Cyprus Business Now

The Cyprus Institute of Certified Management Consultants (Sesek) on Wednesday announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM).

The partnership entails Sesek awarding the title of Associate CMC to CIIM’s master of business administration (MBA) graduates.

Additionally, CIIM will also facilitate the participation of Sesek members in a number of its specialised seminars, while also offering them discounts to several of its post-graduate programmes.

The partnership’s scope will grow in the future through the implementation of common actions and events which will be aimed at promoting and developing the management consultant profession in Cyprus.

Sesek was founded in 2002 with a mandate of improving the level and quality of consulting services in organisations and companies in both Cyprus and abroad.

The institute is a member of both the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI) and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve).

Labour union Democratic Labour Federation of Cyprus (Deok) on Wednesday released a statement on the Cypriot tax system and how it should be reformed.

“Cyprus tax system must be fair and balanced so that wealth and high incomes are taxed in order to boost public finances and help develop the economy,” the union said.

Moreover, in an open letter sent to Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides on April 21, the union outlined its positions on the matter, including on how the state should approach the redistribution of wealth.

“We consider a significant disadvantage the fact that the tax brackets are not adjusted with inflation in mind,” Deok said.

“Also, the shift of the tax system from direct to indirect taxes has disproportionately burdened low-income groups”, the union added.

Finally, the union also stressed that “a serious problem for the tax system is the issue of widespread tax evasion, which should be dealt with immediately and decisively”.

The Cyprus Association of Civil Engineers (Spolmik) on Wednesday said that the issue of health and safety in the construction sector continues to be of paramount importance, particularly with the celebration of the annual Workers Memorial Day on April 28.

Workers Memorial Day commemorates the hundreds of thousands of workers who lose their life or get injured on the job every year.

“The association calls on its members and all professionals and organised actors in the construction sector to take joint action to build a positive safety and health culture,” the Spolmik said.

Furthermore, the association stressed that the prevention of workplace accidents must be prioritised, while also calling for increased investment in health and safety measures and procedures.

“By doing this, sustainable economies are ensured, a healthy workforce is created and productive enterprises are supported,” the association explained.

In addition, the association also said that the construction sector has taken a serious blow from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, something which has further highlighted the need for professional health and safety measures.

“To this end, it is important to create a preventive safety and health culture so that the right to a safe and healthy work environment is respected at all levels,” Spolmik said.

“The state, employers and employees must be actively involved in ensuring a safe and healthy work environment, with the highest priority prevention,” the association added.

The association concluded by saying that it will continue to give the highest priority to safety and health issues and to actively contribute to the information and awareness of its members and the engineering community in general.

The total sales of petroleum products in March 2022 reached 119,870 tons, rose by 10.5 per cent year-on-year, while recording a quarterly increase of 23.5 per cent, the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) announced on Wednesday.

There was an increase in the supply of oil in airplanes (297.3 per cent), as well as in the sales of kerosene (61.9 per cent), heating oil (54.9 per cent), LPG (40.5 per cent), heavy fuel oil (39.5 per cent) ) and petrol (5.6 per cent).

Conversely, there was a decrease in the sales of asphalt (-50.5 per cent), light fuel oil (-26.1 per cent), diesel (-3.9 per cent), as well as in the supply of oil on ships (-7.7 per cent).

Sales from petrol stations showed an increase of 7.2 per cent, reaching 59,566 tons during this time.

The total sales of petroleum products in March 2022 compared to February 2022 increased by 3.4 per cent.

Indicatively, the supplies of oil in airplanes increased by 45.2 per cent, the sales of gasoline by 13.5 per cent, while diesel sales rose by 10.3 per cent.

Total oil reserves at the end of March 2022 decreased by 28.6 per cent compared to the end of the previous month.

During the period between January and March 2022, the total sales of petroleum products increased by 23.5 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Wednesday, April 27 with losses.

The main Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 69.45 points at 12:30 during the day, reflecting a drop of 0.32 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 41.81 points, which represents a decrease of 0.31 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €121,837.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes fell by 0.39 per cent and 0.27 respectively.

The hotel index also decreased by 2.72 per cent, while the investment firm index remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (no change), the Cyprus Cement Company (-2.4 per cent), Logicom (no change), Hellenic Bank (-0.78 per cent), and CCC Tourist Enterprises (-7.69 per cent).