Business & economy wrap-up from the day before

Cyprus must balance long-term economic stability with responses to rapidly changing global challenges, Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said on Friday, warning that Europe can no longer rely on assumptions that held true 10 to 20 years ago.

Addressing this year’s Limassol Economic Forum, Keravnos said wars, geopolitical tensions, disruptions to international trade, energy challenges, technological advances and climate change were creating an unprecedentedly complex international environment.

“The wars in the wider region of Europe, geopolitical tensions and shifts, the disruption of international trade, the global energy crisis and energy challenges, the technological revolution and climate change are shaping an unprecedented and exceptionally complex international economic and political environment,” he said.

He praised the forum’s organisers, saying the event had established itself as an important platform for examining geopolitical developments, economic trends and major global challenges. Keravnos stressed that these developments were interconnected and could not be addressed by individual countries acting alone.

“No country, however powerful it may be, can face them on its own,” he stated. “This highlights the enduring value of the European Union,” he continued. “In times of uncertainty, European cooperation proves to be the most important tool for preserving economic stability and social cohesion.”

Cyprus tourism arrivals fell by 5.6 per cent in the first nine months of 2026 compared with the previous year, recovering from a much sharper decline earlier in the year, Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis said on Friday as he presented the department’s €59.4 million budget for 2027.

Around 62 per cent of the proposed budget will fund destination promotion and the enrichment of the tourism product, including promotional activities, participation in tourism fairs and incentive schemes. Presenting the budget before the House finance committee, Koumis said the sector had faced an extremely difficult time in 2026 because of external factors, with some describing the period as the most difficult for the industry in decades.

“2026 will undoubtedly remain in the history and memory of those working in the sector as a year during which our country’s tourism industry was called upon to face an unprecedented crisis as a result of external factors,” he said.

During March and April, Cyprus recorded tens of thousands of cancellations, while the pace of bookings slowed considerably. There were also periods when bookings effectively froze altogether, both for the immediate travel period and for the remainder of the year, Koumis said.

Cyprus recorded an income inequality coefficient of 31.2 in 2025, above the European Union average of 29.2, according to figures published by Eurostat on Friday.

At the same time, separate earnings figures from the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) highlight significant differences in pay across the island.

The Eurostat figure suggests that income was distributed less equally in Cyprus than across the EU as a whole, although the bloc’s overall level of inequality edged down from 29.4 in 2024.

Meanwhile, the Cyprus Statistical Service’s 2025 earnings figures reveal substantial gaps between average and median pay, differences between men and women, and considerable variations across economic sectors and nationalities.

Cyprus business leaders have warned that geopolitical instability, rising borrowing costs and the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) are forcing companies to rethink their strategies, with investment in technology, workforce skills and resilience emerging as key priorities for 2027.

Speaking at a chief executives’ panel discussion at the Limassol Economic Forum 2026, senior executives from banking, consulting, law and property said businesses must prepare for risks that cannot always be predicted using historical data, while ensuring they do not sacrifice long-term competitiveness in pursuit of immediate results.

The discussion, titled “Leading Through Uncertainty: How CEOs Are Preparing for the World of 2027”, examined how geopolitical tensions, economic shifts, the energy transition and technological disruption are influencing corporate decision-making.

The panel was moderated by Emilia Papadopoulos, a presenter and broadcast journalist, and featured Demetris Demetriou, chief risk officer at the Bank of Cyprus, Pieris Markou, chief executive of Deloitte Cyprus, Elias Neocleous, managing partner at Elias Neocleous & Co LLC, and Constantinos Savvides, chief executive of bbf:.

The Bank of Cyprus will announce its financial results for the first nine months of 2026 on November 5, after the group’s board reviews the figures at a meeting scheduled for the previous day.

Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company said on Friday that its board of directors would convene on Wednesday, November 4, to examine the financial results for the period ended September 30, 2026.

The results will be released before the opening of trading on the Athens Stock Exchange and the Cyprus Stock Exchange on Thursday, November 5.

The announcement comes shortly after the completion of the acquisition of performing loans worth approximately €130 million and deposits of around €440 million from the Cyprus Development Bank (CDB).

Cyprus had the European Union’s lowest share of job advertisements disclosing salaries in August, with just 0.4 per cent of vacancies listing pay, according to an analysis by compensation benchmarking platform TalentUp and compensation and pay transparency practice Esperta Pay.

