Category: Cyprus News Agency

A period of transformation for Cyta and the digital future of Cyprus

The period February 2024 – July 2026 was one of substantial transformation and important strategic decisions for Cyta. The Board of Directors worked to strengthen Cyta’s role as a reliable connectivity provider and to prepare the organisation for a more active role in Cyprus’ digital evolution.

Through digital transformation, investment in infrastructure and the development of new technology services, stronger foundations were laid for better services for all customers, more opportunities for the economy and substantial support for the country’s digital progress.

Key highlights

Institutional framework: The change to the institutional framework and legislation governing Cyta’s operations, with the addition of the Technology and Energy sectors, was an important development for the organisation’s future. It creates new growth opportunities, strengthens Cyta’s competitiveness and enables it to broaden its role and contribution to its customers and the country.

Strategic direction: The Board of Directors approved the Corporate Strategy 2025-2027 and the creation of a portfolio of 21 strategic projects, so that the organisation’s priorities can be implemented with coordination, systematic monitoring and a clear view of each project’s progress.

Digital transformation: The modernisation of Cyta’s IT systems was approved and implementation began. This is the largest business transformation project in the organisation’s history. The project aims to upgrade the organisation’s systems and processes, simplify customer service, increase automation, accelerate the development of new services and improve the overall customer experience.

Networks and infrastructure: The rollout of the fibre optic network was accelerated, the further expansion of mobile network capabilities was promoted and Cyta’s international telecommunications connections were strengthened. These investments contribute to faster, more reliable and higher-quality services, enhance business capabilities and strengthen Cyprus’ position as a digital connectivity hub in the region.

Data Centres: Through strategic acquisitions, Cyta expanded its presence in the Data Centre sector. This development strengthens its ability to provide critical digital infrastructure for the state, the economy and businesses, through data hosting, cloud, disaster recovery and high-availability solutions.

ICT and Artificial Intelligence: Cyta strengthened its role as a trusted partner for the delivery of integrated technology projects for the public and private sectors. At the same time, Artificial Intelligence was incorporated more systematically into the organisation’s strategic planning, resulting in better services, improved internal processes and the creation of new capabilities.

Critical projects for the state: Projects such as the upgrade of the Air Navigation Services and the transition of the Area Control Centre to Kokkinotrimithia highlighted Cyta’s technical competence and reliability as a strategic partner of the state.

Organisational readiness: The process for selecting new senior executive management was completed, new ICT and Digital Evolution Directorates were created, a new recruitment and promotion system was implemented and a significant part of the management structure was renewed.

Corporate Governance and Sustainable Development: The governance framework was strengthened, with emphasis on transparency and accountability. Projects that enhance the organisation’s positive impact on society and the environment continued. The Holistic ESG Management project was completed and important steps were taken to reduce emissions. In 2025, Cyta’s true positive impact was measured, while the organisation advanced projects that support digital inclusion in Cyprus.

Financial strength: Cyta maintained a strong financial performance, with revenue increasing to pound 444.2 million in 2025, from pound 405.5 million in 2023 and EBITDA reaching pound 150.6 million. This performance supported the organisation’s ability to continue investing in critical infrastructure and service upgrades, without bank borrowing. During the period 2024-2025, investments of almost pound 189 million were implemented, funded entirely from own resources.

A stronger Cyta for the next day

Overall, the February 2024 – July 2026 term leaves as its main legacy a Cyta that is better prepared, stronger and more outward-looking. An organisation that continues to strengthen its core role in telecommunications while developing the digital infrastructure and technology services Cyprus will need in the years ahead.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Cyprus stood at 3.0% in June 2026, down from 3.1% in May, according to data published on Thursday by Eurostat. This was the lowest rate among the Member States, together with Bulgaria.

According to Eurostat, the number of unemployed people in Cyprus remained at 16 thousand in June 2026, the same as in the previous month. In June 2025, the unemployment rate in Cyprus was 4.5%, with 23 thousand unemployed people.

