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Deal reached with Russia on loan

08/05/13
RUSSIA has agreed to extend the maturity and reduce the interest on its loan to Cyprus, a document prepared by international lenders showed, providing additional but expected financial relief to the island on top of an EU-IMF bailout.Cyprus had complied with all conditions set by international lenders for the first €3 billion of the €10 billion bailout to flow to Nicosia later in May, said the April 30 document, drawn up by the troika of the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF.Russia lent Cyprus €2.5 billion in 2011 for five years, with an annual interest rate of 4.5 per cent. Extending the loan and reducing the interest will ease debt servicing costs for Nicosia and help it regain financial stability... Read on

Russia extends Cypriot loan by 2 yrs, cuts interest: troika document

07/05/13
Russia has agreed to extended the maturity and reduce the interest on its loan to Cyprus, a document prepared by international lenders showed, providing additional but expected financial relief to the island on top of an EU-IMF bailout... 5 comments

Russia ties Cyprus loan terms to release of VTB assets

21/04/13
RUSSIA wants to play a bigger part in talks over solving Cyprus' financial problems but will only restructure its loan to the island if its interests here, especially those related to VTB Bank, are protected, Moscow's finance minister said.Russian banks and companies have poured money into Cyprus since the 1990s, taking advantage of low taxes and relaxed business regulations.Many of them were caught unprepared when major account holders were told they would lose a proportion of their deposits over €100,000 under a European Union bailout to save the islandy from bankrutpcy... 15 comments

Those in tourism still see hope in Russian market

By Stefanos Evripidou 21/04/13
THE ECONOMIC crisis seen in Cyprus over the last month will most certainly impact upon the eastern promise of a growing Russian tourism market though opinions within the industry appear to differ over the degree.One tourism operator who did not wish to be named said he was in Russia recently visiting tour operators and was implored by companies there to pass on the message to the Cyprus authorities to counteract the negative marketing enacted against the country.“Unfortunately, our competitors are capitalising on our situation, saying we have strikes, people are screaming in the streets and there is general upset and insecurity here. Bookings are down and people are scared,” he said... 9 comments

Russia won't help out Cyprus depositors, says minister

02/04/13
THE RUSSIAN government will not aid businesses that have lost money in Cyprus, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said, underscoring Moscow's resolve to clamp down on the flight of capital to offshore financial centres.Major account holders, many of them Russian, will lose up to 60 per cent of their deposits over 100,000 euros at Cyprus' largest bank under a European Union bailout.If Russians lose money "it's a terrible shame, but the Russian government will not take any action in such a situation," Shuvalov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying in a television interview on Sunday night... 3 comments

Russia backstops Cyprus bailout despite anger

26/03/13
RUSSIA signalled yesterday it would backstop the European Union's bailout despite anger that the weekend rescue deal would impose heavy losses on uninsured depositors, many of them Russian.President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to negotiate the restructuring of a bailout loan it granted to Cyprus in 2011 - having rejected Nicosia's request for easier terms during crisis talks last week.Putin "considers it possible to support efforts... aimed at overcoming the crisis in the economy and banking system of this island state," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said... 6 comments

End of the line on Russian talks as Sarris returns home

23/03/13
RUSSIA rebuffed Cypriot entreaties for aid yesterday, leaving the island's increasingly isolated leaders scrambling to strike a bailout deal with the European Union or face the collapse of its financial system."The talks have ended as far as the Russian side is concerned," Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters after two days of crisis talks with his Cypriot counterpart, Michalis Sarris.Russians have billions of euros at stake in Cyprus's outsized and now crippled banking sector, a factor in the EU's unprecedented demand that bigger depositors take a hit in the interests of keeping Cyprus afloat... 4 comments

Sarris tightlipped at end of second day’s Moscow talks

By Elias Hazou 22/03/13
FINANCE Minister Michalis Sarris declined to comment late  last night on whether he managed to secure a deal with Moscow after two-days of marathon talks."No comment," Sarris said when asked in his hotel lobby if a deal with Russia was secured. Sarris was meeting Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov , after failling to agree on a deal on Wednesday.Quoting government sources, the Cyprus News Agency said Russian officials made it clear to  Sarris that the only thing under discussion was extending an existing loan of €2.5 billion.Cyprus and Russia had been in urgent talks over a possible financial rescue. They were discussing possible cooperation in the banking and energy sectors... 2 comments

Deposit haircut back on the table

21/03/13
 THE government yesterday ordered banks to stay shut until next week as it toyed with the idea of re-submitting a proposal on tax deposits – at a much lower rate than the previous scheme – as it scrambled to avert a financial meltdown.The government was yesterday trying to find alternative solutions after parliament on Tuesday rejected the terms of a bailout from the European Union and turned instead to Russia for a lifeline."We don't have days or weeks, we have only hours to save our country," Averof  Neophytou, ruling DISY deputy chairman, told reporters as crisis talks in Nicosia dragged into the evening. Neophytou tried to get the message through to other parties... 46 comments

Our View: Russia has no moral, legal or political obligation to save our insolvent banks

21/03/13
IN THE LAST four days, we have been hearing and reading an array of rumours about how the Russians would step in with their billions and spare Cyprus having to agree to the odious levy on deposits that is a condition for the EU bailout. So far not a single one of these rumours has proved to have any basis in reality, but the production was unaffected... 21 comments
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