Rent on the basis of use is preferred by the Government

The Authorities is transferring to levy rents on authorities plots on the premise of utilization somewhat than market worth, in an try to resolve the issue of various regimes relevant in industrial areas and industrial zones, the Minister of Power, Commerce stated on Tuesday and Business, Giorgos Papanastasiou.

“There’s a severe distortion between zones and areas. The zones decide the hire of the land primarily based in the marketplace worth of the land, whereas within the industrial areas the Ministry of Power determines the hire primarily based on the use”, stated Mr. Papanastasiou, in statements after the session of the Parliamentary Commerce Committee, which examined the entire thing.

As acknowledged earlier than the Committee, at current the duties for the matter are positioned within the Ministry of Commerce which has duty for industrial areas, making use of a coverage of figuring out hire on the premise of use, and the Ministry of the Inside for industrial zones, the place rents are priced on the premise of the market worth of the property, leading to variations that distort competitors. On the similar time, the municipalities and communities, beneath whose duty the craft zones fall, even have duty.

Each the Minister of Power and the Director Normal of the Ministry of the Inside, Elikkos Ilias, reassured that everybody's rents won’t be elevated primarily based in the marketplace worth. The Minister of Power requested for time till September with a view to consider every space individually and the rents in drive.

Critical variations in rents

Briefing the Committee, Mr. Papanastasiou stated that an advisory committee was arrange, with representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, Lands and City Planning, which seemed into the matter to establish the place the issue lies, with a view to discover a answer.

He stated that two areas have been recognized with very giant variations by way of hire. Particularly, within the industrial space of ​​Strovolos the hire is €1.15 per sq. meter, in comparison with €11 per sq. meter within the industrial zone of Strovolos. In Limassol the hire is €1.15 per sq. meter within the industrial space in comparison with €8 per sq. meter within the industrial zone.

He additional defined that in industrial zones there are each authorities and personal plots and there’s no infrastructure and authorities providers. He famous that the change within the coverage concerning plots will not be simple as there are additionally authorized hurdles and subsequently the considered altering the hire issues new contracts or constructing leases and leases.

For his half, the Normal Director of the Ministry of Inner Affairs, Elikkos Ilias, stated that from the primary evaluation that was completed, they discovered the variations that exist. “That is precisely what we would like the 2 Ministers to outline a framework for easy or gradual restoration, as a result of when there are already signed contracts there’s problem in altering the hire or modifying it,” he stated.

He assured that “the purpose is to not improve the rents of the entire world”,

“What we’re taking a look at is to type of easy them out, the place there are very low rents or the place there are excessive rents to be given assist, via the de minimis (de minimis) subsidy scheme to cowl the value distinction in industrial zones,” he stated.

Answering a query on the conversion of commercial zones into industrial areas beneath the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Ilias stated that the examine targeted on the quantity of rents and never on the conversion of zones into areas.

Within the session all of the companies that have been invited expressed issues in regards to the giant distinction in hire between industrial areas and industrial zones.

On behalf of OEB, Michalis Grigoriou stated that the issue lies within the rents within the heaps positioned within the industrial zones. “We agree on the one coverage, however what we’re strongly involved about will not be growing the rents within the areas to come back to these of the zones,” he stated, including that we have to break away from the precept of market worth.

Andreas Andreou on behalf of the KEBE stated that it’s troublesome to deliver the entire matter beneath the umbrella of a Ministry, because the Ministry of Commerce has duty for industrial areas, the Ministry of the Inside for industrial zones, whereas the municipalities even have duty for craft zones.

As he stated, the primary measure is to calculate the hire on the premise of use for which there’s a strategy and the second is the De minimis plan to cowl a part of the hire, with a view to be examined by the Ministry of the Inside to cowl a part of the hire in industrial zones, the place rents are larger.

On behalf of POVEK, Stefanos Koursaris stated that each one the companies concerned should take part within the advisory committee, including that it can’t be mentioned to extend the rents within the industrial zones to strategy these of the commercial zones.

In response, the Minister of Commerce stated that they acknowledge the issue, which isn’t solely about rents, but additionally about how these lives and areas are managed.

“We are going to attempt to deliver them beneath one physique and mainly there must be a uniform administration of the areas. It’s not our objective to burden the trade and manufacturing of Cyprus with further rents, the aim of our Ministry is to discover a method of administration”, he added.

The President of the Parliamentary Committee, Kyriakos Hatzigianni, requested that the chief energy current an answer by September, stressing that the imposition of various rents doesn’t deliver the specified consequence.

“On the finish of the day, the Authorities must make the choice. Right now, a yr later, we observe the identical spirit, the identical therapy of issues. These points have to be resolved, not parked,” he stated, including that at present there have been “obscure guarantees with out concrete outcomes.”

The previous President of DISY, MP Averof Neophytou, referred to the large variations between the rents since, as he stated, there’s an space in Strovolos the place the hire is €0.99 per sq. meter and in Kokkinotrimithia the place the hire is €7 per meter. “All these distortions are a scenario that has existed for many years, it's time to appropriate them,” he stated.

On behalf of AKEL, MP Kostas Kostas stated that the difficulty was mentioned once more in June 2023 and it involved the totally different coverage within the administration of commercial areas and zones. “We ask for the self-evident that there have to be a single physique and a single regime,” he added.

EDEK MP Ilias Myrianthous known as on the Ministry of Commerce to reinstate an earlier plan to help the motion of companies from industrial areas to different licensed industrial areas or zones.