Russians to boost Cypriot property market?
From "FOH News" on 15 July 2008
The new treaty replaces the one signed between the two countries in 1998.
In the past decade, Cyprus has signed several double taxation treaties with countries in its sphere of influence in an effort to make the country an attractive place to set up off-shore enterprises and to buy property in.
Despite the numerous treaties, the signature from the Russian parliament is perhaps viewed as the most important one on the list. Scores of Western businesses have established a presence in Cyprus to trade with Russian companies and Russians are now viewed alongside the British as the most important international buyer group on the island.
Ukraine balks from treaty
Although the Russian government ratified the treaty, the communist Ukrainian parliament has rejected a similar agreement between itself and Cyprus.
The Ukrainian government believed that the old treaty between the Soviet Union, of which the Ukraine was a member, and Cyprus in the 1980s, was too generous and allowed private individuals and companies to avoid paying the appropriate level of taxes in their home country.
It has since rejected the new treaty with Cyprus and is likely to take a further six months for it to be altered and put before the countrys government again. The Cypriot parliament is also unsure of the treatys composition and believes that it goes against the nature of the original agreement.
