Day: February 2, 2023

Foreign Ministers of Cyprus and Egypt held a telephone conversation on Thursday, emphasising on further enhancing their trilateral cooperation with Greece.

According to a tweet of the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ioannis Kasoulides and Sameh Shoukry held a warm and cordial telephone conversation and a productive discussion on timely issues pertraining to their bilateral and regional agenda, “with emphasis on further enhancing our trilateral cooperation with Greece”.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Water flow to dams in Cyprus remains low compared to last year, despite the rain that has fallen during the last days.

According to data by the Water Development Department, the flow of water to dams during the last 24 hours was 381 thousand cubic meters and is very low for this period of time.

“The recent rainfall has offered almost nothing compared to what we expected and just managed to cover consumption,” Marios Hadjicostis, senior technical engineer of the Department has said.

The total flow to dams since the beginning of October reached 18.5 million cubic meters. Hadjicostis said that the flow is particularly low considering that an equal amount of water was collected in just three days in January last year.

Dams are now at 67.2% of their capacity compared to 75.9% during the same period last year.

The Kouris dam, which is the largest, is at 63% compared to 69% during the same period last year. Asprokremmos reached 78.3% compared to 93.1% during the corresponding period, while the Evretou dam reached 69% compared to 76% last year.

The total quantity of water in dams is 195.4 million cubic meters compared to 220.7 million during the corresponding period last year.

Hadjicostis noted that the percentages of the dams’ fullness are relatively good, and that since 2019 rainfall was good, with the exception of 2020-21.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

US Congress must not meet Ankara’s request to upgrade and acquire new F-16 fighter jets, New York Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis has said.

The US Congresswoman, was honored recently by members of the Pancyprian Association of Florida and the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA), with the “Kyrenia Award” for her dedication to Cyprus’ struggle for freedom and justice.

Receiving the award, she said that as a daughter of a Greek immigrant, it is “a tremendous honor” to receive the Kyrenia Award from members of the Greek Cypriot community.

She added that in Congress she joined her Hellenic colleagues in bringing attention to Turkey’s illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus and the thousands of military flyovers they’ve conducted above Greece.

Malliotakis underlined that Congress must prohibit the sale of US fighter jets and military equipment to Turkey given their unwarranted aggression in the region.

It is up to NATO and my colleagues to understand the real threat posed to our allies by Erdogan’s regime and I remain confident that should the Biden Administration attempt to proceed with any sale, Congress will come together both bipartisanly and bicamerally to prevent it, she stressed.

In his address, read out at the event, President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades said that Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis has been working tirelessly to strengthen the partnership between Greece, Cyprus, and the United States and place the Cyprus problem higher on the foreign policy agenda of the US Administration.

He added that Malliotakis repeatedly brings up the ongoing Turkish occupation of Cyprus and human rights violations on the House floor and is constantly making references on the increasing Turkish aggression and threats in the Eastern Mediterranean.

President of PSEKA and the Pancyprian Association of America Philip Christopher praised Malliotakis’ work saying that she is a fierce fighter for Cyprus, Greece and Hellenism, a true supporter for human rights and dedicated to Hellenic values and ideals.

In particular, he added, we salute her monumental efforts to bring Members of Congress into collective action on behalf of the struggle of the Cypriot people for freedom and justice.

The Kyrenia Award is named after the town in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The operation of a café at Hala Sultan Tekke, a mosque in Larnaka district, on the south coast, is done with respect to the area and the monument and under strict conditions, Mayor of Larnaka Andreas Vyras told the Cyprus News Agency.

He said that the Head of the Turkish Cypriot Properties Management Service gave a license for a café to be located next to the mosque, but strict conditions apply.

Replying to a question the Mayor said that the space will function as an information point for the monument and will have a cafe-restaurant license, not a tavern, with fixed opening hours. He said that barbecuing and live music are strictly prohibited. Vyras said that the cafeteria will operate in the winter months until 18.00 and in the summer months until 20.30.

He explained that the operator of the space has a contract with the Custodian of Turkish Cypriot Properties and through the Ministry of the Interior an application was sent to the Municipality of Larnaka for the issuing of a planning and building permit.

Vyras said that the area is a Natura site and because it is adjacent to the mosque, conditions apply by the Departments of Environment and Antiquities.

