Ayia Napa could strengthen its position in the premium tourism market with a proposed €50 million mixed-use resort combining a hotel, serviced apartments, luxury bungalows and a beach club.

Aesara Investments Ltd has submitted an information form to the Department of Environment for a development to operate under the name Atlantica Wavemaster Hospitality. The project is planned for the Limnara area of Ayia Napa, along the coast south of Kryou Nerou Avenue, between the town centre and Cape Greco.

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Hotel, Apartments And Luxury Bungalows

The proposed resort will include a 324-room hotel with capacity for 648 guests, alongside a condo-hotel building containing 20 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Facilities are planned to include restaurants, bars, cafés, a spa with an indoor pool, a gym, shops, a multipurpose hall, a children’s club and a cinema.

A further 33 three-level luxury bungalows, each designed for two guests and featuring a private swimming pool, are planned for the southern part of the site. A beach club with a restaurant and an outdoor pool complex covering more than 6,300 square metres will also form part of the development.

The project includes 321 parking spaces, including 12 for people with disabilities, and 14,196 square metres of landscaped green space featuring local plant species.

Seasonal Hotel Operations And Year-Round Residences

The hotel is expected to operate from March to November, with peak occupancy during the summer season. The condo-hotel apartments, meanwhile, will be available for sale or long-term rental and intended for year-round residence. Owners and tenants will also have access to the resort’s facilities, including its pools, restaurants and fitness areas.

Construction is expected to take 24 months once the required permits are secured. At the busiest stage, the project could employ around 100 workers per day.

Environmental Restrictions Near Cape Greco

The site’s proximity to protected Natura 2000 areas has prompted strict environmental requirements. The Cape Greco Special Protection Area borders the site to the south, while a Special Area of Conservation lies approximately 50 metres away.

Conditions imposed by the Department of Environment include a maximum building height of five floors, or 18.5 metres, and restrictions on permanent structures near the coastline. The project must also use spider-web type glazing and low-intensity lighting to minimise disturbance to local birdlife.

According to the project’s consultants, the design has been prepared to comply with the environmental conditions and the final report on cumulative impacts for the Cape Greco Special Protection Area. The hotel and apartment building are positioned in the central and northern parts of the plot, away from the shoreline.

Within the designated no-build zone, located 40 metres from the boundary of the beach protection zone, only swimming pools are planned. The consultants state that these are not expected to affect protected species in the area.

Cyprus has approved an extension of the tax deduction available to individuals who invest in innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), extending the measure until June 30, 2027.

Regulatory Approval Granted, But Parliamentary Vote Still Required

Stella Michaelidou, Commissioner for State Aid Control, approved the extension. According to the announcement from her office, the amended measure entered into force on October 15, 2026, when it was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus.

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However, the extension will remain in effect only if the relevant bill is passed by the House of Representatives and the corresponding law is subsequently published in the Official Gazette.

What The Measure Means For Investors

The policy is designed to encourage private investment in innovative smaller businesses, which often face difficulties securing financing through traditional channels. By extending the tax incentive, the government aims to sustain investment in a segment widely considered important to entrepreneurship, productivity and long-term economic growth.

Companies have rapidly adopted AI tools to improve productivity, but the technology is creating new challenges for managers, who say it is becoming harder to evaluate work, supervise teams and maintain control.

More than half of senior leaders surveyed said assessing employee performance had become more difficult since their organisations adopted AI, according to a Nielsen survey of 1,700 directors and senior managers across seven countries, commissioned by work-management software company Monday.com.

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AI Makes Performance Harder To Measure

AI allows employees to produce polished work more quickly, making it harder for managers to distinguish between human effort and machine-generated output. Nearly half of respondents said they now spend more time reviewing and guiding their teams’ work.

Despite these challenges, enthusiasm remains high: 94% said they were excited about using AI to improve work.

Michal Miller Levi, head of market research and customer insights at Monday.com, said organisations were struggling to adapt their processes at the same pace as the technology.

“AI works very well for [managers] individually, but they also have a different role as managers. They need to drive the organization as well […] Their struggle is [due to] the fact that AI is just moving faster than the organizational processes,” she told TechCrunch.

Performance Reviews And AI Bias

AI is also changing how employee performance is evaluated. According to the survey, 78% of respondents had changed their performance criteria since adopting AI, placing greater emphasis on prompt-writing, deciding which tasks to delegate to AI and experimenting with new working methods.

At the same time, AI is increasingly involved in the evaluation process itself. Some 46% of managers said they use AI to inform decisions, while 39% use it to draft performance reviews.

This raises concerns about fairness and algorithmic bias. Research from the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research found that, without clear objective standards, large language models tend to rate performance in ways that mirror human evaluators. A separate paper published in early 2025 found that AI models could exhibit biases against Black male candidates, with differences across social groups.

Levi said companies had yet to establish the right frameworks for managing these risks.

