Cyprus ministry and committee agree on interim board for development organization

The Cyprus Ministry of Finance and the Parliamentary Committee on Financial and Budgetary Affairs reached an agreement on Monday to appoint an interim board for the Cyprus Business Development Organization. This organization aims to address the financing gap for small, medium-sized, and startup enterprises. Its establishment is a formal requirement under Cyprus's Recovery and Resilience Plan, with a deadline of late August to ensure the disbursement of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. A permanent board appointment is required by August 2026, which must undergo a fit-and-proper assessment. Members of the Parliamentary Committee raised concerns regarding the compressed timeline for reviewing the draft legislation. To expedite the process, AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis proposed an interim board exempt from the time-consuming fit-and-proper process. The Ministry of Finance accepted this proposal, stipulating that the interim board will serve for a maximum duration of 12 months.