As soon as Cypra was established, the Central Slaughterhouse of Cyprus (KSK) was asked to repay the loans taken out by the Committee of Lending Commissioners, headed by the then Assistant General Accountant, said before the Investigative Committee for the Slaughterhouse Cypra , who was a member of the Board of the Central Slaughterhouse of Cyprus from 2002-2014, while from July 2012, when he took over the new Board, he was Vice President.
At the same time, Mr. Gerolatsitis, who took over as Chairman of the Board of the Slaughterhouse from the beginning of 2013 until the end of the slaughterhouse in 2014, after the resignation of the President of the Slaughterhouse, said that on 3 November 2010 the restructuring plan was submitted to the European Commission. on December 7, 2010 the Commission requested additional information because there was various information in the European Commission, with the Cypriot state giving the clarifying information to the Commission almost a year later, as he said, and specifically on November 10, 2011.
“And as soon as (the clarifications) were given, the Commission on November 20, 2011 received another complaint from the competitor,” he added.
Reading from the official EU newspaper, Mr. Gerolatsitis said that the Commission states that “as the complainant (competitor) claims, the Cypriot state for many years tolerated or failed to recover the overdue debts of the company and also the Central Slaughterhouse of Cyprus benefited loan of 512,000 euros from the Union of Municipalities, from the absorption of a significant number of employees as well as the assumption of relevant pension obligations by the Municipalities and the abandonment of claims against the slaughterhouse by the central state as a result of the forfeiture of the state guarantee for securities and state guarantee .
Mr. Gerolatsitis also said that the loan from the Union of Municipalities was repaid by transferring the Central Slaughterhouse to a large industrial plot in the Union, while noting that there were loans from the Committee of Lending Commissioners, headed by the then Assistant General Accountant.
“Once Cypra was founded, the Central Slaughterhouse was asked to pay the lending commissioners,” he added.
In addition, he referred to a detailed opinion of the then State Aid Commissioner published in the Official Gazette of the Republic on July 20, 2007 and added that the Commissioner states that regarding the loan debts to the loan commissioners, by letter of the General Accountant of the Republic to the Ministry of Finance dated 7 March 2007 informed that at a meeting of the lending commissioners on January 24, 2007 it was decided to refer the matter to the Ministry of Finance for approval to the debtors to claim the debts, while the Ministry of Finance, as Mr. Gerolatsitis said, did not inform as to whether he took any action.
He also wondered if the Superintendent treats all state services with the same fervor or was there anything else.
The objective was to close the slaughterhouse from beginning to end, he added.
It was also referred to a note from an official of the Minister of the Interior on 9 April 2013 stating that the slaughterhouse restructuring plan had been submitted to the Commission on 3 November 2010, which “has since sent us a series of questionnaires for clarification mainly due to complaints to the Commission a specific competitor of the Central Slaughterhouse of Cyprus “.
The note also stated, according to Mr. Gerolatsitis, that “these questionnaires extend the waiting time and the financial situation of the Central Slaughterhouse of Cyprus is deteriorating.”
Any delay would help the competitor to speed up the time for the end of the only competitor that existed and was the Central Slaughterhouse, said Mr. Gerolatsitis.
Mr. Gerolatsitis also said that in July 2012 the new Board of Directors was appointed, which requested an update of the restructuring of the organization and the study showed that “the situation was gloomy”.
He also said that before the decision to liquidate the Slaughterhouse, ways were considered for it to be able to operate with the new data, such as “selling it or renting it” or becoming a cooperative with people involved in the industry.
While we were given the opportunity to find a way to rent, a note from the Auditor General came after the appointment of a liquidator, as “we were informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that we were not able to rent or sell it,” he added.
Mr. Gerolatsitis also said that he learned, “afterwards”, that while there was no court decision, after a few days there was a court decision, which forbade the Council of Ministers to proceed with either the sale, the rent or the use in any way. of the Slaughterhouse.
He also said that the slaughterhouse found itself in this situation, among other things, due to the fact that the slaughterhouse fees, before Cyprus joined the EU, were determined and regulated by decisions of the Parliament.
In conclusion, Mr. Gerolatsitis said that the important thing about this investigation, in addition to pointing out possible responsibilities, is to send a message which “the society of Cyprus needs and added that” a way must be found so that the Central Slaughterhouse, which is owned by of the Cypriot people, to work to stop the monopoly situation that prevails “, but” and the level of quality provided in meat to rise “.
He said the Central Slaughterhouse could operate again “provided it does not have the burden of debt it previously had” and added that existing machinery and statements could operate with an investment that would not be prohibitive.
If the slaughterhouse did not have those debts created over the years it could survive in the new competitive environment, he concluded.