AI Adds To Managers’ Workloads

Managers are increasingly responsible for assigning tasks to AI agents, reviewing their output and intervening when systems make mistakes. This creates an additional layer of oversight, or “invisible labour”, on top of their existing responsibilities.

The software environment is also becoming more complex. Some 57% of managers said their organisations now use more tools than before AI adoption, while 51% reported greater interdependence between those tools. Only 29% described their AI infrastructure as fully optimised and centralised.

Rather than consolidating software, many companies are dealing with more applications, integrations and unauthorised AI tools used outside approved systems.

Governance Becomes The Next AI Challenge

The survey suggests that oversight will become even more important as businesses deploy increasingly autonomous AI agents. Some 58% of managers expect to oversee more AI agents than human employees within the next year, while 46% are concerned about losing control over their agents’ actions. Another 35% worry about being held responsible for decisions made by AI.

Levi said managers wanted human involvement in critical tasks and decisions, with AI supporting rather than replacing human judgement.

The findings point to a broader challenge for businesses: boosting productivity is only part of successful AI adoption. Companies also need clear processes, reliable infrastructure and accountability frameworks to ensure that faster output does not come at the expense of effective management.

European Council President António Costa is racing to assemble new EU-wide revenue streams to help finance the bloc’s next long-term budget after an inconclusive summit left member states deadlocked over how much they are willing to contribute.

With national governments reluctant to raise their payments to Brussels, Costa is weighing a broad menu of options: taxes on large companies and digital services, levies on tobacco and carbon emissions, and potential charges on online gambling. At this stage of the negotiations, few ideas appear to be off the table.

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“To reach an agreement, we need to keep national contributions at a reasonable level, while preserving our ambition and the means to deliver on our common priorities. For this to be possible, it is fundamental to consolidate the work on the new own resources,” Costa said after last week’s European Council summit.

A Search For Revenue Beyond National Budgets

Across his recent tour of European capitals, Costa has returned repeatedly to the same argument: if governments want the European Union to do more, they must also agree on new sources of revenue that flow directly to Brussels.

In Brussels parlance, these are known as “own resources” — a politically sensitive but increasingly central question as the bloc tries to reconcile strained national finances with expanding spending priorities.

EU leaders failed to narrow their differences at last week’s summit, leaving Costa to carry the negotiations into the next phase.

“We had three tests for new own resources. One, that they command unanimity. Two, that they can deliver substantial funds. And three, that they’d be ready, by the 1st of January, 2028,” Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs, said when presenting the country’s budget compromise. Read more at Euronews.

The Irish proposal has still drawn criticism from multiple sides, including the European Parliament, which has advanced its own ideas for new taxes on digital services, online gambling and crypto assets that it says could raise as much as €25 billion a year. Read more at Euronews.

“It is clear that the presidency refused to take any decision on the revenue side, proposing only minor adjustments. We are especially very disappointed that none of Parliament’s proposals were taken on board, despite having received positive feedback from many member states,” said MEP Danuše Nerudová of Czechia’s EPP delegation.

Corporate Taxes Remain A Flashpoint

One of the most contested proposals is the Corporate Resource for Europe, or CORE, which many member states view as at odds with the EU’s competitiveness agenda.

The European Commission has defended the plan, arguing that it would apply only to large companies with annual net turnover above €100 million and that the contribution would typically be smaller than the bonuses paid to senior executives.

Even so, Brussels is now examining whether CORE could be paired with a digital levy — another politically difficult measure that could trigger friction with Washington, given that many of the world’s largest technology companies are American.

Under one emerging compromise, the tax would no longer target a single sector. Instead, the threshold would be set high enough to fall primarily on large foreign companies, whether American or Asian.

That shift may become more important as other sources of revenue encounter resistance.

Carbon, Tobacco And Other Contested Options

One proposal under discussion would redirect 30% of revenues from the EU’s Emissions Trading System, or ETS, into the bloc’s budget. The system charges major polluters for their carbon emissions.

Poland has been especially vocal in opposing the diversion of ETS revenues to Brussels. The issue has become politically sensitive enough at home that Warsaw may struggle to accept it as elections approach next year.

The Irish compromise also retained the Tobacco Excise Duty Own Resource, known as TEDOR. Under that plan, member states would pay the EU a 15% call rate on excise duty collected on tobacco products. Governments worry the measure could fuel black-market activity and lower product quality.

Luxembourg is among the strongest opponents. Although the Grand Duchy is a net contributor and usually avoids confrontation over Commission budget proposals, it may have enough political weight to take a hard line on TEDOR.

The Least Controversial Ideas May Matter Most

Not all of the proposals are equally divisive. The most broadly acceptable appears to be a revenue source linked to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM, which places a carbon price on certain imports such as steel and cement so that foreign producers face costs more comparable to those of EU competitors.

