Cypriot banks and financial institutions have begun conducting enhanced due diligence on clients who have obtained citizenship or a residence permit through investment programs, including the former Cypriot “golden passport” program and current investment-based residency schemes.
On June 5, the Tax Department of the Republic of Cyprus published a notice regarding the strengthening of due diligence procedures under DAC2/CRS standards. The measures are aimed at determining clients’ actual tax residency and preventing the use of investment passports and residence permits to conceal assets or evade tax reporting.
The new requirements primarily apply to clients who indicate tax residency in countries with high-risk investment programs. Banks must more carefully verify whether the declared jurisdiction actually corresponds to the client’s real “center of vital and economic interests.”
As part of the verification process, financial institutions may request additional information from clients: whether citizenship or a residence permit was obtained through an investment program, whether the client has the right of residence in other countries, whether they have stayed in other jurisdictions for more than 90 days in the past year, and where they actually filed tax returns.
For new clients, the enhanced procedures apply from the date of publication of the notice—June 5, 2026. For existing clients, financial institutions have up to six months to conduct the additional verification.
If a bank determines that a client’s actual situation does not match their declared tax residency, information about their accounts may be shared with the tax authorities of the relevant country through the CRS automatic exchange system.
The OECD has previously noted that citizenship and residency-by-investment programs can be used to circumvent tax transparency rules if a client obtains formal status in one country but actually lives and conducts economic activities in another.
The list of jurisdictions whose programs the OECD considers potentially risky for the CRS includes, in particular, Cyprus, the UAE, Bahrain, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, the Bahamas, Barbados, the Seychelles, Vanuatu, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
This is an important signal for the Cyprus real estate market, as investment residency remains one of the factors driving demand for housing from foreign buyers. The current permanent residency-by-investment program requires an investment of at least €300,000, particularly in real estate; however, investors must now be prepared for a more thorough review of their sources of funds, tax history, and actual place of residence.
Cyprus’s citizenship-by-investment program, known as the “golden passport” program, was shut down in 2020 following a corruption scandal and pressure from the EU. However, some investors who obtained citizenship earlier still hold Cypriot documents and bank accounts, making them a group of heightened interest for tax and financial authorities.
Tighter controls may complicate account management for some foreign investors, especially those who hold multiple residencies, do not maintain transparent tax records, or cannot verify the source of their funds. That said, for real estate buyers with documented income and a clear tax history, the new rules do not mean automatic denial of service, but they do raise compliance requirements.
Cyprus remains one of the prominent real estate and tax planning markets in the Eastern Mediterranean. The country is an EU member, has a developed banking sector, a low corporate tax rate, and continues to attract interest from foreign homebuyers, primarily in Limassol, Paphos, Larnaca, and Nicosia. However, following the closure of the “golden passport” program and the strengthening of international tax information exchange, the market is gradually shifting from a model of quick investment statuses to stricter compliance and transparency regarding the origin of capital.
Viking Park LLC (Lviv) raised UAH 3.6 million from the placement of its debut bonds, the company reported in its issuance results report.
According to information published in the disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the bond offering via a public offering took place from April 16 to April 30, 2026. The face value of the bonds is UAH 1,000, with a total value of UAH 100 million.
The total number of bonds actually placed was 3,627.
According to the company’s website, Viking Park LLC conducts development activities under the Viking Development brand. Its portfolio includes over 30,000 square meters of completed residential space in Lviv. Among its projects are the Viking Park, Viking Hills, Viking Gardens, and Helga residential complexes. According to information on the “LUN” real estate portal, since 2019 the developer has commissioned 13 buildings comprising two complexes, while another nine buildings in three residential complexes are currently under construction.
According to data from the YouControl analytical system, the owners of Viking Park LLC are listed as Teplokom LLC (88%) and ZNVKIF “Mira-Capital” JSC (12%). The ultimate beneficiary is Ernest Ishchuk.
As of the end of 2025, the company increased its net profit by 4.4% to UAH 4.8 million, while net revenue decreased by 18.4% to UAH 168.7 million. Assets nearly doubled to UAH 1.8 billion.
On Thursday, June 11, the western and southeastern parts of the country will see brief showers and thunderstorms in some areas; in Zakarpattia and Prykarpattia, there will be moderate rain, with heavy rain in some places; the rest of the country will remain dry, according to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center.
Winds will be predominantly southerly, 5-10 m/s. Nighttime temperatures will range from 13-18°; daytime temperatures from 23-28°, and in the far west of the country from 18-23°.
In Kyiv on June 11, no precipitation is expected. Winds will be southerly, 5-10 m/s. Temperatures at night will be 16-18°C, and during the day 26-28°C.
