Peace talks on Cyprus to restart

The Cypriot president and the Turkish Cypriot leader have agreed to resume talks on reunifying the island.

The deal was struck at a meeting between Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat in Nicosia - the first such high-profile talks since 2006.

The two men also agreed to reopen a key crossing in the divided capital.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been divided since 1974, when Turkey deployed troops after a coup by Greek Cypriots who wanted union with Greece.

"This is a new era we are starting for the solution of the Cyprus problem," Mr Talat said after the meeting in a UN buffer zone near the abandoned Nicosia airport.

"We shall try our utmost in order to come to an agreed solution for the interest of the Cypriot people, both communities, as soon as possible," President Christofias said.

In a joint statement, the leaders said they agreed that advisers from both sides would meet next week to set up groups to work out detailed agendas for the peace talks.

Mr Christofias and Mr Talat said they would meet in three months' time to "review the work of the working groups and technical committees and using their results to start fully fledged negotiations".

The talks would be held under the UN auspices, the statement added.

Mr Talat said that the Nicosia talks "didn't mention anything about the basis or the parameters of the [Cyprus] solution".

Crossing re-opening

Peace talks have been stalled since 2004, when Greek Cypriots rejected a UN peace plan that was backed by Turkish Cypriots.

Mr Talat favours the plan that proposed making Cyprus a federation of two states with a loose central government.

Mr Christofias, who was elected last month, prefers discussions to build on an agreement reached in July 2006.

This focused on individual confidence-building measures and practical areas where progress could be made.

In Nicosia, the two leaders also agreed to reopen the crossing at Ledra street, a pedestrian thoroughfare that runs along Nicosia's dividing line.

The street has come to symbolise the partition of the island.

The island's partition has long stood as an obstacle to Turkey's bid to join the EU.

The Greek Cypriot south, which joined the EU in 2004, holds veto rights over Turkey's accession.

Source: BBC

Cyprus labour force rises by 5.1% in 2007

The labour force in Cyprus rose by 5.1% in the whole of 2007 to 393,377 people, according to the results of the quarterly Labour Force Survey.

 

Despite the rapid growth, all of the increase in the labour force was absorbed, as total employment rose by an even higher 5.8% to reach 377,948.

 

The number of people unemployed fell by 1.6% to 15,428, yielding an unemployment rate of 3.9%, compared with 4.5% in 2006.

 

In the fourth quarter alone, the labour force rose by 5.5% compared with the same quarter of 2006 to 398,903; employment rose by 6.3% to 384,852 and the number of unemployed fell by 0.4% to 14,051, yielding an unemployment rate of 3.5%.

 

The unemployment rate for young persons aged 15-24 was 10.2% in the fourth quarter compared with 10.5% in the corresponding quarter of 2006.

 

Source: Financial Mirror

 

Of the total unemployed, 62% had searched for a job for a period of less than 6 months; 16.3% for a period of 6-11 months, while 21.7% had searched for a job for one year and over.

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Eurobank to start Cyprus banking in June

The Greek banking giant EFG Eurobank is ready to start full banking operations in Cyprus as early as next month, with corporations and high-net worth individuals among the first to be targeted in the ‘wholesale banking’ offensive that will avoid the opening of retail branches in the initial stage.

Michalis Louis, Eurobank Cyprus CEO, told the Financial Mirror that the Nicosia office, situated on the busy Makarios III Ave., will open for business in June while the Group’s second office in Limassol will start in the first half of 2008.

The recruitment drive is proceeding according to plan with Eurobank Cyprus reaching its first target of 30 staff by the end of May. With the opening of the Limassol office, the number will rise to 40.

“We are building a fantastic team of experienced, highly educated, talented and young bankers,” said Louis.

The top management team now in the making includes Haris Hambakis as General Manager Wealth Management and Antonis Antoniou as Manager Private Banking, both of whom used to work in the top two positions of Laiki Private Banking and were part of the team that earned Laiki’s top Private Banking awards. The Eurobank Private Banking team in Cyprus is further strengthened by the arrival of Tasos Anastasis, formerly with Hellenic Bank Private Banking.

Eurobank’s Wealth Management back office will be headed by Constantia Constantinou, formerly with Marfin Popular Bank, who brings with her vast experience in the area of Custodial and Private Banking Back Office operations.

Stephanos Kassianides will head International Lending bringing his years of experience working with Laiki in Cyprus and the UK, while Andreas Pitsillos, formerly with Laiki eBank and Laiki Hellas and Demetris Eliades have also bolstered the ranks of Eurobank Cyprus. Demetris Shiakkalis, former CFO of USB will become the Eurobank Cyprus CFO and COO, bringing Nikoleta Michaelidou with him. Finally, Katerina Charalambous, formerly with EFG in Greece, will be heading Eurobank’s Business Development.

Top Service

Louis said Eurobank will offer all banking services in Cyprus, without opening a retail branch network, with emphasis placed on corporate and investment banking, private banking and asset management.

“We shall have retail products for our clients, with Eurobank also targeting M&As, corporate restructuring, bridge loans and all sorts of sophisticated deals that our clients may require,” said Louis, adding that Cyprus will enjoy the full range of products now on offer from Eurobank Greece.

Eurobank is renowned for its aggressive and fast decision-making approach, something which Louis and his team intend to implement fully in Cyprus.

The fact that Eurobank expanded to Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, the UK and recently to Turkey means that there is a centralized and effective team in Greece with the right mechanism providing support.

The key ingredient to success and the reason why Cyprus corporations and high net worth individuals will be heading to Eurobank Cyprus, according to Louis, will be because of the bank’s competitive pricing, effective and personalized service, the security and experience of Eurobank Greece and also because of the personal connections, know-how and broad understanding of the needs of the Cyprus market.

Source - Financial Mirror