Sanction busters won’t stain business reputation

Nicosia will not allow sanction busters to blacken the country’s reputation, and the government will not cover anyone enabling Russian oligarchs to bypass Ukraine war sanctions.

President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters the government expected more entries involving Cypriot companies and nationals to be registered on sanctions lists issued by the US and the UK.

Nicosia has been in damage control to get a handle on the situation after UK and US sanctions targeted Cypriots and Cyprus-based companies accused of knowingly assisting Russian oligarchs in hiding their assets.

At the conference of the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists’ Federation (OEB) on Tuesday, President Christodoulides said: “We must get this over and done with… we must use this opportunity, we must view this as an opportunity, to get this issue over with once and for all finally.

“The state, the government, the private sector, and the public have all suffered enough from these situations.

“So, once we have all the details, we will do whatever is deemed necessary to put an end to it”.

“We must get this over and done with… we must use this opportunity to finally get this issue over with once and for all.”

Christodoulides added that the government had acted quickly and decisively.

“We have nothing to fear. We will investigate any evidence that comes before us, and we have absolutely nothing to hide”.

The President discussed the matter with the Cyprus Bar Association, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAC) at a special meeting on the sanctions against Russia.

“We all agree that we will not allow anyone to tarnish the country’s reputation”.

“I repeat, it is an opportunity.

“We have nothing to fear. We are not here to protect any sanctions violators; there should be no concerns about that issue.”

President Christodoulides, on Tuesday, held a meeting at the Presidential Palace on the issue of sanctions imposed by the US and the UK on individuals and legal entities in Cyprus.

The second special meeting also involved the Justice Minister, the Finance Ministry and the Attorney General.