Larnaca and Paphos town officials recently expressed their satisfaction for the preference of new airlines to include them in their routes, boosting the economies of both towns, which rely heavily on tourism.

The Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA) has begun its final phase of assessing the technical tenders for the supply of natural gas, for a potential contract spanning at least seven years and worth upwards of €3bn.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has fined Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank, as well as senior former bank officers, an excess of €7m in connection with their purchase of toxic Greek government bonds.

Revenues from Cyprus ship management industry reached €417 million in the second half of 2013, recording an increase of 3.72% compared with €402 million in the first half of the same year.

Mobilising private sector investment will be the main objective of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a senior official said recently, as the lender sets up shop in Cyprus.

Marship Investments is set to acquire the share capital of Ahrenkiel Shipmanagement (Cyprus), according to the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC).

The introduction of alternative investment funds in Cyprus could cover the lack of finance that weighs on the Cypriot economy, Chairwoman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) Demetra Kalogirou said recently.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dropped in Cyprus by 0.7% during the first quarter of 2014, while during the fourth quarter of 2013 it had dropped by 0.8%, according to Eurostat.

Bank of Cyprus plans to sell its Russian operation as part of a restructuring launched by its new chief executive to shore up the lender’s capital and refocus on its domestic market a year after it collapsed, says the Financial Times.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) in Cyprus rose to €26.7 billion in March 2014 because of a €212 million increase recorded in the Co-operative sector, it emerged recently.