The Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos, gave his own statement on the issue of naturalizations to the Research Committee this morning.
After giving the legalized assurance before the Investigative Committee of the Exceptional Naturalization of Foreign Investors and Entrepreneurs, the Archbishop of Cyprus, when asked if he remembers the letter he sent dated September 1, 2015 to the then Minister of Interior with which he his own actions such as the requests for naturalization of three people to be submitted for approval at the meeting of the Council of Ministers on September 3, 2015, he answered in the affirmative, saying that the reason he did it was because the developer who bought a plot of land from us in Ayia Napa did not have the money to prepay them and to securitize the said field ".
"(The developer) gave an advance payment and we made a document and I signed it as a representative of the Archdiocese. He did not sign, so I was obliged to sign the documents and I wanted to get rid of these situations as soon as possible ", he noted and added that he sent the letter to speed up the process, so that he no longer has commitments to is running to sign.
Asked if he has sent other similar letters, the Archbishop said that he has sent many letters to the President of the Republic, to Ministers, to General Directors, etc.
Answering a question if he knew these three people he mentions in his letter personally, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that he did not know any of them and added that he only knew Mr. Lowe, because the developer had told him that he would make a contribution to the Archdiocese and that wants to see him bring the contribution himself.
He noted that he told the developer that if Mr. Lowe insisted on telling him to come one day, they should have lunch together and he brought him.
"I met him at the table and in fact I did not even see the check. I thanked him and told him that the Archdiocese did not need a contribution and that he would accept a contribution for the Theological School, to which other Cypriots have offered a contribution. And I thought he would give around € 15.000. "Then they told me that his contribution was € 300.000", he added.
Elsewhere in his replies, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that the Bank of Cyprus did not accept the check to be submitted to the Theological School because it had been issued in the name of the Archdiocese and so it was submitted to the Archdiocese and at the same time the Archdiocese issued its own check of the same amount. deposited it the same day in the account of the Theological School.
Asked if it was a check given to them by Mr. Lowe, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that the check came from a company owned by Mr. Lowe and which is registered with the Registrar of Companies to this day.
He noted that the company in question issued two checks and for the second check, the developer must have told them.
According to the Archbishop of Cyprus, he created the Agia Aikaterini foundation where he appointed a chanting teacher, with the order to make chanters throughout the Province, and had asked the developer to make a contribution.
For the second check, he continued, he learned it from the publications.
Regarding his letter of September 1, 2015, in which he asked the then Minister of Interior such as the requests for naturalization of the three persons to be submitted for approval - this word and not for examination - before the Council of Ministers on September 3, 2015, was common This word was used, Archbishop Chrysostom said that the letters were prepared by the Secretariat and he would ask how they would present these cases to the Council of Ministers.
"I do not rule out that they came in contact with the Secretary of the Minister and took all the verbal information from there. "It was not my speech," he added.
Asked if he had carried out any checks on the identities of these people before writing his letter, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that it was completely impossible for him to do so because he did not have the power to ask responsible state or Europe to inform him responsibly.
"Others were responsible," he said.
Asked if someone from the Archdiocese or someone else around him gave him information about these three people, the Archbishop of Cyprus said no, adding that only the developer gave information.
Answering a question, the Archbishop said that he had learned from the newspapers about Mr. Lowe.
Asked in general about the Church's relations with the Cyprus Investment Program, what they were and if, in addition to these three people, there were others who naturalized on his own recommendation, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that he had been following this issue since the haircuts took place. the economy was not doing well.
"We lost the biggest investment we had, which was the banks, we had an income of around 9 to 10 million a year from the dividends we got from the banks and we lost. "They left us only 1% in Bank of Cyprus and we also lost Elliniki", he added.
They then suffered, he said, a loss of 128m euros.
"Fortunately we had the hotels and we lived from the hotels. I knew we were not doing well and to this day I watch all this mischief that happens and I say, well they are not ashamed, big favored countries of Europe, Germany, France, Italy, England, give passports and get billions, the poor Cyprus is left now and it is a great sin why it gives passports and it becomes so noisy? And the Republic of Cyprus is dragged away every day by this evil. When the haircut was done we had a problem. In fact, when I asked the President, he was at a very dead end then. In fact, some people told me, you know, go to the Presidential Palace and the President will have a stroke ", he added.
The Archbishop of Cyprus said that he is certainly interested in the economic situation of Cyprus, as well as the national issue, and added that whenever he goes to the Presidential Palace, the discussion on the national issue begins.
Specifically, Archbishop Chrysostom said that he says to the President: "President, he understood that there is no solution to the Cyprus issue. The Turk wants everything. Will you give them? Understand that there is no solution to the Cyprus problem. Any solution the next day will collapse. So, there is no solution and you have to tell them clearly. President, look at the economy, but let's all stop stealing, I put myself in it. "We have to look at the economic issue of our country."
He also said that during his talks with the President of the Republic, he expressed the need to buy, as he said, modern military systems, as now the soldier fights not with weapons, but with his IQ.
The Archbishop of Cyprus clarified, at the same time, that what he said in an interview regarding the two-state solution was that he had once discussed it with the President, "but today the President does not want it and I regretted it because I said so".
Asked if he knew that the European Union had expressed concerns and made critical comments about the Cyprus Investment Program since 2015, the Archbishop of Cyprus said he did not know and noted that he did not think Brussels did not control it.
As he said, the check he received was from the Bank of Cyprus, he did not take money in a bag, and he knows that it is controlled by the Central Bank and consequently by Brussels.
"When I saw reports I said that in order for these checks to be accepted and issued then Mr. Lowe was valid. We are not in the other's soul or in his mind or what the other has in mind. "You have to be a fortune teller," he added.
Asked if he knew or if anyone had told him that Mr. Lowe had serious financial offenses, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that he had not been told anything and added that he was only talking to the developer.
Asked if he had mediated for another person in the matter of naturalizations, Archbishop Chrysostom said he did not remember so many letters he had sent, adding that he may have sent 10, 15 and 20 letters.
The Archbishop of Cyprus stated, at the same time, that today he signed a power of attorney for the interest of a Russian investor for plots of land of the Church in Limassol, noting that this is how it works and that he does not go to see the plots himself.
Answering a question, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that what bothered him a lot was a Hungarian who wanted to make a big investment in Paphos and addressed many times to both the Minister of Interior and the President, but in the end nothing happened and the Hungarian left unhappy. .
He noted that the Hungarian approached him when he decided to make a large investment and had already obtained naturalization.
Asked about the sale and exchange of land with the state, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that they are made to serve the needs of the Church.
Asked by the President of the Commission if he has anything to add to what he has already mentioned, the Archbishop of Cyprus said that he wondered why the Commission wanted to ask him questions on the issue of naturalizations and added that "we come on a daily basis and they ask and we buy and we sell to both individuals and developers, because we are interested in the progress of this place ".