The analysis covered 1,194,497 job advertisements published across the EU’s 27 member states between May and August 2026, around the June 7 deadline for member states to transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive into national law.

Across the bloc, the proportion of job advertisements displaying salary information more than doubled over the four-month period, rising from 10.5 per cent in May to 22.8 per cent in August.

However, more than three-quarters of EU job advertisements still did not disclose salaries by the end of the period, highlighting the uneven pace at which pay transparency is being introduced across Europe.

Dome Investments Public Company Ltd and A. Tsokkos Hotels Public Ltd have re-elected their directors, reappointed KPMG Ltd as their auditors and retained existing board remuneration arrangements at their annual general meetings held in Protaras on Thursday.

According to announcements released on Friday, the two meetings took place on October 22, 2026, at the Constantinos the Great Beach Hotel, with both companies approving their respective directors’ re-elections and the continuation of their auditors’ appointments.

Dome Investments held its 43rd annual general meeting, while A. Tsokkos Hotels held its 25th annual general meeting.

Dome Investments approved its directors’ report, financial statements and auditors’ report for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Shareholders also approved the re-election of retiring directors Anastasia Tsokkou and Nestoras Kiriakides.

K+G Complex Public Company Ltd has approved an interim dividend of approximately €771,517 from its 2026 profits, with eligible shareholders set to receive €0.006 per share, the company announced on Friday.

The company’s board of directors approved the distribution at a meeting held on October 23, 2026.

The dividend will be paid to shareholders registered in the records of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) on November 5, 2026, which has been set as the record date.

The last trading day on which shares will carry the entitlement to the dividend is November 3, while the shares will trade ex-dividend from November 4.

Lordos United Public Ltd completed the payment of its €200,000 final dividend to eligible shareholders on Friday, the company announced.

The payment follows a decision by the company’s annual general meeting on September 23, 2026, to approve a final dividend of €0.0039576 per share, in line with a proposal submitted by the board of directors.

The company had announced the dividend on September 24, with the distribution now completed earlier than expected on Friday.

The announcement comes a day after Lordos United confirmed the completion of its €8.16 million acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in P&S Carton Industries Ltd, following regulatory approval.

The Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) will present the findings of its Cyprus IT Market Survey 2026 in Nicosia on November 12, outlining the state of the sector, its main trends and its growth prospects.

The event will take place at 7pm at LOFT Restaurant & Bar and will be attended by professionals from the technology industry, business executives and representatives of organisations, as well as others interested in the future of technology in Cyprus.

Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nicodemos Damianou will address the event, highlighting the importance of the growth prospects of Cyprus’ IT market.

The study was funded by the CCS and conducted by research organisation IMR, with the aim of providing an overview of the local IT market and identifying its main developments and opportunities for expansion.

Medochemie founder and executive chairman Andreas Pittas has been honoured for his contribution to Cyprus’ industry, economy and society, as the pharmaceutical company celebrates 50 years of operations and continues to expand its international presence.

The award was presented by the Association of the Industrialists of Ayios Athanasios during a dinner marking its 40th anniversary this week, recognising Pittas’ longstanding contribution to healthcare, environmental protection, economic development and the wider community.

President Nikos Christodoulides and association president Vasos Demetriades presented the award in the presence of House President Annita Demetriou, Transport Minister Evi Tsolaki, Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides and representatives of Cyprus’ business and industrial community.

Safe Bulkers chief executive and Cyprus Union of Shipowners (CUS) president Polys Hajioannou warned that China’s rapidly expanding shipyards could leave dry-bulk shipping with more vessels than it needs, despite expectations of still higher newbuilding prices.

His concern, emphasised in a TradeWinds report published on Friday, follows this week’s Capital Link shipping forum in Shanghai, where he joined industry executives to discuss the outlook for dry bulk. The apparent contradiction is that busy shipyards and higher prices today may be storing up trouble for shipowners tomorrow.

For a market built around moving iron ore, coal and grain, the numbers matter. New shipyards can take on more orders, but every additional bulker eventually has to find cargo. If the fleet grows faster than seaborne trade, competition between vessels can push freight earnings lower, irrespective of what those ships cost to build.

A Cyprus-registered holding company faces growing uncertainty over Greece’s Pizza Fan restaurant chain after an investigation into alleged €25 million VAT fraud prompted a nationwide shutdown, threatening a franchise network with reported annual sales exceeding €100m.

