Cyprus Business Now

State-owned Cyprus Asset Management Company (Kedipes) on Thursday reported that its board has decided that its state aid repayment for the first quarter of 2023 will be capped at €60 million.

According to the announcement, the decision was taken during the company’s most recent board meeting, which took place on Wednesday at Kedipes’ offices in Nicosia.

In addition, Kedipes noted that since its inception, the company has paid €940 million to the state.

Moreover, the company explained that the amount was determined after the board took into account Kedipes’ high cash reserves, which after the latest payment of €60 million, are estimated to hover near that €140 million mark.

The company’s cash reserves were boosted by the sale of a number of high-value properties, which were concluded in recent months.

Finally, the company said that its cash reserves and cash inflows are expected to satisfactorily cover the initial needs arising from the imminent implementation of the ‘Rent for Installment scheme, which Kedipes has been tasked with implementing.

The total sales of petroleum products in Cyprus fell by 7 per cent year-on-year in February 2023, reaching 107,779 tonnes, according to a report released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

The largest decrease was recorded in oil supplies to ships, which dropped by 63.5 per cent, as well as in sales of heavy and light fuel oil, which decreased by 24.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively. Diesel fuel also experienced a decrease, falling by 0.4 per cent.

Conversely, there was a 43.5 per cent increase in aircraft oil supplies, as well as in the sales of asphalt, with an increase of 9.6 per cent.

In addition, heating oil sales rose by 6.3 per cent, followed by an increase in the sale of kerosene (5.8 per cent), gasoline (3.1 per cent) and LPG (2.5 per cent).

Sales from petrol stations recorded a marginal decrease of 0.3 per cent, dropping to 53,669 tonnes, compared to February 2022.

Compared to January 2023, the total sales of petroleum products decreased by 2.7 per cent in February 2023.

Indicatively, oil supplies to planes decreased by 6.1 per cent and to ships by 5.9 per cent.

Gasoline sales decreased by 3.7 per cent, while diesel sales experienced a marginal increase, rising by 0.2 per cent.

Total oil inventories increased by 1 per cent at the end of February 2023, compared to the end of the previous month.

During the period between January and February 2023, the total sales of petroleum products fell by 4.3 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, March 30 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 104.38 points at 14:04 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.32 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 63.07 points, representing a rise of 0.30 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €128,342.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes rose by 0.24 per cent and 0.12 per cent respectively.

The investment firm index fell by 2.7 per cent, while the hotel index remained unchanged from the previous day.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+1.21 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+0.63 per cent), Logicom (+0.96 per cent), Blue Island (+10.32 per cent), and Petrolina Holdings (+1.72 per cent).