News

Yesterday the island’s biggest lender, Bank of Cyprus (BoC), posted a €1.01 billion net loss for 2011. This happened after taking provisions for a Greek sovereign debt swap. According to BoC the total impact of its participation in a voluntary swap of Greek government bonds with a 60 per cent impairment, amounted to €1.3 billion … more »

In Cyprus the 2nd round of licensing has begun for the offshore exploration of hydrocarbons in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). For the next 90 days in Cyprus applications for a license can be submitted so that one may qualify to search for mineral deposits inside Cyprus’ EEZ.    

On Feb 15th, 2012, the Russian Duma finally ratified the amending Protocal to the Cyprus-Russia Double Tax Treaty of 1998, signed on Oct 7th, 2010.  Cyprus had ratified this Protocal earlier in August 2011.  According to experts, Russia was waiting to ratify in order to make sure they were prepared for the procedures for information … more »

According to World Bank report ‘Doing Business 2012’ global business is improving. Such conclusions were made according to the Business Index results. High ranking of this index would mean good business environment for local companies and business development. Recent results indicated Singapore as the country with the highest “Business Index”. Second place was given to … more »

Global economic outlook According to the recent report of D&B, current economic trends of the global markets are: 1. Global outlook remains uncertain: specialists are not expecting recession of global economy but the growth will be weak 2. Stagnation of the European euro-zone economies 3. Slight improvements of US and emerging markets economies 4. Key … more »

Christophoros Pissarides is the Nobel Prize winner from Cyprus. He believes that the Cypriot economy has good prospects of recovering, especially as result of the island’s hydrocarbons’ find. With the natural gas find, this could be accomplished in the next two to three years, he said.  

Last Friday the Russia-Cyprus Business and Investment Forum was held in Cyprus. At the event, the Finance Minister of Cyprus, Kikis Kazamias, said it was “a fact that Russia is one of the most important economic partners of Cyprus, in areas such as foreign investment, finance, trade and tourism”. In his speech, read out by … more »

According to the results of internet-survey of two thousand respondents, the most respectable Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has been recognized. About this it was reported by Forbes referring to the results of research of company Profi Online Research. To the participants of research it was suggested to vote, to choose the most respectable people from … more »

China doesn’t have the desire to help European countries in their sharp budgetary-debt crisis, and to buy their state bonds. In particular, in sovereign China Investment Corporation fund (operates with actives of 410 billion dollars) such investments are considered to be a bad idea for now. “For us the acquisition of long-term European state bonds, … more »

Planning has begun for a multi-million luxurious casino complex to be built in the Famagusta district. The municipalities of Paralimni, Ayia Napa, Sotira and Deryneia have been planning for a modern  multi-purpose complex that would include a luxurious casino. In a notable U-turn from previous government policy, the government announced last October that it was … more »

In Russia there is to be 7 new airports that will offer flights to Cyprus in 2012. The Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO) is hoping that they will have over 400,000 Russian tourists in 2012. A total of 330,000 Russians visited Cyprus in 2011 which was 100,000 more than in 2010. The seven new airports that … more »

In comparison to January of 2011, the number of registration applications for new companies in Cyprus have marked a slight increase. In the month of January a total of 1,425 applications were submitted to register a new company in Cyprus. Last year the total for January was 1,399 applications lodged in Cyprus.

The early signs are good for the Cyprus real estate market. In the month of January, based on sales documents filed at the Cyprus land registry, the numbers demonstrate a 54 % rise from 2011. There were only 522 contracts in January 2011 and this year in Cyprus the amount was 803. Out of the … more »

During the nearest ten years Russia will improve the indexes and will be the fifth economy of the world. According to RIA News, ex-minister of finances Mr. Aleksey Kudrin declared this during the forum of “Russia-2012″. According to the opinion of ex-minister, in the nearest decade Russia will become one of the largest suppliers of … more »

A Cypriot businessman is suing the investigation department of the Russian Interior Ministry, after he was illegally detained and interrogated during his last visit to Moscow on January 20. George Philippides, who manages the assets and oversees investments of several offshore Russian companies in Cyprus, had flown to Moscow to negotiate a payoff of a … more »

