Changes to Citizenship scheme approved

Changes to Cyprus’ controversial citizenship-by-investment scheme, which has granted 1,864 citizenships and generated €6.6 billion of foreign investment, have been approved by the Cabinet.  Cyprus on Wednesday (13/02/2019) approved a series of changes to its much-criticised Citizenship-by-Investment scheme, so it becomes “more targeted and trustworthy&rdq...

Make sure you read the small print of insurance policies

VERY few people read let alone understand the small print when they take out insurance for property. Even if you insure a building for ‘all purposes’ including acts of God (rain, floods etc) be sure that the insurance company has its back covered to avoid a reduction to your claim. Recent events have come to our knowledge leading us to express the following: Excess...

Agreement close on Airbnb type rentals

Agreement on a bill designed to regulate and tax rental income on Airbnb type rentals is close but a key question remains concerning short-term letss of apartments in residential areas. AFTER several weeks of discussion, lawmakers are close to agreeing a bill regulating the operation of short-term Airbnb-style property rentals.The key remaining question related to short-term r...

Government tries to allay fears of co-op customers

By Elias Hazou The government on Monday said it was moving to shore up confidence in the Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB) as depositors pulled more money out of the lender. Neither the government nor the state-owned bank would be drawn on what these moves might be, though the goal was clear: to buttress the bank’s deposit base so that potential private investors would not ...

Cyprus Records Lowest Annual Inflation Rate in the EU

Cyprus registered the lowest annual inflation rate in the EU in January 2018 (-1.5%), followed by Ireland (0.3%) and Greece (0.2%), according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Meanwhile, Euro area annual inflation rate was 1.3% in January 2018, down from 1.4% in December 2017. In January 2017, the rate was 1.8%. European Union annual inflation was 1.6...

Cyprus and Saudi Arabia signed a Double Tax Treaty

The double tax treaty for the avoidance of double taxation between Cyprus and Saudi Arabia was signed on 3 January 2018. The treaty is expected to  be  ratified  and  come  into  force  as  from  1 January 2019. The new treaty is based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Model Tax Convention framewor...

Hellenic bank violated consumer rights

THE CYPRUS Consumer Protection Service (CCPS) has ruled that Hellenic Bank, Cyprus’ third largest lender, violated consumer rights with abusive clauses included in mortgage contracts. The bank violated consumer rights with six practices which included “vague contractual terms”. These allowed the lender to unilaterally change charges, including interest rates ...

Total, Eni to start drilling by early 2018

French oil and gas group Total and Italy’s Eni plan to start drilling in a joint exploration block off the coast of Cyprus by the end of this year or early 2018, President Nicos Anastasiades told French daily Le Figaro on Monday. Anastasiades, who is in Paris for an official visit, met Total’s Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne on Sunday ahead of his meeting with Fre...

Airlines to get new incentives for flying to Cyprus

Cyprus airports are ready to offer higher incentives to airlines to ensure improved flight connectivity and passenger greater traffic. The Ministry of Communications and Works and airports operator Hermes Airports, announced the signing of their commercial agreement which regulates the incentive scheme offered to airlines. The scheme covering the period 2018-2023 is offered t...

Global oil and East-Med natural gas

This article is based on a presentation I made at the fourth Energy Symposium organised by the Institute of Energy for South East Europe (IENE) and Financial Media Way (FMW) on December 7-8 at the Hilton-Park in Nicosia. The symposium was opened by President Nicos Anastasiades, who called for regional cooperation for the development of East-Med gas resources. It started with ...