Gold Magazine December 2013 - January 2014, Issue 33 | Page 17

the attention of German shipping companies and others followed.
“The Russians get a lot of publicity these
days but theirs is not the biggest community in Limassol,” he points out. “The
British one is. And all foreigners who love
the sea and the mountains too choose Limassol. I know that Paphos and Agia Napa
may have their own special attractions but
this is a big, vibrant city all the year round.
There is always something going on in
Limassol.”
The fact that Limassol has always been
a major port has also played a role in the
development of business of all kinds.
Christou goes so far as to say that the port
is on a par with Alexandria and Piraeus –
not in size, obviously but in significance –
and, he notes, “When we say that Cyprus
is the biggest shipmanagement centre in
the whole of the European Union, we are
actually talking about Limassol!”
Limassol is now home to one of the
biggest-ever investment projects in the
country’s history – the Limassol Marina
– and there has been a concerted effort to
regenerate the historic centre of the city
and the seafront promenade. But how have
the events of March 2013 affected the
city’s progress?
“We have definitely been affected,”
the Mayor admits. “German and Russian companies and business people in
particular have lost money to a greater or
lesser extent and many of them feel disappointed by the way that we were unable
to protect them. That said, what is truly
remarkable is the fact that most of them
are still in Limassol and they have stated
that they intend to stay in Limassol. In
spite of everything, they have carried out
their investigations into other jurisdictions
and they believe that Cyprus, and Limassol
in particular, still offers them the best deal.
But there is no denying that many of the
big companies are diversifying their activities as a way of overcoming the problems

in their own sector. And unfortunately
they have reduced their contribution to the
social life of the city in the form of sponsorships, contributions and assistance to
charity and sport. But the important thing
for us is that people are still here.”
But if Limassol has been affected like
everywhere else, Andreas Christou believes
that the prospects offered by the discovery
of natural gas will probably benefit his
city more than others in the form of new
products, services and company offices and
he and his city council are doing what they
can to make Limassol as attractive as possible to new players in the sector.
Given that tourism has always been such
a key contributor to the economy, and Limassol is recognised as having the biggest
number of five-star and luxury hotels, it is
time that something was done about what
the city offers its visitors, says Christou.
“Our tourism product is seen as being
quite ‘traditional’ from what I hear from
tourists, which means that we are not
keeping up with modern trends. We need
to invest in special interest tourism and
provide more entertainment for visitors
and even for our own residents. The city
needs to move with the times and bring
itself up to date. Of course, the Marina has
already started to bring new visitors and
business but more plans are needed.”
The most significant contribution to the

When we say that
Cyprus is the biggest
shipmanagement
centre in the whole
of the European
Union, we are
actually talking
about Limassol!

Limassol of today
has come, he says,
from the establishment of the
Cyprus University
of Technology.
“The university
was originally
Andreas christou
given four empty
former government buildings which
have been renovated to a very high standard. They are now full of students. In
addition to these, the university rents
another thirty premises around this area,
there are young people everywhere, the
centre has been regenerated, and student
accommodation has been created. We
rebuilt the city centre with €25 million
of EU funding. The cultural life of the
city has been enriched. Had it not been
for the university, the city centre might
have become deserted and dangerous.
I would say that the importance of the
university is comparable to that of the
port in terms of its influence on life in
Limassol.”
With the University of Technology playing such a key role in bringing
Limassol up to date, it is time for old
promises and ideas of a technology park
to be revisited and properly implemented, Christou says.
“There are already several Limassolbased companies that are working in the
areas of high-tech, IT but we need more
of them. As in the past, we need people
like Chrysses Demetriades who were pioneers in their field and they opened up
new horizons. It is not enough for the
Municipality or the Chamber of Commerce to encourage the private sector
and foreign investment. A clear government policy needs to be formulated and
implemented to attract such companies
to the island. The President and the government need to pay attention to this.”

On the following pages we present a list of more than 120 successful Limassol-based companies. They may vary in size, turnover, employee
numbers and ownership but they are all making a significant contribution to the economy not only of their home base but of the whole
country. Limassol may be the second-largest city in Cyprus but when it comes to entrepreneurship it is clearly second to none.

the international investment, finance & professional services magazine of cyprus

Gold 17