Current Events

Exxon Mobil, the reputed tech company has received the 2018 Invest Cyprus International Investment Award, which recognizes the benefaction of foreign investors to the growth of the Cypriot economy.

The International Investment Award titled “Invest Cyprus” is a special award presented to elite outside investors in Cyprus every year and is meant as a form of appreciation for their constant and consistent support in seeing Cyprus’ potential as a suitable destination for current and prospective businessmen and investors.

The winners were congratulated by none other than the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, who continued to talk about the growing positive reputation of Cyprus. He emphasized on how far Cyprus has come from a few years back, when Cyprus was in the front pages for the wrong reasons. He lauded the resilience of the Cypriot economy and highlighted the prospects of its main productive sectors.

Exxon Mobil, the international oil and gas company, which has been doing impressive work in the Mediterranean area, recently announced that it would be continuing with exploration of hydrocarbons on the island and has plans for two different natural gas wells this year. Jay Jackson, Exploration Manager for the Europe/Caspian region, who was among those speaking on behalf of the company, also added that the East Mediterranean region’s concentration of hydrocarbons coupled with Cyprus’s ‘stable financial and political environment’ made the place an ideal location for investors.

Exxon Mobil’s current activities in Cyprus include the supply, distribution and marketing of petroleum products via Esso-branded Service Stations.

In a bid to crack down on threats and enemies and make the eastern Mediterranean region a safer place, Cyprus, Israel and Greece’s defense ministers have emphasized on the need to forge better military ties.

Savvas Angelides, Avigdor Lieberman and Panos Kammenos – the defense ministers of Cyprus, Israel and Greece respectively, have all recently expressed their plans to expand cybersecurity along with joint military drills as well search and rescue operations in the eastern Mediterranean.

According to Defense Minister Lieberman, there is a credible threat of terror attacks and challenges caused by illegal migration in this region, which requires immediate attention. This will truly effective only when countries counter threats together, as they all share the region and are affected by it. Defense Minister Lieberman also added that Israel will be hosting the next trilateral meeting of the Defense Ministers.

The three ministers also hailed the first conference which brought them together along with various Cypriot, Greek and Israeli companies that are active in the defense sector.

In one of the most tragic accident cases in Cyprus in recent years, Charlie Birch, the victim of a recent suspected deliberate hit-and-run in Cyrus was given a poignant tribute by family, friends and strangers like.

The 39-year-old Welsh man, who hailed from Powys, was hit a car as he was walking along a road near Paphos at 2:30 am. Accompanying him was another 32-year-old man, who survived without sustaining any fatal injuries. Mr. Birch, however, died at the scene.

The victim’s family is in shock on the series of events, Adrian Bowen, Mr. Birch’s brother emphasized on how traumatic the state-of-affairs are, especially to Birch’s wife and children. Cyprus Police has arrested two people – a 35-year-old man and 23-year-old woman in connection to the event. Both are currently facing premeditated murder charges.

Mr. Birch’s social media was soon inundated with tributes from family, friends, remote acquaintances and even strangers who may only have had a passing meeting with the man.

In what is being considered a bold move to strengthen Cyprus’s financial security system and curb corruption, the Central Bank of Cyprus, after much pressurization from US officials, has announced that it will take measures to discourage brokers from setting up shell companies on the island country.

Cyprus’s premier bank has sent said measures as an email to all compliance officers in financial credit institutions, informing them of the new directive, which involves banks and other financial institutions boycotting commercial relations clients from shell companies.

With such a rule in place, it will become more difficult for companies to do business in Cyprus, as they will have neither physical presence nor the ability to engage in economic activity. The directive also expands on the existing definition of “shell companies,” going forward from the outsiders point-of-view that shell companies are only those based in tax havens or are offices without any tax residence.

The move has been heavily criticized by the Cyprus Fiduciary Association (CFA), which has helmed the CBC for being careless with consulting stakeholders. According to the CFA, the shell companies issue is a long-standing one, and the CBC should not have flown-off with a directive before taking into consideration the discussions on the new model which aims to put focus more on meaningful business activities.

