Kition Ocean Holdings: “Brutal takeover has caused great disturbance among the employees”

Kition Ocean Holdings has issued an announcement urging the government to “treat the employees fairly and in accordance with the law”, after it ordered the consortium to vacate the Larnaca port and marina immediately after terminating the project’s contract.

“When the Government terminated the agreement with Kition Ocean Holdings (Kition) on 27 May 2024, it ordered Kition to vacate the premises immediately so that the Government could take all rights over the Project,” the announcement said. “The Government chose not to have a handover period, that would allow for a smooth transition of the operations. Instead, it showed up with Police escort but without a real plan or direction especially regarding the employees.”

It added, “This brutal takeover has caused great disturbance among the employees, who are rightly worried about their future.”

The company said it was addressing this issue publicly to make sure that the Government will treat the employees fairly and in accordance with the law.

The government decided to terminate its €1.2b contract with Kition Ocean Holdings for the unified development of the marina and the port of Larnaca following the latter’s demands for changes to the contract and in light of its refusal to submit the guarantee that it was required to submit for the project.

“According to the Law Providing for the Preservation and Safeguard of the Rights of Employees on the Transfer of Undertakings, Businesses or Sections of Business of 2000 (TUPE), when a business is taken over, the employees automatically transfer to whoever is taking over together with all their rights and without losing the continuity of their employment,” Kition said.

The law, it said, is there to protect employees from being terminated when there is a transfer of business and also applies when the Government takes over according to Cyprus and European court cases.

“This is not a question of choice by the Government but is an automatic result of their takeover in strict adherence to the law. The alternative to this protection would be redundancies without the security of rehiring, which TUPE fully prohibits.”

It said Kition has communicated the transfer to the employees explaining the TUPE legislation and that their terms and conditions of employment will remain unchanged as they move to the new employer. Kition has also engaged at its own cost an independent lawyer to advise the employees regarding their rights, it added.

In official statements of the Government made in the past two days in the media, the Government is giving assurances that the employees will not be victimised and “a formula will be found for them to continue their employment”.

Kition said TUPE law mandates that the transfer of employment is automatic and must include all employees, “therefore it is not clear to us what formulas are to be found as by operation of law the employees transfer automatically with all their rights”.

It concluded, “We are addressing this issue to ensure that the employees’ rights are fully upheld. We hope that the Government will not deviate from its obligations towards the employees”.