Here are the top business stories in Cyprus from the week starting June 23:

Paphos has emerged as the strongest performer for high-end houses in Cyprus’ residential property market, according to a report released on Monday by Landbank Analytics.

The report showed that average house prices surged 16.9 per cent year-on-year in Paphos, climbing from €593,000 in the first quarter of 2024 to €693,000 in the same period of 2025.

The strong performance is fuelled by sustained demand from international buyers seeking premium properties, confirming Paphos’ status as a prime destination for high-end residential investments.

In contrast, average apartment prices in Paphos declined by 10.3 per cent, dropping from €320,000 to €287,000. This downturn may reflect a shift in the types of apartments available or a broader adjustment in the market following previous rapid growth.

“Paphos remains the top destination for high-end homes, while Limassol continues to lead in premium apartment sales,” said Andreas Christophorides, CEO of Landbank Group.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of the easy family of Brands and president of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, has launched the third edition of his awards for young entrepreneurs in Cyprus.

This year’s competition, titled Stelios Awards for Young Entrepreneurs in Cyprus, will award a total of €200,000 to the top three business ideas.

The first prize winner will receive €100,000, the second prize winner will receive €60,000, while the third prize winner will receive €40,000.

The announcement explained that candidates for the Young Entrepreneurship Awards must be under 34 years old and must have founded a company in the Republic of Cyprus within the past five years, with an annual turnover of €40,000.

It should also be mentioned that young entrepreneurs of any nationality are eligible to participate in the Stelios Awards for Young Entrepreneurs in Cyprus 2025.

Cyprus recorded the fourth lowest share of renewable energy in net electricity production among EU member states during the first quarter of 2025, according to data released by Eurostat.

Across the European Union, 42.5 per cent of net electricity generated in the first quarter of 2025 came from renewable sources.

This marked a decrease of 4.3 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024, when renewables accounted for 46.8 per cent of net electricity production.

Among EU countries, Denmark achieved the highest share of renewables in net electricity generation during the first quarter of 2025 with 88.5 per cent. Portugal followed with 86.6 per cent, while Croatia ranked third with 77.3 per cent.

The lowest shares were observed in the Czech Republic with 13.4 per cent, Malta with 14.4 per cent, and Slovakia with 15.1 per cent. Cyprus followed these three countries, ranking fourth from the bottom among EU member states.

Trade unions are raising objections over the privatisation of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE), warning that staff rights have not been fully safeguarded under the draft law currently before Parliament.

During Monday’s session of the Finance Committee, representatives from Sek and Peo said that while agreements had been reached with the Finance Ministry during earlier consultations, several of them were later altered or omitted entirely from the final bill.

They cited the abolition of vacant promotion posts, the disregard of collective agreements, and the removal of supplementary staff transfer plans as examples of what they described as a unilateral rollback of established labour rights.

Cyprus’ banking sector recorded one of the highest profitability and capital adequacy levels in the European Union at the end of 2024, according to the European Central Bank (ECB).

The figures revealed that Cypriot banks recorded the third-highest return on equity (RoE) across the EU at the end of December 2024, reaching 17.7 per cent.

This marked a notable rise from 14.7 per cent at the close of the third quarter of 2024, though slightly below the 21.9 per cent achieved at the end of 2023.

Tax incentives offered to attract international and Cypriot professionals to Cyprus have resulted in €406.6 million in tax exemptions over a three-year period, benefiting 25,277 employees who moved to the island for work between 2021 and 2023.

The total salaries declared by these employees reached €1.31 billion, with exemptions ranging between 20 and 50 per cent depending on individual cases.

The incentives are part of a broader policy framework to encourage the relocation of talent, including both foreign nationals and repatriated Cypriots, through income deductions and tax relief.

Cypriot businesses are struggling to fill vacancies across sectors due to a growing labour shortage, according to Philokypros Rousounides, secretary general of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve).

Speaking on Sigma TV’s ‘Mesimeri kai Kati’, Rousounides warned that the domestic labour market can no longer meet current needs, despite the country operating under near full employment and with unemployment holding below five per cent.

Additionally, he said that both skilled and unskilled positions are proving increasingly difficult to fill, forcing employers to seek workers from abroad.

