Speaking at an international press briefing this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said that following the bailout deal, Cypriot businesses have been contacting their clients and colleagues in Russia and other European countries, who say they want to stay and continue their operations in Cyprus.

The Minister pointed out that apart from the fact that Cyprus was a financial services centre businesses chose to use the country for their operations also because of the good business environment and legal system it provides.  

Replying to a question on capital controls, which have been imposed on banking transactions after a bank closure of nearly two weeks, the Cypriot Foreign Minister spoke of a Central Bank estimate that certain controls will be lifted after approximately four days and if all goes as well as it did during the first day of opening the rest of the restrictions could be lifted after about a month.

At the same time, Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, who was also present at the briefing, said that the tourism sector is expected to do exceptionally well this year.

Replying to question on reported problems with foreign tour operators, he said most of the problems created by current developments have already been resolved.

Last Sunday the eurozone Finance Ministers and the IMF agreed on a €10bn financial assistance package after the Cypriot authorities agreed to wind down Cyprus Popular Bank (CPB), the island’s second largest lender, and the restructuring of Bank of Cyprus (BOCY), Cyprus biggest bank, after imposing losses on deposits above €100,000. This will shrink the island’s large banking sector, resulting in deeper recession.

Excluded from the international markets, Cyprus applied for financial assistance last June after BOCY and CPB sought state aid following massive write-downs of the Greek bond holdings amounting to €4.5 billion as a result of the Greek sovereign debt haircut.

Speaking at an international press briefing this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said that following the bailout deal, Cypriot businesses have been contacting their clients and colleagues in Russia and other European countries, who say they want to stay and continue their operations in Cyprus.

The Minister pointed out that apart from the fact that Cyprus was a financial services centre businesses chose to use the country for their operations also because of the good business environment and legal system it provides.  

Replying to a question on capital controls, which have been imposed on banking transactions after a bank closure of nearly two weeks, the Cypriot Foreign Minister spoke of a Central Bank estimate that certain controls will be lifted after approximately four days and if all goes as well as it did during the first day of opening the rest of the restrictions could be lifted after about a month.

At the same time, Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, who was also present at the briefing, said that the tourism sector is expected to do exceptionally well this year.

Replying to question on reported problems with foreign tour operators, he said most of the problems created by current developments have already been resolved.

Last Sunday the eurozone Finance Ministers and the IMF agreed on a €10bn financial assistance package after the Cypriot authorities agreed to wind down Cyprus Popular Bank (CPB), the island’s second largest lender, and the restructuring of Bank of Cyprus (BOCY), Cyprus biggest bank, after imposing losses on deposits above €100,000. This will shrink the island’s large banking sector, resulting in deeper recession.

Excluded from the international markets, Cyprus applied for financial assistance last June after BOCY and CPB sought state aid following massive write-downs of the Greek bond holdings amounting to €4.5 billion as a result of the Greek sovereign debt haircut.

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