Russian investors and state not interested in backing Cyprus plan, says Siluanov
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday that Moscow was unable to reach an agreement with Cyprus over some form of investment in its economy.
Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris had been in Moscow for talks with Siluanov and other ministers since the start of the week but failed to reach an agreement beyond a commitment from the Russians to improve the terms of an existing 2.5-billion-euro loan.
“We had the last round of talks yesterday. The talks have ended,” he said.
“Their proposals were to set up a state company with the transfer of assets of gas fields and to offer Russian investors to join, purchase bonds that will be changed over into shares later. Our investors looked into that and did not show interest,” Siluanov said, according to the ITAR-TAS news agency.
“The issue of a state credit was not considered, as the European side has fixed the upper limit of the debt that they must not exceed, while granting a loan means to exceed that threshold,” the minister stressed.
