Battle for new KEVE chief begins

Manthos or Tony for KEVE President?

Two leading candidates will be challenging the leadership of the the biggest employer group, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE), following the appointment of its present President, Vassilis Rologis, as the new chairman of the Bank of Cyprus Group.

The new KEVE president will be chosen by the end of this year when Rologis’s term expires. In all, 29 members representing the local chambers in the central executive council will be expected to choose among two frontrunners.

Manthos Mavrommatis, the president of the Nicosia chamber, is highly tipped to take over the island’s leading business club.

Widely expected to challenge Mavrommatis is Tony Antoniou, chairman of the Limassol chamber, pitting the two against each other in what could turn out to be a territorial issue between the two rival towns.

However, several employer-members of KEVE contacted by the Financial Mirror, said that Mavrommatis also enjoys near universal support from the diverse political ranks of the chamber’s membership, overcoming any qualms over his loyalties to the opposition party DISY.

The Nicosia chamber has the most votes in the KEVE council, nine in all. Limassol has six, with five each from Famagusta and Larnaca. Paphos has four.

The local chambers, too, are expected to change their councils in early Autumn, even though most of their members are reelected or the replacement candidates are known in advance.

With campaigning for the KEVE leadership already being planned, actual work for either camp is not expected to begin until after the summer break.