Month: September 2022

Famagusta Mayor, Simos Ioannou, has said that the Municipality will make representations against the decision of the Committee of Deputy Ministers of the Council of Europe to end the Council’s supervision process in the implementation of the ECHR Decision, regarding Titina Loizidou’s individual application against Turkey.

 

Ioannou noted that in this framework the Municipality is cooperating with member of the Cyprus delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), MP Constantinos Efstathiou, and other officials, with a view to promote coordinated efforts against the decision by Cyprus.

 

In statements to the parliament on Tuesday, after attending a meeting of the parliamentary refugees committee, Ioannou said that this was a negative decision for Cyprus and that the Famagusta Municipality aims to help the efforts of the Cypriot side, with a view to revoke this decision, which he described as unjust. Moreover, he noted that this decision has given an alibi to Turkey for not complying with Court decisions.

 

He also said that he is is contact with MP Constantinos Efstathiou with view to prepare a letter on this matter, noting that Efstathiou will put this issue forward at PACE. Moreover he also noted that the Municipality is in contact with the Foreign Ministry, with a view to contribute to efforts of the Cypriot side.

 

“Our position is the same as the official position of the Republic of Cyprus, that the issue will not be solved by legal means, but by political means,” he added.

 

Ioannou also said that the Municipality has planned to hold contacts in Brussels, London and the US in the near future, and that an event will take place in Brussels, at the initiative of Cypriot MEPs on the issue of Famagusta.

 

He also noted that the Municipality will have meetings with Ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, with the first one being that with the French Ambassador next week.

 

Loizidou, a Greek Cypriot applicant sought to enforce a 1996 ECHR judgment concerning the restitution and peaceful enjoyment of her property in Turkish-occupied Kyrenia, in the northern coast of Cyprus. Turkey attempted several times in the past to close the supervision of the case in Strasbourg, where the Committee of Ministers holds its sessions.

 

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The European Court of Human Rights sentenced Turkey in numerous cases, brought forward by Greek Cypriots, concerning the violation of their fundamental human rights, following the 1974 invasion.

 

Varosha, the fenced off section of the Turkish occupied town of Famagusta, is often described as a ‘ghost town’.

 

UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. UN Security Council resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.

 

Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, announced in July 2021 a partial lifting of the military status in Varosha. On October 8, 2020, the Turkish side opened part of the fenced area of Varosha, following an announcement made in Ankara on October 6. Both the UN Secretary-General and the EU expressed concern, while the UN Security Council called for the reversal of this course of action. In his latest report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Guterres underlines the importance of adhering fully to UN resolutions, underscoring that the position of the United Nations on this matter “remains unchanged.”

 

On October 8, 2020, the Turkish side opened part of the fenced area of Varosha, following an announcement made in Ankara on October 6. Both the UN Secretary-General and the EU expressed concern, while the UN Security Council called for the reversal of this course of action.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

President of the House of Representatives Anita Demetriou has attended the state funeral of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.

 

A press release by the Parliament says that Demetriou, who is in Japan representing the Cyprus President, attended the official ceremony that took place at the Nippon Budokan Stadium, in Tokyo, in the presence of heads of state and government, Speakers of Parliaments and other high-ranking officials from various countries, who paid tribute to the memory of the deceased.

 

Later on, she attended an official ceremony that was held at the Akasaka Imperial Palace, where she conveyed the sincere condolences of the Cypriot government and the House of Representatives to Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, to Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Hirokazu Matsuno, to Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and the family of the deceased, the statement concludes.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The number of tourist arrivals in Cyprus this year were satisfactory despite the losses recorded from the British and Russian markets, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Savvas Perdios has said, pointing out that the strategy to tap new European markets paid off as some 40% of the arrivals recorded in 2022 came from EU countries, up by 22% compared with 2019.

 

The strategy to diversify the markets of the Cyprus tourism industry, focusing on European markets, was successful, according to data provided by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Savvas Perdios.

