.
By Alecos Vilanos, Director at Vilanos Real Estate Agents,
Unwavering relationships between the Russian and Cypriot people have been maintained, despite the huge problems that have emerged as a result of the Troika imposed ‘haircut’ on deposits in Cyprus. Fortunately, the trust and strong relationships that Russians who live in or conduct business on the island, have in Cyprus doesn’t appear to have been shaken.
The Russian culture is deeply rooted here and especially in Limassol, with over 30,000 Russians currently living there. Testament to this is the fact that the Russian Commercial Bank’s operations on the island continue. The bank’s decision was characterised by Finance Minister Haris Georgiadis as a ‘vote of trust’ in the Cyprus economy.
Cyprus and Russian culture have a lot of common characteristics too. This is one of the main factors that Russian people take into consideration and that reinforces their will not to abandon Cyprus, in particular Limassol, which has become the base for many of their successful businesses.
FAVORABLE LAWS REMAIN
Low taxes, security, legal framework, location, sunny weather and small distances prevent entrepreneurs from turning their back on Cypriots whom they trust and appreciate. Of course no one can ignore that the recent situation has upset a lot of businessmen. However, the messages from the Russian community are encouragingly positive. Large companies that offer their services to Limassol-based Russian businesses tell us that none of their major clients have left Cyprus so far, despite the bitterness that they feel towards the ‘haircut’ on deposits.
The integration of Russians into Cypriot society, especially in Limassol, strengthens the ongoing Russian cooperation and business activities on the island, which is why the project of building the Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in the Kalogirous area is well underway.
RUSSIANS LOVE CYPRUS
The ‘Moscow Times’ had written in an article last February, mentioning the reasons why Russian people love Cyprus: Tax effectiveness, sunny each day, the flight from Moscow is only three and a half hours and ease of acquiring a visa or permanent residence permit when purchasing real estate worth more than 300,000 euros.
There’s also a respectable Russian community, four Russian schools and two radio stations. All of these factors contribute to making Cyprus unsurpassed.
RUSSIANS AND NATURAL GAS
Let’s not forget our natural gas finds, which is one more reason that Russians don’t want to leave Cyprus. Even if they are not directly involved in the process of gas extraction, their involvement in worldwide energy market obliges them to maintain close contact with European energy sources so that they can have the chance to affect related decisions.
ELIMINATING BUREAUCRACY
In the real estate division, Russian interest for investments remains high. Nevertheless, Russians should be given much more motivations such as facilitation in the process of naturalisation and permanent residence permit.
It’s also imperative that a considerable reduction of bureaucracy is exercised, and all procedures are completed in a much shorter time frame, in particular when providing urban permissions and licenses in business projects and investments.
Cypriots are people of great strength and courage and who above all stand out for their hard working ethics and their determination to succeed. Let’s not forget that we may have the largest percentage of educated manpower in Europe. Russians recognise and appreciate these characteristics in Cypriots and value our reliability, hospitality and honesty.
RUSSIAN FIRE AGAINST EUROPE
Soon after the dust settled following the Eurogroup decision, European leaders started receiving direct criticism from Russia’s political leadership, who, after the initial shock subsided, realised that the responsibility for the haircut of deposits in Cyprus lies with the European Union and not Cyprus.
PROFIT FROM THEIR LOSSES
Russian depositors who have fallen victim to the ‘deposit haircut’ are now shareholders in the Bank of Cyprus, which, if it survives, will become the foundation of the Cyprus economy, bringing possibilities of profits to its shareholders, and in turn recovery of their lost fortunes. For these reasons it looks certain that the cooperation will carry on for more years to come.
