Representatives of the three successful bidders in Cyprus’ third energy licensing round are meeting with Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis to jot down plans for negotiations early next year.

A deal has been struck between the consortium holding the marine services concession at the port of Limassol and EDT Offshore, allowing French oil major Total to drill its first exploratory well on schedule.

The unemployment rate dropped in the third quarter of 2016 to 13%, compared with 14.8% in the respective period of 2015 and 12.1% in the second quarter, the statistical service said.

The Finance Ministry said that it intends to issue by the end of 2016 a decree defining the obligations of multinational enterprises on the 'country-by-country' reports.

The Central Government Debt increased by €670m, reaching €19,38b at the end of September 2016, from €18,71b at the end of June 2016, according to provisional figures released by the Public Debt Management Office of the Ministry of Finance.

This past year was an overall good year for the Cyprus economy, with a fairly high likelihood that 2017 will be positive as well, according to the Bank of Cyprus Economic Research department.

The Cooperative Central Bank said that the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission approved the government-owned lender’s prospectus ahead of its intended listing on the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

Block 10 was awarded to ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Cyprus (Offshore) Limited / Qatar Petroleum International Upstream O.P.C. during a recent cabinet decision regarding the third licencing round for hydrocarbon exploration.

The Central Bank of Cyprus said that it expects the economy to expand at an annual rate of around 3% over 2017 until 2019 and upgraded its 2016 projection marginally upwards to 2.8%, as inflation is expected to pick up.

Two new Cypriot airlines are set to begin flights from March 2017 after reaching the advanced stage of their authorisation procedures, according to the press.