Gold Magazine June - July 2013, Issue 27 | Page 64

CYPRUS SHIPPING DIRECTORY

HELLENIC BANK
whole. In parallel, such a move would have a
positive effect on the shipping industry as well.
Finally, the close cooperation of all stakeholders in the shipping sector could prove to be
an invaluable element in fostering its growth
and decisions such as the appointment of an
Under-Secretary for Shipping is a step in the
right direction

Marinos Athanassiades
Group Global Markets &
International Banking

S

hipping has been a key sector for the Cyprus
economy for several decades now. At this crucial
time, what can the Government do to ensure
that it continues to grow?
During these difficult times, one of the key components to achieving the continuous growth of the
shipping sector is the stabilisation of the banking
sector. The lifting of control mechanisms should
also help re-establish the relationship of trust with
the banks, within the context of the economy as a

62 Gold THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT, FINANCE & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MAGAZINE OF CYPRUS

The term “shipping” covers a vast range of
firms and industries. How important are
they as clients of the Bank? Do they require
special treatment and funding arrangements?
Our focus on shipping certainly covers a wide
range of activities including ship owning, ship
management, chartering, brokerage, bunkering, ship chandlers, marine insurance and
more. Each and every one of our shipping
clients coming from all these diverse areas is
very important to us. That is why we are close
to them because in this manner we can receive
the right input which can lead to continuous
improvement on our part and a better experience for them. The provision of specialised
services and support is a key component whi ch

Photography: Jo Michaelides

One of the major problems facing the
global shipping industry in recent years
has been ship finance. What has Hellenic
Bank’s stance been towards the local industry during difficult times?
Indeed, there has been a large number of exits
by high profile European banking units from
ship finance, mainly due to a blitz of recent
regulatory measures and the general slowdown
of the shipping industry. Hellenic Bank did
have a small number of ship finance projects
in the past, taking into account the highly specialised field of ship finance of course. Before
the decision of the Eurogroup in mid-March,
it was part of our agenda to closely look into
the matter of reinvigorating this segment.
However, at present and as things stand, we
do not offer any ship finance. Hopefully things
will soon revert to normal and we will be able
to re-examine the matter and offer this type of
facility as well.