The Council of Ministers approved on Wednesday the licensing of block 5 of the Cyprus EEZ to the of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Cyprus Limited and Qatar Petroleum International Upstream LLC consortium.

Inflation in Cyprus kept rising to 4.3% in November due to the sharp increase in the price of electricity and petroleum products.

Minister of Health, Michalis Hadjipantelas, held a news conference at noon to announce stricter measures in order to reduce the growing number of coronavirus cases recorded on a daily basis in Cyprus.

Even as the world moves at breakneck speed toward digital adoption – compounded by national lockdowns – the EY study, Decoding the digital home, reveals that brick-and-mortar retail remains a crucial element of the customer journey for digital home users. Thirty-nine percent of survey respondents would prefer to visit a retail store when purchasing a mobile device or package, rising to 41% when purchasing a smart home device.

Bank of Cyprus is on track to return to steady profits after it announced a third-quarter after-tax profit of €19 mln and a significant reduction in its non-performing loans.

Hellenic Bank saw its nine-month after-tax profits halved to €21 million, from €40 million in the same period last year, following a flat third quarter.

On the one hand the opposition parties are preparing amendments in order to reduce unnecessary, as they claim, expenses in the 2022 budget and on the other hand, the government submitted 30 amendments which will increase state expenses in the medium-term due to the establishment of several new working positions.

Citizens who are eligible for the third dose of the covid vaccine will be notified via SMS, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The mining sector has a key role to play as the world transitions to a greener, low-carbon future, Euromines president and Venus Minerals’ chairman Mark Rachovides said during a panel discussion held within the framework of the European Union’s Raw Materials Week.

The uptick in economic activity this year compared to 2020 – hampered by lockdowns – has generated a substantial improvement in the government’s fiscal performance, preliminary data for January to October show.