Cyprus has already overcome the loss of maritime trade with Russia due to European sanctions imposed against Moscow, and the south-east Mediterranean shipping hub is now looking to expand its operations to Japan and other Asian states.
Cyprus, Greece and Malta, the countries with the largest shipping fleets in the EU, reacted to the relevant decision of the bloc, trying to limit the scope of the shipping sanctions imposed on Russia.
“Cyprus’ registry does not depend on ships of Russian interests or connected to Russia,” Cyprus’ Deputy Minister of Shipping Vassilis Dimitriadis told Reuters.
“Our strategy is not to have a dependency relationship with any state. We have a wide range of customers in the shipping sector that attract companies from different countries in Europe and we aim to expand to the Old Continent, Japan and wider Asia.”
Mr. Dimitriadis noted that the Russian state shipping group Sovcomflot has some of its ships registered in Cyprus.
“There is a connection with Russia regarding a small number of ships out of a total of 1,100 registered in Cyprus,” he added.
He underlined that following requests from shipowners “a number of ships have already been deleted from the Cyprus Register or are in the process of being deleted”.
“These vessels appear to be linked to Russian interests or operated by Russian entities,” it said.
“So far, the losses are manageable and do not damage the Cyprus Registry. However, we must emphasize that the choice of the ship’s flag is the prerogative of the shipowners,” he said.
According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data, 15 vessels connected to Sovcomflot are still Cypriot-flagged.
Sovcomflot, which has been hit by EU and UK sanctions as well as capital-raising restrictions in the United States, did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
“As far as Sovcomflot is concerned, the company is already changing its planning, as it is very difficult for it to continue its activity from Cyprus and has closed its offices on the island”, stressed Mr. Dimitriadis.
Source: Capital
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