Cypriot business magnate Nikos Shacolas has died at the age of 98, after facing health problems in recent times.
His business record spanned international trade, shipping, accounting and finance, with so many companies under his name that he himself was reportedly unable to list them all.
Among his best-known achievements was Shacolas Tower, the tallest building in old Nicosia, whose top floor has for years operated as a museum and observatory allowing visitors to look out over the barricades and the occupied area. One of his sayings was: “Insist and pursue your claim, when you are right.”
Shacolas was active in business in Cyprus and abroad. He served as honorary Consul of Mexico in Cyprus for 17 years, between 1990 and 2007. He made donations exceeding €15 million to the state for the creation of museums and schools, and received honours from six kings and heads of state and government.
Nikos Kyprianou Shacolas was born on December 1, 1927, in Karavas, Kyrenia. After finishing secondary school, the Second World War prevented him from attending university. He instead followed a series of academic programmes in Cyprus and abroad, mainly in business and trade, shipowning and shipping.
He served as vice-president of the Cyprus Ports Authority, honorary treasurer of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEBE), and vice-president of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry for many years. He was married to Elpida Shacolas, with whom he had four children.
Business career
Shacolas began his business activities in 1953, exporting agricultural produce. In 1963 he founded his first company outside Cyprus, NKS Eurotrade (UK) Ltd, based in London. He was founder and first Executive Chairman of the Shacolas Group, one of Cyprus’s largest economic organisations and, at various points, one of its largest employers, providing work for several thousand people across a wide range of services and products. His international activities extended at different times to Greece, England, Russia, Nigeria, Lebanon and countries of the Arabian Gulf. From 1970 onwards, the group saw significant growth both in Cyprus and abroad, in shipping, insurance, investments and construction.
Turkey’s 1974 invasion dealt a heavy blow to Shacolas’s businesses, particularly in Famagusta. In the years that followed, hard work, sound judgement and carefully considered, bold decisions, driven by Shacolas himself, brought the group back to the forefront.
In Cyprus, the Shacolas Group holds a leading position in the import and distribution of internationally known retail products, in commercial property ownership and in major investments including the airports. It was also active in insurance and telecommunications, and pioneered the creation of Cyprus’s first department stores, first large-scale DIY stores and first shopping malls.
CTC: a hundred-year story
Cyprus Trading Corporation Plc, known as CTC, is the parent company of the Shacolas Group. It was founded by Englishmen during the colonial era and originally registered as a trading company to handle the agency and import of the internationally known American Caterpillar machinery, for the needs of the Amiantos mine.
It was entered into the Companies Registry of the British colonial government under number 18, dated April 22, 1927. Its first office was a house in Kato Amiantos. CTC remained in the hands of its English owners as a trading company until 1984, when it was bought by Nikos Shacolas.
Historical milestones of the Shacolas Group and CTC
- 1927: Cyprus Trading Corporation Ltd (CTC) founded.
- 1953: Shacolas begins his business career, exporting dried apricots to England.
- 1974: The Turkish invasion inflicts near-total losses on offices, facilities and vehicles in Famagusta and substantial property in Kyrenia district. The business resumes that autumn, selling cement to Lebanon after an eventful sea voyage.
- 1978: Trade activity begins in Nigeria, in partnership with Greek cement producer AGET-Heracles, via the Bonny Carrier floating cement packaging plant at the mouth of the Bonny River, a world first that generated significant profits.
- 1983: Cyprus Sulphur & Copper Ltd, in the Limni area of Polis Chrysochous, is bought from majority shareholder Sir Jacob Rothschild. Significant environmental restoration projects follow, along with plans for the Limni Bay resort with two golf courses. The investment is sold in 2018.
- 1984: Woolworth Cyprus is bought from Woolworth England, along with the first department store on Makarios Avenue in Nicosia, leading to department store and retail chains and later the creation of Ermes Department Stores Plc, the group’s retail arm. CTC itself is also bought and later goes public, listing on the Cyprus Stock Exchange in 1989.
- 1986: Argosy, with agencies including Mars and Kellogg’s, and Cassandra, distributor of Philip Morris International tobacco products, are bought, marking CTC’s entry into the import and distribution of consumer goods.