The data show that unemployment in Cyprus declined gradually during the current year. In March it stood at 3.3%, with 17 thousand unemployed people; in April at 3.2%, also with 17 thousand unemployed people; in May at 3.1%, with 16 thousand unemployed people; and in June at 3.0%, with 16 thousand unemployed people.

For youth unemployment among those under 25, Cyprus recorded a rate of 7.8% in June 2026, stable compared with April and May. The number of unemployed young people stood at 2 thousand. In June 2025, youth unemployment in Cyprus was 15.2%, with 5 thousand unemployed young people.

According to Eurostat, in March 2026 youth unemployment in Cyprus stood at 12.7%, with 4 thousand unemployed young people, while in April, May and June it was 7.8%, with 2 thousand unemployed young people.

By sex, the unemployment rate for men in Cyprus fell to 2.8% in June 2026, from 2.9% in May. In June 2025 it stood at 4.1%, while in March 2026 it was 3.2% and in April 3.0%.

The unemployment rate for women in Cyprus stood at 3.1% in June 2026, down from 3.2% in May. In June 2025 it was 4.9%, while in March 2026 it stood at 3.3% and remained at 3.3% in April.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) All Share Index closed at today`s stock exchange meeting as follows:

MEETING DATE: 30/07/2026

INDICES BASE VALUES: FTSEMed=5000, OTHERS = 1000

EURO (pound )

TRADED VALUE 616.200,25

INDEX

VALUE

%DIFF.

VALUE

FTSE/CySE 20

182,930

0,660

615.753,900

MAIN MARKET INDEX

246,840

0,670

593.831,490

INVESTMENT COMPANIES MARKET INDEX

2.919,120

1,670

8.230,610

CSE GENERAL INDEX

311,310

0,660

615.788,650

HOTELS INDEX

1.762,010

0,000

0,000

ALTERNATIVE MARKET INDEX

2.059,660

0,540

21.957,160

Cyprus and France held a joint Search and Rescue exercise on Monday, in the island’s maritime zone. The drill, named CYFRA, took place in the framework of the defense cooperation between the two countries.

A press release by Cyprus’ Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC), issued on Thursday, says that a French warship, a Search and Rescue helicopter of the General Staff/Air Force Command, as well as the Special “MEDEVAC” Team of the Ambulance Service took part in the exercise.

Its aim was to further develop the existing cooperation with the French Armed Forces on SAR issues, as well as to train the crews in the operational procedures for responding to Search and Rescue incidents.

JRCC said that this activity falls within the excellent cooperation between Cyprus and France in Search and Rescue issues.

Cyprus Meteorology Department has issued a yellow warning for extreme maximum temperature for Friday, while the risk of forest fires remains on red alert.

It will come into effect from 1400 to 1630 local time. The inland maximum temperature is expected to rise to around 40 degrees Celsius.

The risk of forest fires remains on red alert, the Forestry Department said. According to the law, causing a fire constitutes an offenCe that carries severe penalties. The public is urged to be particularly careful when out and to completely avoid activities that may cause a fire.

Citizens who notice smoke or fire are asked to call 1407 or 112.

Statistical Service data regarding tourism revenue for the month of May, as well as for the first five months of the year, confirm that tourism is back on a “stable trajectory,” Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis said.

In a written statement sent to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), the Deputy Minister noted that the 4.8% decline in tourism revenue compared with 2025 “is certainly not excessive,” while compared with 2024, revenue has increased by 14.4%.

According to the Deputy Minister, the data confirm that “the tourism sector is now unquestionably on a stable path and demonstrates that the coordinated and targeted actions of the Government, always in cooperation with our country’s tourism industry, have had a positive impact on the sector.”

Regarding the results for the first five months of the year, he said that the overall revenue picture improved by 7.4 percentage points compared with the first four months, which, according to Koumis, also reflects and confirms the sector’s gradual and now well-established recovery.

Commenting on the 16.5% decline in revenue during the first five months compared with the previous year, he expressed the view that this percentage would continue to decrease over time. As an indication, he noted that last month the decline stood at 23.9%, while comparing the first five months of 2026 with the same period in 2024, revenue recorded an increase of 6.3%.

