The Statistical Service announced recently that in 2012, 0.17% of Cyprus' GDP was spent on environmental protection activities in industry, adding that in other EU countries the corresponding expenditure reached 0.39%.

Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis expressed optimism recently that some products affected by the Russian embargo on the EU would be sold to other markets.

Bank of Cyprus (BoC) announces it has signed an agreement to sell its assets related to Societatea Companiilor Hoteliere Grand (GHES), a company incorporated in Romania to Austrias STRABAG SE.

President Nicos Anastasiades held a series of meetings with key members of his cabinet recently with the aim of seeking consensus among most of the political parties to vote through the foreclosure bill before the next EU council that will review progress and release the next tranche of bailout money.

The InterContinental Aphrodite Hills Resort Hotel, is to be rebranded into the Sensatori Aphrodite Hills Resort Hotel Cyprus, as of May 1, 2015, it announced recently.

Tourist arrivals increased by 5.7% in July 2014, Cyprus' Statistical Service said recently, announcing also an important increase of 11.4% in Cypriots' trips abroad.

The Energy Minister is in Cairo for talks with Egyptian counterparts as part of a broader itinerary in which he will hold talks with government officials in Oman, Jordan and Romania in September and October.

Defence Minister Christoforos Fokaides notes that the geopolitical instability in the region as a whole in combination with Cyprus' energy prospects upgrade its role and make it a strategic partner for the US.

The situation in Iraq, the Cyprus solution, the economic crisis and bilateral issues were on the agenda of a meeting President Nicos Anastasiades had recently with British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis is set for talks with Egyptian counterparts in Cairo in what he says is the first of a three-month series of visits to different countries to discuss the island's LNG prospects.