Ex Helector boss ready to testify in waste corruption scandal

DEMETRIS Yiannakopoulos, the former director of Helector, the company embroiled in the waste management overcharging affair, has reportedly indicated his intention to cooperate with Cypriot authorities, providing deeper insight into the scandal.

Yiannakopoulos, a Greek national, is said to be the person who ran – and perhaps conceived of – the entire system of kickbacks, where officials here were able to skim off the top in exchange for giving Helector the inside track on waste management contracts, one at Marathounda in Paphos, and the other in Koshi, Larnaca.

Politis reported that, through his attorney, Yiannakopoulos has communicated to police his intention to come to Cyprus of his own free will and provide testimony.

He is one of three persons still wanted by police and against whom European arrest warrants are about to be issued. The other two are Helector’s CEO Athanasios Katris, and the company’s engineer Ιmad Baqleh.

Yiannakopoulos was named by Ioannis Kokotsis, his successor at Helector, as the man who put the whole payola scheme together.

The revelations provided by Kokotsis – who is in police custody – led to a second batch of arrests last week. They included Larnaca mayor Andreas Louroudjiatis.

As reported by local media, Kokotsis kept records of the backhanders in a safety deposit box in Athens. The records – which are now in the hands of Cypriot police – reportedly comprise a treasure trove of information, including names, dates and cash amounts.

As heard in court, Helector was reporting higher waste volumes resulting in higher charges for local authorities and consumers for the Marathounda waste management plant in Paphos. The initial arrests for Marathounda led to a parallel full-blown investigation into the Koshi waste management site. Both contracts had been awarded to Helector.

From the overcharging alone, the company is said to have raked in some €42m over the years.

Yiannakopoulos – who may turn witness for the prosecution – might not only corroborate the evidence supplied by Kokotsis, but also provide insight into the period prior to 2009, and particularly the 2004 to 2006 period, when the tenders were drafted for the waste management contracts in Paphos and Larnaca.

Authorities have information suggesting that the tender specifications were tailor-made to suit Helector, and as such will be investigating the role of the consulting engineers hired at the time to prepare the tender documents.

The initial Koshi contract dates back to 2006.

For the Marathounda landfill, Paphos municipality decided to stop paying its dues to Helector after it realised the prices ranged from €28 to €31 per tonne of waste, whereas the real cost to the company did not exceed €10 per tonne.

Current Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos, elected last year on a plank to stamp out corruption, is the man who made the call to stop paying Helector.

In a telephone conversation, he told the Cyprus Mail that a corruption ring consists of three components: the contractors; the employer, typically a district’s sewerage or waste management board, and the municipality; and the consulting engineers.

The latter are key to the whole setup, he said.

“They know the ropes as they’ve been around for decades, and usually it’s the same people. To give you an example, the consulting engineers for the Paphos sewerage board are the same as for the Nicosia sewerage board.

“Consulting engineers, who are cosy with contractors, suck local politicians into the scheme,” said Phedonos.

“They’ve been around forever, whereas politicians come and go,” he added.

Responding to a question, the mayor confirmed that Paphos has terminated its dealings with Helector. However, the landfill site will continue to be operated by Helector employees, who will now be paid directly by the Paphos landfill council, known by its Greek acronym HYTA.

On a related issue, Phedonos said that the confusion has been cleared up concerning a government bill aiming to blacklist companies guilty of misconduct and bribes.

A day earlier, the mayor criticised parliament of sitting on the bill, which was first drafted one-and-a-half years ago.

In a statement released later on Tuesday, parliament said that no such bill was tabled before it.

However, Phedonos told the Mail that the bill has since been ‘found.’ It is scheduled to be brought before the cabinet on Monday for approval, and to be tabled to parliament the next day.