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Cyprus President announces new set of measures to support businesses and the self-employed

LoveCyprus — Thu, 28 May 2020 05:24:59 +0000

Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, announced on Wednesday, during a televised address a new set of measures with a view to support businesses and the self-employed hit from the coronavirus pandemic, by utilizing new tools for granting cheap loans of more than 1.7 billion euros.

Following a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Anastasiades said that the government decided to provide liquidity amounting to 800 million euros to finance Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), through the Cyprus Entrepreneurship Fund, noting that the new set of approved measures aims to support the real economy of the country, “utilizing fully the tools provided by the EU and the European institutions.”

Anastasiades said that beneficiaries will be SMEs that have a number of employees that does not exceed 250 people per business.

He further noted that in order to grant loans to the Cypriot SMEs and to mid-cap companies, the government decided, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank, to increase the loan scheme by 500 million Euros.

Beneficiaries will be enterprises registered and operating in Cyprus which employ up to 3000 employees per business.

Moreover, the Council of Ministers approved the participation of the Republic of Cyprus to the Pan-European Guarantee Fund that has been set up with a view to address the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic at the EU member states.

Anastasiades said that Cyprus is expected to draw 300-400 million euros from this fund for the needs of the Cypriot economy.

Beneficiaries will be SMEs and mid-cap companies that have been hit by the pandemic.

The granted loans will be guaranteed by 80% by the Pan-European Guarantee Fund.

The President said that all loan schemes provide for the protection of jobs.

The government also decided for an interest rate subsidy scheme for new business loans to enterprises, including the self-employed, which lack liquidity due to the pandemic. This concerns loans that were granted or will be granted from March 1^st 2020 until December 31^st 2020.

Beneficiaries will be all the enterprises and self-employed, under the condition that they are not considered problematic as provided by the definition of the European Commission. Anastasiades said that the measure falls within the guiding lines issued by the European Commission.

The interest rate subsidy will be for four years as follows: During the first two years the interest rate will be subsidized up to 3.5 percentage points, while for the third until the fourth year the interest rate will be subsidized by 2 percentage points for the SMEs and by 1.5 percentage point for the large enterprises.

Moreover, according to Anastasiades, the Council of Ministers decided to subsidize the interest rate for a particular period of time and with a fixed maximum loan with a view to support owner-occupied housing.

This concerns loans that were granted or will be granted from March 1^st 2020 until December 31^st 2020 and will not exceed 300 thousand euros.

The duration of the subsidy will be four years and will be up to 1.5 percentage point of the interest rate.

The government also decided to implement a scheme to subsides very small and small enterprises as well as the self-employed.

The President said that the aim of the scheme is to cover part of the rent and the operational expenses. The total amount of the subsidy is over 100 million euros.

The grants concern 50,000 very small and small enterprises as well as self-employed which employ up to 50 people.

According to Anastasiades, the amount of the grant will be allocated as follows: self-employed and very small enterprises that have party or fully suspended their operation, have been participating in the Special Schemes of the Labour Ministry for the period from April 13 – May 12 2020 and were employing up to one person: 1250 euros, from 2 to 5 persons: 3000 euros, from 6 to 9 persons: 4000 euros and from 10 to 50 persons: 6000 euros.

The President also said that with a view to boost recovery, the Council of Ministers decided to give instructions to all the competent authorities with a view to immediately call for tenders for all development projects based on the President’s announcements or other projects which are mature, irrelevant from the planned period for the tenders according to the budget.

Therefore, Anastasiades noted the implementation of development projects is being expedited. As he noted the project which concerns the building of the House of Representatives if being excluded for the time being.

The President also said that the government decided a scheme of incentives up to 6,3 million euros with a view to boost the tourist sector and Cyprus’ connectivity. He noted that along with the current scheme the amount reaches 15.7 million euros that will be allocated until the end of 2020.

Moreover, with a view to reinforce the tourist accommodations and restaurants they decided to reduce VAT from 9% to 5% for the period from July 1^st 2020 until January 10^th 2021.

In addition, Anastasiades said, an amount of 22 million euros will be allocated to support and boost the agricultural sector as has already been said by the Agriculture Minister.

The President said that the total amount of grants with a view to safeguard jobs, partly cover the operational expenses and rents of the self-employed and the businesses, is up to or will exceed 430 million euros.

At the same time, he noted, boosting liquidity gives the potential to draw loans amounting to 1.7 billion euros, without taking into consideration the subsidizing of interest rates by the state for business and house loans.

The President stressed that the government proves once again, with the decisions taken today, its determination to support the dynamic restart of the Cypriot economy.

“I want to assure you that we will take any other measures considered as necessary, with the same determination, within of course the framework of the state’s economic potentials,” he noted.

Details about the measures adopted will be given by Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides during a press conference that will be held on Thursday

Source: CNA

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Business to reopen under specific guidelines and increased inspections, says Minister of Labor

LoveCyprus — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 13:44:29 +0000

The Ministry of Labor has prepared instructions for both businesses and employees, to be implemented during the reopening of businesses, the Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance Zeta Εmilianidou said during a press conference to explain the gradual lifting the restrictive measures due to COVID-19.

