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Gold

ISSUE 57 | DECEM

BER 20, 2015 |thE lEaD

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MICHALIS LOUIS

CEOEUROBANK

CYPRUS

CHRYSOSTOMOS PAPAVASSILIOU

MANAGING DIRECTORISLAND OIL (HOLDINGS)

LIMITED

ARTEMIS ANTONIADOU

MANAGING DIRECTOR

VOICI LA MODE GROUP

ΟF COMPANIES

VARNAVAS IRINARCHOS

MANAGING DIRECTORLOGICOM

PUBLIC LIMITED

COSTASZORBAS

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CEO

A. ZORBAS & SONS LTD

STAVROS PANTZARISMANAGING DIRECTOREY CYPRUS

(Main Sponsor)

LYSANDROS IOANNOU

CHAIRMAN & CEOPHC FRANCHISED

RESTAURANTS PUBLIC LTD

PHIDIAS PILIDES

PRESIDENTCCCI

(Organiser)

CONSTANTINOS SHIACOLAS

BOARD MEMBER

J&P OVERSEAS

Goldt h e b u s i n e s s m a g a z i n e o f c y p r u s

�6pages

kebe business leader awardsthe recipients

the event

✪ FINANCIAL

CRIME FIgHTERSAngela Salter

✪ TIME TO STEP ON THE gASLenas Mylonas

✪ WORkINg

FOR THE gREATER gOODGeorge Ioulianos

the LeADership

issUeThe 2nd KeBe Business Leader awards

eXcLUsiVeWilbur L. ross Jr. on Leadership

OPINIONKyriakos Iordanou

Olga Kandinskaia

Kyriakos Parpounas

Savvas Savouri

Joseph F. X. Zahra

• The Top 10 Global Leadership Gurus• 20 essential Books on Leadership+

BOOkSHELFTen of the

best books of 2015

[ [

ISSUE 57 dEcEmbEr 20, 2015PrIcE €3.00

MICHALIS LOUIS

CEOEUROBANK

CYPRUS

CHRYSOSTOMOS PAPAVASSILIOU

MANAGING DIRECTORISLAND OIL (HOLDINGS)

LIMITED

ARTEMIS ANTONIADOU

MANAGING DIRECTOR

VOICI LA MODE GROUP

VARNAVAS IRINARCHOS

MANAGING DIRECTORLOGICOM

PUBLIC LIMITED

FINANCIAL CRIME FIGHTERS

Angela Salter

TIME TO STEP ON THE GASLenas Mylonas

WORKING FOR THE GREATER GOOD

George Ioulianos

EXCLUSIVEWilbur L. Ross Jr. on Leadership

OPINIONKyriakos Iordanou

Olga Kandinskaia

Kyriakos Parpounas

Savvas Savouri

Zahra

BOOKSHELFTen of the

best books of 2015

16PAGES

KEBE BUSINESS LEADER AWARDSTHE RECIPIENTS

THE EVENT

Nicosia - Limassol - Tel. 22 897 361

ROTONDE DE CARTIERL A R G E D A T E , R E T R O G R A D E S E C O N D T I M E Z O N E ,

A N D D A Y / N I G H T I N D I C A T O R 1 9 0 4 - F U M C

THIS ROTONDE DE CARTIER WATCH COMBINES THREE WATCHMAKING COMPLICATIONS

INTO THE MANUFACTURE MOVEMENT 1904-FU MC FOR A BOLD AESTHETIC WITH CLEAN

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WATCHES THAT COMBINE DARING DESIGN AND WATCHMAKING SAVOIR-FAIRE.cart

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6 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to

do the greatest things.”

Ronald Reagan

THE LEADERSHIP

ISSUEBy John Vickers

Business Leader portraits by Jo Michaelides

What makes a great leader? This is a question that has been a subject of debate and analysis throughout his-tory, and certainly from as early as the 6th century BC (“A leader is best when people barely know he exists.

say: we did it ourselves.” – Lao Tzu) to modern times (who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” – Colin Powell).

As in politics, war and religion, it may appear that the business world, too, is unequally divided into

-nition is likely to be challenged today and it can be convincingly argued that to be a great leader you must also be a great follower.

What is certain is that there are plenty of good – and bad – leaders around and there also exists a com-paratively small number of people who are recognised for their greatness.

Last year, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry inaugurated its annual Business Leader Awards, in recognition of leadership excellence in var-ious sectors of the economy and as an acknowledge-ment of the fact that talented individuals have the ability to inspire and, thus, to make their companies and organisations successful.

