The head of the private hospitals’ association Pasin on Monday signed the long-awaited memorandum with the health insurance organisation (HIO) which forms the basis of negotiations for private clinics to enter Gesy.

Geopolitical uncertainty and trade tensions heavily impacted the 2019 IPO landscape, pushing overall IPO activity down in terms of deals and proceeds. 2019 has registered 1,115 IPOs with proceeds of US$198b – a 19% fall in deal volume and a 4% decrease in proceeds compared with 2018. However, as US-China-EU trade tensions, concerns about economic growth and other geopolitical issues – including Brexit and social unrest in Hong Kong – subside, a healthy increase in IPO activity is expected in 2020, particularly in the first half of the year, as markets are expected to become more volatile leading up to the US Presidential elections.

Insurance companies have to bear the costs of the ever rising number of car and motorcycle accidents in Cyprus – a phenomenon which is taking on alarming dimensions.

Developers said Friday banks made it difficult for people to get loans due to the strict criteria imposed by the central bank.

President Nicos Anastasiades said that multi-billion private developments and expenditure on public utilities, also amounting to several billion euros, are proof of the economy’s dynamic development and of restored confidence.

Cyprus has won back the halloumi trademark in the UK, more than 18 months after it lost it because of a blunder by Commerce Ministry officials.

Sustainable development and protecting traditional methods of farming were the main items on the agenda as discussions wrapped up in Omodos village on a European conference on the challenges facing mountainous areas of large Mediterranean islands during which the Troodos Cyprus Declaration was approved.

With liquified petroleum already being moved to the new facilities in Vasilikos and liquefied natural gas (LNG) scheduled to be transferred to the same area in December 2020, the Larnaca municipality has plans to transform the area of Livadia, once the refinery located there finally shuts down.

Famar S.A., one of Greece’s biggest pharmaceutical companies which belonged to Marinopoulos Group before its acquisition by American Pillarstone, has been taken over now by a Cypriot-US joint venture.

In 2018, Cyprus became the country with the highest stock of non-performing loans (assets) of general government, with 32.4% of GDP, far ahead of the other EU Member States, according to data released today by Eurostat the statistical office of the EU. According to Eurostat this was due to a large transaction, whereby non-performing loans from a Cypriot public financial corporation (classified outside government) were transferred to a government unit.