After the blacklisting of its citizens by the US and UK, Cyprus declares it will not “tolerate” violating sanctions

After the blacklisting of many of its citizens last week for aiding in the violation of EU sanctions on Russia, Cyprus said on Wednesday that it would not accept any divergence from the penalties and that it was in contact with the US and the UK.

On April 12, the UK imposed sanctions on two Cypriots, while the US imposed penalties on roughly a dozen Cypriots or dual citizens due to their suspected associations with individuals or organisations that had been subject to sanctions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

That frightened Cyprus, whose robust service sector is in large part supported by hosting a vast network of companies with connections to Russia and a history of lax regulation, since it has a reputation for being a liberal economy.

According to authorities, Cyprus has requested both the UK and the US for further information to give to its own law enforcement agencies for evaluation.

Government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis stated that “the credibility of our nation must be preserved and that any divergence from EU sanctions would not be permitted.”

Since being obliged to seek a global bailout in 2013 due to a financial crisis that resulted in a massive restructuring of its banking industry, Cyprus has drastically decreased its exposure to Russia.

The biggest bank on the island, Bank of Cyprus, announced that it had informed some 4,000 clients who had Russian passports and were not EU citizens that their accounts would be cancelled.

According to a statement from the Bank of Cyprus, “this decision followed the suspension of Russia’s membership by the Financial Action Task Force and the European Union’s classification of Russia as a non-cooperative tax jurisdiction.”

According to the bank, the 4,000 consumers’ deposits made up less than 0.5 percent of all deposits.