Current Events

In light of the crisis surrounding AstraZeneca vaccines, Cyprus has decided to buy at least fifty thousand doses of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, pending approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

According to a statement by government spokesperson Kyriakos Koushos, the move is part of the bilateral agreement made with Russia earlier this year.

He further added that the possibility of buying more of such vaccines exists in the future.

Thus far, the EMA has only approved 4 vaccines – those by Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and of course AstraZeneca.

Chinese news agency Xinhua says that thus far, 2 EU countries – Slovakia and Hungary have so far bought the Sputnik V vaccines.

The island nation of Cyprus is all set to mark the 66th anniversary of the infamous Eoka struggle.

Launched on April 1, 1955, the purpose of the struggle was to gain independence from British rule.

The occasion will start with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades attending a church service at the Ayios Ioannis cathedral, followed by attending the memorial service of the Imprisoned Graves.

Given the pandemic situation, no other big events surrounding the struggle have been announced.

The Eoka struggle is one of the biggest historical events of Cyprus. Lasting from 1955 to 1959, the struggle is what ultimately led to Cyprus becoming an independent state, he added.

After weeks of controversy surrounding the safety of AstraZeneca vaccines, Cyprus will finally recontinue vaccinations using the company’s COVID-19 vaccine – after getting the all-clear on its safety and efficacy by the European Medicines Authority (EMA).

According to a statement by the Cyprus Health Ministry, the health authorities of the island nation had suspended use of the vaccines since March 15 and had been waiting for a proper signal from the European drugs regulator.

According to a statement by the EMA, they are positive that the AstraZeneca vaccine’s benefits far outrank its potential risks.

This result comes after a large-scale investigation finding out if the vaccine indeed caused – or at least exacerbated blood disorders – and led to over a dozen nations discontinuing its use.

The Cypriot government has confirmed that it is ready to welcome back tourists from the UK pending the lifting of the existing coronavirus restrictions.

According to their statement, while the current ban on travel in the UK is set to stay till may 17th, the Cypriot authorities are ready to welcome visitors from the Thursday. The 1^st of April.

The island nation now has a separate set of protocols reviving its suffering tourism industry, and according to those, anyone visiting from the UK can avoid quarantine, provided they have a negative PCR Covid test.

The facility is now also available to children between the ages of 12-18.

Starting May 1, arrivals who have been fully vaccinated can enter without testing and will not be subjected to quarantine rules. That being said, they could still be subject random spot-testing on some flights, depending on the situation.

Cyprus is all set to open up its border to 16 different countries that were previously not on its safe list.

The countries in question include the US and UK, Qatar, Belarus, Egypt, Lebanon, the UAE, Ukraine, Serbia, Israel, and Russia.

From April 1, visitors from these countries will not be required to follow any quarantine rules. They will still need to carry a negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to arrival and be prepared for any spot testing.

Furthermore, the island nation will allow vaccinated British tourists to enter sans restrictions.

All said and done, all tourists (regardless of where they arrived from) will need to follow basic protocol such as using sanitizers, wearing masks, and social distancing.

The changes have been made keeping the failing Cyprus tourism industry in mind. Tourism, which constitutes around 15% of the GDP, has seen its earnings plunge to over 85% in 2020.

The Cyprus News Agency has reported that someone tried to hack the website of the Cyprus Defense Ministry but was unsuccessful.

According to a reliable source from the Defense Ministry, despite the attempt, the website did not suffer any damage as the effort was stopped in time.

The source further added that this incident only serves to prove that the Defense Ministry is very sincere in taking every measure to both address and prevent actions set to undermine its functioning.

The Israeli military is set to hold a mass exercise on Cyprus.

According to the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom, the elite units of the Israeli armed forces will use Cyprus as a substitute for Samaria, Judea, and the Gaza Strip.

The elite troops in question will include commandos and high-performing soldiers from the Air Force, Navy and Special Forces, along with the Depth Corps’ reserve and regular forces.

All of these are known to be specialized in conducting long-rage operations and carrying out missions deep within enemy territories.

The exercise is a part of the famed “war month” – a four-week-long exercise that simulates long-drawn battle conditions to assess and boost their wartime readiness. They will include a variety of maneuvers such as simulated combat and battle scenarios behind enemy lines.

So far, it is not known if Cypriot forces will be participating in the drill.

A group of youths carried out a vicious attack on a man, which has led the latter to be hospitalized.

