Cyprus Business Now: inflation eases, GITEX partnership, FINOM appoints new CFO

Inflation in Cyprus stood at 1.5 per cent in August, its lowest level since March of this year, according to a report from the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) released on Thursday.

The report showed that the food and hospitality sectors continue to drive inflationary pressures, while transport costs exert a downward influence.

Specifically, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.37 units in August 2024, reaching 118.10 units compared to 117.73 units in July 2024. It should be noted that 2015 serves as the base year, set at 100 units.

For the period between January and August 2024, the CPI has risen by 2.0 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.

In addition, the CPI stood at 2.1 per cent in July 2024, and 2.6 per cent in August 2023.

When compared to August 2023, the most significant increases were observed in the categories of restaurants and hotels, which saw a 5.6 per cent rise, as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased by 3.4 per cent.

The Cyprus Information Technology Enterprises Association (CITEA) announced this week that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

This agreement paves the way for Cypriot IT companies to participate in the prestigious GITEX technology exhibition, held annually in Dubai.

This agreement marks a significant step forward for Cyprus’ growing tech sector, with CITEA now acting as the official representative of DWTC in Cyprus for both the GITEX Global 2024 and Global DevSlam 2024 exhibitions, which are scheduled to take place October 14 until 18, 2024.

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Keve) on Thursday announced that the Shorewinner project, a pioneering effort to advance skills in the offshore renewable energy sector, is set for its official launch in Cyprus.

The chamber will host the event at its premises in Nicosia on September 26. It is scheduled to start at 11:00 and conclude at 13:00.

According to the chamber, the gathering is expected to draw key figures from across Southern Europe, all focused on strengthening the region’s expertise in renewable energy sources.

“The Shorewinner project is an ambitious collaboration under the Erasmus+ programme, uniting 22 partners from five Southern European countries—Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus,” the chamber said in its announcement.

Digital banking platform FINOM, which also has offices in Cyprus, announced the appointment of Alessandro Camilotti as its new chief financial officer on Thursday.

The Amsterdam-based firm explained that Camilotti’s appointment aims to bolster the executive team as FINOM scales its operations across the European Union.

Camilotti, a fintech veteran with over a decade of experience, joins FINOM from Swedish fintech Klarna, where he served as Head of Finance & Analytics for the EU region.

His previous roles also include Head of Commercial Finance at Wise and senior positions at General Electric (GE).

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) this week announced that it has imposed a total administrative fine of €50,000 on Cypriot investment firm (CIF) IC Markets (EU) Ltd.

According to the announcement, the fine was imposed for violations of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017 (L.87(I)/2017).

In addition, CySEC said that the issuing of the fine follows a decision by the commission’s board on July 1, 2024.

The commission explained that the fine was issued for three separate infringements.

The London Court of International Arbitration has reserved its decision over the €69 million claim filed for the Vasiliko liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal, it was reported on Thursday.

According to CNA, both sides submitted their positions to court on Wednesday and a decision is expected in the near future.

Chinese-led construction firm CPP-Metron Consortium Ltd (CMC) which was behind the contentious LNG project had submitted a statement of claim before a London arbitration court amounting to €69m from the Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (Etyfa).

CPP is claiming increased costs from the Republic of Cyprus due to technical problems and delays surrounding the project.

Energy Minister George Papanastasiou previously told the Cyprus Mail the arbitration was filed in October 2022.

Fuckup Nights, a global movement and a series of events where industry leaders share their failure stories, are opening the autumn season in Limassol with their second event.

Fuckup Nights Limassol Vol. 2 will take place on Tuesday at Gazebo Mare featuring four speakers.

“By organising Fuckup Nights series in Limassol, we aim to inspire the Cyprus community to learn from their mistakes, establish a safe environment for people to speak openly about their path to success, and bring bold, like-minded people together,” say Maria Sibirtseva and Alla Reveko.

“With every event, we plan to grow in scale and reach a wider community. In September, we’ll host 200+ people and introduce four speakers from different backgrounds: real estate development and event organisation, AI-powered projects, and creative agencies,” they added.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, September 5 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 180.50 points at 12:56 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.72 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 110.14 points, representing a rise of 0.75 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €133,211, until the aforementioned time during trading.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative, investment firm indexes rose by 0.83 per cent, 0.15 per cent and 0.38 per cent respectively. The hotel index, however, fell by 1.28 per cent.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+1.46 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+0.97 per cent), Petrolina Holdings (+2.44 per cent), Logicom (no change), and Salamis Tours (no change).