On Oct 14, 2010 “Baker Tilly Ukraine” and “Baker Tilly Klitou” organized a breakfast meeting in the conference hall of the “InterContinental” hotel, Kiev, devoted to “Establishing and conducting business in Cyprus. Specialities and benefits (legal and financial aspects)”.
Favorable conditions for business development have always made Cyprus attractive to foreign owners. For Russia and Ukraine, Cyprus has consistently remained one of the most attractive countries in terms of investments. In 2010 a new minutes to the Double Taxation Convention executed with Russia entered into force. According to the reliable information of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Cyprus, the negotiations between Cyprus and Ukraine on the Double Taxation Convention will begin in the near future, and an agreement is expected to be signed, similar to that recently signed with Russia. By all means, this could not but arouse the Ukrainian companies’ interest, which was the reason for Cyprian company “Baker Tilly Klitou” to hold such an event. In addition, Cyprus and Ukraine are strategically important investment and trading partners with multiple perspectives for cooperation.
The breakfast meeting was led off by Alexander Pochkun, managing partner of “Baker Tilly Ukraine”, who moderated the event. In his opening speech, Alexander described the cooperation with the Cyprian colleagues: “This is not the first year we work closely on joint projects with our partners “Baker Tilly Klitou” in Cyprus. The purpose of this event, first and foremost, is to inform customers and partners of “Baker Tilly Ukraine” on the changes in Cyprian law, as they say “first hand”. Cooperation with Cyprus is very important to us, thus we have been working hard for further strengthening and deepening of our relationship. Year after year we have a growing number of joint projects, and we are delighted that our Cyprian colleagues have become regular visitors of our Kiev office”.
Next to welcome the guests was Evagoras Vrionides, Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Ukraine, and Marius Klitou, founder and CEO of “Baker Tilly Klitou”. In his presentation, Marius Klitou in general terms noted: “After Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, Cyprus business has obtained an international status, and the status of Cyprian companies is equated with that of European companies. Among important advantages of Cyprus is its geographical location, infrastructure and tax legislation. The starting price for a new business in Cyprus is the lowest in Europe. In addition, the income tax is only 10%, given that with the acquisition of a local business it does not apply, and its average return is approximately 20%. All this makes our island attractive for both business and life. I can say that Larnaca has become an international city where people of different nationalities live and work. This has allowed our company to have offices in four countries, and therefore close cooperation with our partners from «Baker Tilly International» in different countries is a very important aspect of our business” – in general, noted in his presentation, Marius Clito.
After the opening part, participants went directly to a more detailed investigation of key aspects of establishing business in Cyprus, by addressing specific issues of the legal framework (taxation, registration of holdings, and peculiarities of the banking system and financial reporting requirements). Spokesmen were: Theraphon Mafkas, Director of «Baker Tilly Klitou» (“Taxation in Cyprus”), Denis Lysenko, partner of the law firm “Vasil Kisil & Partners” (“Legal aspects of business establishing in Cyprus”), Kristofos Koutourousis, general manager of “Bizserve Consultants Limited” (“Holding structures in Cyprus”), Andreas Stavrou, manager of international business center “Laiki Marfin Group” (“Banking in Cyprus”), and Andreas Philipou, director of “Baker Tilly Klitou” (“IFRS Reporting in Cyprus – requirements to audit and financial statements consolidation”).
At the end the participants proceeded to the issues that are mostly related to legal aspects and taxation. Upon completion of the official part all visitors moved over to the buffet, where they had a chance to discuss questions face to face with the speakers. Altogether the breakfast meeting held about a 100 participants, including managing partners and CFOs of well-known Ukrainian companies.
“Baker Tilly Ukraine” is an independent Ukrainian company, which has been operating in the Ukrainian market since 1999 providing high quality services in auditing, consulting, independent evaluation, accounting and management accounting. It’s a part of “Baker Tilly International”, the worldwide network of independent auditing firms.
“Baker Tilly Klitou” is one of the key partners of “Baker Tilly Ukraine” in the implementation of joint international projects, including projects related to IPO’s in the international borrowing markets for companies that operate in Ukraine. “Baker Tilly Klitou” has offices in Cyprus (Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca), Romania (Bucharest), Bulgaria (Sofia), and Moldova (Chisinau).