State funeral for Cyprus construction tycoon George Paraskevaides

The state funeral for George Paraskevaides, co-founder of the J&P construction colossus and great philanthropist, who died in London last Wednesday, aged 91, was held in Nicosia, Tuesday.

President Tassos Papadopoulos and Archbishop Chrysostomos II gave eulogies, while Efthyvoulos Paraskevaides spoke on behalf of the family.

The rags-to-riches real-life legend of the founders of one of the leading construction and development companies in the world started when George Paraskevaides, fresh out of university after World War II, partnered with the late Stelios Ioannou to establish Joannou & Paraskevaides.

Together they embarked on a historic journey that would take six decades and span across the Middle East, North Africa, Cyprus and the Balkans in project from hotels and office buildings, to residential complexes and palaces, highways, airports and ports, as well military bases and oil and gas facilities.

With an annual turnover of USD 738 mln and workforce of 14,000 people, J&P was ranked 45th in the world in ENR-Engineering News Record’s 2006 survey of the world’s top 225 contractors.

Beyond J&P, the Paraskevaides Group includes Cosmos Developers in Cyprus and Greece and GP Homes in the U.S., medical distributors Phadisco, consumer goods distributors Christodoulides Bros., EP Global Energy and maintains interests in Pepsi Co. bottling plants and KFC and Goody’s franchises in Cyprus and the region, as well as hotels in Cyprus and Greece.