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Cypriot FM Announces Progress On Russian 'Blacklist' Issue,
by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus
Monday, February 09, 2009
Speaking to the Russian Business Association, Cypriot Minister for Finance Charilaos
Stavrakis addressed the challenges Cyprus faces, its development as an international
finance centre, and announced diplomatic changes with Russia in relation to its tax ‘blacklist’.
Stavrakis stated that Cyprus’s financial system was barely exposed to
the toxic debt arising from the sub-prime crisis, limiting the challenges for
Cyprus during 2009. Stavrakis however stressed that the nation’s financial
sector was under close scrutiny and new transparency and accounting standards
were being pursued.
Stavrakis predicted that 2009 would bring
more challenges than 2008, but that Cyprus would outperform many of its
European counterparts, citing GDP growth of 2%.
“The medium-term prospects are promising; the primary challenge will
be to maintain and further improve the competitiveness of the economy. The absence
of a national monetary and exchange rate policy, after euro adoption, underscores
the need for the strengthening of the role of prudent fiscal policies and structural
reforms,” he said.
The Cypriot Finance Minister has pledged to improve Cyprus as a favourable
business climate by:
the maintenance of low levels of taxation for enterprises and employees;
the simplification of the regulatory framework and the reduction of the
administrative burden for business;
a continuous upgrading of the infrastructure in transport, energy and communications;
the promotion of research and innovation; and
the further development of human capital;
Stavrakis then addressed the Russian Business Association on the subject of Cyprus as an investment
destination, citing factors in the country's favour such as: its strategic position
of the island at the crossroads of Africa, Middle East and Europe; the fact it is a member state of the
European Union; its modern and transparent legal, financial and accounting systems
modeled on those of Britain; its favourable tax regime stemming from reform undertaken
from mid 2002 which introduced a uniform corporate tax rate of 10%; and its wide network of agreements for double taxation avoidance with 40 countries
including the Russian Federation.
“First of all, the tax reform that took place in 2002 is in compliance
with the EU Code of Conduct for Business Taxation and the commitment to the
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) for the elimination
of harmful tax practices. It is a simple and modern tax system, which applies
comparatively low tax rates for corporations and physical persons. It is also
friendly to non-residents and businesses, since, for example, it abolished withholding
taxes on interest and dividends. Moreover, the government of the Republic of
Cyprus intends to expand its current network of bilateral treaties for the avoidance
of double taxation," he explained.
Stavrakis also spoke of progress in the Cypriot-Russian discussions surrounding
Russia’s 'blacklist' of uncooperative territories, on which Cyprus is
listed.
“There is currently in force an Agreement between Cyprus and Russia for
the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital.
Negotiations are in progress for the conclusion of a Protocol to amend the existing
tax treaty. One of the issues under consideration is the adoption of the new
OECD Model Tax Convention Article for the Exchange of Information, which includes
the exchange of bank information. The adoption of the OECD Model Article would
allow the exchange of bank information in a structured way, as per the relevant
provisions of the Cyprus tax law enacted on July 10 2008, and in force as from
July 25 2008. It is important to note that with the conclusion of the Protocol,
Cyprus will maintain its status as the most favourable route for investments
into Russia and Cyprus will be removed from the List of Countries with Preferential
Tax Regimes in Russia."
Russia is an important economic partner for Cyprus; around EUR370m was invested
by Cypriots in Russia during 6 months of 2008, and around EUR54m was invested
by Russians in Cyprus during the same period.
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