Koumis stressed that the Government’s priority was to preserve the country’s positive reputation by investing in every aspect of safety and security. The Ministry of Tourism’s main objective, he added, was to maintain airline schedules and organized travel programmes to Cyprus while minimizing any losses. He added that “the year is developing quite well, all things considered, and as the Ministry of Tourism we are working intensively to ensure that the results of the second half of the year are even better.”

The Deputy Minister also noted that hotel occupancy rates of around 85% “cannot be considered low,” adding that comparisons should not be made solely with 2025, which was a record-breaking year for Cyprus tourism. He pointed out that average occupancy in a number of competing destinations during July is around 85%: “In Mallorca, for example, it is 80%-88%, in Crete 85%-89%, in Turkey 75%-90%, and in Egypt around 80%, among others.”

He further noted that Cyprus recorded the largest increase in overnight stays across the European Union when comparing 2024 with 2023, with a rise of 14.5%.

Finally, regarding the outlook for autumn, he said he is “quite optimistic,” as there is every prospect that the second half of 2026 will produce better results than the first. “The messages we are receiving from our strategic partners abroad are exclusively positive,” he concluded.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos held a telephone conversation on Thursday with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, focusing on the developments in the region.

Kombos wrote on ‘X’ that diplomacy remains imperative for sustained de-escalation.

The visit of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the Anthropological Laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) was an important one, Greek Cypriot member of the CMP, Leonidas Pantelides, told CNA on Thursday, adding that “active interest is a valuable support for our work.”

The UNSG, he added, who requested himself to pay a visit at the Anthropological Laboratory, congratulated the staff on their work, spoke about the humanitarian aspect of the issue and expressed his admiration for the efforts being made.

He said that during the meeting of the UNGS and his UN team with the three members of the CMP, a very sincere and substantive discussion took place.

The visit took place on Tuesday afternoon. The UNSG was accompanied by UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre François Renaud Lacroix and Khassim Diagne, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to Cyprus and Head of UNFICYP.

Antonio Guterres was the first time in Cyprus and the first UNSG to visit the island in 16 years. His visit took place 27-29 of July.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.

A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.

According to statistical data published on the CMP website by June 30, 2026 out of 2002 missing persons 1,719 were exhumed and 1,075 were identified. Out of 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 764 were identified and 746 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 311 were identified and 181 are still missing.

Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

After informal meetings in 2025, followed by a hiatus of several months, deliberations are underway for a new meeting in broader format to be held, as the term of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nears its end. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.

Cyprus decided to reintroduce an annual grant, on a permanent basis, for the support of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told the press that the Cabinet decided to allocate an amount of pound 75,000 annually. Asked if the government had received any request from the Patriarchate or the diaspora community for support, the Minister said that the support was provided in the past, but was interrupted in 2013 due to the economic crisis.

He said that the decision of the Cabinet is to reinstate this support on a permanent basis, because the role of the Patriarchate is extremely important.

Kombos went on to say that the Patriarchate of Alexandria has a historical course of over 2,000 years in Egypt and Africa and contributes decisively to the preservation of the Orthodox faith, while simultaneously carrying out missionary work. He also referred to its role in the effort to maintain the ties of Greeks abroad with their roots, history and culture.

The Minister said that the decision falls under the remit of “soft diplomacy” and is ultimately combined with Cyprus’ activities and actions to support the Cypriots abroad.

Replying to another question whether this decision is linked to actions to strengthen cooperation with countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the FM said that there are several actions that have been prioritized and the particular one falls within this context.

He added that the decision has more to do with the support of religious and Christian minorities in the region and noted that other announcements of a similar nature will follow in the near future.

Responding to a question about whether this action constitutes another opening towards Egypt, the Minister noted that the relationship with Egypt is strategic in nature and that this support is granted to the Patriarchate with absolute respect for Egypt.

He recalled that a meeting of the Cyprus diaspora is underway in Nicosia and there is also tripartite cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt, with the ”Nostos” project, which was an initiative of the Cyprus government, for cooperation between expatriates from the three countries by organizing joint activities.

