“We are opening our office in Cyprus, which will give us the opportunity to carry a dialogue on direct investment promotion on an everyday basis,” he said.
According to Spiridonov, the office in Cyprus is destined to attract investors from other European Union countries.
“Cyprus is interesting to those investors – for example from Germany, Austria, Spain and France — who for different reasons prefer to invest into Russia via other jurisdictions. Companies from these countries can invest via special purpose funds, including ones set up in collaboration with RIA. We are happy to work with all investors, regardless to from which country they are.” he explained.
In February Russia and Cyprus signed eleven documents on cooperation, including a memorandum between the Russian Investment Agency and CIPA (Cyprus’ Investment Promotion Agency).
Crimea's March 2014 reunification with Russia triggered deterioration in relations between the European Union and Russia. As a full EU member, Cyprus upheld the economic sanctions against Russia.
In January 2015 the Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed that their countries must work together to develop cooperation between Europe and Russia.