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new €2.5 million scheme to promote the adoption of electric vehicles in Cyprus, according to Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades.

He said the plan aims to strengthen the market for electric and hybrid vehicles through government funding, adding that electric mobility is a key priority for Cyprus and essential to meeting its environmental targets. 

The scheme will offer grants for both new and used vehicles, in an effort to make clean transport more accessible.

Economic sentiment in Cyprus declined in June 2025, with the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) falling by 0.8 points compared to May, according to the Economics Research Centre (CypERC) of the University of Cyprus.

The decline came despite a slight improvement in consumer confidence and upward revisions in business expectations for turnover in the next quarter. At the same time, the Economic Uncertainty Index recorded an increase in June following five months of decline.

CypERC stated that the drop in the ESI was driven by a deterioration in business sentiment in retail trade and manufacturing, as well as another decline in economic confidence in the services sector.

“The weakening of sentiment in services resulted from a worsening of the current situation, with firms’ assessments of their financial condition and turnover dropping significantly for a third consecutive month,” the report said.

Interest rates on both deposits and housing loans saw a general decline across Cypriot banks in April, according to detailed figures published this week by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).

According to the published figures, the average deposit interest rate offered to eurozone-resident households fell to 1.26 per cent in April, down from 1.41 per cent in March.

Eurobank offered the highest deposit rate at 1.65 per cent, although this marked a decline from 1.88 per cent the previous month. Jordan Ahli Bank followed with a rate of 1.38 per cent, compared to 1.50 per cent in March.

National Bank of Greece (Cyprus) Ltd offered a rate of 1.29 per cent, down from 1.61 per cent, while the Housing Finance Corporation offered 1.17 per cent, a drop from 1.31 per cent in March.

S&P Global Ratings has revised its outlook for Freedom Finance Europe Ltd., which operates under the Freedom24 brand, from stable to positive.

At the same time, the credit rating agency affirmed the company’s long- and short-term issuer credit ratings at ‘B+/B’.

The improved outlook, the agency explained, reflects the company’s efforts to strengthen its risk management framework and its continued rapid expansion across Europe.

S&P also revised the outlook to positive for several other subsidiaries of Freedom Holding Corp., including Freedom Finance JSC, Freedom Finance Global PLC, and Freedom Bank Kazakhstan JSC.

These subsidiaries also retained their ‘B+/B’ long- and short-term credit ratings.

Eurobank on Friday announced its intention to explore a parallel listing of its shares on the main market of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE), following the successful completion of its acquisition of Hellenic Bank.

This move marks what the bank described as “the largest foreign investment ever implemented in Cyprus”.

The development comes in the context of the imminent delisting of Hellenic Bank shares from the Cyprus Stock Exchange, scheduled for June 30, 2025.

Eurobank stated that it is examining the possibility of listing its own shares in Cyprus in order to reaffirm its “strategic commitment to the Cypriot economy” and its support for the “development and strengthening of the local capital market”.

The tax department is “putting the final touches” on bills which, if passed into law, will bring about sweeping changes to Cyprus’ tax system, according to reports on Friday.

The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported that it is hoped the bills will be sent to the legal service for review as soon as next week, with them set to then be submitted to parliament following the summer recess. “In essence, the bills have been completed and only some details remain. We can say that today, their preparation is being completed,” CNA quoted a source as saying.

The source added that the bills will be put up for public consultation “around July 9”, with the finance ministry then set to “evaluate the comments received” and “incorporate some of them into the final text of the bills”.

“Approximately two months will be required for the legal review of the bills and for public consultation,” the source said.

The Cyprus Composite Leading Economic Index (CCLEI), compiled and published by the Economics Research Centre of the University of Cyprus (CypERC), recorded a year-on-year increase of 2.3 per cent in June 2025.

This follows revised increases of 2.6 per cent in May and 3.1 per cent in April 2025.

The index maintained its upward trend in June 2025, though at a more moderate growth pace.

This deceleration is attributed to the slowing growth rates of certain key components, particularly the year-on-year decline in the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in Cyprus.

There was also a marked deterioration in the euro area’s economic climate during the second quarter of 2025.