He was speaking at a conference held in Limassol and titled ‘The future of Russian business in Cyprus’.

Noting that the two nations share cultural and religious traditions, mutual trust and support, he said that one of the pillars of their partnership is the substantial economic cooperation.

“We are happy to see that after the financial crisis in Cyprus, the economy is bouncing back with projected growth rates, accelerating year by year,” Osadchiy said in his keynote address.

He noted that such developments would not have been possible without the effective work of government leaders, whose anti-recession policy was gradually restoring Cyprus’ activities in the international investment arena.

Pointing out that the Russian Federation is contributing to the economic recovery of the island, he said that recently the Russian government decided to restructure the previously granted loan to Cyprus.

On tourism, he said the Russian market is traditionally ranked second in Cyprus, thus contributing significantly to the local economy.

In addition, Osadchiy said, more and more Russian companies are opening representative offices and expanding their operations on the island.

The Russian ambassador expressed the conviction that there are indeed bright prospects for economic relations between Russia and Cyprus, and thanked Nicosia for its stance with regard to the ‘anti-Russia campaign led by some countries’.

Referring to the visit of foreign minister Nicos Christodoulides to Moscow, Osadchiy said that on Friday he would be holding “very concrete negotiations on many subjects” with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Turning to the Cyprus problem, the Russian diplomat expressed hope that trust between the two communities in Cyprus will be restored.

“We wish success on the way to renewing negotiations between the two communities. We desire the restoration of trust between the leaders.”

Source: Cyprus Mail