Government does not object to the state maintaining a significant share of the organisation since that would mean a share in future profits. But for future profits to be generated, decisive moves are needed in order to reverse revenue decline, maintain market shares and avoid mismanagement.

“The decisions that we have to take in the next period will determine the future course and the perspective of the organisation,” he added.

Source: InCyprus