Cyprus Business Now

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (Kne) on Thursday announced that it successfully held a panel discussion focusing on a greener shipping and maritime industry through collaborative practices.

The panel discussion was moderated by Julian Bray, the Editor-in-Chief of TradeWinds, one of the world’s leading media publications on the shipping industry.

Moreover, the panel was comprised of George Wells, Global Head of Assets & Structuring at Cargill International SA, Nikolaus H. Schues, President Designate at the Baltic & International Maritime Council (BIMCO), former president of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) Claes Berglund, as well as Dieter Rohdenburg, the CEO of Intership Navigation and vice president of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber.

Schües opened the debate with the view that the cost of decarbonisation should be spread across all actors that make up the entire supply chain, an idea that was also supported by George Wells, who noted that the needs of consumers, who determine demand and cost, should also be taken into account.

Furthermore, the panel also discussed the provision of green fuels. In relation to this issue, Rohdenburg underlined that the opportunities for green fuel production exist and noted that cooperation between industry and regulatory bodies is key to this becoming a reality.

Finally, Claes Berglund spoke on the trend towards using LNG as an alternative fuel and how the industry can learn from the process of introducing a new alternative fuel.

The panel discussion took place during the Maritime Cyprus conference in Limassol, which kicked off on Monday, October 10.

The Cyprus International Compliance Forum is set to take place on Friday, October 14 in Nicosia, exploring a number of topics, including corporate governance, financial crime and counter-terrorism initiatives in finance, regulatory compliance, as well as economic sanctions.

The forum, which is now its eighth edition, will involve the participation of more than 400 guests, 28 speakers, as well as more than 150 companies, organisations and associations, including Invest Cyprus, the Cyprus Fiduciary Association (CYFA), and the Bank of Cyprus, among others.

“In order to effectively address sustainability challenges, the compliance function has probably the most important role to play, as businesses must ensure that stakeholder demands and regulatory requirements are incorporated within a framework of primary support of the environment and society,” the event’s organisers said in a statement.

“Especially nowadays, it is imperative for business leaders to deal with emerging risks in a post-pandemic, post-war environment,” the statement added, noting that “companies must discern what compliance can do to help them grow sustainably while avoiding financial and reputational risks”.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, October 13 with pronounced losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 73.53 points at 13:22 during the day, reflecting a drop of 1.61 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 44.12 points, which represents a decrease of 1.63 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €40,409.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative, hotel and investment firm indexes all declined, falling by 1.92 per cent, 0.96 per cent, 0.15 per cent and 3.26 per cent respectively.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (-1.87 per cent), Salamis Tours (-1.01 per cent), Logicom (-1.16 per cent), Petrolina (-0.95 per cent), and KEO (-5.41 per cent).