Cyprus Business Now: banks, Columbia, Oev, salaries, labour shortages
Speaking to Politis ahead of the federation’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Pantelides said the economy had maintained positive growth rates, stabilised public finances and strengthened investment activity, showing that Cyprus’ economic model had adapted to a demanding international environment.
He said a decisive role in this resilience had been played by “the flexibility and adaptability of Cypriot enterprises” and the gradual diversification of the economy into higher value-added sectors, including services, technology and energy.
However, he warned that the positive picture should not obscure the structural weaknesses still weighing on the country’s prospects.
However, the median salary stood significantly lower at €1,968, highlighting disparities in income distribution.
The distinction is important because average earnings can be skewed by high earners, while the median reflects the midpoint, showing what a typical employee actually earns.
Data for the fourth quarter of 2025 indicated that average gross monthly earnings reached €2,932, compared with €2,810 in the same quarter of 2024, marking a 4.4 per cent increase.
Hadjipetrou, a longstanding member of the organisation, has been with Columbia for nearly 30 years and most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer.
The group said his appointment brings “deep operational knowledge, strong leadership and continuity” to the role, while Chrysostomou is expected to further strengthen Columbia’s leadership team and support its expanding presence in Asia.
The company said the transition reflects its succession planning, as well as its focus on “stability, continuity and long-term growth”.
The data covers EU residents who had used the internet in the three months prior to the survey, with 9.5 per cent across the European Union buying e-books or audio books, up from 7.3 per cent in 2024.
This increase reflects a broader shift towards digital reading and audio content consumption, as more Europeans turn to online platforms for books.
In Cyprus, the share of users purchasing such content rose by 4 percentage points compared with 2024, indicating a steady rise in digital adoption.
The results will cover the period ending March 31, 2026, providing an update on the group’s financial performance at the start of the year.
The announcement comes as the Bank of Cyprus prepares for a series of key corporate milestones in the coming weeks.
Earlier disclosures confirmed that the bank will hold its annual general meeting on May 15, 2026, at its headquarters in Nicosia, with participation also available via an audio link in Dublin.
The programme, which commenced following an announcement on December 12, 2025, was approved by the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on October 22, 2025, in line with Article 49 of Law 4548/2018.
It also continues the earlier buyback initiative of Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings S.A., approved at its ordinary general meeting on April 30, 2025, and is supported by a board resolution dated October 22, 2025.
The government is now seeking to address labour shortages on several fronts, aiming to support businesses while keeping the economy on a steady growth path.
One of the latest steps came last week, when Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas travelled to Cairo for talks with his Egyptian counterpart on the employment of Egyptian workers in Cyprus, as part of efforts to review and expand the labour agreement with Egypt.
The meeting focused on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Cyprus and Egypt in June 2024, which had been designed to facilitate the employment of Egyptian nationals in Cyprus but had not produced the expected results, partly because of limited interest from Cypriot employers.
According to a statement from the Cyprus-based firm, the deal represents a new phase of growth for the studio as it seeks to scale its flagship product and strengthen its position in the global mobile gaming market.
Soloband Games develops casual mobile titles, with its leading game, World Tour Merge, positioned within the fast-growing Merge 2 genre, where players combine items to progress through levels and unlock content.
According the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat), total sales reached 127,272 tonnes during this time, with significant increases recorded across most fuel categories, pointing to heightened activity in both transport and energy consumption.
The sharpest rises were seen in marine gasoil, which jumped by 156.3 per cent, and kerosene, which increased by 149.5 per cent, alongside a 70.9 per cent rise in heating gasoil and a 68.0 per cent increase in asphalt sales.
The firm’s new AI Performance study found that 74 per cent of AI’s economic value is being captured by just one-fifth of organisations, pointing to a widening gap between a small group of AI leaders and the majority of businesses still struggling to move beyond pilot projects.
The global study, which interviewed 1,217 senior executives, mainly at large, publicly listed companies across 25 sectors, examined the revenue and efficiency gains companies are seeing from AI today, as well as the way they are deploying the technology.
It found that the top-performing companies are not simply using more AI tools. Instead, they are treating AI as a catalyst for growth, business reinvention and new revenue opportunities, particularly as industries converge and companies move beyond their traditional boundaries.
The board confirmed that the annual general meeting of shareholders will take place on July 17, 2026, at 3.00 pm at the company’s headquarters in the Dhali industrial zone.
The meeting will be held at 16 Tefkrou Anthia, Dali, where shareholders will be invited to participate in key discussions concerning the company’s governance and future direction.
Among the decisions, the board resolved not to recommend the payment of a dividend, signalling a cautious approach to shareholder returns for the current period.
“Success is not for citizens to know more, but to be able to use what they know,” said Pany Karamanou, head of the Financial Stability and Resolution Directorate at the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) and head of the CyFLEC secretariat.
According to the CBC, Karamanou was speaking at an event last week centred on the financial education of women and its role in shaping social and economic resilience, which focused on the broader impact of financial literacy.
Karamanou stressed that available data does not point to a lack of financial knowledge, but rather to how the surrounding environment influences participation in financial decisions.
The discussion, held on April 22, featured Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) payments supervision director Stelios Georgakis alongside Deutsche Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel, who delivered the keynote address.
“The digital euro has moved far beyond a technical concept, it is now a political project for more sovereignty,” said Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel.
He stressed the need to reinforce Europe’s payment infrastructure so that it becomes more independent and resilient in an increasingly digital environment.
“With this digital complement to cash, we will renew the role of central bank money in an increasingly digital world,” he said, explaining that the digital euro is intended to complement rather than replace physical cash.