According to data from the Boris Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory in Kyiv, on June 11, the highest daytime temperature was 33.7°C in 2010, and the lowest nighttime temperature was 6.3°C in 1952.
On Friday, June 12, across Ukraine—except for the far west—there will be brief showers and thunderstorms in some areas; in Khmelnytskyi, as well as during the day in most northern, central, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions, there will be moderate rain, with heavy rain in some areas.
Winds will be predominantly southerly, northwesterly in the west of the country, 5–10 m/s. Temperatures at night will be 13–18°, during the day 23–28°; in the western, Vinnytsia, and Zhytomyr regions, temperatures at night will be 9–14°, during the day 15–20°.
Weather forecast for Kyiv on June 12 – light rain at night, moderate rain during the day, with thunderstorms. Wind from the south, 5-10 m/s. Nighttime temperatures 16-18°, daytime temperatures 23-25°.
RAIN, THUNDERSTORMS, UKRAINE, Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, WEATHER
PJSC “Tovkachivsky Mining and Processing Plant” (TGZK, Pershotravneve, Zhytomyr Oblast) reported a net loss of UAH 2.806 million in January-March of this year, compared to a net profit of UAH 4.885 million in the same period last year.
According to the company’s interim report, which is available to the agency “Interfax-Ukraine,” revenue from ordinary activities for this period decreased to UAH 6.307 million from UAH 18.790 million in the first quarter of 2025.
Retained earnings as of the end of March amounted to UAH 463.231 million.
According to the annual report, the company reported a net profit of UAH 6.336 million in 2025, compared to a profit of UAH 1.260 million in 2024, while revenue from ordinary activities amounted to UAH 80.377 million (UAH 91.104 million in 2024).
The average number of full-time employees on the payroll was 110. Compared to the previous year, the payroll fund for 2025 increased by 1,758,500 UAH and amounted to 24,479,300 UAH. Due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, there was an exodus of qualified personnel throughout 2025; from November 2024 through May 2025 inclusive, and from October 2025 onward, the enterprise was idle.
As reported, TGZK earned a profit of 78,175,767 thousand UAH in 2020, 44,223,637 thousand UAH in 2021, and 14,659,029 thousand UAH in 2022. The company ended 2023 with a net loss of UAH 794,133 thousand.
TGZK is a company engaged in the extraction, processing, and enrichment of quartzite. It is the main supplier of raw materials for the production of ferroalloys, refractories, and dinas in Ukraine. TGZK operates the Tovkachivska section of the Ovruch quartzite deposit, located in the town of Pershotravneve, using open-pit mining methods.
According to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission’s data for the first quarter of 2026, Navaro Development Limited owns 5.1898% of the company’s shares, Lucrino Investments Limited – 9%, Mantara Holdings Limited – 72.0629%, and Duxton Holdings Limited (all based in Cyprus) – 12.1891%.
According to the report, the ultimate beneficial owners (controllers) of the company are Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Hennadiy Boholyubov, against whom sanctions have been imposed.
The company’s authorized capital is UAH 1.588 million, and the par value of a share is UAH 2.25.
JSC Ukrzaliznytsia carried 472,900 passengers during the first week of June (June 1–7).
As noted in the company’s Telegram post on Wednesday, the largest number of passengers (over 13,000) traveled on Train No. 104 Lviv-Lozova.
“We are already receiving 340,000 ticket requests daily and transporting 80,000 people,” Ukrzaliznytsia reported.
According to data for the first week of June, the average number of passengers per car was 393. The number of passengers in children’s groups was 16,400, and the number of military personnel via the special reserve was 2,400.
UZ added that it plans to transport a total of 7 million passengers over the three summer months.
In early June, Ukrzaliznytsia told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that this year’s summer passenger transport season would be more challenging than last year’s due to rising demand and a reduction in the number of cars.
PASSENGER TRANSPORT, RAILWAY, SUMMER, TICKETS, UKRZALIZNYTSIA
Viktor Kravets, Deputy General Director for Quality and Management at the Rivne NPP Production Division (PP), a branch of JSC “NAEK ”Energoatom,” was appointed General Director of the plant on June 10, 2026.
“Since May 2017, he has served as Deputy General Director for Quality and Management. He acted as head of the ‘Rivne NPP Production Unit’ branch in the General Director’s absence,” Energoatom reported on Wednesday.
Kravets has also served as an expert at events organized by the IAEA and the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).
Kravets was born in 1970 in the city of Kostopol, Rivne Oblast. In 1994, he graduated from the Obninsk Institute of Nuclear Energy with a degree in “Nuclear Power Plants and Facilities” and received the qualification of “nuclear engineer-thermal power engineer.” At that time, he began his career at the Rivne NPP as an engineer in the Department of Nuclear Safety and Reliability.