Last month, the CCCI’s 2nd Business Leader Awards were presented at a glittering ceremony in Limassol and on the following pages you can see photos from the event and read brief interviews with the seven winners.

It is interesting that every one of them, though singled out for their individual and personal achieve-

ments, makes the point that success is actually a mat-ter of teamwork. This would suggest that one of the key aspects of great leadership is, in fact, the ability to create a team and inspire its members to do what one person cannot possible manage alone. This is the essence of the selected quotation (left) by the late US President Ronald Reagan.

Having team-building skills and encouraging team-work are, not surprisingly, also part of the business philosophy of US billionaire Wilbur L. Ross, whose €400 million injection of new capital into Bank of Cyprus last year provided a boost not only to the bank but to the island’s broader banking sector and the economy. His ideas on leadership are provided in the exclusive Gold interview that follows, together with concise insights into his own achievements.

Success stories can undoubtedly inspire and en-courage the rest of us to work hard for great achieve-ments and to persevere until we attain them. They are powerful motivators. So for those who believe that one way of learning how to become a good and even a great leader is to discover the secrets of people who are broadly recognised to have proved their worth in

reading spanning more than 2,500 years and topics as diverse as 5th century BC military strategy and Premier League football management. This alone indicates the breadth of the leadership question and each of the 20 books has a great deal to teach about

the best-known and widely acclaimed gurus teaching the art of leadership.

Most people believe that great leaders are not born but made. Indeed, as US General Douglas MacArthur memorably said, to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.”

are frequently being told, the stars aligning for a settlement of the longstanding Cyprus Problem, the leadership qualities of many people on the island will undoubtedly be brought into focus. Will they prove to

THE LEADERSHIP

ISSUE

GOLD ld | GOLD

2nd KEBE BUSINESS

LEADERAWARDS

T H E B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E O F C Y P R U S

I S S U E 5 7 D E C E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

C O N T E N T S8| BUSINESS BRIEFINGEconomic & Business Highlights of the past month. 16 | MY WAY Marios Kilitou’s management style.

18 | FIVE MINUTES WITH… Asma Al Rahma.

20 | THEY SAID WHAT?A selection of memorable recent quotes from Cyprus.

OPINION54 | IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF?By Joseph F. X. Zahra

62 | MUCH MORE THAN CHARITYBy Kyriakos Parpounas

72 | STAYING FOCUSEDBy Kyriakos Iordanou

76 | TOY STORYBy Dr. Olga Kandinskaia

78 | MIND THE GAP, GEORGEBy Dr. Savvas Savouri

FEATURES22 | WORKING FOR THE GREATER GOODCFA General Manager George Ioulianos

business sector.

26 | TIME TO STEP ON THE GAS

Cyprus from current and future natural gas discoveries.

56 | FXTM: A TRUE INNOVATORInterview with Olga Rybalkina, CEO of ForexTime.

60 | FINANCIAL CRIME FIGHTERSAngela Salter, ACAMS Head of Europe, on anti-money laundering education.

64 | WORKING THE CROWDCrowdfunding needs regulating, says Amalia Hadjipapa.

66 | THE 2ND CYPRUS FIDUCIARY ASSOCIATION FORUMPhotos from last month’s conference.

68 | ORACLE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FORUM Pictures from the event.

COVER STORY

32 | The Leadership Issue What makes a great leader? We talk to the seven winners of the CCCI’s 2nd Business Leader Awards and to US billionaire

investor Wilbur L. Ross, while proposing our choice of the 20 best books on leadership,

introducing the Top 10 Leadership gurus.

22

26

56 84

70 | RIGHTS ISSUECyprus can become a regional hub for Intellectual Property

74 | TAXATION OF OFFSHORE ACTIVITIES UNDER CYPRUS DTASBy Olga Chervinskaya.

80 | BOOKSHELFTen of the best books of 2015.

82 | IN GOOD COMPANYExploring cdbbank’s core asset: its personnel.

84 | LUNCH WITH GOLDAndreas Hadjikyriacos, Managing Director of Gnora Communication Consultants.

87 | BUSINESS CLASSPhilippos Mannaris, CEO, Aon Hewitt Cyprus.

88 | WHAT’S ONGold’s guide to the best cultural events of the coming month.

90 | A DAY IN THE LIFEChristiana Diola.

