The Federal Law No 376-FZ dated 24 November 2014 “Concerning the Introduction of Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Regarding the Taxation of the Profit of Controlled Foreign Companies and the Income of Foreign Organizations)” (the Law) was signed by President Putin on 24 November 2014 and entered into force on 1 January 2015.

Unemployment in Cyprus dropped in December 2014 to 16.4%, compared to 16.6% a month earlier in November 2014.

Bank of Cyprus may have to replace up to €800 million in cheaper funding from the European Central Bank with mostly costly financing in case Cyprus fails to meet its bailout terms, a bank official said recently.

Cyprus’ air connectivity is gradually being restored as airlines are announcing more flights to fill in the gap left by the closing down of Cyprus Airways (CY), grounded earlier in January 2015 after the European Commission ruled that it should return some €66m in state aid.

The ‘trivago’ search engine has swept the internet for the best 100 destinations and hotels, based on travellers’ preferences and feedback and included Limassol and Paphos.

Τhe two Mediterranean islands, EU member states Malta (96%) and Cyprus (94%), had the highest shares of nights spent by non-residents in 2014, according to Eurostat.

Bank of Cyprus announced recently that the 567,188 ordinary shares resulting from the retail offer will start trading on the Cyprus Stock Exchange and the Athens Exchange on 2 February 2015.

Last week the international economic news was dominated the €1 trillion bond-buying by the European Central Bank (ECB), whereby the lender will buy bonds on the secondary market (ie from banks and other financial institutions) of countries with an investment-grade credit-rating.

Cyprus wants to boost its role as a regional maritime transport hub, building bridges between Europe, as the government speeds up plans to privatise its two main commercial ports.

The loans-to-deposits ratio of the island’s banking system widened in December, the first month that the Central Bank of Cyprus issued monetary statistics on the basis of the new regulations and the guideline of the European Central Bank.