‘Cyprus cannot replace Russians despite sanctions’ – ambassador

Cyprus’ tourism industry is eagerly awaiting to welcome Russians to the island, as stakeholders reap the consequences of anti-Russian sanctions, according to Moscow’s ambassador to Nicosia Murat Zyazikov.

In an interview to Russian TASS News Agency carried by CAN on Monday, Zyazikov said Cypriots were left “astonished” after the government adopted anti-Russian sanctions and a ban on direct air links with Russia.

“For decades, the hotel industry in Cyprus had got used to Russians making up at least one fifth of the tourism flows to the island,” the ambassador said.

As a result of Cyprus’ move to adopt the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions and ban on direct flights with Russia, this prompted the flow of Russian tourists to essentially disappear, he said.

“It proved to be completely unnatural and prompted questions to Cypriots themselves.”

Zyazikov added Cypriots “sincerely hope this won’t last for long and that the situation will begin to be restored to what it used to be, one way or another.

Despite the fact that “anti-Russian sanctions continue to exist on the island, its residents are exerting a lot of efforts so that more Russians have additional incentives to spend their holidays in Cyprus.”

The ambassador added that as of late, there had been a steady increase in visitors from Russia.

“Hoteliers are ready to welcome Russian tourists to the island and hopefully await their increased arrivals.”

Zyazikov said there were all the more press reports over the matter, citing a Phileleftheros news article which said that despite sanctions, 65,000 tourists from Russia visited Cyprus last year.

The same report said some 20,000 Russians visited by the end of June 2024.

Cyprus adopted the EU’s sanctions package on Russia and has also seen a wave of UK and US sanctions on individuals and entities on the island for their links to helping Russians evade those same sanctions.

The government announced earlier this year it would cooperate with the FBI over money laundering and sanctions evasion. US experts are to aid Cypriot investigators, with local authorities opening the books to the FBI.

Though it has struck a chord publicly to send a message of the government’s direction to the west, questions have been raised over how powerful the lobby of lawyers and service providers could be.

Last month, Cyprus Mail, Politis and news outlet Cyprus Times were banned in Russia.

TASS reported there was a new online portal called Cyprus-Russian News that served as an information tool between Cyprus and Russia, available in the Greek, Russian and English language. It operated under the watch of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in Cyprus.