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Can greater insights be found by understanding the complexity behind the obvious?Using market-leading analytics tools, EY auditors look beyond the obvious, delving deeper into underlying patterns and trends to deliver powerful business insights and a high quality, risk-focused audit. ey.com/theartofaudit #BetterQuestions

8 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

| EDITORIAL |

John Vickers,Chief Editor

john@imhbusiness.com

What’s Another Year?

welve months ago, I noted in my final editorial of the year that “while 2014 is unlikely to be remembered as anyone’s favourite year, things have developed better than even the most optimistic forecasters ex-pected.” Today I would be happy and, I believe, perfectly justified to repeat those words and simply change the date. 2015 has undoubt-edly been a year of economic progress, once again surpassing expecta-

tions and defying the Government’s critics. As we saw in 2014, the island’s politicians again did their reputations few favours, particularly those in opposition who, for months on end, pointlessly delayed approving key legislation that would enable the banks to take action on the major problem of non-performing loans. In the end, the Troika of international lenders got what they wanted, Cyprus received another tranche of bailout cash and almost half of the country’s MPs were able to feel that they had shown heroic, patriotic defiance towards the nasty foreigners.

That said, the developments that may give 2015 a special place in the history books did not concern the economy but the island’s longstanding division. The victory of Mustafa Akinci in the Turkish Cypriot community’s elections in April was arguably the most significant event in Cyprus for decades and it was one that President Nicos Anastasiades seized upon with un-characteristic boldness. Since then, considerable progress has been made in talks between the two leaders and people are talking seriously about a settlement in 2016. For the first time, the optimistic voices are coming from inside Cyprus as well as from the international community. The recent visits to the island by the Philip Hammond, Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry, as well as an earlier one by Jean-Claude Juncker, are not chance events. We will have to wait and see whether a final agreement is reached, and there are plenty of loud voices – particularly Greek-Cypriot ones – calling for a ‘no’ to reunification under any circumstances but we may be about to witness and, indeed, be part of a truly historic moment.

As far as Gold is concerned, 2015 was the year in which we reached our landmark 50th is-sue and marked the anniversary by bringing in a few modifications to the content and design of the magazine, all of them received positively by you, our readers. The most recent change took place last month when we dropped the cover price and introduced a new publishing arrangement with Reporter, the new weekly newspaper published by our owners IMH, by which Gold comes out as part of a special package and then as a standalone title.

For the fifth time, I want to end my December editorial by thank-ing you for your consistent support and wishing you a great Christ-mas and a Happy New Year. In the words of John Lennon, Let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear.

MANAGING DIRECTOR George Michail

GENERAL MANAGER Daphne Roditou Tang

MEDIA MANAGERElena Leontiou

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF John Vickers

JOURNALISTSEffy Pafitis, Artemis Constantinidou

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Mariana Antonescu, Olga Chervinskaya, Amalia Hadjipapa, Kyriakos Iordanou, Olga Kandinskaia, Chloe Panayides, Kyriakos Parpounas, Savvas Savouri,

Joseph F. X. Zahra

PHOTOGRAPHYJo Michaelides, Andreas Loucaides

ART DIRECTION Anna Theodosiou

SENIOR DESIGNERAlexia Petrou

PHOTOGRAPHY Jo Michaelides, Harris Kyprianou

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Kevi Chishios

SALES MANAGER Irene Georgiou

SALES EXECUTIVE Stavros Epifaniou

OPERATIONS MANAGER Voulla NicolaouSUBSCRIPTIONSMyria Neophytou

PRINTERS Cassoulides Masterprinters

CONTACT5 Aigaleo St., Strovolos 2057, Nicosia, Cyprus

Mailing address: P.O.Box 21185, 1503, Nicosia, Cyprus

Tel: +357 22505555, Fax: +357 22679820e-mail: gold@imhbusiness.com

subscriptions: goldsubscriptions@imhbusiness.comwww.imhbusiness.com

ISSN 1986 - 3543PUBLISHED BY IMH

T

COSTASZORBAS

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CEO

A. ZORBAS & SONS LTD

STAVROS PANTZARISMANAGING DIRECTOREY CYPRUS

(Main Sponsor)

LYSANDROS IOANNOU

CHAIRMAN & CEO

RESTAURANTS PUBLIC LTD

PHIDIAS PILIDES

PRESIDENTCCCI

(Organiser)

CONSTANTINOS SHIACOLAS

BOARD MEMBER

J&P OVERSEAS

GOLDT H E B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E O F C Y P R U S

THE LEADERSHIP

ISSUETHE 2nd KEBE BUSINESS LEADER AWARDS

The Top 10 Global Leadership Gurus 20 Essential Books on Leadership+

ISSUE 57 DECEMBER 20, 2015PRICE €3.00

GOLF COURSES ATTRACT THOUSANDS

Cyprus’ professional grade golf courses attracted 25,000 visitors to the island last year, representing 1%

of tourist arrivals in 2014, in what was one of the best years for the island’s golf tourism sector. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation ex-

pressed its satisfaction, noting that there is room for a further increase,

particularly during the winter months.

