The United States government has not proposed tabling hydrocarbons in the Cyprus peace talks, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said recently.

Israel said recently it supported attempts by Cyprus to carry out natural gas exploration offshore, in spite of objections from Turkey challenging the endeavour.

Eurozone finance ministers are set to approve the disbursement of the next tranche of bailout loans for Cyprus after the country met the remaining two conditions for the payout.

Property prices in Cyprus declined by up to 9.6% on an annual basis in the third quarter, surveyors said recently, with demand sapped by a lack of bank credit and high unemployment.

U.S. Ambassador John. Koenig said over the last 18 months, U.S. businesses and investors have put just over a half a billion dollars’ worth of investment into Cyprus.

European Central Bank executive council member Benoit Coeure said recently that while Cyprus’ systemic banks were able to become part of the ECB’s single supervisory mechanism, the level of non-performing loans (NPL) together with the level of leveraging of its banks remained a concern.

President Nicos Anastasiades said recently that the road to full recovery and the restoration of trust in the economy would be long and arduous but that the page had been turned.

Ryanair has said it is one step closer to taking over Cyprus Airways (CY) after getting through to the second round of bidding for the ailing flag carrier at the weekend, the Irish Times reports.

The Finance Minister said recently the downturn on the island appeared to have bottomed out, after the economy showed an improvement over the past four quarters.

The Agriculture Ministry plans to disburse up to €4.2 million in European Union funds towards development and promotion of the domestic wine industry over the next two years, with zivania playing a leading role, Minister Nicos Kouyialis said recently.