Banks will tighten up their checks! “Panamagate” arrived to the island
The Cyprus’ bank system is possibly connected with the transactions made with the Panama off-shores. This statement was made by the Central Bank after the publishing in the Internet of notorious documents of Mossack Fonseca law firm. That publication of the ICIJ stirred up the whole world, because it contains information about numerous politicians, their friends and relatives, as well as famous athletes and show business stars. Allegedly, they are guilty of tax avoidance and were trying to conceal their income through the use of offshore companies in Panama. The list includes Jacky Chan, Lionel Messi, heads of numerous states, incl. president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, relatives of the British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as well as close associates of Vladimir Putin. The degree of involvement is yet to be investigated, especially since everyone is denying their involvement. In relation to Cyprus – leads may trace to the island, because in the documents it is referred to as the “tax haven”. It was also discovered that Mossak Fonseca even has its own office in Limassol. Currently, the Central Bank of Cyprus has instructed the banks to tighten up the compliance checks of their clients and in case the problems occur, to block the accounts.
Deported from Cyprus! The authorities will send the hijacker back to Egypt
The Cyprus authorities will deport the hijacker of the EgyptAir aircraft. The relevant decision has been approved by the Ministry of Justice and the Office of Public Prosecutor. Mustafa Seif Ad-Din will be handed over to the authorities of Egypt. The law provides for 60 days to perform the relevant actions, however the process may be accelerated.
Last week, the criminal has hijacked the plane and by threatening to blow up the aircraft, he forced the pilot to fly to Cyprus. Later on, it was discovered that the bomb was fake, However, the hijacking of the plane is nevertheless is classified as terrorist act. Now, in his homeland, Seif Ad-Din may face the death sentence.
28 Refuges rescued near Cyprus
28 Syrian refuges were rescued near the coasts of Cyprus. The Costal Guard service received the distress signal from a fishing boat. The vessel was sinking 14 nautical miles away from the island. The rescuers were very surprised to find Syrian migrants (with small children) instead of fishermen. IT has been reported that the boat departed from Alanya. For the transportation to Cyprus, the migrants paid 2,000 Euros each- this is suprising since usually, migrants were staying away from the island. The captain of the vessel has been arrested. The migrants were sent to the refugee camp in Kofinou.
Plummeting decrease of unemployment in Cyprus
The Eurostat has published the latest statistical data, which shows that unemployment in Cyprus is decreasing at very high rates. It has been reported that since January of Last year, the unemployment has decreased by 4%. This is the best result in the whole of the European Union. However, there are still 52,000 official unemployed individuals and that is 12,6% of the entire population. However thi situation is constantly improving. Overall in the EU the situation has improved- for example in Finland and Latvia there are less redundancies according to the statistics.
New rules concerning distribution of the advertising materials
The distribution of annoying advertising material may become a criminal offence. The Parliament of Cyprus is planning to pass the special set of rules in that regard. The proposal is to allow people to decide themselves, whether they are willing to receive promotional materials or not- by placing the special stickers on the mailboxes. The distributors will be bound to adhere to the new rules, otherwise, the couriers will be facing significant fines and their employers will have court proceedings initiated against them.