• The Plenary Session of Parliament unanimously voted for the establishment of the Cyprus Enterprise Development Board (CEDB) to finance small, medium, and start-up businesses.

• An amendment was approved specifying that the criteria and the maximum financing amount per business will be regulated through Regulations approved by Parliament.

• Conversely, a proposal limiting the provision of loans to medium-sized businesses to 20% of the total credit granted to small businesses was voted down.

• Several MPs expressed dissatisfaction with the government's suffocating deadlines, which were set so that European recovery funds would not be lost.

• Reservations were also expressed regarding the creation of a new, bureaucratic semi-governmental organization, as well as concerns about the risk of increasing non-performing loans.

Amid disagreements and disputes, the Plenary Session of Parliament unanimously voted a short while ago to enact legislation providing for the establishment and operation of the Cyprus Enterprise Development Board (CEDB), in order to strengthen the access of small, medium, start-up businesses, and the self-employed to financing, as well as to cover the financing gaps observed in the market.

Furthermore, it voted in favor of an amendment by DISY, DIKO, and ALMA proposing that the criteria and conditions for the maximum total amount of financial exposure that the CEDB can grant to an enterprise and its connected enterprises be determined in Regulations approved by the House of Representatives.

At the same time, it voted down an amendment by AKEL, ALMA, and Direct Democracy, which provided that the granting of loans and other credits to eligible medium-sized enterprises would not exceed 20% of the amounts provided as loans and other credits to small enterprises. The Plenary of the body also voted down a number of amendments submitted by ALMA.

The Chair of the Financial Committee and Deputy President of DIKO, Christiana Erotokritou, in her speech from the parliamentary benches, briefed on the content of the bill and the modifications introduced to it by the competent parliamentary committee.

Among other things, she referred to the rules of good governance of the new Agency, stating that DIKO would vote in favor of the bill and vote against all amendments other than the one co-signed by her party with DISY and ALMA.

AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis, speaking from the floor of the Parliament, spoke of a noose around the necks of MPs due to the tight deadlines under which they were called to debate and vote on such an important bill so that European funds from the national Recovery plan would not be lost.

He expressed the position that the new Agency should focus on financing very small and small enterprises, stating that the amendment they co-sign with Direct Democracy is aimed toward this purpose.

Among other things, he also said that they would support the aforementioned amendment of DISY, DIKO, and ALMA, while stating that they would vote against most of the ten amendments of ALMA.

DISY MP Savia Orphanidou, in her speech, expressed their dissatisfaction with the government's tactic, as she described it, of submitting at the last moment crucial bills concerning serious matters for the country and the economy.

She stated that her party had a major objection regarding the proposed arrangement, which concerns the creation of yet another semi-governmental organization with all the administrative and bureaucratic constraints that a public law legal entity entails, which is not consistent with what they want to promote, namely a flexible and effective environment in which the CEDB needs to operate to support businesses.

On behalf of ELAM, Marios Pelekanos, in his own speech, said that they support the creation of the new Agency, noting that there is a gap in the Cypriot market regarding the financing of small and very small companies, which the CEDB will cover.

He stated that they would vote against all amendments except one by ALMA concerning the responsibility of the members of the board of directors of the CEDB, while he briefed on their own oral sub-amendment to the DISY, DIKO, and ALMA amendment, which they would also vote against.

As he explained, the sub-amendment provides that the board of directors of the new Agency would be obliged to obtain the approval of the competent authority, which would have the responsibility of validating the CEDB's decision.

The president of ALMA, Odysseas Michaelides, in his intervention, explained the amendments submitted by his party, while Direct Democracy MP Yiannis Laouris referred, among other things, to their disagreement over the creation of yet another semi-governmental Agency, stating that the great concern is the creation of a large number of non-performing loans.

Source: ink.com