Cyprus public looks to buying safes

Companies selling safes have received an increase in calls asking for information, as people prepare to stash cash at home when the banks open.

They’re asking about the size of safes, the cost and the level of safety that each type of safe provides.

“We have received about twice as many calls asking about our safes in the last few days. The callers want safety and ask about safes that cannot easily be broken into,” Thimios Asiotis said, the manager of sales at Total Guard Trading Ltd in Limassol.

“Many Cypriots have lost their trust in banks and the banking system and I suspect they are looking for other ways to secure their money.”

Asiotis said there were two kinds of safes. One is a steel box that is only protected against fire and the second is protected from burglary. These ones are tested against European standards and have a grading system of one to seven. A grade one safe can cost from around €1,600 to €1,700 and a grade five safe’s cost begins at around €4,000.

Asiotis said safes were often a better bet than security systems because the latter can be deactivated, or a homeowner may forget to activate theirs on the way out the door.

“People who are interested in buying safes should consider the time in which someone needs to break into it. The longer it takes for a safe to be broken into, the more chance there is that a burglar will not bother with it or be caught in the act. If a safe is heavy and not easy to lift, if it is screwed to a surface or hidden and welded, it is much more difficult to get to. Our society is changing and we should change with it. The price of a safe should be leveraged against the amount of money or valuables that will be placed within it,” he added.

“During the last two weeks we have received more calls than usual asking about the size of safes and how much they cost, but the biggest concern the callers have is about actual safety,” Christos Christodoulou, manager of Cte Enterprises Co Ltd in Paphos said.

“We bring our safes from America and we have to pay our suppliers for the products, VAT and tax so we have to accept payment upfront,” he added.

“Lots of people have contacted us lately, asking about safes that they can put in their homes,” Antia Fotiou, an employee at Kmc Shukuroglou Ltd in Nicosia said.

“If the safes are used correctly they are guaranteed for life because the ones we import from England have been tested for fire and burglary,” she added.

Most companies that sell safes are located in Limassol and Nicosia.

Cyprus Mail