The UN Secretary-General’s visit to Cyprus was a sign of the heightened interest shown by the international community, the UN and the EU in the Cyprus issue, President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Wednesday evening, adding that the EU Special Envoy for the Cyprus issue, Raffaele Fitto, will be in Cyprus on Friday.

Speaking during a reception held at the Presidential Palace in honour of delegates attending the World Conference of Overseas Cypriots, President Christodoulides said that all this diplomatic activity was the result ‘of a very specific strategy which demonstrates in practice that, when we have clear objectives and a coherent strategy, we can achieve results aimed at strengthening every aspect of our country’s influence and standing’.

Addressing members of the Cypriot diaspora, he said: ‘Your contribution to this major effort is invaluable and of decisive importance.”

During the event, Cypriots living abroad and friends of Cyprus were honoured for their contributions.

‘I have known first-hand for many years the work you do every day for Cyprus and for the protection of our country’s interests. The voice of Cyprus – your voice – is heard loudly abroad. You are our country’s finest and most sincere ambassadors because you convey the just cause of our homeland and fight your own daily battles in the countries where you live,’ he added.

He noted that this year’s Conference is taking place at a critical time for the Cyprus issue, referring to the visit on Tuesday and Wednesday to Cyprus of the UN Secretary-General. Guterres’ visit, he said, was ‘another indication of the increased interest shown by the international community, the UN and the European Union’.

‘As part of this major effort, with the plan and strategy we have pursued since the first day of assuming office, we are making full use of our status as a member state of the European Union and of the meaningful role that the Union can play, both in restarting negotiations and in relation to the substance of a settlement,’ he stressed.

Thanks to Cyprus’ own efforts, the President said, ‘it has now become clear that the Cyprus issue is a European issue and a priority for the European Union’. This, he said, ‘is clearly reflected in the Conclusions of the European Council of April 2024, following the considerable efforts we made’, and is further confirmed by the decision of the President of the European Commission to appoint the Executive Vice-President of the Commission, Raffaele Fitto, as Special Envoy for the Cyprus issue.

Once again addressing the Cypriot diaspora, he said that their contribution to this effort ‘is invaluable and of crucial importance’.

Turning to domestic matters, the President said that the government continues to take action to address challenges such as migration, noting that ‘the facts speak for themselves. Anyone can see what we inherited in March 2023 and compare it with the situation today.’

He also referred to strengthening Cyprus’ deterrence and improving the resilience of the Cypriot economy, adding that the state of the economy enables the government to invest in healthcare, education, the welfare state, housing, ‘and everything else that should benefit society. The figures are publicly available for everyone to see’, he said.

Honours and awards

——————

During the event, members of the Cypriot diaspora and friends of Cyprus were presented with honorary distinctions.

In the ‘Distinguished Cypriot Abroad’ category, two individuals who have achieved international distinction through their work and service were honoured: Anthe Phillipides, Judge of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal of Queensland, Australia, and climate and human rights activist, Catherine Sophia Constantinides, ‘who has become one of the leading voices on the African continent and beyond’, the President said.

In the category ‘Cypriots Abroad with Long-standing and Significant Service to Cyprus’, the President said the awards recognised individuals who had devoted decades to promoting Cyprus’ national interests and strengthening the cohesion of the Cypriot diaspora.

The recipients were Andreas Papaevrypides, Dino Miltiadous, Evagoras Mavrommatis and Eleftherios Gavriilides.

The President also emphasised the importance of the award in the category ‘Foreign National with Outstanding Contribution to Supporting Cyprus’ National Causes or Enhancing the Country’s International Profile’.

This year’s recipient was Ari Babikian, who, the President said, ‘has consistently demonstrated that his friendship for and affection towards Cyprus can be translated into meaningful political action’. As a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, he has worked diligently and persistently on issues concerning the Republic of Cyprus and has actively supported the Greek and Cypriot communities, promoting the shared values of freedom, justice and respect for international law, he said.