 

Perdios who was addressing the extraordinary General Assembly of the Cyprus Hotel Association (CHA) to mark World Tourism Day, noted that in 2022 some 40% of tourists’ arrivals were from the EU, up by 22% from 2019.

 

Cyprus was prepared to tackle the loss of the Russian market, he said. “The goal was to attract 200.000 arrivals from other markets”, he said, in order to cover for the loss of 800,000 arrivals from the Russian market. He noted that Cyprus was successful on that, since for the first 8 months of 2022 160,000 new arrivals from EU were recorded, adding that there is still time to accomplish the goal until the end of the year.

 

Perdios added that 40% of the total arrivals now come from EU markets, recording an increase of 22% in comparison to 2019, although the total arrivals are down by 22%. More specifically, he said that arrivals from Germany increased by 26%, from Poland 134%, from Denmark by 70%, from France by 100%, from Austria by 57%.

 

Regarding tourism in the winter period, the Deputy Minister said that the airline schedules for December, on a weekly basis, include 65 flights from the United Kingdom, 38 from Israel, 25 from Germany, 23 from Poland, 14 from Lebanon, 13 from Austria, 13 from Romania, 12 from Bulgaria, 10 from Hungary, 8 from Italy, 6 from France, 6 from Serbia, etc.

 

The CHA’s President, Haris Loizides, said that the tourism industry, which is the most affected industry by the coronavirus pandemic, is restarting in very difficult conditions, with the global economy being hit by the rising prices and the energy crisis.

 

“We are facing a crisis that limits the ability of Europeans to travel”, he said, adding that the pandemic has taught patience and perseverance, while the Ukraine crisis has shown the importance of avoiding over-reliance on some markets.

 

Loizides added that the World Tourism Organization has designated 2022 as the year of restarting tourism, focusing on rebuilding the tourism industry on a more solid basis, with priority on people and the environment, for a more resilient and inclusive tourism industry.

 

The evolution of tourism into a pillar of sustainable development, goes through the national strategy for tourism of 2030, he said, for the upgrading and readjustment of the tourism model, with new elements, beyond the sun and the sea, with the aim of attracting quality tourism and increasing revenue.

 

CHA’s President said that in 2023, despite the challenges, the effort to access the European markets must continue. “We are obliged to learn to operate without excessive dependence on specific markets. We are obliged to constantly expand the circle of markets from which we attract tourism”, he noted.

 

“Without government support, it would be impossible for the tourism industry, and the hotel industry in particular, to successfully overcome the complications of the pandemic. That is why we are convinced that public and private sectors’ cooperation is the ideal recipe for dealing with crises”, he added.

 

Regarding the green restart of the tourism industry, he said that it is inevitable to switch to alternative forms of energy, as the current costs are too high for hotels. “That is why, as an Association, we are intensifying our efforts to create photovoltaic parks, which will provide energy to the hotels of Cyprus, thus reducing operating costs”.

 

Cyprus Hotel Association awarded the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Work and the Deputy Minister of Tourism, while the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance received an honorary distinction in honor of his predecessor, the deceased Zeta Emilianidou.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Recurly, Inc., a leading subscription management and billing platform for high-growth brands, has announced an agreement to acquire LeapRev, a global revenue recognition and forecasting solution. This acquisition will create a single source for subscription management, recurring billing, and revenue management that empowers Recurly customers to better focus on driving growth among increasingly complex and evolving revenue accounting and reporting standards.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220927005356/en/

 

Recurly launches enhanced revenue recognition capabilities. (Graphic: Business Wire)

 

“Recurly powers recurring billing management for many of the world’s leading brands. Part of our customers’ success has resulted from Recurly’s ability to support more granular, pay-as-you-go pricing models. This trend toward enabling greater flexibility in pricing models creates a greater need for accounting automation,” said Dan Burkhart, CEO and Co-Founder at Recurly. “We are delighted to welcome the talented team at LeapRev and deliver a best-in-class solution for the automation of revenue recognition to the world’s most successful subscription businesses.”

