Business cooperation at the heart of Moscow-Nicosia partnership

One of the pillars of the partnership between Cyprus and Russia is the substantial cooperation in the economic field, Ambassador of the Russian Federation Stanislav Osadchiy said on Thursday.

Noting that the two countries have common cultural and religious traditions, mutual trust and support, he said that one of the pillars of their partnership is business ties.

"We are happy to see that after the economic financial crisis in Cyprus, the economy is bouncing back on track with projected growth rates, accelerating year by year," Osadchiy told ‘The future of Russian business in Cyprus' in Limassol.

He said Russia is contributing to the economic recovery of the island, such as the Russian government decided to restructure credit given to Cyprus.

On tourism, he said the Russian market is the second largest, thus contributing significantly to the Cyprus economy.

The Ambassador said that more and more Russian companies are opening representative offices and expanding their operations on the island.

Osadchiy expressed the conviction that there are bright prospects for economic relations between Russia and Cyprus and thanked Nicosia for its stance as regards the "anti-Russian campaign led by some countries".

Referring to the visit of Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides to Moscow, he said that on Friday he will hold "very concrete negotiations on many subjects" with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Referring to the Cyprus problem, he expressed hope that the trust between the two communities in Cyprus will be restored.

"We wish success on the way to renew negotiations between the two communities. We wish the restoration of trust between the leaders and achieve progress in the Cyprus problem."

At the conference, former Chairman of the Cyprus Chamber and Commerce Phedias Pelides, referred to the growing number of Russia investors who choose Cyprus not only as the base of their business but also as their place of residence.