Cyprus has been described as a “country of primary concern” by the United States regarding international money laundering and terror funding activities, with a United States Report from the  State Department alleging that the country of Cyprus is working as an median for criminal organizations looking for places to launder finances.

Turkish Cypriots can now celebrate their holidays to the fullest as Dherynia beach, which lied by the fenced area of Famagusta in the north will be reopening to both Turkish citizens as well as people with valid ‘TRNC’ papers.

According to an article published by Yeni Duzen, the beach will be operated jointly by security forces and the ‘municipality’ of Famagusta.

A deal was signed between the forces and the Famagusta “municipality” to open and operate the beach jointly, but delays were caused due to the ‘municipality’ having to undertake some tasks at the beach.

This had also led to rumors that the beach’s opening was in fact cancelled, until the security forces and Famagusta mayor Ismail Arter specified that the protocol was present and functional. Arter even went on to publicly deny other rumors such as expenses for Dherynia beach amounting to over 1m Turkish lira (around €200,000).

The Cyprus News Agency has reported that the beach, which had actually opened in August last year, operation under controlled entrance for people with TRNC documentation only, which caused immense grief in the north.

In what can be considered a strike back against claims of “selling” EU passports for cash, Cyprus has announced that it will tighten the reigns on the vetting procedures for granting Cypriot citizenship to investors.

Harris Georgiades, finance minister of Cyprus has said that stringent controls have been introduced and the number of passports granted per year has been limited to 700. He further added that apart from checks by the Cypriot authorities, due diligence checks will be conducted by specialized foreign firms on a case-wise basis.

Mr. Georgiades did not hesitate to make it clear that the amendments actually serve to make the process transparent and reliable, and prove that citizenship was being granted on the basis of merit alone.

In a recent slew of criticisms against Cyprus, the island country was implied to “sell” passports to wealthy Chinese and Russian nationals.

Introduced after Cyprus’ near-bankruptcy situation in 2013, the scheme is meant to raise much needed cash in the form of investment from foreign nationals. Eligibility criteria include (but are not limited to) making a minimum of a two-million-euro investment in business, property, and/or government bonds, and a willingness to shift their permanent residence to Cyprus. Often dubbed as the “golden visa” scheme, the program has generated around €4.8 billion as of 2016.

Cyprus is a vibrant place buzzing with things of art and culture, and the latest band set to perform here only serves to further this point. Sarah’s Jazz Club, one of the most famous clubs in Nicosia is all set to to feature some top end Cuban music.

Famous six-member Cuban band Havana Noche is all set to perform on Sarah’s Jazz Club’s stage. Based on authentic genres of Cuban music such as salsa, cha cha, timba and son cubano, this band has a solid Cyprus connection as it was founded by percussionist Paouros in Cyprus, along with other musicians from Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, and of course, the island nation itself. The band will have Alberto Mendez Vega, Alejandro Gonzalez and George Morfitis on vocals, by George Morfitis on piano, Costas Challoumas on bass, Alejandro Gonzalez on congas, Constandinos Paouros on timbales and drums, and Mike Michael on trumpet, and will give a much-appreciated refreshment to the club’s usual music scene.

The club will then host Cyprus-based jazz band Mood Indigo. The band formed by Armenian-Cypriot bass player Greg Makamian and

Canadian-Cypriot vocalist Irene Day and Armenian-Cypriot bassist Greg Makamian founded the band, playing American jazz standards. Joining them are Charis Ioannou on the saxophone, Ioannis Vafeas on drums and Marios Toubas on the piano.

Crime rate in Cyprus is on the rise, and if recent events are anything to go by, they’re not slowing down anytime soon.

Among the latest incidents of robberies is a kebab shop which was robbed by armed robbers who stole €40,000.

