Domestic freight transfers declined marginally in third quarter of 2020, while freight transports to and from Cyprus marked a steep reduction reflecting the restrictive measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

With Cyprus’ vaccination roll-out against Covid-19 boosted with the arrival of AstraZeneca, allowing it to start vaccinating the over 70s, the Health Ministry has issued some general guidelines.

Taking up the suggestion of the inter-ministerial committee tasked with the management of the pandemic, the Cabinet on Wednesday agreed to extend current restriction measures until the end of the month.

In 2020, three in four people in Cyprus logged in to online services using their username and password. The share of 74% is just below the EU average of 75%, Eurostat reported on Tuesday.

Green recovery measures, including energy upgrades of buildings, enhanced sustainable mobility and modernisation of the electricity grid, improve the quality of life and contribute to the country’s environmental upgrading, while bringing significant benefits to domestic economic development.

The opening of the first integrated casino resort in Cyprus, the City Dreams Mediterranean, has been postponed until the Fall of 2022. Initially it had been scheduled that the first casino resort would open in Cyprus within 2021, but mainly due to the pandemic this has changed.

Speaking to Phileleftheros, Transport Minister Giannis Karousos, said that even though 2021 may not have started well for the country’s airports since arrivals in January were reduced by 90.5% compared to 2020, prospects for the improvement of the situation remain encouraging.

The value of Cyprus building permits issued from January to November 2020 declined by 23% year on year to €2.5 billion, mainly affected by the impact of the pandemic on large-scale projects.

Cyprus speeds up its vaccination program against Covid-19 as capacity doubles with the arrival of AstraZeneca while phase three of the rollout is launched.

Following a rollercoaster year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the increase in year-over-year (YoY) value of deals recorded since the beginning of Q3 is likely to continue into 2021, as companies position themselves for improved economic activity and reframe their future for the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. This is according to EY research looking at global M&A trends in 2020 and the outlook for transactions in 2021.