Yury Sentyurin is the Deputy Minister of Energy in Russia. Next week in Cyprus is the Russia-Cyprus Business and Investment Forum and Mr. Sentyurin will be moderating a panel discussion entitled “Business Opportunities”. Phidias Pilides, President of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) which is co-organising the event, noted the importance of Sentyurin’s … more »

The government of China has announced a US$2.5 billion fund to finance new small businesses. In addition they have promised tax breaks and more bank lending for struggling entrepreneurs. Slumping exports and curbs on bank lending have had a significant negative impact on the entrepreneurs that create most of China’s new wealth and jobs. Thousands … more »

Opportunities are arising  as Myanmar moves to liberalise its economy and Singapore firms want a piece of the pie. The expectation is that Industries ranging from education to manufacturing have much potential in what is fast shaping up to be a rich new frontier for business. Singapore is in a good position to benefit from … more »

Kikis Kazamias the Finance Minister in Cyprus said that the government is successfully tackling the financial crisis facing the Cypriot economy At an ceremony in Athens for Cypriot academic achievers, Kazamias highlighted the climate of political consensus and social participation and expressed hope that this will continue in 2012, despite a 0.2 per cent forecast … more »

Prime minister of Russian FEDERATION Vladimir Putin suggested closing Russian borders fro five-ten years for violators of migration legislation, who has been turned out from a country by a court. Earlier, prime minister in one of his pre-election reports already suggested entering criminal responsibility for violation of migratory rules. Now Putin added that criminal responsibility … more »

The volume of facilities illegally withdrawn from Russia in 2011 was no less then one trillion of roubles. Vice-prime minister Victor Zubkov declared it in an interview to telecast “News of week”, according to ITAR-TASS on January, 29. According to Mr.Zubkov, 75 percent of money of doubtful origin flow away to Latvia and Cyprus. Among … more »

In the month of November 2011, the revenue in Cyprus from tourism has increased by 3.7% compared to the prior year. This increase is an amount of about €64.8 million.  In Cyprus, total revenue from the tourism in the 2011 reached approximately €1.7 billion, which is a 13.2% increase from 2010.  

On Thursday the Cypriot Finance Ministry reported that Cyprus got a 1,32-billion-euro tranche of the Russian loan. Earlier, Cyprus and Russia agreed that Moscow would grant a 2,5-billion-euro loan to Cyprus to help it grapple with its fiscal woes. Cyprus Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said that under the agreement, the last tranche of the 590 … more »

According to the 2011 Job Vacancies report prepared by the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore, there were still 54,000 jobs unfilled in Singapore as of September 2011. But the report also noted that Singapore employers were scaling back on hiring due to the weaker economic outlook. Service and sales workers like waiters, security guards and … more »

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in their recent report, urgent attention is needed on the situation of the global job market in 2012. The job crisis continues even though there has been significant effort by the government and there is one in three workers worldwide (1.1 billion people) either unemployed or living in … more »

Sberbank and Investment Company “Troyka Dialogue” declared about the merger, as published in the companies’ releases. Thus, the largest universal bank institute is created. As it is highlighted in the release, this deal will allow Sberbank to offer clients high-professional financial advice and vast choice of investment strategies. The largest bank of Russia will be … more »

Marfin Popular bank, the island’s second-biggest lender, said yesterday is has submitted to the Central Bank a capital enhancement plan designed to raise its benchmark core Tier 1 capital to 9 per cent by the end of June. The European Banking Authority (EBA) had said in December that MPB would require additional capital of €1.97 … more »

A leadership training center was set up in Singapore by Japanese giant Sony.  This is the first one it has established outside of Japan. Singapore was chosen as the location because it is an emerging economic zone which is very important to Sony’s success.

At its latest monthly meeting the European Central Bank (ECB) has left its rates unchanged. The main refinancing rate remains at 1%.

Economic growth of Russia in 2011 increased to 4,2 percent. This was reported by the prime minister Vladimir Putin, according to «Interfax». According to GDP growth Russian yielded to China and India for the period of the last year. Surplus of Russian budget became 0,8 percent of GDP, that, according to Putin, is the best … more »