The incident involved the kebab shop’s owner closing his business and leaving in his car when two armed and hooded individuals appeared. While one fired a shot up in the air, the other grabbed the owner’s bag, which had over €40,000 worth of cash in it.

According to the owner of the shop, the perpetrators were both men. He also said that he tried to fight with the attackers but got injured in the process.

After grabbing the bag full of money, the thieves left the scene in a stolen Mazda 323 car.

This was not the only such robbery that had taken place that day – another had taken place in Mesoyi not much later. This incident also involved armed robbers who fired a shot in the air outside a resident’s house, and once he opened the door, hit him with a wooden object and stole over €2,000 before fleeing.

In what can be considered a start of a better foreign affairs system a double taxation avoidance was signed in a recent session of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Council of Europe.

The treaty was signed jointly by Foreign Ministers Nicos Christodoulides Maria Ubach Font on behalf of Cyprus and Andorra respectively.

The treaty will serve to facilitate better communication and trade and will help develop the existing economic relationship between the two nations. The treaty will also serve to improve co-operation in issues of tax between the Cyprus and Andorra, with the latter being one of the few European countries Cyprus doesn’t have a convention with.

Based upon the OECD Model Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation on Income and Capital, the convention passes all minimum standards of the Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, as issued by the OECD/G20. It also includes financial and other informational exchange according to the relevant Article of the Model Convention.

Are you an expat thinking of finding a new destination overseas. If so, then Cyprus may not be your first choice. According to the results of a work-life balance survey for expats, the island nation ranks among the lowest, making it rather unsuitable for expats in that regard.

According to the survey conducted by Expat Insider, Cyprus was ranked 51st out of 65 countries in terms of a bad work-life balance.

The top scoring countries offering the best work-life balance prospects were Malta, Oman, Bahrain, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.

The worst, on the other hand included Japan (being the 60th and offering the least work-life balance), as well as Italy, Greece, Kuwait, Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Hong Kong, South Korea, and India.

Globally speaking, full time-working expats in Cyprus work for an average of 44.3 hours per week, with only 60 percent being satisfied with their current work-life balance and 61 per cent being satisfied about their work hours.

According to Expat Insider, work hours were not the only precursor to the level of satisfaction with work-life balance. Other factors such as education, gender, and benefits (among others) also played a vital role.

Data for the survey was collected from over 13,000 expats from 188 different countries and territories. Expat networking platform InterNations compiled the ranking of the destinations according to the level of work-life balance they had to offer.

In what can be considered a vital precursor for a major business decision in Cyprus, a Famagusta-based business group has requested the foreign minister to not open the new proposed crossing than connects the Greek south to the Turkish-occupied Dherynia in the north on grounds that it would hamper business operations in the former.

Said request was made by a spokesperson of the Famagusta tourist, commercial, and industrial society to Cyprus’ foreign minister Nicos Christodoulides.

According to Petros Petrou, the chairman of the group, the opening of the Dherynia crossing bar any kind of checks on tourists and products will “surely” hamper the country in general, and businesses in particular. He added that several items such as fuel, alcoholic beverages, and medicine, among others were sub-par in standard and will create a situation in Famagusta that will be tragically similar to that in the Turkish north.

Petrou also expressed his concern over the south losing tourists through the crossing as Dherynia is closer to Ayia Napa and Protaras – some of the most popular holiday locations.

According to Petrou, the only way to make things better is to liberate Varosha.

Interestingly enough, a demand along similar lines was made by Yiannis Karousos, Mayor of Ayia Napa in March, who expressed his concern over the opening of the Dherynia crossing without any solution to the Cyprus problem in sight.

A 50-year-old man was arrested and remanded for 4 days by the Limassol district court after the police found a connection between him and an attempted murder that was committed in 2001.

The victim in question, Andreas Pafitis, aka ‘Yena,’ was shot outside his warehouse on October 16, 2001 in Limassol. Though he survived, he was critically injured. There were multiple perpetrators at the scene, all of whom had fled in a stolen car with fake registration plates, which was found burnt in a hospital’s parking lot. The police could recover the license plates and filed them as evidence since they bore DNA evidence.

