On 4 July 2013, the Ukrainian parliament ratified the new Double Taxation Treaty between the Ukrainian and Cyprus government. The ratified treaty aims at further strengthening the business relations between Cyprus and Ukraine and will replace the old bilateral agreement dating from 1982. The new treaty is based on the general principles of the Organisation…
The Republic of Cyprus has started negotiations with three energy companies to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at an estimated initial cost of $6 billion. Cyprus today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with US-based Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek and Avner to negotiate the construction of an LNG terminal in Vassilikos Cyprus,…
The Supreme Court of Cyprus issued a ruling today (Friday, 7/6/2013) on the 55 administrative recourse filed by bank depositors against decrees imposing the resolution of Popular Bank, which is being wound down, and Bank of Cyprus, where large depositors have been forced to forfeit savings for equity stakes in the bank. The Supreme Court…
On 8.11.2012 the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus signed a new convention for the avoidance of double taxation (the “Convention”). The draft of the Convention was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in November 2012 and on 16.05.2013 a draft law was submitted for ratification by the…
Following the amendment of the Immovable Property Tax Law (No. 24/1980) on the 30.04.2013 by Law 33/2013 , all owners of property in Cyprus are now liable to pay an annual tax to the Inland Revenue based on their aggregate property holdings as of the 1st of January each year, on the basis of the…
On the 23.04.2013 the Supreme Court of Cyprus began reviewing the first administrative recourses filed against the decree issued on the 29.03.2013. The decree implemented the Eurogroup’s decision to wind down Laiki Bank and impose massive losses (“haircuts”) on all deposits in excess of €100.000 at both Laiki and the Bank of Cyprus. The recourses…
The following unprecedented decision was taken by Eurogroup in dealing with the recapitalisation of the two largest banks in Cyprus: 1. For Bank of Cyprus, all credit balances greater than the guaranteed threshold of €100.000, will be converted into shares to the extent required for the bank to reach a Tier 1 capital of 9%.…
US Noble Energy reported discovering between 141 billion to 226 billion cubic metres in Cyprus’s first attempt to find natural resources offshore in December 2011. Noble`s find was after being granted the country`s first offshore exploration license. As part of the second offshore exploration licensing round, launched by the Cypriot government in 2012, Italy`s ENI…
The Late Payments in Commercial Transactions Law, Law 123(I) of 2012, published on the 27.12.2012, repeals the previous legislation regarding late payments in commercial transactions. The purpose of this new legislation is to give legal effect to Directive 2011/07/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment…
New guidelines have been issued by the Ministry of Interior concerning the accelerated procedure for granting Immigration Permit to applicants who are third country nationals and intend to invest in the Republic of Cyprus. The relevant parts of the announcement are as follows: 1. According to the provisions of Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens…