Church asked to mediate for Russian loan

THE government has asked the Church to mediate so that a loan application to Russia is viewed favourably, Archbishop Chrysostomos said yesterday.

The archbishop said he had been asked to seek the help of the Russian Church with the Russian government.

“We are always at the disposal of the government … anything the Church can do it always does with pleasure since it here to serve the people and the country,” Chrysostomos said, adding that the Church had done its duty.

The government had applied to Russia for a €5.0 billion loan in a bid to avoid resorting to the European support mechanism.

Russia has so far declined to give Cyprus the money although on Wednesday Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signalled that it may do so under certain conditions.

“(Russia may give another loan to Cyprus) only in the case we are confident that economic decisions, which are made by the European Union, are met, and in the case when our European partners also give something to Cyprus,” Medvedev told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Cyprus has already borrowed €2.5 billion from Moscow.

The government has asked Russian authorities to extend repayment of the loan by five years.

Earlier this month, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said his country was prepared to loosen the terms under which Cyprus had to repay the loan.

Cyprus applied for financial aid last June but some eurozone states like Germany are uneasy about bailing out a country they say lacks financial transparency. 

The bailout is estimated at around €17 billion, equal to the entire output of the Cypriot economy.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said those attacking Cyprus were after its role as a very significant, international financial and investment centre.

“It is obvious that behind these attacks there are selfish interests,” Stefanou said.