According to the police investigator, the 50-year-old man was arrested by the police during a periodic crackdown on organized crime. An illegal hunting gun was found in the man’s residence. Once his fingerprints were taken during questioning for the possession of the hunting gun, and were found to have matched the ones on the license plates of the stolen car used to commit the attempted murder, the man was remanded by the district court in Limassol.

The investigator further added in his statement to the court that the suspect was uncooperative, and his defense lawyers alleged that the police illegally took their client’s’ fingerprints illegally and are trying to “frame him” to the attempted murder.

Interestingly, the suspect had been questioned in 2001, but was released after no evidence could be gathered against him.

The Cyprus problem has caused grief to generations, and judging the current circumstances, the people are now keen to see it end. Unite Cyprus Now, a advocacy group seeking an end to the Cyprus issue, called to courage on the political level as marked its first year anniversary.

The group, which calls itself multi communal and works for the people, celebrated the occasion by gathering at the Ledra/Lokmaci crossing, and actively calling for a solution for the Cyprus problem. They gave particularly during the botched round of talks in Crans Montana.

In the gathering, spokespersons for the group touched upon their one-year anniversary and their cause in ending what they believe to be a “shameful division” of the island nations. They added that all Cypriots, regardless of their age, backgrounds, and political preferences wanted one thing – for Cyprus to be reunited.

The also said that the entire atmosphere lacked some political courage and the only way that could be accomplished is for people to push for a united Cyprus and make their best effort to leave for the future generations a country which remains united, peaceful stable and secure.

In what is being considered a shocking piece of news for the European sporting community, former Barcelona captain and current midfielder Andres Iniesta announced that he was making a move to Japan. It is heavily speculated that Iniesta will sign up for J-League side Vissel Kobe, given that Iniesta made the announcement on social media by posting a picture of himself along with the Hiroshi Mikitani – the chairman of the club.

The midfielder made his decision public by breaking the news on Instagram – “Heading to my new home, with my friend @hiroshi.mikitani”
Hiroshi Mikitani owns Vissel Kobe, and also serves as the chief executive of Rakuten, one of the main sponsors of Barcelona.

In what can be considered as a great news for the art and culture of Cyprus, the island country has managed to get back a rare 6th century Christian mosaic that was stolen decades ago.

The mosaic, which depicts the St. Andrew was taken from a looted church in four decades ago and will be returned to the Church now that it has been found again.

According to Archbishop Chrysostomos II, the mosaic depicted a rare kind of artistry, which made the work one of Cyprus’ biggest pieces of “stolen heritage.” It is in fact only one of the few mosaics to have survived the 8th and 9th centuries – a time when most icons of Orthodox Christianity were destroyed.

The mosaic itself depicts a bearded St. Andrew (one of the first apostles of Christ), and was among the many that were stolen from the Church of Panayia Kanakaria soon after Cyprus’ Greek-Turkish split in 1974.

Over 2 decades later, Aydin Dikmen, a Turkish art dealer, was arrested for selling said piece among others – both from Kanakaria Church and from other churches.

The only Kanakaria Church mosaic that is yet to be repatriated is the one of St. Luke.

The citizens of Cyprus are very concerned about the quality of their surroundings, and the enthusiasm shown by them for the annual cleanup only affirms this fact.

For this year’s ‘Let’s do it Cyprus’ clean-up campaign, the number of volunteers has already crossed 40K volunteers – much before the actual event. The event itself is an annual one held every year in April which aims to clean the island of as much rubbish as possible within a one-day period. The date for this year is April 29th.

The registration turnup, which is currently at 43,000, has far surpassed the target of 40K volunteers (i.e. around 1/20th of the population). More are expected to register before the actual event.