The man was taken to Paphos general hospital and admitted in their A&E department. One of the doctors there confirmed that he had sustained substantial bruising on his face.

The police were only alerted of the incident by the 37-year-old after he returned home to his village from the hospital.

According to the Cyprus New Agency, the police did get to the scene of the attack but did not find any youths there. Further identification is impossible since the victim could not identify any of his perpetrators.

The man, 37, was attacked by the gang of youths in the central Paphos area.

Cypriot Health Minister Cyprus Constantinos Ioannou has revealed that the island nation has one of the highest pediatric cancer survival rates worldwide.

On the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day on February 15, the minister gave his regards to the children who have fought and survived cancer.

He also went on to give a shout out to the healthcare workers and staff of Makarios hospital’s pediatric cancer unit, emphasizing on how their continued efforts have made the statistic a reality.

Lastly, he thanks the paramedical community for their continued emergency services to help the hospital in its battle.

The Department of Taxation has allowed businesses to take more time in order to fulfill their value-added tax dues for the period of December 31, 2020 to January 31, 2021.

Usually, the tax for the period must be paid between February 10 and March 10, 2021. But the Tax Department has made the concession to allow businesses to forego monthly payments and pay in three monthly installments instead.

Those companies which have tax due for both of the above periods must pay their first installment by April 10, 2021, second by May 10, 2021, and the third on June 10, 2021.

Companies are not obligated or mandated to pay their due in equal installments. They can pay their entire liability with no interest or incurring charges by April 10, 2021.

The migrants’ crisis has taken a toll on the Cypriot administration, which in turn has led to the island nation calling for international assistance to best deal with the situation.

In a joint statement to the press, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris and Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Christodoulides and Interior Minister Nicos Nouris have expressed the country’s concern over handling the scores of migrants constantly arriving on their shores.

The statement said that as of now, the number of applicants seeking asylum is equivalent to 4% of the island nation’s population – an alarmingly high percentage compared to the less than 1% in any other European country.

The government has announced that the restrictions will be eased in the view of declining COVID-19 cases.

Turkish Cyprus Prime Minister Ersan Saner has revealed that the region will reduce the current level of restrictions beginning the 22^nd of February.

If the decline in cases continues, then businesses, shops, and other economic activities will continue to reopen.

Eventually, all that will remain is the curfew between the hours of 8 p.m. – 5 a.m. during the weekends.

Under the new ease of restrictions, markets shall remain open from between 8 a.m.- 6 p.m and merchandising and retail services shall remain open from 10 a.m.to 6 p.m on the weekdays. All places selling essential goods (such as groceries, pharmacies, bakeries, supermarkets, convenience stores and gas stations) will remain open from between 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. every Saturday.

Only bakeries and pharmacies will remain open on Sundays.

Schools shall remain closed and online classes will continue till at least the 28^th of February.

The detonation of an explosive device has destroyed a car in Ekali, Limassol.

The police have revealed that the car, which they believe was targeted purposefully was parked outside a home belonging to a 40-year-old man. The vehicle itself belongs to the father-in-law of said man.

The man reported the incident to the police as a “deafening explosion” that had occurred around 4 AM in the morning.

Although the fire service was called in to take care of the situation, the car had already been destroyed by the detonated device.

Besides the car itself, the fragments from the explosion shattered the windows of another nearby home.

An investigation is being conducted into the matter. As of yet, the true motive behind the perpetrators’ actions are not clear.

A freak accident in Larnaca led to a fire which destroyed 6 cars on a street.

The accident happened as a short circuit lit up a barrel of oil that was stored in the garage. After damaging the building’s garage, ground floor and second floor, the fire spread as the flame spread down the road straight into a car. It then further expanded to gut 6 other cars before it was stopped.

The initial call made to the fire department was at 4 AM. By this time, the fire had already spread to two cars. By the time the fire brigade had arrived, all of 6 cars were on fire.

The fire brigade used over an hour to extinguish the fire.

As of now, the area of accident has been sealed, and an investigation is being conducted to determine the exact reason why the freak accident happened in the first place.

The coronavirus restrictions are here to stay, and the latest incident only proves how serious the authorities can get with those who violate them.

Limassol Police found and broke up an illegal mass gathering for a birthday party taking place at a restaurant.

They proceeded to fine the owner €1,500, and fined another 13 people.

Ten of these were foreign nationals and three others were locals. They have been fined €300 each.