- 1980-1999: The group is active in and holds a leading position in insurance, founding Paneuropean Insurance and Euroinvestment & Finance, and acquiring Filiki Insurance and Interamerican. The sale of its insurance investment to Laiki Bank on January 8, 1999, was considered the financial event of the year.
- 1995-2007: The group holds a 50% stake in dairy company Christis.
- 1998: Investments in walled Nicosia contribute to the area’s revival, including Shacolas Tower, Ledra Stoa, an underground car park and the Ledra Museum-Observatory.
- 1999: The first Superhome Center (DIY) opens in Strovolos.
- 2000: Hermes Airports Ltd is founded on Shacolas’s initiative, an international consortium of construction, airport management and operations companies, tasked with building and managing Larnaca and Paphos airports until May 2031 under a Build, Operate, Transfer model. The final concession agreement with the Cyprus government is signed in London in the early hours of May 12, 2006. CTC is the largest Cypriot shareholder, with an 11.34% stake. Shacolas was the airport company’s first chairman and, on stepping down, was named Honorary Life President.
- 2008-2013: The group enters telecommunications, first with Germanos stores and later acquiring a 50% stake in MTN, now Epic.
- 2007: Mall of Cyprus and Mall of Engomi open, the first of their kind in Cyprus.
- 2013-2020: A number of mature investments are sold, significantly reducing the group’s bank liabilities.
Donations and social contribution
During his lifetime, Shacolas made significant donations and social contributions.
Under the governments of Spyros Kyprianou and Glafkos Clerides, he contributed substantial sums to cover the costs of promoting the Cyprus problem abroad, particularly in the United States.
Shacolas Group companies donated €75,000 in 1997 for the purchase of the police patrol boat “Odysseas.”
The Shacolas family donated €320,000, matched by the Republic of Cyprus, for the construction and operation of the Marion-Arsinoe Archaeological Museum in Polis Chrysochous. It was inaugurated by President Glafkos Clerides in August 2000. The foundation stone of the accompanying Cultural Centre was laid the same day, with the Shacolas family contributing a further €200,000. The Cultural Centre was inaugurated in September 2003 by President Tassos Papadopoulos.
A €4.5 million donation from the Nikos and Elpida Shacolas Foundation funded the Shacolas Educational Health Centre, next to the new Nicosia General Hospital. The centre was later handed by the Ministry of Health to the University of Cyprus, renovated and renamed the Shacolas Educational Centre for Clinical Medicine.
A further €9 million donation to the Nikos and Elpida Shacolas Foundation at the University of Cyprus funded the university’s Medical School building, which will bear the name “Nikos K. Shacolas Building of Medical and Health Sciences.”
The Shacolas family also donated €200,000 for the construction of the Karavas Cultural Foundation, and a further €500,000 to establish the Nikos K. Shacolas Karavas Scholarship Fund, for outstanding students from occupied Karavas.
Honours
Shacolas received a series of honours from foreign heads of state and government, including Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle.
He was honoured twice by the President of Italy, with the Order of the Knight of the Italian Republic and the Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, as well as the Officer of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour, Sweden’s Royal Order of the Polar Star, and a special plaque from the US government. He was also awarded the Republic of Cyprus’s Medal of Exceptional Contribution.
His life in a book
In 2021, Shacolas published his autobiography, “Nikos K. Shacolas: Narratives, Experiences, Lessons,” in which he set out first-person accounts of his experiences and life lessons for young entrepreneurs and others. The book describes how well-planned, bold decisions helped him build one of Cyprus’s largest business organisations, as well as his professional milestones and pioneering initiatives.
Among the lessons he set out in the book: persistence and pursuing what is right; that haste is costly because it leads to serious mistakes; that one should not stand in the way of progress; that nothing should be left to chance; and that education, along with continuous, uninterrupted learning, is essential.
Shacolas summarised his outlook as follows: a person should always strive, learn, pursue what is right and just, persist, love, recognise their own mistakes, understand, forgive, always with decency and dignity, and give back to society.