The ‘Let’s do it Cyprus’ campaign is in fact a function of the larger and international ‘Let’s Do It World’, campaign, one of the largest volunteer programmes of the world which sims to utilize the power of the common people to get rid of rubbish. The campaign is in fact the largest civilian movement to have been organized on a global scale.

The campaign started in Estonia in 2008, with over 50,000 volunteers gathering to clean up 10,000 tons of rubbish. They managed to clean up the entire country in a mere five hours.

Nine years later, over 16 million volunteers across 113 countries has been participating in Let’s do it campaigns.

The Let’s do it campaign has been taking place in Cyprus since 2012 and has had over 120 tons of rubbish collected and cleaned.

The app taxi services have taken the entire world by storm, and Cyprus is certainly no exception. The island country will soon get its own get its own app cabs service in the form of a new application called Taxify.

Not only does the app allow seamless ordering of taxis regardless of the time, it will give the user other facilities as well. With the help of the app, the user can set their own location and then see and order the partner taxi that is closest to them. They can also tracked the taxi’s location and get estimates of how long the taxi will take to arrive.

Furthermore, users can track their routes whilst being inside the cab, which will prevent drivers from taking longer or unknown routes and also from overcharging for trips. Customers will have the option to pay either by cash or through their mobiles.

Taxify has already garnered a good reputation in Europe and after a successful run in the Cypriot capital, will expand its services to the whole island.

The Estonia-made app has already proved to be a massive success in Europe, Africa and Central America, having over 5 million users across 30 countries and transactions worth more than $1 billion.

The app will be available on Windows, iOS and Android phones.

Despite all the troubles and tribulations, the average Cypriot goes through, chances of them being healthy are much higher than that of other countries.

According to a new European survey, over 80% of Cypriot respondents reported that they believed they were in good health. This ranks the island country as tenth among all EU countries in this context.

The statistic, among several others were published in a special Eurobarometer report which showed the degree of inequality, fairness and inter-generational mobility within the European Union.

According to said report, north, central and west EU countries were the ones to report that they believed they were in good health. Specifically, Ireland and Luxemburg aced the list, with 92 and 87 per cent respectively.

The lowest end of the list had Latvia and Romania at 55 and 57 per cent respectively.

Nothing, both good and bad, remains permanent. And Cyprus, which is on its road to recovery (after suffering a crippling financial nearly 5 years ago) is no exception to the rule. Cyprus’ tourism sector, in particular, has received a massive boost after seeing a record increase in the number of tourists visiting the island country.

That being said, every area of Cyprus isn’t reaping the rewards of increased tourist numbers equally.

While the shores are getting a lot of attention, the other parts of Cyprus, such as its rich heritage and its mountainous areas.

The Cypriot government is now all set to launch an initiative which will attempt to revive tourism in these areas, and encourage tourism beyond the shores. The initiative will involve several plans and adverts that will be launched in due course, along with restoration projects which will be undertaken in these areas.

A resident of Paphos aged 39 was called to trial after a case of his two dogs attacking two women and injuring them gravely.

The dogs – specifically, two Rottweilers attacked and injured a 79-year-old woman and her 45-year-old daughter as they were taking a walk in Paphos’ Pharos area. Both women are currently in hospital.

The dogs, who had initially set upon the elderly woman, escaped the owner, who was in fact a relative of the two women. The daughter, who rushed to her mother’s aid when she saw her mother was attacked, was attacked as well.

Both were rushed to Paphos hospital by car and had sustained multiple injuries. The mother had sustained a head injury, while both of them had sustained multiple bites and scratches.

According to Panicos Stavrianou, the pathologist who had examined the women on Monday, reported that they will remain in hospital for some time in order to recover from the treatment done by surgeons and orthopedic doctors.

They will also be examined by Sofoclis Sofocleous the State-pathologist on behalf of the authorities.

In the meantime, the owner of the dogs went to trial at the Paphos district court for their negligence and offences. A hearing date of May 9 has been set while the man has been charged and then released. The dogs were also examined by professional vet services but have not been deemed as “dangerous” and will not be put to sleep.