This incident is one of many that have been reported in the last few weeks. The last incident before this was the busting of an illegal club consisting of several visitors along with three DJs.

The Cyprus National Team’s coach Johan Walem has vacated his post as the national team manager for the men’s team.

The decision, which is apparently by mutual consent of Mr. Walem and the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) was announced by the latter in a press release.

The press release went on to thank Mr. Walem for his time and involvement in the national men’s football team, and wished him the best for his future endeavors.

Meanwhile several names have been linked to the termination. This includes high-profile personalities such as Chrysis Michael (the manager of Karmiotissa club), along with the Greek Traianos Dellas, Christos Kontis and Nikos Kostenoglou.

Appointed on the 25^th of January in  2020, Mr. Walem hasn’t has the best of experiences when it comes to the records of the Cyprus national team. He recorded four losses, one draw and one win out of a total six matches in the UEFA Nations League.

Starting March 1^st, 2021, Cyprus will be reopening its airports using a risk-assessment system that is based on color-coding.

The color-coding system, which is meant for both tourists and diplomats, are being implemented to keep health safety in check in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As of now, the system is in place for all EU member states, along with “third” countries like Israel, the UK and Russia.

In a statement to the press, the ministry of transport announced that it will be extending mandatory quarantine rule till March 31^st. This rule, which has been in place since December 2020, is applicable for anyone who is traveling from the UK.

Those arriving from countries in the “amber” list will be required to have tested negative on a PCR test 72 hours before arrival, along with the upon-arrival test. Those on the red list will be required to take double of the same tests.

Meanwhile, those arriving from countries on the “green” list (i.e. from safe countries with a lower incidence of COVID-19 caseload) would only need to give a free and compulsory PCR test upon arrival.

The coding system will be subject to change weekly on the basis of the country’s situation.

The coronavirus pandemic has wrecked havoc over the travel industry worldwide, and Cyprus, of course, is no exception to this. The island nation, which had seen a substantial increase in tourist arrivals last January, has in this one seen a dip in numbers like no other.

In January 2021, Cyprus had all of 3,889 tourist arrivals – a far cry from the 85,622 tourist arrivals in the same time last year.

The data, which has been published by the Cyprus statistical service (Cystat) further, showed that the return rate has similarly gone down – from 134,507 in January 2020 to only 13,307 in January 2021. This is only 10% of the total number of returns in 2020.

Most of the arrivals in January 2021 were from neighboring country Greece at a whopping 48.4%, followed by Germany at 8.8%.

As for returnees, most of them came back from Russia, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The information quoted for January 2021 was derived from the processing of the data of the “Cyprus Flight Pass” – an electronic platform where all passengers traveling to and/or from Cyprus must disclose their travel-related data in. Data includes the which all passengers aiming to travel to Cyprus must submit with information in relation to their flight, their country of residence, the purpose of their visit, as well as other demographic characteristics.

Popular international private bank EFG International is tackling the Brexit issue by expanding overseas.

As part of its latest move, the financial institution will be expanding further in Cyprus.

Though the Zurich-based bank has already conducted business in the island nation for over 6 years. However, it will now be expanding its licenses to capitalize on growth in the country.

A statement issued by the bank itself says that they will establish 2 new subsidiaries before the middle of February, namely the EFG Private Bank (UK) Limited and the EFG Cyprus Limited. Both subsidiaries will be located in Nicosia. Additionally, another office will be opened in Limassol in the months to follow.

The Cyprus subsidiary shall be managed via the EFG office in London, UK. Demetris Pisiaras, an EFG banker in the region with over 20 years of experience will be heading all operations in Cyprus.

The results of a brand new study has revealed that more than 17,000 birds spend the winter season in the wetlands of Cyprus.

The study, conducted by the game and wildlife service and BirdLife Cyprus surveyed over 50 different locations on the island nation, and went on to record around 17,000 migratory waterbirds from 68 species.

The most recorded of these was the flamingo, which made up for around 8,000 birds. This was followed by the common teal, which are around 2,200 in number.

Area-wise, the largest number of waterbirds were found in the Larnaca salt lake, which had over 11,000 birds across 30 species. This was followed by the Akrotiri peninsula salt lakes (with a total of 2,700 birds), the Oroklini lake (with a total of 1,100 birds) and finally the Paralimni lake (with under 900).

The study and survey was conducted in honor of the World Wetlands Day, which is celebrated on the 2^nd of February every year.