 

Revenue recognition reporting requirements continue to shift, requiring international payments and multi-currency inclusion. The acquisition of LeapRev enhances the revenue recognition capabilities of the Recurly platform, streamlining the complex revenue reporting processes associated with subscription contracts, including FASB (ASC 606/340-40/842) and IASB (IFRS 15) guidelines. Recurly customers will also be able to streamline revenue management across a diverse set of monetization and pricing models, and easily account for contract modifications including volume discounts, up-sell, cross-sell, refunds, returns, cancellations, terminations, and price adjustments.

 

“We are excited to offer deeper capabilities in revenue management. This new solution will help our customers meet reporting and compliance requirements, as well as provide enhanced revenue intelligence and predictability for businesses with a complex mix of pricing and usage models,” said Jonas Flodh, Chief Product Officer at Recurly. “Adding this expanded functionality to the Recurly subscription management and billing platform further enhances our ability to provide automation of the close process, and revenue insights and forecasting across a variety of industries.”

 

Created by a team of industry veterans, LeapRev’s platform delivers a next-generation revenue management application in order to automate customer’s accounting standards.

 

“We are excited to join the Recurly team and continue the mission of simplifying the complexities of subscription management,” said Aswin Kurella, Co-Founder, LeapRev.

 

“This is a powerful combination to continue to scale high-growth companies,” said Seshagiri Chilukuri, Co-Founder of LeapRev.

 

Visit Recurly revenue recognition for more information.

 

Recurly provides a flexible and scalable subscription platform to support subscription commerce for thousands of brands globally. Recurly helps companies scale subscriber growth by optimizing the consumer experience while reducing the operating cost of managing recurring billing and payments.

 

About Recurly

 

Thousands of innovative companies across digital media, streaming, publishing, SaaS, education, consumer goods, and professional services industries rely on Recurly to unlock transformational growth using subscriptions. Recurly’s all-in-one, integrated platform removes the complexities of automating subscription billing at scale by enabling teams to manage and optimize their subscriber lifecycles with ease. Category-defining companies including Sling, Twitch, BarkBox, FabFitFun, Paramount, Lucid, and Sprout Social have chosen Recurly to manage billions of dollars in recurring revenues, future-proof their recurring billing and revenue management, and recover millions of dollars in lost revenue due to churn. Founded in 2009, Recurly is based in San Francisco, with offices in Boulder and London. For more information, visit https://recurly.com.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

 

Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis participated in a discussion during the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the European Union held in Brussels on Monday, which focused on the European Commission’s Proposal for reducing the use of chemical pesticides and the sustainable use of alternatives, according to a statement.

 

Also, during a discussion on the situation in Ukraine, Kadis said that Cyprus is ready to give the European Commission access to the grain storage silo in the port of Limassol, but also to participate in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, given that Turkey’s opposition is overcome.

 

During the discussion on pesticides, Kadis agreed with the general philosophy of the Commission’s proposals and stressed the need to give flexibility to Member States regarding the use of plant protection products, based on the specificities and circumstances of each country.

 

He also stressed that, in parallel to reducing the use of pesticides, measures should be taken to safeguard satisfactory food production in the EU and the sustainability of agriculture.

 

Other issues on the ministers’ agenda included the situation of agricultural production in Ukraine, the agricultural aspects of the Industrial Emissions Directive and the issue of food labelling.

 

During the discussion on the situation in Ukraine, Ukrainian Minister of Agricultural Policy Mykola Solsky presented the challenges facing agricultural production and supply chains in the country.

 

In his intervention, Kadis referred to the importance of food production and exports from Ukraine, especially for states whose food security depends on imports.

 

Kadis also expressed Cyprus’ readiness, if necessary, to make available to the European Commission the grain storage silos at the port of Limassol. He also stressed that Cypriot shipping is ready to actively participate in the Black Sea Grain Initiative and asked the European Commission to make the appropriate representations to Turkey to allow Cyprus to contribute.

