President praises people's 'maturity and collectedness' on day when many feared a panicked run on banks
And finally they opened. After 12 straight days shut, banks in Cyprus reopened for business on Thursday, replenished with cash flown in from the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank and reinforced with guards posted at their doors.
After a rollercoaster few weeks, lenders were taking no chances. In Nicosia, the divided capital, customers who waited under the hot midday sun were handed hastily photocopied printouts listing the arsenal of capital controls the newly bailed-out state has been forced to exact to stop a mass exodus of money from the country.
"Our staff will do whatever is possible to serve you better," said the island's biggest lender, the Bank of Cyprus. "For that reason let us all try and maintain the necessary politeness and patience."
But the plea was not needed. "People are being so understanding," said Evi Akrita, a teller at the bank's branch on Evrou Avenue. "Totally, unbelievably understanding."
The story that emerged was of the extraordinary calm that Greek Cypriots were prepared to exhibit on a day when many inside and outside of Cyprus had feared a potentially devastating run on the island's banks.
Far from panicking, the people now on the frontline of the eurozone debt crisis took a pragmatic approach to the disaster and formed an orderly queue.
"What is the point of being impatient and getting upset?" asked Georgia Pavlou, a lawyer waiting in line at a branch of Laiki, the lender Cypriot authorities have agreed to wind down as part of a €10bn loan agreement with the EU and IMF. "I'm here to withdraw cash for my elderly mother who doesn't have an ATM card. Are the measures fair? No! But I think people understand there is no point in fighting."
Such sentiments were shared by George Antoniou, queuing to withdraw cash from the Bank of Cyprus. "I'm an estate agent and my company has taken out a loan with the Bank of Cyprus," he said. "My biggest worry is paying it back. After all, now that our economy has been destroyed how much business am I going to have? But please write also that I am optimistic. I think we'll get over this."
By midday lenders were voicing amazement. The island's centre-right president, Nicos Anastasides, said on Twitter: "I would like to thank the Cypriot people for their maturity and collectedness shown in their interactions with the Cypriot banks."
At the Co-operative Bank on Ledra Street, the boulevard that bisects Europe's last partitioned city, Yiannos Christodoulou, a senior employee, attributed the quietude to a sense of patriotism not seen since Cyprus imploded into civil conflict after Turkish forces invaded in 1974. "I've been really surprised. No more than a 100 people have walked through our doors in the past two hours," he said. "A lot of our customers are pensioners who are extremely concerned, but I think people don't want to aggravate the situation. They're worried that if they take their deposits out of the banks it will only make things much, much worse."
Depositors in Cyprus are allowed to withdraw up to €300 a day under the draconian restrictions introduced by the finance ministry to "safeguard the stability of the system". "Why would you rush to the bank and queue for hours when you can only take out €300 and most of us can do that with a card?" said Andreas Stylianou, a lawyer lunching with friends on Ledra Street. "The panic attack will come, and when it does it will be in electronic form when the restrictions are lifted. These days you don't have to go into a bank, you move money around at a touch of a button."
Despite the efforts to control the outflow of funds, Cyprus's central bank said on Thursday that foreign depositors had already withdrawn 18% of their cash from the nation's banks in February alone. Private jets presumed to belong to Russian oligarchs who have parked their hoards in Cyprus were spotted at the island's international airport in Larnaca. "Trust in our banking system has been completely demolished. Every foreigner now wants to take his or her money out," said Stylianou.
For the moment it is ordinary Cypriots, particularly those with small and medium-sized businesses, who are feeling the heat. "For the past few weeks we've not been able to pay salaries," sighed Elianora leonidou, who runs the Evohia restaurant in Nicosia. "And that's because we pay our staff with cheques, which are no longer being accepted. It's a problem but luckily everyone is showing a lot of patience and incredible understanding."
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