Kyperounta Co-op board jailed, fined and jobless

Six members of the Kyperounta Cooperative bank were each fined €5,000 by the Limassol District Court on Monday for sacking the board’s secretary last year and apologised for their actions having expressed remorse. However, they also resigned as they were arrested last Thursday for contempt of court and released on Monday.
The Co-op remained in limbo and could not proceed with a merger with the regional Troodos Cooperative bank as part of the restructuring of the island’s out-dated savings institutions as determined by the terms of the Cyprus bailout programme.
The secretary has since been reinstated but a new interim board is necessary in order to proceed with the restructuring.
The Troika of international lenders (EU, ECB, IMF) recently approved the €1.5 bln bailout for the Cooperative Central Bank that has since been nationalised. The plan is to proceed with widespread mergers and downsizing of the Cooperative movement by merging regional and local Co-ops and offering an early retirement scheme for staff.