 

During his intervention, Kadis also referred to the difficult economic situation of farmers in Cyprus, stressing that the uncontrolled increase in energy, feed and fertilizer prices further exacerbate the problems.

 

On the sidelines of the Council, the Agriculture Minister met with the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, with whom they discussed the Commission’s proposals on food labelling and the rational use of plant protection products.

 

On Tuesday, Kadis participated in the high-level ministerial meeting on African Swine Fever, organised at the initiative of Commissioner Kyriakides.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The issue of missing persons of the 1974 Turkish invasion was discussed in a meeting held in Athens with the participation of officials from competent Ministries and other Services of Greece and Cyprus. It was decided that a number of measures and initiatives would be undertaken aiming to change Turkey’s stance on the issue and finally resolve the issue of the missing persons and establish their fate.

 

The meeting was attended by the Greek Deputy Minister of National Defence Nikos Chardalias, the Presidential Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus Photis Photiou, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Konstantinos Floros, the Ambassador of Cyprus to Greece Kyriakos Kenevezos, representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Greece and Cyprus, the President of the Panhellenic Committee of Parents and Relatives of POWs and Missing Persons of the Cyprus Tragedy Maria Kalbourtzi and the President of the Pancyprian Organization of Relatives of Undeclared POWs and Missing Persons Nikos Sergides.

 

During the meeting, all sides noted that the stagnation that prevails on the issue of missing persons affects negatively any progress the relatives could have hoped for.

 

It was stressed that progress in this issue requires Turkey’s sincere cooperation and respect of its obligations under the European Court of Human Rights decisions. In this context, it was underlined that Turkey must implement the necessary political and humanitarian decisions to resolve the problem.

 

It was also noted that the aim of Greece’s and Cyprus’ efforts is to clarify, despite all adversities, the fate of all missing persons for the sake of the families affected.

 

During the meeting, a new series of measures and initiatives were decided both inside and outside Cyprus and Greece, “with the aim of curbing Turkish intransigence by submitting new proposals for rapprochement through the relevant international forums”, the press release says.

 

“All participants in the meeting stressed that the proper resolution of the problem of the missing persons is a debt and an imperative to our heroes and their families,” the statement concluded.

 

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.

 

A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.

 

According to statistical data published on the CMP website by December 31, 2021 out of 2002 missing persons 1,183 were exhumed and 1,023 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 732 were identified and 778 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 291 were identified and 201 are still missing.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The cost of raw materials and energy are the two issues of the biggest concern of Cypriot businesses as seven out of ten enterprises (68%) participating in a survey have included these in their suggestions.

 

According to the Business panel, which is a continuation of the Mega Business survey conducted every six months, other issues of concern are staffing with 49%, liquidity reduction and red tape with 43% and 41% respectively.

 

Only one in ten businesses (11%) believe that the government’s measures have helped them get through the difficulties, a press release regarding the survey issued Tuesday by the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB) says.

 

The Mega Business survey records every six months the trends of the business community and acts as a Benchmark of Cypriot Businesses covering, inter alia, trends and forecasts regarding business performance, strategic options and other relevant parameters.

 

The current wave was conducted by CMRC CYPRONETWORK LTD of the CYPRONETWORK group and is the ninth in a row. The research is carried out in collaboration and with the sponsorship of the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB).

 

The total representative sample amounts to 252 businesses. The survey was conducted in the period June/July 2022.

 

According to the survey, Cypriot businesses are also concerned about the lack of raw materials (31%), the decrease in turnover (27%), banking restrictions/requirements (23%), issues with suppliers as well as personnel costs with 21%. The participants in the survey have also mention as important problems the image of Cyprus abroad and securing financing from banks.

 

It is noted that business turnover shows an increase compared to the very low rates recorded by the two previous waves of the survey, but remains at low levels. More specifically, 24% report that the company’s turnover has increased during the past six months, with the percentage of companies recording a decrease in their turnover remaining at quite high levels, at 41%.

