CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Marios Pelides and Dominique Pelides, Georgiades & Pelides
regarding the applicable timeframes for appeals under the new system are not yet available. 8.3 Ability of Third Parties to Appeal Clearance Decisions In addition to the parties involved in the concen - tration that is the subject of a clearance decision, third parties who are affected by the decision may also appeal the decision to the Administra - tive Court (however, there are no reported cases of third parties ever having done so success - fully).
sive influence over the activities of the relevant undertaking. It captures both new investments as well as changes to existing investment struc - tures which result in the acquisition of control by a foreign investor. “Undertaking of strategic importance” is defined as an undertaking that is headquartered in, and carries out activities in, the Republic of Cyprus, whose activities fall within one of the sectors set out in schedule 1 to the draft law. The current draft of schedule 1 refers to activities in ”par - ticularly sensitive sectors which concern vital infrastructure”, and specifically includes the fol - lowing sectors: • energy; • transport; • water supply; • health; • communications; • media; • data processing or storage; • defence; • electoral services; • financial services (including systemic credit institutions); and • investments in “sensitive facilities” as well as land and immovable property which are of key importance in the use of the infrastructure mentioned above. Upon receiving a notification, the Ministry must decide (within ten working days of receiving a complete notification) whether it needs to exam - ine the investment further. If the Ministry decides it does not need to examine the investment, it must notify the foreign investor within five work - ing days from the date of its decision. If the Min - istry decides to further examine the investment, it must (i) notify the foreign investor within five working days of its decision and (ii) determine,
9. Foreign Direct Investment/ Subsidies Review
9.1 Legislation and Filing Requirements There is draft legislation currently being con - sidered by the Cypriot parliament regarding the implementation of a foreign direct investment regime in Cyprus. A summary of the provisions included in the current draft is set out below; however, the legislation may change substan - tially before it is implemented (if, indeed, it is implemented at all). At the date of writing, there has been no indication of when the legislation might be implemented. In its current form, the legislation provides that a foreign investor that intends to make a foreign direct investment which has as its purpose (or which will result in) the acquisition of a “special participation” in an ”undertaking of strategic importance” must notify the Ministry of Finance (the “Ministry”) in Cyprus. “Special participation” is defined to mean the direct or indirect acquisition, alone or jointly with other persons, of an interest corresponding to at least 10% of the share capital and/or voting rights or equivalent power to exercise deci -
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