Cyprus Deputy Ministry for shipping will open offices in Tokyo as Cyprus shipping looks toward the Far East, Deputy Minister Vassilis Demetriades has said, noting that the implementation of the Deputy Ministry’s strategy will render Cypriot shipping more resilient to crisis and more competitive.

“We have a very clear strong vision on how Cyprus shipping will move forward and that’s why we are opening also in the Far East, we will soon open an office in Tokyo because we do believe that Cyprus shipping has the potential to grow to expand and to attract more and more quality companies and ships under the Cyprus flag,” Demetriades said speaking during the second day of the Economist Summit taking place in Nicosia.

Demetriades noted that by fully implementing our strategy “Cyprus will become more resilient to crisis, more competitive and of course it will continue to contribute to a positive change in global shipping.”

Level playing field concerning sanctions against Russia

Referring to the EU’s sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Demetriades said Cyprus has signaled to the European Commission over the importance of uniform implementation with least possible loopholes and a level-playing-field for all, as sanctions would be more effective if they are uniformly applied.

“And I must say that we have managed to convince especially in the eighth package that all these measures should go hand in hand with strong implementing tools in order to make sure that ships do not flag-out, fly the flag of a third country and continue to trade with Russia,” he said.

I think, he added, now our voice is heard on a level-playing field in order to make sure that the EU shipping and the industry will remain strong because we do believe that a strong EU shipping and a strong global shipping is a driver to energy independence a driver towards a carbon neutral economy.

Stressing the need for a level-playing field for all, Demetriades said that if we want to make sanctions more effective and uniformly applied while ensuring a level playing field, we need to approach countries beyond the EU and the G7 to join the Russian oil price cap.

He noted that the EU and the G7 countries only account for 17% of global tanker field. “We need to attract more mass in order to make this more effective. “We have to understand that shipping is global and in order to reduce loopholes to the extent possible we need to have a framework that protects our fleets”, he added.