Emilianidou said that the Ministry, after listening to the social partners, issued specific guidelines which can be found on the website of the Department of Labor Inspection, including all the guidelines that businesses must follow to protect their employees and to ensure health and safety amid COVID-19 conditions.

In addition, she said, a brochure has been issued to give employees simple advices on the protection measures they should follow. This brochure will be published in 10,000 copies and has been translated into five languages.

A guide has been issued for the 25,000 retail stores to be inspected concerning measures to be followed. As the Minister said, a team has been set up by the Department of Labor Inspection and other government departments, which will begin training tomorrow to be able to inspect compliance with these measures.

“The most important thing is to adhere to these safety and health measures, not just the general ones that have always been in force, but the specific ones that deal with coronavirus conditions,” she said.

She added that in case the companies don’t comply with these measures there will be a fine according to the law and the decrees of the Ministry of Health.

“Our goal is to inspect all these construction sites and retail stores, so that we can make sure that the measures are followed,” she said.

Asked on the delay of benefit payments in accordance to the Ministry’s schemes for COVID-19, she said that before Easter 140,000 employees received their allowances. However, as the Minister said, some benefits are still being processed, due to errors when submitting the on-line applications, while in some cases there are problems with the account numbers in the banks. She also added that the ministry needed to make adjustments and improve some of the plans.

The ministry`s plans, she said, will continue to be in place for three months until 12/6/2020 while for another four months, there will be state support for businesses that will not recover and will have a reduction in their turnover.

She also that Special Leave Benefit granted to working parents responsible for the care of children up to 15 years old or/and children with special needs regardless of age, will continue.

Regarding travel agencies, she said that the Cabinet has decided that any activities related to tourism can continue to be part of the total work suspension plan, if the reduction in their turnover is more than 80%.

She also said that retail stores could continue to benefit from the partially work suspension plan if their turnover is reduced by more than 25%.

Asked about unemployment, she said there have been very few layoffs of employees since March 16. She expressed the belief that with the plans of the Ministry of Labor, but also with other measures included in the package prepared by the Ministry of Finance, the dismissals of employees will be avoided.

Source: CNA

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Seven in ten enterprises in Cyprus used social media in 2019

LoveCyprus — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 13:24:53 +0000

In 2019, one in two enterprises (50%) reported that they were using at least one type of social media, which means an increase of 16 percentage points since 2014 (34%), with Cyprus ranking 4th among the EU 27, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

More specifically, according to Eurostat, the use of social media was most popular among enterprises in Malta (84%), followed by Denmark (75%), the Netherlands (74%), Cyprus (73% from 53% in 2014), Sweden (72%), Belgium, Ireland and Finland (all 71%), while it was less popular among enterprises in Romania (33%), Bulgaria (34%), Poland (37%), Hungary (38%), Latvia (41%) and Slovakia (42%). In Greece the rate was 55% in 2019 up from 38% in 2014.

Compared with 2014, the percentage of enterprises using social media has risen across all EU Member States with available data. The highest increases were recorded in Denmark and Luxemburg (26 pp both), followed by Finland (25 pp), Sweden (24 pp) and Latvia (22 pp), while the lowest increases were observed in Bulgaria (6 pp), Ireland, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia (all 11 pp).

Source: CNA

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InvestCyprus creates specialized unit to help achieve 2030 tourist targets

LoveCyprus — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 13:27:10 +0000

InvestCyprus, the island’s organization responsible for attracting foreign direct investment, announced the creation of a specialized unit in a bid to facilitate the efforts to achieve Cyprus’ National Tourist Strategy for 2030, which aims at attracting 5 million tourists by 2030.

Speaking to a press conference both InvestCyprus Chairman Michalis Michael and Director General George Campanellas stressed that the organization will place the attraction of investors in the tourism sector at the spotlight of its action plan in a bid to attract the “hundreds of millions in investment needed” in tourist infrastructure.

Apart from 5 million in tourist inflow by 2030, the National Strategy aims at boosting overnight stays in the winter months and quadrupling overnight stays in rural areas by 2030.

“We now where we want to go and we have placed this strategy in our programme and we will place investment in tourism in the first place during all our roadshows abroad,” Michael said.

Noting that tourism is not only “Sun and Sea”, Michael noted that InvestCyprus will promote thematic tourism such as sport tourism, religious tourism, health tourism and tourism in rural areas, noting that there is infrastructure in rural areas which is left untapped.

“We are certain that there is sustainability (in such investments) we just need to find the right investor” he added.

On his part, Campanellas pointed out that infrastructure projects to achieve the targets amount to “hundreds of millions of euros” in investments.

“Our aim is to attract the investment necessary so that these targets will be achieved,” he said, noting that the focus will be placed on thematic tourism.

Morever, Campanellas pointed out that synergies could be achieved with investment funds registered in Cyprus which enquire InvestCyprus where to invest their assets under management

In a bid to achieve the tourism targets for 2030, InvestCyprus will operate as One-Stop Shop providing information to potential investors over infrastructure projects and available investment opportunities, will organise on-site visits while in collaboration with property owners will create a project bank with all available investment opportunities on the island.

Furthermore, InvestCyprus has created a website located at www.touristinvestcyprus.org.cy.

Source: CNA

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