Cyprus

The International Monetary Fund said on Friday it had reviewed Cyprus’s economy under a bailout program and approved a loan disbursement for about $115 million.

The international lender said the disbursement brings total lending to date under the IMF’s $1.4 billion program with Cyprus to about $459 million.

Cyprus's economic crisis could hasten a deal to end decades of enmity between the island's estranged Greeks and Turks, its outgoing United Nations envoy said on Thursday.

Reunification talks resumed between the two sides on February 11.

Cyprus wants to shield financial flows with Russia, where it’s the biggest foreign investor, as the US and the European Union ratchet up sanctions in response to President Vladimir Putin’s annexing Crimea from Ukraine.

Bank of Cyprus’s 225-million-euro sale of its Ukrainian bank is on track to happen within weeks, Chief Executive John Hourican said in an interview on Monday.

The bank announced on January 31 that its Ukrainian operations would be sold to Russia’s Alfa Group.

[Reuters]

European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has announced the launch of a formal investigation of London's decision to suspend grants and loans to Bulgarian and Romanian students.

Political parties in Cyprus canceled all their public events over the weekend as a mark of respect for Defense Minister Tasos Mitsopoulos, who died at the age of 48 on Saturday after suffering a brain hemorrhage at his office a day earlier.

A privatization procedure has been launched for the port in Limassol.

Cyprus' Cabinet approved the decision on Wednesday, following a decision of Parliament on March 4 in favor of a large-scale privatization program which has been strongly opposed by unions.

Business leaders back Cyprus negotiation process

Cyprus Finance Minister Harris Georgiades told the country’s national broadcaster on Monday that he expects all domestic capital controls to be lifted by the end of spring.