The government of Cyprus vows to do everything humanly possible to compensate a part of losses incurred by the Russian depositors, holders of debt securities, and bank's shareholders. In his address at the 8th Cyprus-Russian Festival, Nicos Anastasiades declared that he shares “their [Russians] understandable bitterness and appreciation caused by the coercive manner with which the Eurogroup Agreement was imposed on my government”.
He has also expressed his gratitude for the vote of confidence demonstrated by the Russian people and business community in Cyprus. Earlier, the Cypriot Supreme Court rejected the appeals filed against the haircut by depositors of former Laiki Bank and Bank of Cyprus.
Cyprus banking sector suffered a lot from the devaluation of the Greek bonds – the leading lending agencies were on the brink of bankruptcy. The EU and the IMF agreed on a bailout to rescue Cypriot banks provided the the country would cover the capital needs for 5-7 billion euros.
Attempting to raise such funds, the government decided to introduce a one-time levy on all bank deposits. However, the parliament turned this measure down. Thereafter, it was decided to impose a levy on the deposits above 100,000 euros in Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank.
Cyprus-Russian Festival is taking place in the city of Limassol (Lemesos) which is a home for the largest Russian community on the island comprised of both Russian immigrants and expatriates.
