Shacolas to push for airport casino in Cyprus

 * Hands reins of Hermes to Iacovou *
 
Nicos Shacolas, head of the NKS Group trade giant and founding chairman of the Hermes Airports consortium, seems determined to push through with plans to operate a casino at the Larnaca airport hotel, construction work for which is expected to start by the end of the year.
Confirming reports published in the Financial Mirror in early-June, Shacolas told reporters that the consortium is discussing various options with the Ministry of Finance.
“I respect President Christofias and his views,” Shacolas said, referring to the president’s persistent objection to any attempts to start a casino. “The plan is to operate a casino within the airport hotel only for foreign guests.”
Asked by the Financial Mirror about the foreign residents of Cyprus who travel to other countries in order to gamble at casinos, Shacolas said that “if foreign residents of Cyprus can also be considered as foreigners, then that is a matter we have to review.”
Speaking at the press conference to mark the fifth anniversary of Hermes taking over the airports at Larnaca and Paphos as part of a 25-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement, Shacolas said that the two airport terminals, built at a cost of 680 mln euros, “did not cost the state a single euro nor did the government provide any guarantees.”
“We are contributing 42 mln euros a year (in royalties) to the state coffers,” Shacolas said, adding that loan repayments and interest are also being paid on time. He added that the four main lenders – Societe Generale, Royal Bank of Scotland, ING of Holland and WestLB of Germany – had provided 550 mln of the total 680 mln euros needed for the first phase of the project.
Shacolas also said that having been the driving force of the project ever since the government expressed its intention to build two new airport terminals in 2000, he was stepping down and was handing over the reins to Iacovos Iacovou, “a long-time partner in the consortium”. Iacovou also heads the Iacovou Bros construction company involved in major public and private projects throughout the island.
The second phase of the venture is expected to cost some 200 mln euros and will get underway later this year, after the consortium has renegotiated the BOT deal with the government. It will include a transit cargo facility (cost: 15 mln euros), a fuel farm (38 mln), land-side petrol stations at Larnaca and Paphos, a hotel at Larnaca and possibly a mall at both airports.
Hermes CEO Alfred Van Der Meer said that an executive jet facility has already been operating for nearly a year, while the plans to build a solar-panel canopy over the parking lot at Larnaca will proceed, despite the government’s initial rejection of the plan.
“We are partnering with the EAC and Bouyges in a project that will generate income, produce electricity from renewable sources and reduce emissions.”
He also said that there are plans to utilise part of the old runway and tarmac at Larnaca for a limited race track.
Van Der Meer was optimistic about the airport’s future potential, saying that despite the fall in arrivals from the U.K. and regional conflict that could affect tourism to Cyprus, total arrivals rose by 3.2% in 2010 from the previous year and by more than 5% so far this year. In some weeks, the year-on-year rise has even reached 7-8%, he added.
“There are also some opportunities. Cyprus is already utilizing the Russian market even better and we are looking to the Middle East as well. Imagine, if the situation near us settles, then we are looking at potential markets in, say, Cairo and Alexandria, two major cities. With just a 1-2% increase in middle-class arrivals from such destinations, Cyprus will do better.”