Cyprus will go to the polls again in a week’s time after Sunday’s elections did not declare an outright winner, with the candidates of the two main and ideologically opposite parties vying for votes from the middle space and solutions to a multi-billion euro bailout. Nicos Anastassiades, leader of the opposition Democratic Rally party (Disy),

Exit polls released soon after voting ended on Sunday showed main opposition leader Nicos Anastassiades winning the presidential elections with a narrow margin, suggesting that the new government would embrace austerity measures and an EU-IMF bailout. Anastassiades, head of the Democratic Rally party and supported partially by the centre-right Democratic Party and the nationalist European Party,

**Why the two are connected** Opinion By Fiona Mullen, Director Sapienta Economics Ltd In the past few weeks I have been at first puzzled, then disturbed, then shocked at how the German media have portrayed Cyprus as awash with the proceeds of organised crime and tax evasion from, as they put it, “Russian oligarchs”. Perhaps

Three major leisure projects are expected to kick off this year, injecting more than 3 bln euros into the economy and investing in the future, something that the government and the overpaid civil service has failed to do. The cost of realising these projects, as well as the local jobs that will be generated, will

 * “Small, lean” airline to follow; €37 mln from MTN sale and “other” funds to become seed money * Nicos Shacolas, head of the biggest retail group in Cyprus, put a smile on many desperate peoples’ faces over the weekend when he landed a most welcome bombshell in a near-bankrupt economy, declaring that he is

 * Better than government led us believe? * Cyprus banks will not need as much for their recapitalisation as the outgoing government had led us to believe, but would still require anything between 6 to nearly 9 bln euros, according to PIMCO’s final report. The diagnostic test for the capital needs of all financial institutions

* Receivers aim for “best possible deal”; Banks, staff, suppliers a priority The receivers appointed by Laiki Bank to try and sell as much of Orphanides Public Co. as possible have until April to find suitable buyers for the business as well as the assets of the company and pay off debts of about 225

Fraser Mackinlay Group has launched an innovative new product, FM Group Privilege created to offer clients a unique ‘suite of additional services’. ‘Privilege’ customers will benefit from a comprehensive package of additional services, brokered through FM Group’s partnership agreements with specialist local and global companies, organisations and service providers. It is accessed through a tiered