Shipping Deputy Minister Vassilios Demetriades this week provided a summary of the work that has been implemented under his watch, saying that Cyprus’ shipping sector has been making the country abroad in how it has been performing on an international level.
During his presentation, the Deputy Minister stated that a solid foundation has been laid for the future of shipping in Cyprus, despite the challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the war in Ukraine and the resulting EU sanctions against Russia, which negatively affected the Cypriot fleet.
“Since the day the war started we have recorded losses of 3.7 million in total tonnage, of which 2 million relate to sanctions, while the other 1.7 million falls under the category of expected losses,” Demetriades said.
At the same time, the minister said that there has also been an inflow of 2 million in total tonnage, noting that the Cypriot shipping registry has proved to be resilient, with the total tonnage amounting to 23.8 million.
Demetriades also issued a reminder that about a year and a half ago, the Deputy Ministry formed its vision for Cypriot shipping, through the “SEA Change 2030” national strategy, which includes 35 sustainable actions, of which 23 have already been implemented, while two more will be launched in the near future.
He also mentioned the creation of a one-stop-shipping-shop framework, following the adoption of the legislative framework of the Limited Liability Shipping Company, as well as the digitalisation of all the services of the Deputy Ministry, a process which is currently in progress.
According to Demetriades, all of the ministry’s services will be provided digitally by 2024, while he also announced that the ministry’s mobile application, called CYSh1P, will become available within the next few days.
Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides on Thursday said that the imminent finalisation of the Policy Framework for the Sustainable Financing of Cyprus will pave the way for the raising of sustainable financing, allowing the state to have access to additional sources of financing beyond the traditional ones.
In a written statement on the progress of the preparation of the framework for the issuance of a Green, Social and Sustainable Bond, referred to as Project Mouflon, the minister stated that the Cabinet of Ministers was informed on Thursday about the progress of the project.
The framework, Petrides explained, can be used by the Republic of Cyprus to issue sustainable bonds and loans with the aim of financing government initiatives covering a wide range of green and social projects.
According to the statement, the Sustainability Financing Framework defines areas of environmental and social spending that can be financed through the issuance of sustainable bonds in accordance with applicable international standards.
Furthermore, he said that the framework includes, among other things, the categories of government projects and expenses that could be financed by issuing a sustainable bond.
The minister also noted that the international ESG bond market is an ever-growing, dynamic market with bond issuances in 2022 amounting to almost €1 trillion and stated that an increasing number of European Union member states are advancing or preparing to issue such bonds.
“The participation of the Republic of Cyprus in this market is expected to offer significant advantages both in terms of liquidity and in terms of evaluation by international rating agencies,” Petrides stressed.
The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, January 26 with profits.
The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 96.10 points at 17:00 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.41 per cent over the previous day of trading.
The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 58.04 points, representing an increase of 0.42 per cent.
The total value of transactions came up to €404,267, in what has been one of the most high-volume days of trading in recent months.
In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative and investment firm indexes all rose, increasing by 0.39 per cent, 0.33 per cent and 0.79 per cent respectively.
The hotel index, on the other hand, fell by 0.53 per cent.
The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+1.04 per cent), Demetra (+0.42 per cent), Logicom (no change), CCC Tourist Enterprises (+0.8 per cent), Salamis Tours (-0.53 per cent), Louis PLC (+1.24 per cent) and Hellenic Bank (no change).
It should be noted that the Cyprus Stock Exchange operated with the minimum number of staff members on Thursday due to Cyprus-wide strike action.
