Cyprus Ministry of Finance welcomes approval of Agreement with Russia

The Ministry of Finance has welcomed the approval on behalf of the Russian government of the signature to the ''Protocol to the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation Regarding the Taxes on Income and Capital between the Government of the Republic of Cyprus and the Government of the Russian Federation''.

According to a press release by the Ministry, during the meeting held in Moscow between Cypriot House President Marios Garoyian and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the signing of the Protocol to the Agreement has been approved by the Russian government and is expected to be submitted to the Russian State Duma for final ratification.

''The pressure on the government of Cyprus to renegotiate the existing ‘Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation between Cyprus and Russia’ with the Russian government as well as the inclusion of Cyprus in the so called ‘black list’ of Russia, was probably the biggest problem we inherited at the Ministry of Finance”, the press release says.

It is noted that the continuous efforts of the Minister of Finance to solve the issue as well as the official visit of Cypriot President Demetris Christofias to Russia have brought the desirable results and leaded to the initialization of the Protocol last April.

The Ministry notes that this Agreement enables Cyprus “to maintain its position as the most important country in the world for investments to Russia, while Russia remains the greatest commercial and economic partner of Cyprus with deposits of billions of euro in the Cypriot bank system as well as other important investments”.