Gold Magazine September - October 2013, Issue 30 | Page 65

management
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Dr

COSTAS MARKIDES, PROFESSOR OF STRATEGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE LONDON
BUSINESS SCHOOL, IS THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THIS YEAR’S 12TH HR MANAGEMENT &
HUMAN CAPITAL CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY IMH AND PWC CYPRUS AT THE HILTON PARK
HOTEL, NICOSIA, ON 13 NOVEMBER 2013. MARKIDES, A BESTSELLING AUTHOR, WAS INCLUDED
IN THE 2011 LIST OF THE 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL MANAGEMENT GURUS PUBLISHED EVERY TWO
YEARS BY THINKERS50. ON A RECENT VISIT TO CYPRUS HE SPOKE TO GOLD ABOUT WHAT
THE ISLAND NEEDS TO DO IF IT IS TO RECOVER FROM ITS CURRENT PREDICAMENT AND HOW
EMPLOYERS SHOULD BEHAVE IF THEY ARE TO KEEP THEIR PERSONNEL POSITIVE IN DIFFICULT
TIMES LIKE THE PRESENT.
By John Vickers. Photograph by Jo Michaelides

Gold: As a Cypriot, I am sure that you
have always kept a watchful eye on what
is happening here, so were you surprised
by the fact that Cyprus was forced to
request a financial assistance package in
2012?
Costas Markides: The need to request
financial assistance from our European
partners was not a surprise. What was surprising was the magnitude of the assistance
needed and the manner in which it was
given to us. In particular, what caught most
people by surprise (or at least me) was the
size of the financial bailout that our banks
needed.
Gold: How did you view the resolution of the Cyprus Popular Bank and
the ‘bail-in’ method used to recapitalize
Bank of Cyprus?
C.M.: The bail-in was definitely a surprise

THE MOST
INSPIRING
THING
FOR PEOPLE
IN THE
MIDDLE
OF A CRISIS
IS HOPE
for me. The EU had provided much bigger
financial packages to countries such as
Greece, Ireland and Spain without resort-

ing to the bail-in method, so applying it to
Cyprus for the first time was unexpected
and surprising. With hindsight, you can
see where the Europeans (and the IMF) are
coming from. We may look at the bail-in as
unfair and harsh but, from an EU perspective, they could make the argument that
simply loaning the money to us would have
made our debt unsustainable.
Gold: Do you believe that alternative
solutions could have been found?
C.M.: It’s hard to see what the alternative
would have been. One possibility would
have been to find another investor (e.g.
another foreign bank) to buy Cyprus Popular Bank or Bank of Cyprus and provide
the necessary capital. Another alternative
would have been for the Government to
provide the necessary injection. I believe
both options were pursued and were found

THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT, FINANCE & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MAGAZINE OF CYPRUS

Gold 61