Cabinet appoints CySEC chairman and approves tourism incentive schemes

Nicosia, Cyprus. The Cabinet on Thursday appointed George Karatzias chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) for a five-year term and approved five tourism incentive schemes. The decisions also included senior appointments at CySEC and the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).

Financial institution appointments

Karatzias returns to CySEC just over two years after leaving the regulator to become an executive director at the CBC.

The Cabinet also appointed Loukas Lagoudis as CySEC vice-chairman and Andrea Moundi Savvides as a board member.

Panikkos Vakkou was appointed as an executive director on the CBC board, completing a reshuffle that will see the two financial institutions exchange senior officials.

The CBC congratulated Karatzias on his appointment as CySEC chairman and thanked him for his contribution during his time at the central bank.

“At the same time, the CBC welcomes Panikkos Vakkou, who is assuming duties as an executive director at the CBC,” the central bank said in a statement on Thursday.

Tourism measures

The Cabinet approved five tourism incentive schemes covering Kato Pyrgos, conferences, foreign sports teams, rural experiences and Christmas villages.

Tourism Deputy Minister Kostas Koumis said the measures aim to develop specialist tourism, enrich services available to visitors and increase tourism flows to less popular areas beyond established resorts and the busy summer months.

The largest targeted investment is a €1.5 million grant scheme for hotels, tourist accommodation and leisure centres operating in Kato Pyrgos Tyllirias.

Under the programme, which will run from 2026 to 2028, businesses will be able to receive funding covering 85 per cent of eligible expenditure on improvement projects.

Koumis described the scheme as a “targeted intervention” for an area which, despite its natural and cultural strengths, continues to face development difficulties.