About Us

Cyprus Pharmaceutical Organization Limited (CPO) is a leading importer, distributor and exclusive agent for a wide variety of products. It trades in high-quality products servicing the fields of Health, Beauty and Personal Care. The products range from mass-market products, perfumery and cosmetics, to pharmaceutical products, hospital, medical, analytical, dental supplies and surveying instruments. The majority of our principals are brand leaders in their respective fields and their products are world famous.


The Costas Papaellinas Organization was created in 1928 and operated for many years as C. A. Papaellinas & Co., under the name of its founder, Costas A. Papaellinas. In 1952 it was succeeded by CPO which is today the main trading company of the Costas Papaellinas Organization Group of Companies.

Our Story

  • The ownership of the group is divided between Paris and Thanos Papaellinas, the CEOs of the Cypriot and Greek operations respectively. The Costas Papaellinas Organization is now one of the strongest commercial entities in Cyprus with a combined turnover exceeding €80 million. Its credibility and financial standing are unquestionable. The CPO name inspires confidence and commands respect at all levels of business activity, both in Cyprus and abroad.
  • Furthermore, CPO is proud about its fairness culture, something that intensely emerges throughout its long history and is also converted into awards.
  • Managing Director, Paris Papaellinas was recently honoured by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce with the 2014 Business Leader-Commercial Sector-Award. His interests are not restricted to the business world. A former Cyprus National Team basketball player, he has been involved in several sport and social activities. He was appointed by the State as a Fair Play Ambassador for 2011-2013 and honoured by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2012 with its Sport and Social Responsibility Award.
  • Over the last three decades the Costas Papaellinas Organization has grown extensively in several directions. Through successful strategic moves, such as gaining new agencies, buying out related companies, introducing new innovative processes, as well as forging business alliances, it has succeeded in growing the family business twentyfold over the past 25 years. It has become one of the biggest employers of the Cyprus market having over 400 employees.
  • In addition to importing, distributing and retailing in Cyprus, the Papaellinas group also operates in Greece under the name of Costas A. Papaellinas (Hellas) S.A.The sister company’s headquarters are located on the outskirts of Athens and employs over 80 people.

Values

  • Faith in our Traditional Values: Integrity, reliability and respect. With high-quality standards, flexibility to meet new challenges and taking advantage of opportunities when they arise.
  • Strong professional bonds and long term relationships with suppliers and partners( many of these relationships have been established for more than 50 years)
  • Trust and support to our people: motivation, continuous training & development, recognizing and rewarding the contribution and achievement of our people.
  • Caring for our clients and application of ethical practices.
  • Social and environmental responsibility.

Corporate Social Responsibility

  • CPO has embedded the basic principles of Corporate Social Responsibility in its strategy and philosophy. Motivated by the protection and empowerment of natural enviroment, the company organizes events and activities to improve and support enviromental issues with the participation of its workforce.
  • CPO and it’s employees have also engaged in different enviromental activities such as tree planting and beach cleaning. Recycling packaging, PMD, electrical devices and batteries, as well as minimization of energy consumption, pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions, are all part of CPO’s daily activities.
  • For the last 30 years CPO actively sponsors major Cyprus Sports and activities such as basketball, athletics and especially youth sports organizations. Recently it has inaugurated the Costas Papaellinas Sports Center at Strovolos,Nicosia promoting the activities of more than 600 young athletes in tennis, basketball and futsal..
  • CPO is also part of the programme “Adopt an Athlete”, which is organized by the Cyprus Olympic Comitee, in which different companies sponsor the most promising athletes which will represent Cyprus in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. Our organization is now a proud sponsor for our athlete Raluca Serban, , ranked 229 in the world as of 2019, providing her financial aid and other support when needed. Her most recent archivement was in the 2019 Games of Small States of Europe where she brought home 2 gold medals and 1 bronze medal.
  • CPO also engages in many philanthropic activties and events. Trisa of Switzerland is one of the brands that CPO represents and in 2019 a major event took place at the main offices which included the donation of 80 000 Trisa toothbrushes to the red cross foundation. The donation was made on 31/05/2019 and its aim was to help the more vulnurable parts of the population and those in need.

    Careers

    Investors In People

    Being a people oriented organization, CPO has been awarded with the “Investors in People” International accreditation. This confirms that, through professional HR Practices, CPO staff enjoys good employment practices, while at the same time our Values and Vision are highly ensured.

    Human Resources Management

    At CPO our aim is to ensure effective and efficient use of our human resources. Being in an environment in which workforce changes are becoming more frequent we understand that HR Management should constantly change and evolve.

    Recruitment & Selection

    Whenever we have a need to fill a vacancy, we generate a pool of qualified applicants that have all the necessary attributes/qualifications for the specific job. Throughout this procedure (as well as during the term of employment) we make sure that we always provide:

    • Equal Employment Opportunities

      We allow equal employment opportunities to all of our employees regardless of creed, colour or gender and equal treatment in all employment related actions.

    • Health & Safety

      Health and safety is a priority in our workplace and through frequent training by experts in the field continuous H&S related knowledge is obtained.

    • Training

      Through training, our people acquire capabilities to aid in the achievement of our goals. Our two fully equipped training centres have the potential to accommodate over 100 trainees.

    • Performance Management

      A Performance Management System is used in order to identify, measure, evaluate, encourage, improve & reward employee performance. This system allows us to offer employees a balanced Compensation Scheme, providing sufficient rewards for their knowledge, skills, abilities and performance accomplishments.

    Affiliated Companies