AMATHUS BEACH HOTEL WINS GREEN HOTEL OF

THE YEAR AWARDThe 5-star Amathus Beach Hotel in

Limassol was named “Green Hotel of the Year 2015” at last month’s Euro-pean Hospitality Awards in London. Reference was made during the cer-emony to the hotel’s numerous green

initiatives, launched to make it an envi-ronmentally aware resort and a leader

in sustainability projects.

THOMSON GOLD AWARD FOR KING JASON HOTEL

The King Jason Hotel in Paphos has won the Thomson 4T Overall Gold Award for 2015. This recognition,

which The King Jason has now re-ceived for several consecutive years,

-cellent customer service. Visitors gave the hotel a satisfaction rating of 97.5%

for 2015 – the highest to date.

VIP VISITORSThe British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, the US Secretary of State for Foreign

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French President François Hollande were all in

to encourage the leaders of the two communities in the ongoing talks to resolve the longstanding Cyprus Problem. President Hollande made a brief stopover in Larnaca where he thanked Cyprus for its assistance to French military action against IS in Syria.

TOURISM

BUSINESSBRIEFING

IN THE NEWS

42 GREEK SHIPPING COMPANIES REGISTER IN CYPRUSDue to the crisis in Greece, 42 Greek shipping companies have registered

revealed by the President of the Limassol Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), Costas Galatariotis.

Chrysostomou Award

Andreas Chrysostomou, Di-rector of the Department of Merchant Shipping, was named ‘International

Personality of the Year’ at the 2015 Lloyd΄s List Greek Shipping Awards in Athens. The award recognizes his contribution to the Cyprus and inter-national shipping industries.

10 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

ate for Foreign

r Sergey nch President de were all in

e leaders munities in ks to resolve g Cyprus

John Kerry Sergey Lavrov

Philip Hammond François Hollande

Ship Management Revenues Rise

Ship management revenues in Cyprus increased during the first half of 2015, to €464 million, the highest

recorded since 2010. Ship manage-ment revenues now correspond to 5.4% of Cyprus’s GDP, according to the Central Bank.

SHIPPING

www.goldnews.com.cy | GOLD | 11

GREEK TV

STATIONS COMING

TO CYPRUS

The Chairman of the Cyprus Radio & Television Authority, Andreas Petrides, announced last month

expressed their interest in setting

has already obtained its licence to operate. Following recent changes to the regulations governing the media in Greece, the TV stations are viewing Cyprus’ licence fee of €51,400 as a much better deal than the €300,000 fee that they will allegedly have to pay in order to op-erate at home. Mega and ANT-1 already have successful Cyprus operations.

MEDIABANKING

BG GROUP ACQUIRES STAKE IN CYPRUS GAS FIELD

British multinational oil & gas company BG Group has agreed to ac-quire a 35% stake in the consortium with rights over Block 12 of Cyprus’

Exclusive Economic Zone from Noble Energy, for a cash consideration of some $165 million. Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis described the move as “a very important development, which highlights the confidence and prospects in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone, coming from a company with such a large international presence.” Block 12, the ‘Aphrodite’ gas field, was discovered in 2011 and is estimated to have gross mean natural gas resources of approxi-mately four trillion cubic feet.

TOTAL’S EXPLORATION LICENCE EXTENDED

Earlier this month the Council of Ministers approved the extension of energy giant Total’s exploration licence in Cyprus’ offshore Block

11 for two years. They also approved the size and shape of the new explora-tion area in Block 11. The company’s original licence was due to expire in February 2016 and it was ready to pull out of Cyprus, having failed to identify any likely targets in Block 10 but it was persuaded by the Government to keep its operations going. The discovery in September of the huge Zohr gas field just 6 km from Block 11 in Egypt’s Ex-clusive Economic Zone has made Total think again.