The company, Fanatics Pizza Deliveries and Food Services Limited, was incorporated in Cyprus in March 2004 and owns almost all of the Greek operating business. According to Cyprus documents dated this week, Pizza Fan founder Konstantinos Antaras holds 90 per cent of the holding company, while Dimitrios Iliopoulos owns the remaining 10 per cent.

The Cyprus company holds 15,760 of the Greek company’s 15,763 shares, equivalent to almost 99.98 per cent. While the structure establishes a direct corporate connection with Cyprus, the tax allegations under investigation concern activities in Greece, and there is no evidence in the available reporting of wrongdoing by the Cyprus-registered entity.

Bank of Cyprus (BoC) is celebrating 10 years of its antamivi rewards programme with an anniversary campaign offering prizes worth more than €300,000, giving cardholders the opportunity to win rewards through everyday purchases and a special prize draw.

Running from October 15 to November 15, 2026, the campaign rewards customers for purchases made at participating merchants, with prizes available through a new Spin and Win feature on the BoC app.

Under the initiative, customers receive one spin and one entry into the grand prize draw for every €100 in cumulative purchases at participating antamivi merchants.

Once they reach the required spending threshold, customers can access their available spins through the Privileges and Antamivi section of the BoC app to discover what they have won. Each customer can receive up to 10 spins during the campaign.

Prizes include antamivi vouchers worth €5, €10, €20 and €100, vouchers of the same value from selected participating merchants, as well as triple (x3) antamivi points on subsequent purchases at selected retailers.

Cyprus’ ability to tackle illegal online streaming has come back into focus after a European Parliament report published this week, exposed wide differences in how EU countries block piracy websites, with some able to act within just 30 minutes.

The new briefing, issued by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), found that enforcement remains fragmented across the bloc, despite growing pressure to tackle illegal broadcasts and protect copyright holders.

At the centre of the problem are dynamic blocking injunctions, which allow internet providers to block new websites or online addresses used to distribute material already found to be illegal, without requiring a fresh court order each time.

This matters particularly for live sports broadcasts, where pirate operators can move streams between websites within minutes, often faster than authorities can respond.

Cyprus’ national cybersecurity team finished 24th out of 42 teams at the European Cybersecurity Challenge in Germany, improving on last year’s result as ten young competitors tested their skills against some of the world’s emerging cybersecurity talent.

The Cypriot team collected 3,277.21 points in Bochum, according to the official results, moving up from 28th place in 2025, when the competition was held in Warsaw, Poland.

This year’s event, which took place from October 12 to 16, brought together more than 400 young competitors, aged between 14 and 25, from 35 European countries and seven invited guest nations.

Sweden claimed first place, followed by Finland and Austria, while the US was named the highest-ranking guest country.

Organised with the support of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), the competition puts participants through a series of practical challenges designed to test how well they can identify and tackle cyber threats.

Toyota has emerged as the clear favourite among motorists in Cyprus, accounting for almost one in four passenger cars registered during the first nine months of 2026, although Kia has taken the lead in the new-car market.

According to figures from the statistical service (Cystat), Toyota recorded 8,232 registrations between January and September, more than double the 3,881 recorded by second-placed Mazda.

Nissan followed with 2,535, ahead of BMW with 2,090 and Mercedes with 1,744, completing the five most-registered brands on the island.

Honda recorded 1,335 registrations, followed by Kia with 1,160, Volkswagen with 858, Audi with 710 and Chinese manufacturer BYD with 686.

All banks in Cyprus will be closed on Wednesday, October 28, to mark Ohi Day, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) has announced.

The central bank informed the public that banking services at branches will be unavailable for the national holiday.

Celebrated throughout Greece and Cyprus, Ohi Day (‘Anniversary of the No’) commemorates the country’s rejection of an ultimatum from Fascist Italy on October 28, 1940, and its entry into the Second World War.

Customers who need to carry out branch transactions are advised to make arrangements in advance, while online and mobile banking services remain available.

Twenty-two petrol stations had failed to pass on the full reduction in heating fuel prices by noon on Friday, despite a cut in the tax on heating fuel coming into effect earlier in the day, the consumer protection service said.

According to the service, 268 of the 290 petrol stations monitored had reduced their prices by at least 6.39 cents per litre.

However, the remaining 22 had either reduced prices by less than 6.39 cents per litre or had not lowered them at all. In some cases, prices had even increased.

The House on Thursday approved the reduction in heating fuel tax as part of a package of measures announced in late September to ease the cost of living.