He also said that the cafeteria’s operating license is issued for a year. According to the Mayor, the building used to function as a tavern and after its abandonment for years, stray cats now found refuge there.

Vyras said that the Department of Antiquities is promoting Hala Sultan Mosque and the Aliki Salt Lake to enter UNESCO World Heritage List, and this is another reason for the increased attention to all activities in the area.

The monument is located on the west bank of the Salt Lake and was erected over different phases, commencing from 1760 and completed in 1817. It is an important Islamic monument, one of the most revered sites in the Muslim world and it is used to this day for religious purposes.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Costas Kadis and the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Savvas Perdios, met with representatives of the World Bank, on Thursday, in order to formulate a tourism strategy for Akamas.

“Today we had the opportunity to meet with the representatives of the World Bank, those responsible for the programs in Southern Europe and for Cyprus in particular”, Kadis said in a statement, adding that they will discuss the possibility of formulating a tourism strategy specifically for Akamas, with the goal to protect the area and at the same time, provide many benefits to the local communities.

Kadis said that there is accumulated experience from other regions as well, noting that Cyprus and Akamas are good examples “where tourism and tourist activities, which use as a competitive advantage the protection of nature and the natural environment, can work in favor of local communities as well,” he noted.

The Minister noted that the goal is for the World Bank to undertake the provision of technical assistance for the formulation of such a strategy and, following that, to financially support the implementation of the strategy.

“This effort is done in parallel with the effort to publish the local plan for the area. At the same time, work on improving the National Forest Park in the area has also began. All these actions that are being done for Akamas, I think, create a very positive perspective, which ensures the protection of the natural environment, in accordance with European legislation, and ensuring the protection of the rich biodiversity hosted in Akamas”, said Kadis.

He also emphasized that the above actions will also provide for the local community “opportunities for development, so that prosperity will come and the negative course of the recent years will be reversed” while communities may flourish again, “in a sustainable and proper way”, as he put it.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Interest rates in the Cypriot banking system continued rising in December in the context of the ECB’s monetary normalization policy to tackle high inflation.

According to data published by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC), the interest rate on deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to one year recorded an increase to 0,35%, compared with 0,12% in the previous month, recording an increase of 0.23 basis points.

The corresponding interest rate on deposits from non-financial corporations rose by 20 basis points reaching 0.61%, compared with 0.41% in the previous month.

Interest rates for new loans continued rising, with the exception of loans over €1 million for non-financial corporations.

In particular, the interest rate on consumer credit increased to 4.21%, compared with 3.84% in the previous month, whereas rates the interest rate on loans for house purchase increased to 3.34%, compared with 2.95% in the previous month.

According to the CBC, the interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations for amounts up to €1 million increased to 4.71%, compared with 4.52% in the previous month.

On the contrary, the interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations for amounts over €1 million registered a decrease to 3.52%, compared with 4.35% the month before.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides had a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.

FM Shoukry received a phone call from the Cypriot FM Ioannis Kasoulides, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said in a post on Twitter, noting the long-standing friendsdhip and strategic partnership between the two countries.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Housing cost overburden was more prevalent in the cities of the European Union in 2021, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical services of the EU.

According to the same data, Cyprus recorded the lowest housing cost overburden rates in rural areas in the EU (1.3%), as well as one of the lowest percentages in the EU in urban areas, well under the EU average (3.5%).

In 2021, 10.4% of the EU population in cities were living in a household affected by housing cost overburden, while the corresponding rate for rural areas was 6.2%.

The housing cost overburden rate is the percentage of the population living in households where the total housing costs (‘net’ of housing allowances) represent more than 40% of disposable income (‘net’ of housing allowances).

The highest housing cost overburden rates in cities were observed in Greece (32.4%), Denmark (21.9%) and the Netherlands (15.3%).

On the other hand, cities in Lithuania, Malta, and Hungary recorded the lowest shares (1.6%, 2.9% and 3.1%, respectively).

In rural areas, rates were highest in Greece (22.0%), Bulgaria (13.3%) and Romania (10.8%).

The lowest housing cost overburden rates in rural areas were recorded in Cyprus (1.3%), Ireland (1.6%) and Hungary (2.2%).

In 2021, the housing cost overburden was higher in cities than in rural areas in all EU countries except Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Source: Cyprus News Agency