EAC PRIVATISATION NO LONGER ON THE TABLE

I n an unexpected turn of events on December 7, En-ergy Minister Yiorgos Lak-kotrypis announced that the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) would remain

under state control but the planned disaggregation of the organisation into separate entities will go ahead. Accord-ing to the original plan, the EAC will be split into two entities: the network on one hand and generation/supply on the other, with the state maintaining a majority stake and allowing private investors to acquire the rest. Such a move is also supported by international lenders, which has spoken in favour of a better business model for the EAC.

,THE NUMBER OF TAXPAYERS WHO SETTLED THEIR IMMOVABLE PROPERTY TAX (IPT) BILL BEFORE THE DEADLINE IN ORDER TO BENEFIT FROM A 20% DISCOUNT. BY THE END OF NOVEMBER,

MORE THAN €55.5 MILLION HAD BEEN PAID.

ENERGY

CIBA AWARD FOR RCB BANK

-

the Association’s Annual General Meeting in Limassol, Transport Minister Marios Demetriades praised RCB Bank’s contribution to the Cyprus economy and the continuous development of its operations over the past 20 years. Receiving

-cellence. RCB Bank operates 6 branches in

12 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

Hourican to Stay at BoC

Bank of Cyprus CEO John Hourican is to retain his position at the helm of the Group and will

sign a new two-year contract,

Hourican had announced his resignation in April this year

“for personal reasons”, saying that he had his family intended

to relocate to his home country, Ireland.

Angastiniotis Reappointed

Christodoulos Angastiniotis has been reappointed as Chairman of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) for a second four-

year term by President Nicos Anastasiades, who also renewed the tenure of the rest of the CIPA Board last month. The Agency is tasked with coordinating the

investment prospects abroad and attracting foreign investment.

Josephides Named IMO Maritime Ambassador

Alexandros Josephides, Deputy Director General of the Cyprus

Shipping Chamber (CSC), has been appointed as IMO Maritime Ambassador for

Cyprus. An International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Maritime

Ambassador is a spokesperson or advocate for the maritime and seafaring professions, whose task is to raise awareness, particularly in young people starting out on further education and a career.

Xenia Georgiou has been ap-pointed as a member of the

Horwath DSP Ltd. She joined the company in October 2009 and has been responsible for

assignments. Managing Direc-tor Ioannis Demetriades praised Georgiou’s excellent leadership

skills, partner-level judgment and valued service to clients.

PEOPLE

BUSINESSBRIEFING

TUS RECEIVES AIR TRANSPORT

LICENCEA new local carrier is set to launch after receiving a commercial air transport li-

cence from the government. Larnaca-based TUS Airways is backed by investors from

Europe and the United States. The airline will begin scheduled

flights in January 2016 to regional destinations including Beirut,

Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rhodes, Kos, Eilat and Samos.

MORE ACCOLADES

FOR EMIRATESNovember was a month of accolades for Emirates, as it clinched ‘Airline of the Year’ at the Arabian Business Achieve-

ment Awards, ‘Favourite Airline Premier Cabin Middle East’ at the Conde Nast Traveller Middle East Readers’ Choice Awards, and ‘Best Business Class’ and ‘Best Airline Lounge’ - at the inaugural

Middle East Ultimate Luxury Travel Related Awards

(ULTRAs).

12 | GOLD | The Business Magazine of Cyprus

destinations including Beirut, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rhodes,

Kos, Eilat and Samos.

Emirates, aYear’ at the

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TUS RECEIVES

AVIATION

ETIHAD AIRWAYS NAMED AIRLINE OF THE

YEAR 2016Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has

been named Airline of the Year 2016 by the US-based aviation industry publication Air Transport World (ATW). It was chosen for the top

honour in a highly contested compe-tition, with entries from more than

100 airlines around the world.

accolades for rline of the

ess Achieve-rline Premier Conde Nast ders’ Choice Class’ and

he inaugural Luxury ards

by the US based aviation industry publication Air Transport World (ATW). It was chosen for the top

honour in a highly contested compe-tition, with entries from more than

100 airlines around the world.

EASYJET FLIGHT TRACKING

APP FEATUREEasyJet has enhanced its award-winning

mobile app with live aircraft tracking functionality. The airline is the first to

collaborate with Flightradar24, enabling passengers to see the whereabouts of the aircraft they are due to fly on up to three

hours before their flight. Family and friends can also

track any flight ahead of its arrival.