Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Keve) president Christodoulos Angastiniotis on Monday sent an open letter to Eurochambres president Luc Frieden, protesting the latter’s decision to visit Turkey for an event taking place under the Turkey-EU Business Dialogue (TEBD) framework.

Angastiotis mentioned Turkey’s embargo on Cyprus’ shipping, saying that it “distorts the application of the principle of fair and free competition in shipping trade with the EU, adversely affecting the merchant fleets of EU Member States, and causes substantial increases in transportation costs”.

Christodoulos Angastiniotis, chairman of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce (Keve)

In addition, the Keve president said that Turkey’s approach restricts or threatens to restrict free access to EU shipping companies, while also undermining regional development and cooperation, as described in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which aims to promote economic integration and democratic reform across the EU’s neighbours to the south in North Africa and the Middle East.

“In view of the above, we cannot unconditionally and without Turkey complying with the EU legal acts and decisions, support the further strengthening and development of its already close EU economic partnerships and the opening of negotiations for the extension and modernisation of the EU-Turkey Customs Union in order to extend the scope of convergence to new areas,” Angastiniotis stated.

Finally, in terms of whether the issue is political or financial, with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (Tobb) saying that it falls under the former, the Keve president said the issue is mainly a financial one.

“They are primarily economic as they have serious adverse consequences on our economy and business community,” Angastiniotis said.

Cypriot beverage company Keo said on Tuesday that its exposure to the Russian market is limited and is not expecting any significant fallout from recent developments, including any sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union.

“KEO Plc wishes to inform its investing public that the company has no transactions with Russian companies and therefore does not expect the group’s activities to be affected,” Keo said in a statement to the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, Cypriot food company Frou Frou said that its own sales will be affected, explaining that initial sales estimates will need to be reevaluated.

“The group’s commercial activities are expected to be indirectly affected due to the negative impact on sales from the possible reduction in tourist arrivals from the Russian and Ukrainian markets,” the company said in a statement.

“Possible further increases in the cost of energy and raw materials will negatively affect us,” the statement added.

The company concluded by saying that it is closely monitoring developments and will take the necessary actions to minimise any adverse effects on its finances.

Cyprus’ total employment increased by 1.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020, while real working hours increased by 4.9 per cent year-on-year, according to a preliminary estimate by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

The total number of employees employed during the fourth quarter of 2021 is estimated at 451,767 people, of which 402,117 are employees and 49,650 are self-employed.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, employees increased by 1.5 per cent, while the self-employed rose by 2.1 per cent.

For the entirety of 2021, the average number of employees was 448,103, compared to 442,812 in 2020.

Furthermore, the most significant percentage increases in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, were observed in the sectors of accommodation services and catering services, education, construction, as well as information and communication services.

In addition, the real working hours for the fourth quarter of 2021 are estimated at 201,447 thousand, with an increase of 4.9 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter of 2020.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, March 8 with losses.

The main Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 67.71 points at 13:08 during the day, reflecting a drop of 1.75 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 38.79 points, which represents a decrease of 1.82 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €85,655.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes fell by 2.22 per cent and 0.95 per cent respectively.

The investment firm index rose by 0.5 per cent, while the hotel index remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by Vassiliko Cement Works (-0.74 per cent), the Bank of Cyprus (-2.74 per cent), Hellenic Bank (-4.11 per cent), the Cyprus Cement Company (-1.96 per cent), and Logicom (-2.7 per cent).