Day: November 18, 2021

High concentrations of dust are observed in the air today, 18 November 2021, according to measurements from ground Stations of the Air Quality Monitoring Network operated by the Department of Labour Inspection.

This is the fourth consecutive warning issued by the authorities, calling on the public to take precautions.

The Department of Labour Inspection urges the public, and particularly any vulnerable groups of population (children, older people, and the infirm) to avoid circulating in open spaces until the observed episode has elapsed, as the small size of respirable particles in dust may have negative effects on human health.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Thursday that the Government has notified the EU’s VAT Committee over its intention to reduce VAT on household electricity bills from 19% to 9% for a three-month period and called on Parliamentary parties to avoid proposing bills that could hugely affect public finances.

The move follows a recent Cabinet decision to reduce VAT on electricity bills of vulnerable households from 19% to 5% for six months and a reduction of 10% in place until February 2022, announced by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, in September.

“In response to the Parliament’s call and after examining the fluctuation of prices, we announced yesterday to the EU VAT Committee our intention to reduce for a period of three months the VAT (on electricity consumption) for households from 19% to 9%”, Petrides told a press conference held jointly

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Price Index of Construction Materials for October 2021 reached 117.95 units, recording an increase of 1.87% compared to the previous month, according to the Cyprus Statistical Service.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, the index recorded an increase of 16.99%.

By main commodity category, increases were recorded in metallic products (32.35%), products of wood, insulation materials, chemicals and plastics (17.51%), electromechanical products (11.68%), minerals (5.61%) and mineral products (4.31%).

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The results of the confirmatory drilling in “Glafkos” gas field by the ExxonMobil-Qatar Petroleum joint venture must not be anticipated before February or March 2022, Cyprus Energy, Commerce and Industry Minister, Natasa Pilides said on Thursday, underlining that the drilling will move on unobstructed and any Turkish provocations will be addressed through diplomacy.

Replying to questions by journalists, in the framework of a press conference on the work of the Ministry in 2021, Pilides said that the ENI/TOTAL joint venture is expected to proceed with research activities during the first half of 2022, while at the beginning of the new year recommendations are expected by those bearing the licenses for “Aphrodite” gas field for possible synergies with Israel or Egypt with regard to the development of the gas field.

As regards “Glafkos” gas field in block 10, i

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Total assets of investment funds in Cyprus saw a remarkable 16% increase in the third quarter of 2021, compared with the previous quarter, hitting a record high of €8,535.6 mn.

“The number of investment funds increased from 224 in June 2021 to 235 in September 2021, whereas their total assets increased significantly by approximately 16% to €8,535.6 million in September 2021, compared with €7,354.7 million in June 2021”, the Central Bank of Cyprus reported on Tuesday.

The statistics showed that €3.04 bn were invested in equity, €225.4 mn in bonds, €711.4 mn in real estate, €1.30 bn were mixed investments and €3.25 bn in other investments.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The deterioration of the epidemiological situation across Europe is reflected on this week’s map on the spread of COVID-19 issued by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Thursday.

Cyprus remains for another week in the “red” category, however many areas in central and eastern Europe are now in the “deep red” category, while the situation has worsened in France and Italy.

The “deep red” category, signifying a quicker spread of COVID-19, includes most or all of Iceland, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Lichtenstein, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Greece.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

It is a matter of time for Cyprus to receive monoclonal antibody medicines for COVID, deputy head of pharmaceutical services Elena Panagiotopoulou told Cyprus News Agency on Thursday.

She said that the department of purchases and supplies of the Health Ministry is in touch with the manufacturing company.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons will have to present a negative rapid or PCR test during crossings between the government-controlled and the occupied areas of Cyprus, as of Monday November 22, according to a decision taken by the bicommunal Technical Committee on Health, who assessed on Thursday the epidemiological situation on both sides of the divide.

According to a statement released by the UN spokesperson in Cyprus based on the Committee`s assessment of 18 November 2021, the situation is determined to be at Level 3 (dark red), and in this framework specific measures will be applied at all crossings points as of Monday 22 November (9am).

More specifically, fully vaccinated persons with EMA approved vaccines, as well as the Sinovac, Sinopharm or Sputnik vaccines, may cross with a 7-day negative rapid test or PCR test, as of 14 days after their 2

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Members of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of the Cyprus House of Representatives expressed on Thursday their appreciation for Hungary’s principled stance vis-à-vis the Cyprus problem and efforts to reach a settlement on the island, during a meeting with the Speaker and members of the National Assembly.

Members of the two delegations also touched upon migration, agreeing that they don’t necessarily see eye to eye on the way the problem should be solved.?hey acknowledged however Turkey’s role in the problem in Cyprus, with migrants arriving in the free areas of the Republic from the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The total number of passengers that embarked and disembarked in European Union ports fell almost by half in 2020, compared to 2019, while falling by more than 90% for Cypriot ports during the same period, according to data on maritime transport published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU.

In 2020, the total number of passengers embarked and disembarked in EU ports was 231 million. As the result of strict precautionary measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was almost half the amount of 2019 (419 million).

Source: Cyprus News Agency