News

Awards and International Recognition

In 2009, one of our projects, Carisa Maison Royale in Limassol, won international recognition by achieving the International Property Award for Best Development in Cyprus. This award was the culmination of the Group’s continuing efforts over the years for construction quality, innovative design and ideal location selection. The successes keep coming for Carisa Maison Royale as it won a Silver Medal for Best Development in Cyprus in the Homes Overseas Awards in Russia, during a glamorous event held at the prestigious Marriot Hotel in Moscow on April 8th, 2010. As a matter of fact, Patroclos Group was able to rake in one more Silver Medal in the ceremony; for Best Ready Project, where Oceanic Village in Larnaca was awarded.

Carisa Maison Royale in Limassol is a highly exclusive development consisting of 17 extremely luxurious villas nestled in the hills of Parekklisia in the area of Amathunta, overlooking the breathtaking Amathus beach and St. Raphael Marina. It is in close proximity to Le Meridien and other luxury spas and resorts, as well as close to Vikla and other golf courses. Its elevated position allows for uninterrupted views of the majestic Mediterranean and a feeling of exclusivity.

Oceanic Village is only 150 metres from the “Blue Flag” awarded beach of Yanathes in the Larnaca coastline, in the touristic zone of Pyla. This development comprises of 43 houses and offers contemporary living whilst keeping true to traditional look and design. The homes have a rustic character with clay roof tiles and wooden railings around but still offer private gardens and swimming pools. Extraordinary build quality and unique style make this project stand out.

Patroclos Group is honoured to have received such prestigious awards in an event held for the first time in Russia! We look forward to next year’s award ceremony and hope to celebrate it with yet another award for one of Patroclos’ projects.

Energy and sustainability

Patroclos Group is dedicated to safeguarding the environment and improving efficiency. We were one of the first and few Cypriot companies to sign up to the Carta against Climate Change, in an event held on March 17th, 2010 at Hilton Park hotel in Nicosia, which was attended by the President of the Republic, Mr Demetris Christofias. This is a commitment for the participating companies to reduce their carbon footprint and positively contribute to the environment.

Our Group has been a leader in mobilising procedures for energy ratings for our buildings; both existing and new built, with most of them achieving “Class A” certificates for energy, according to the newly introduced regulations. We use the latest materials and fittings in construction such as ICF blocks and latest technology double-glazed windows and thermal roof insulation.

One major step towards being green has been taken with the installation of a 55kWp photo-voltaic electricity production park on the roof of our headquarter building in Larnaca. This park will be installed by mid April this year, and is expected to over the building’s energy needs under normal operating conditions. We have five more licences for 150kWp parks underway and we are expected to have these up and running by the end of 2012.

International Exhibitions and Conferences

At Patroclos Group we are aware that it is necessary to ensure we have a continuous and effective marketing strategy. We need to keep our name in the headlines and contact as many fellow professionals in the field as possible. As part of our marketing strategy, we have attended several high profile exhibitions and events in the past semester.

14-15
November 2009 Media Fair, Helsinki

26-30
November 2009 Property Worldwide (Crocus Expo), Moscow

13-14
February 2010 Media Fair, Stockholm

25-28
February 2010 Domexpo, Moscow

26-28
March 2010 Yamarka Expo, St Petersburg

31-02
April 2010 Cyprus Financial Seminar, Novosibirsk

Our continuous attendance proves our dedication to the international property market. We would like to thank the organisers and our local contacts in each city, and also extend a special thank you to all that have visited our stands in these events; we hope to see you soon in the beautiful island of Cyprus!

There’s even more good news for the property market and its related professionals this week as the results of the Europe & Africa Property Awards 2009 in association with CNBC Arabiya have been revealed. Rightly proud of its success, Patroclos Group of Companies is delighted to announce that it has won an award in the category of Best Development in Europe for its project Carisa Maison Royale in Limassol. Winners will be invited to attend a high profile gala dinner at the Marriott Hotel in London’s Grosvenor Square on Friday, October 16th where they will be presented with their awards.

The event is part of the International Property Awards, the world’s most prestigious competition dedicated to finding the best real estate professionals across the globe. The fact that Patroclos Group of Companies has won one of these coveted awards is proof that Cyprus is not only able to compete at this level but also triumph within the highly competitive Europe and Africa property arenas.

Later this year, top scoring winners from the Europe & Africa Property Awards will compete against other winning companies from Asia Pacific, the UK, Americas and Arabia to find the ultimate World’s Best in each category.

Entries were judged by a panel of professionals whose collective knowledge of the property industry is second to none and unsurpassed by any other property awards. This year’s judges included Eric Pickles MP, chairman of the Conservative Party, Ben Wood, industry head property markets of Google UK; Peter Bolton King, group chief executive of the National Federation of Property Professionals; Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of the National House Building Council; Christopher Hall, president elect of FIABCI; Wilhelm Harnish, Master Builders of Australia (MBA); Thijis Stoffer, International Consortium of Real Estate Agents Association (ICREA); Helen Shield, editor-in-chief of International Homes Luxury Collection magazine and Gillian Farr, head of design of Laura Ashley Home.