 

It is noted that, business financing costs continue to rise with 15% reporting that they have increased.

 

The survey shows that, when it comes to business raw material purchasing costs it presents a rapid growth with eight in ten businesses (81%) reporting that it has increased even over last year’s increased rate. It also underlines that this percentage is very high even compared to all the previous years of conducting the survey.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The EU tourism industry, as well in tourism in Cyprus, has partially rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic strongly, with data for 2022 approaching 2019 levels, according to Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union.

 

The total number of nights spent in tourist accommodation in the first half year of 2022 was still lower than the total number during the first half of 2019 (1.01 billion in 2022 compared to 1.18 billion in 2019) but to a lesser extent than compared to 2020 (474.7 million) and 2021 (406.8 million).

 

This means that there was a 14% decrease in 2022 compared with 2019, against 66% in 2021 and 60% in 2020.

 

Compared with the first half year of 2021, in the same period of 2022, nights spent in tourist accommodation were up by 149%, with substantial increases in all six months. April was the month with the highest increase, up 302% compared with April 2021 (44 million nights in 2021 vs 177.6 million in 2022).

 

In Cyprus during the first half of 2022 there were 5.028 million nights spent in tourist accommodations, compared with 6.790 million nights during the same period in 2019, 1.236 million in the first half of 2020 and 1.691 million in the first six months of 2021.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Capitolis, the technology company reimagining financial markets, will join TradeTech FX, the largest buy side FX event in Europe. This is the first year Capitolis will have a presence on the ground at the event.

 

Ben Tobin, Capitolis SVP, Head of Europe/Portfolio Optimization, will join a panel of FX industry leaders on Wednesday, 9/27, at 12:55 local time to discuss how uncleared margin rules (UMR) and the Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR) have impacted the FX trading desk and market structure – and share predictions for how it could influence other FX products in the future.

 

“We’ve been a partner and provider of optimization services to banks, hedge funds, and real money managers over the past five years,” said Ben Tobin, Capitolis SVP, Head of Europe/Portfolio Optimization. “We’ve already helped our customers reduce trillions of notional since the beginning of 2022, including optimization between the banks and their diverse client base.”

 

TradeTech FX attendees can visit booth #5 to discuss what innovations Capitolis is bringing to the market around UMR margin, SA-CCR, and Dealer to Client optimization; learn more through product demos; and speak to Capitolis leaders, including Ben Tobin and Evelina Rosenstein, on the ground in Amsterdam.

 

Since the launch of Capitolis’ brand-new technology-powered multilateral SA-CCR optimization service in early 2022, the service has been adopted by 12 of the world’s largest banks and has been heralded as a leading source of SA-CCR-based capital requirement solutions.

 

Capitolis’ focus for the remainder of the year is onboarding a broader range of banks, hedge funds, and asset managers to their planned optimization exercises and continuing to expand benefits to the broader network. Advances to algorithms will drive better results for existing and new clients.

 

Earlier this year, Capitolis was named “Best Compression/Optimization Service for FX” at the June 2022 FX Markets e-FX Awards, which seeks to recognize firms that have set the bar in electronic foreign exchange trading with skill, dedication, and creativity.

 

ABOUT CAPITOLIS

 

We believe the financial markets can and should work for everyone. Capitolis is the technology company reimagining how capital markets operate by unlocking capital constraints and enabling greater access to more diversified capital and investment opportunities. Rooted in advanced technology and deep financial expertise, Capitolis powers groundbreaking financial solutions that drive growth for global and regional banks – and institutional investors alike. Capitolis is backed by world class venture capital firms, including Canapi Ventures, 9Yards Capital, SVB Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, and S Capital, as well as leading global banks such as J.P. Morgan, Citi and State Street.

 

Founded in 2017, our team brings decades of experience in launching successful startups, technology and financial services and is growing rapidly from our offices in New York, London and Tel Aviv. For more information, please visit our website at www.capitolis.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency