The gross investment volume between Cyprus and Russia reached one hundred billion dollars over the last 20 years, while the value of economic and financial ties between the two countries reached 1.3 billion dollars in 2011, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Cyprus Vyacheslav Shumskiy has said.
In his address at the Russia-Cyprus Business and Investment Forum on Friday in Limassol, the Russian Ambassador said that trade and economic ties between the two counties are developing very steadily due to very active political cooperation between them.
He said that this cooperation is carried out on various levels, noting that the best evidence of this cooperation is the presence of the President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias at the Forum.
As he noted, ''the gross investment volume between our countries reached one hundred billion dollars and this is a very impressive figure''.
He added that ''trade and economic volume cooperation for the last year reached about 1.3 billion dollars''.
The Russian Ambassador said that ''in trade and economic cooperation, we have reached the pre crisis level'', adding that ''we have managed within a short period of time to overcome economic and financial difficulties and we have good potentials''.
Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Georgy Petrov, in his address, said that 2011 was the year of economic revival for Russia, noting that the GDP growth of the country reached 4.5%.
''This year will become even more successful for Russia because we hope that we will manage to implement a number of institutional reforms, which of course will make grounds for the improvement of investments and the business climate in our country'', he added.
He went on to say that ''we have plans to turn Moscow into an international financial centre and the experience of Cyprus in this area is valuable''.
Petrov said that last year the Chamber of Commence established the Business Council for Cooperation with Cyprus, adding that it has been successful so far.
He also noted that ''we would like to see the Protocol to the Russia-Cyprus Double Tax Treaty, signed during the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Cyprus in October 2008, ratified in the near future''.
Furthermore, he said that ''we should apply all possible efforts to develop and implement the agreements for the protection and promotion of investments''.
He concluded by saying that the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and the Russia-Cyprus Association ''do a lot in order to expand and deepen economic ties between the two countries''.
The chairman of the Russia-Cyprus Council and CEO of the Bank of Moscow Mikhail Kuzovlev in his speech stressed that ''investors' choice of Cyprus and Cyprus' financial services providers are based on the following factors: reputation, trust and transparency, supported by the application of the best practices in corporate governance, governmental and corporate policy regarding foreign direct investment, fair taxation regime and developed financial infrastructure''.
He said that ''membership in the European Union imposes additional requirements on Cyprus to ensure compliance with European standards for the enforcement of anti-money-laundering, prevention of fraud and tax-evasion regulations''.
To achieve that, he added, ''Cyprus' tax and banking regulations have been significantly revised to follow European standards and recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)''.
He also noted that ''Cyprus' banking has become transparent and strictly regulated'', adding that ''Cyprus' regulatory system meets the European Union standards''.
In addition, he said that Cyprus has been excluded from most of the ''blacklists'', and that this ''was made possible following a tremendous effort of the Cypriot Government''.
These efforts, he continued, ''are however, impeded by fraudulent schemes set up by foreign individuals who abuse the trust, reputation and credibility of Cyprus as a financial centre by involving Cypriot companies, banks and citizens in their wrongdoings''.
Referring to the bad loans, he said that ''loans in excess of USD 2 bln were issued to the 52 Cypriot companies serviced by the same provider and auditor'', adding that ''the inconsistency of the borrowers' business to the size of loans, lack of collateral and failure to observe covenants set forth in the loan agreements collectively indicate that the loans were not intended for re-payment''.
As he said, ''this situation has become possible despite the Cyprus sophisticated and well regulated environment'', and expressed the need to take measures to address this situation.
Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Phidias Pilides, in his speech, said that ''the business climate is in constant change of flux and becomes increasingly more demanding''.
''In this environment, all businesses try to develop the necessary skills and methods that will allow them to overcome today's difficulties and hardships which become accentuated because of the world financial crisis'', he said.
He also stressed the importance of the economic ties between Russia and Cyprus, adding that ''there are many sectors in which we are cooperating successfully, such as tourism, trade, financial services, energy and others''.
''Our chamber and its affiliate, the Cyprus-Russian Business Association, is very actively involved in promoting and solidifying trade and economic relations between the two countries'', he added.
For the year 2012, he concluded, ''it is in our plans to organise business delegations also to regions outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, such as Tumen, Tsilogisk and Mizni Novgrod''.
