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Petros Kestoras, Cypriot Ambassador to Russia
I should say there is a general concern about the future. Cyprus has experienced many difficult moments in history over many centuries.
We hope we will overcome this problem as well. The Cypriot people are together in such difficult situations.
The latest example was the Turkish intervention in 1974, when part of the Cypriot population became refugees in one night.
90% of business activity was lost, especially in the field of tourism.
All tourism facilities, hotels were left on the occupied territory of Cyprus.
70% of light industry was lost as well.
Moreover, 70% of the agricultural industry was left on the occupied territory.
Imagine the losses which Cyprus experienced. Nonetheless, the Cypriot people recovered and everybody knows what has happened since the war.
People all over the world started talking about the economic miracle that happened in Cyprus.
Considering what I have said, we are sure we will overcome the current problems and have an optimistic outlook on the future.
As you know, the opening of commercial banks was a forced measure to return our economy to the path of development.
According to the first program for saving the Cypriot economy, the tax on deposits was imposed on all the commercial banks in Cyprus.
According to the second program, the tax was only adopted for the Laiki Bank and the Bank of Cyprus. We predict that this will cause an outflow of capital.
This is confirmed by the fact that Cypriot depositors are calm about the problem and simply retrieved the money they were allowed according to adopted measures.
The attitude of the Cypriot people to the issue when the banks opened was a surprise for the whole world.
No one expected the Cypriots to be to tranquil about the issue. The world thought there would be a fuss.
Igor Lavrovsky, head of the Committee for Financial and Credit Policy of Delovaya Rossiya
The formation of international financial centers on Cyprus was not started by Russian companies.
It was done by English banks quite a while ago. What made the Cypriot banks attractive was the fact that they were following the British rules and continue doing so.
At the same time, Cyprus has an advantageous location in Eastern Europe, suitable for servicing regional trade.
Cyprus has 45 agreements on prevention of double-taxation with various states.
This means that companies of 45 countries were represented in Cyprus and running businesses.
They include the largest international concerns, many respectable companies, very many large international banks.
When Russian companies were granted the right to private exports in the 1990s, many opened accounts in Cyprus.
They are absolutely legal accounts. The majority of transactions were absolutely legal businesses.
It included resources trade, purchases and sales, exports and imports, and this is natural.
In the 2000s, there was no point in talking about Cyprus as an offshore zone.
Preparing to join the EU, Cyprus adopted a tax it never had before and made numerous changes to its legislature, making it the same state as other EU members.
When we look at what happened next, a lot of questions arise.
Firstly, Cyprus experienced repercussions caused by the EU policy.
The reason for the Cypriot crisis is decisions by the EU, Greece. Not only did the foreign banks with offices in Cyprus suffer, but Cypriot banks servicing intraregional trade with Greece as well.
Then the EU forced Cyprus to hit its own banks. I consider it a blow to Mediterranean and Russian trade.
It is hard to consider it as anything other than a weapon of competition or a means of clearing the market of competitors.
Vadim Kumin, deputy head of the Russian parliamentary committee for financial markets
Who paid for the crisis?
The Cypriot people would not bear it because they have deposits worth under 100,000 euros protected by the insurance mechanisms of the EU.
The crisis was not a loss for many people on Cyprus. The only huge problem is future developments.
The consequences won't be nice, because trust has now been lost for a long time.
The crisis was paid for by Russian companies, Russian individuals and European companies with businesses in Cyprus.
Many European companies had businesses in Cyprus. For example, about 60 of the largest shipping companies in the world used Cypriot jurisdiction.
43 to 45 of them are German ship-owners.
It appears that Cyprus was inside the EU, but with the help of its taxation, avoidance of double taxation, Germany, France and England lost a lot and decided to forbid their companies from using the jurisdiction.
A handy solution was developed, but the main victims are Russian companies.
In this context, the hit from the EU was deliberate, mainly against us and own companies exploiting the jurisdiction.
They didn't initiate the situation.
For instance, some political forces in Cyprus, including the Cypriot Communist Party, urged instant withdrawal from the EU in this situation.
Today, the Archbishop of Cyprus has repeated the idea of withdrawal from the EU.
It is a great blow to Cyprus and the Cypriot people. We shouldn't blame the country.
This is an initiative by the EU, which includes Cyprus as a part of it.
We should continue development of contacts and search for solutions to minimize the losses of Cyprus and Russia.