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.

The energy, commerce and industry ministry on Monday invited applications under its €50 million incentives scheme to boost the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The government has set in motion plans to create a ‘bad bank’ to relieve the Cyprus banking system of an excess of Non-Performing loans, confirmed Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides.

Tourism-dependent Greece and Cyprus discussed requesting vaccination certificates from travellers arriving in the two countries, Greek Prime Minister Kyriacos Mitsotakis said on Monday, following a meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia.

The number of people who travelled to Cyprus fell by 79.9% in 2020 compared to 2019 while people departing from the country also recorded a drop of 80.1%, data released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (CyStat), on Monday, show.

The National Vaccination Plan for Covid-19 implementation continues with more appointments as of tomorrow 9 February 2021, at 9 am. Access to the Vaccination Portal will be granted to people belonging to the 75-79 age group, who have not arranged an appointment the previous weeks or have not received the vaccine yet. The appointments relate to the period from 9 to 20 February.

Cyprus received on Monday the first batch of 7,200 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, of which the island expects to receive around 70,000 doses by the end of the month.

Many borrowers who opted to use a scheme suspending loan payments for nine months in a bid to cope with the financial fallout of the coronavirus were now restructuring them, it emerged on Friday.

Applications have opened for nine new incentive schemes aimed at promoting special interest tourism while enhancing sustainability, the deputy ministry of tourism said on Monday.