"Desperate" are the catering entrepreneurs, who are now talking about the possibility of stopping payments and layoffs due to the financial suffocation caused by the measures to stop the pandemic.
A statement issued last Friday by the Pancyprian Association of Leisure Center Owners (PASIKA) states that the only way to avoid the above-mentioned unpleasant developments is to have targeted financial support from the government.
Something that, as mentioned by top sources from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor in "Simerini", is not under discussion at the moment. "Targeted business support plans will be announced in the coming days, but not in the catering industry but the owners of event halls, ceremonies, etc., who have - based on the data we have gathered - a significant reduction in their turnover due to the pandemic." , said a top source in the Ministry of Finance.
Speaking to Simerini, the president of PASIKA, Fanos Leventis, argued that similar decisions for targeted support measures should be taken for the catering industry "in order not to be led to measures such as stoppage of payments and layoffs, having no other choice." In fact, Mr. Leventis underlined that the invocations of the Ministry of Finance for an increase of the turnover by 30% in the restaurant in 2021 compared to 2019, "are completely arbitrary and provocative".
"It is not possible to say these things while everyone knows that for three months in 2021 we were closed due to lockdown, while in the most profitable month, in December we were '' de facto '' closed due to the measures decided by the government and the separation of vaccinated - unvaccinated ". A relevant announcement of PASIKA states that "The continuous invocation of the rapid increase in focus in 2021 compared to 2019 in order to avoid financial support to those affected by the additional measures leaves the government irreparably exposed and companies completely exposed ahead. from the spectrum of final destruction ”.
Admittedly, the image of many restaurants, especially in the first weeks of 2022 but throughout the festive season of Christmas, is "disappointing".
In fact, there are many restaurants that decided to temporarily lock for a few days, on the one hand to avoid operating costs and on the other hand because a large part of their staff is either infected with coronavirus or are in close contact and therefore limit themselves. There were also many restaurants that confirmed to Simerini that they have already started to be charged debts from operating expenses which are not covered due to the reduced traffic in restaurants, due to the pandemic situation.
These days, members of PASIKA, as Mr. Leventis said, are gathering data regarding the reduction of their turnover, in order to have a sample knowledge about the decline of the catering industry and "the whole discussion to be conducted based on reality".
Dynamic mobilizations are not excluded
Organized catering entrepreneurs, as stated in their announcement, "are in the most unpleasant position since the beginning of the pandemic crisis to be unable to pay their obligations to the state, such as public insurance, taxes, municipal fees, energy bills, e.g. EAC, liabilities to banks, suppliers, rents, etc. Entrepreneurs are also in a very difficult position vis-.-Vis their employees. "They are trying with their fingernails and teeth to keep them at work, depriving their families of their own so that they will not be sent to work, but unfortunately the situation is very bad and this cannot continue for even longer."
In fact, if immediate decisions are not taken to support their businesses, it is not ruled out that they will proceed with dynamic mobilizations.
Asked how PASIKA is going to move in case their suggestions are not listened to by the competent government agencies, Mr. Leventis underlined that in dynamic mobilizations ".
Source: economytoday