BECAUSE of faulty policies and bureaucracy there is a threat that companies like juice maker KEAN will have to shut down, DISY president Averof Neophytou said on Friday after touring the company’s premises in Limassol.
However, he praised the company “that confirms my view that Cyprus has a future. It can equally compete with global giants,” he posted on twitter.
“In recent years, orange production has declined to the point that the company receives only 50 per cent of its output needs locally,” one of the owners of KEAN, Kikoula Kotsapa, explained. “The expenses are much higher than the income.”
Another problem is the embargo to Russia. “Though the exports of oranges and mandoras to Russia were few,” Averof said, “we made a plan which essentially killed the production of oranges and mandoras.”
“Cyprus is a small country,” he added, “we have to strengthen our exports.”
The DISY president also remarked that similar companies have closed in recent years because of the problems created by implementing the policies resulting from the embargo of exports.
“The political and industrial sectors are alienated from the market,” he continued, “and it is a shame to have such policies which threaten to close down industries like KEAN.”
He also wondered how it is possible that Cyprus “which should have been the country of oranges”, is at risk of having no oranges to make juice. “We have to change attitudes,” he stressed.