Cyprus, your safe harbour in times of the global financial crisis

Within the last few weeks it has turned out that the insular state Cyprus is again as always the only »safe harbour in the middle of heavy turbulences" of the global financial crisis. Last week on the EU-summit, where the representatives of the EU-states and Great Britain discussed the recovery of the banking system, it became clear, that the economic situation of Cyprus is not the same as in other member states. It doesn't have to fight any of those great problems. There were also no signs of any changing of this situation. It is even more likely, that Cyprus will benefit from the crisis, as it actually turns out to be one of the few safe places for making business. As a result of numerous meetings of EU-ministers of finance and chefs of the Central Banks is was observed that Cyprus is free from the problems that have shattered banking systems of Ireland, Iceland, Great Britain, Germany and shortly Spain. Cyprus seems to be a spot of land that is immune against those financial turbulences that threaten Europe, USA and the whole financial world.

The Cypriot minister of finance Mr. Charilaos Stavrakis, underlined recently in his speech in the government, that it would be no understatement to say, that the banking sector of Cyprus is the safest in whole Europe. He constituted his statement with the following arguments:
1. Cypriot banks didn't invest into junk bonds (Minister defined them as "poisonous"
2. The local banks depend on domestic saving deposits (not on Inter-Bank Credits)
3. The capital reserves of Cypriot banks are higher than the granted credits.
4. The economic efficiency of the Banks is very positive and has a very solid profit structure.

The economic growth in 2008 and 2009 were defined as 1.1 - 3% per year, which is a lot in comparison with the European level. This fact contributes to the stability of Cyprus as investment zone.

Moreover, the government has a free budget of 2 billion Euros to solve any future difficulty. The sum is a very good financial buffer considering the size of Cyprus. At the moment the Central Bank of Cyprus has been praised for its fore sighting conservative investment policy. It alerted Cypriot banks from excessive credits and inadequate hedges.

Many investors from other countries have now, that the financial crisis broke out, one question that needs answering: what to do, when your own money is not safe in the bank?

There are 3 options that cross one's mind – diamonds, precious metals and real estate. We are witnessing the moment where international investors go to Cyprus to look for a good and safe investments for their money and for the best rates.

The local real estate market is very robust. Investors, that are looking for an investment for 3-5 years will see, that Cyprus is a very interesting option for them.

Cyprus is divided into several development zones. The government protects the natural resources of the island and allows only partial development of the land. The Gross Floor Area in the most distinguished places on Cyprus is about 20-30%. The most requested places for building are on the hills of Paphos, Limassol and Protaras.

Cyprus is an insular EU-state, with 340 sonny days and a continuously developing infrastructure. It walks the way of Monte Carlo for the eastern Mediterranean Sea. 10 planned(and 3 existing) golf courses, 6 new luxury marinas, shopping malls, modern private hospitals and a rising amount of international flights to Cyprus offer a wide range of investment opportunities. See for yourself.

Patroclos Group of Companies and Social Contribution

Within the scope of our Corporate Social Responsibility, Patroclos Group of Companies in cooperation with Larnaca Municipality and the Town’s Local Administration, has constructed a lifeguard tower on Phinikoudes Beach. This tower is necessary for the safety, protection and timely rescue of swimmers and other users of the Beach. The Group aims to construct more lifeguard towers on other beaches, both in Larnaca as well as in other Cities of the island of Cyprus, as part of our continuous contribution to society.

Thank you

Patroclos Group of Companies contributed with pleasure in taking a part in the property exhibition held in Minsk, Belarus during May 2008.

With equal pleasure we had a lot of pleased and warm visits from a lot of Belarusian to our stand at the exhibition. We had a confirmation, for another time, that the high level of operations that our Group put in terms of architectural and implementation of our developments give us a great result from the public response who visited us.

This is a highly good incentive for us to precede and develop our way of operations with more professionalism, specialists and passion. We portray our thanks for the exhibition Authorities which facilitated the atmosphere of the exhibition.

The chairman of the Group, along with a civil engineer, lawyer, bankers and the finance director, recently visited Syria and Lebanon in order to study their real estate prospects for future expansion of the Group.

After carefully studying all aspects of the visits, it was decided that the Group will expand and develop within these two countries. Two plots were bought in each which are now in the architectural planning stage.

We will come back with a further briefing once this has been completed.

Thank you

The chairman and the Research and Growth Manager of the Group had the opportunity to visit a variety of exhibitions abroad where they met with a number of banking institutions and others relevant to the sector of land development. Ways of attracting new buyers to Cyprus and Crete were discussed with encouraging results and everyone our managers met with were enthused with their presentations and briefings.

We will continue to visit exhibitions held abroad and kindly request that exhibition organisers keep us informed of forthcoming events by email to pgc@patroclos.com.cy and marketing@patroclos.com.cy.

Thank you

On the occasion of the New Year according to the Iranian calendar, Patroclos Group of Companies and Roxana Pars organised a party at the Palm Beach Hotel to honour all the Iranians being in Cyprus that evening.

With music and ballets that created a unique atmosphere we had the chance to have fun and to welcome the New Year.

At his speech, the Vice-Mayor of Tehran thanked the two Companies and their Chairmen for the exceptional evening they granted for all Persians who attended the party.

At his speech, the President of Patroclos Group, Mr. Patroclos Georghiou welcomed all the people attending the party and wished them a sincere Happy New Year and explained to them the legal procedure for obtaining an immovable property in Cyprus.

HAPPY NOROUZ!