Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 00-08-23

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

Wednesday, 23 August 2000

CONTENTS

• [01] Acting President expresses his condolences to the Russian Ambassador in Cyprus
• [02] Cyprus has stringent legislation to oversee and control attempts for money laundering, says Minister of Finance

[01] Acting President expresses his condolences to the Russian Ambassador in Cyprus

Mr Kyprianou signed the condolences book for the 118 victims of the Russian submarine "Kursk", at the Russian Embassy in Nicosia.

Speaking at the Russian Embassy,Mr Kyprianou said he visited Russian Ambassador, Vladimir Pavlinov, to express the "deep regret" of the Cyprus people and his own "for the great tragedy that struck Russia and the Russian people".

Moreover Mr Kyprianou, in his capacity as President of the House of Representatives, sent a message of condolences to the Speaker of the Russian State Duma Mr Guennadi Seleznev, expressing "on behalf of the members of the Cyprus House of Representatives and myself, feelings of deep sorrow and immense regret for the tragic loss of life during the unfortunate incident that has struck the Russian Navy".

[02] Cyprus has stringent legislation to oversee and control attempts for money laundering, says Minister of Finance

He said the report basically referred to differences between two Yugoslav businessmen and clarified that Cyprus had stringent laws and equally stringent monitoring organs which ensured that the relevant provisions of the law were enforced. International organisations considered Cyprus as one of the countries with legislation on the issue that was fully satisfactory. The Unit for Combating Money Laundering as well as the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance were determined to maintain the strict measures and monitoring so that Cyprus preserved and even increased its prestige and good name, he said.

Asked why foreign governments and media exhibited excessive sensitivity from time to time about the issue, considering that international organisations had confirmed Cyprus' credibility, Mr Klerides said this was precisely what the Government had asked itself. It wondered why every now and again large circulation newspapers abroad made hints against Cyprus and certain other specific countries. Mr Klerides believed the objective of these reports had nothing to do with the issue. He said that with these kinds of reports cropping up every now and again, journalists endangered their own credibility.

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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