The Republic of Cyprus as a Transit Point for Foreign Capital

The policy of the Cypriot authorities, aimed at attracting foreign capital, is deeply rooted in history. Having created a flexible tax system, since its first years as an independent state Cyprus has managed to attract numerous foreign shipping companies and in the 1970s it turned into a regional financial hub through which economic cooperation between the countries of the West and the Middle East was carried out. The Cypriot economy flourished in the 1990s – 2000s, when thanks to favorable taxation regime, transaction confidentiality, convenient geographical location, eased visa regime and a number of other factors it became the main transit point for capital from Eastern Europe, first of all – from Russia. However, the future of Cyprus as an international financial center is in question. Under the pressure of the EU, OECD and a number of individual countries, the Cypriot authorities are forced to bring their tax legislation in line with international standards. Negative impact on the investment image of the country was rendered by the national 2012-2013 banking crisis, followed by the collapse of the largest national banks, a sharp deterioration in macroeconomic indicators and the implementation by the government of a number of reforms that affected the attractiveness of Cyprus in the eyes of international business companies. In these circumstances, the Cypriot authorities have taken a number of measures aimed at preventing the outflow of foreign capital, including the abolition of the property tax in the housing stock, the extension of benefits for new tax residents and the introduction of a simplified procedure for the granting of Cypriot citizenship for investments. Thanks to these innovations, Cyprus managed not only to retain interest from TNCs of Russian origin, but also to attract investments of small and medium-sized companies, primarily those working in the field of information and communication technologies.Â