A levy based on the amount of electronic waste produced by each member state is also considered relatively uncontroversial, with most of the remaining debate focused on technical design rather than principle.

By contrast, Parliament’s proposed tax on online gambling has met strong resistance from Malta, which hosts much of the EU’s betting industry.

Another idea, a tax on capital gains from crypto assets, is widely viewed as difficult to enforce and likely to generate uncertain revenue because of the market’s volatility.

Greece has also proposed coordinating national 6G spectrum auctions to help finance the EU budget. But member states have long resisted harmonising spectrum allocation, which has traditionally delivered substantial revenue to national treasuries.

“Now is the moment to evaluate the situation and assess the best way forward. We do not exclude taking on board any proposals,” an EU official with direct knowledge of the discussions told Euronews on condition of anonymity.

“We will need to modulate the own resources to better distribute their impact on the member states,” the official added.

The technology distributor ASBIS Group, headquartered in Limassol, has exceeded $1 billion in monthly sales for the first time in its history, reporting preliminary consolidated revenue of $1.05 billion in September 2026, more than three times the amount recorded a year earlier.

The figure represents a 216% increase from $332 million in September 2025, making it the highest-revenue month in the company’s history.

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ASBIS reported its strongest sales growth in servers and server components, while CEO Serhei Kostevitch pointed to growing demand for artificial intelligence solutions and computing infrastructure as an opportunity for the business.

For a company operating across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, September marked a new sales milestone following several months of substantial year-on-year growth.

Kostevitch attributed the record performance to the group’s existing operations, highlighting its broad product portfolio, international market presence and strong relationships with manufacturers and trading partners.

“Most importantly, this result is the outcome of our regular operating activities,” he said.

The CEO also highlighted the company’s portfolio of projects as a reason for confidence in continued AI-related development.

However, the group’s growth was not limited to AI-related technologies. Smartphones also performed strongly in September, with Kostevitch stressing that “we are growing beyond the AI segment as well.”

Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine accounted for the largest shares of ASBIS’s September revenue, followed by Slovakia and Poland.

Growth Follows Record First Half

September’s results follow a period of strong financial performance for ASBIS.

In July, the company reported preliminary consolidated revenue of $531 million, an increase of 89% compared with the same month in 2025. August brought a further rise to $604 million, up 91% year on year.

September’s $1.05 billion figure represents a substantial increase on both months, although the company has not provided a detailed breakdown explaining the acceleration.

The results also follow a record first half of 2026, when ASBIS generated approximately $2.97 billion in consolidated revenue, up 76% year on year.

Net profit after tax reached $80.6 million, compared with $19.4 million in the same period in 2025.

The second quarter was particularly strong, with revenue reaching $1.69 billion, an increase of 78.7%, while quarterly net profit more than tripled to $44.3 million.

ASBIS has emphasised that its September revenue figures are preliminary estimates and may differ from the final reported results.

Cyprus recorded the European Union’s largest quarterly decline in government debt as a share of GDP in the second quarter of 2026, as its debt burden continued to fall while borrowing levels across the bloc increased, according to Eurostat.

Debt Ratio Falls To 48.5%

Cyprus’ government debt fell to 48.5% of GDP at the end of June, down from 51.5% in the first quarter and 58.1% a year earlier.

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In absolute terms, debt declined to €19.2 billion from €20.03 billion at the end of March and €21.7 billion in June 2025. Cyprus also recorded the EU’s second-largest annual reduction in its debt-to-GDP ratio, after Greece.

Cyprus Outpaces Other EU Member States

Greece recorded the largest annual decline, at 11.2 percentage points, followed by Cyprus at 9.5 points, Slovenia at 4.5 points and Portugal at 3.4 points.

Quarterly, Cyprus led the bloc, ahead of Greece, where the ratio fell by 2.7 percentage points, and Hungary, which recorded a 2-point decline.

By contrast, the EU’s debt-to-GDP ratio increased to 82.9% in the second quarter from 82.5% in the first. The euro area ratio rose to 88.8% from 88.4%. Compared with the same period in 2025, the figures increased from 81.4% and 87.3%, respectively.

Debt Levels Remain High Across Europe

Greece had the EU’s highest debt ratio at the end of June, at 140.8% of GDP, followed by Italy at 139.9%, France at 119.1%, Belgium at 110.2% and Spain at 101.4%.

The lowest ratios were recorded in Estonia at 26.1%, Denmark at 27.1%, Luxembourg at 28.2% and Bulgaria at 28.7%.

Compared with the first quarter, debt ratios rose in 15 member states and fell in 10, while the Netherlands and Spain remained unchanged. Poland recorded the largest quarterly increase, at 3 percentage points.

Cyprus Maintains A Government Surplus

Cyprus’ debt reduction comes alongside a strong fiscal position. In 2025, the country recorded a government surplus of 3.6% of GDP, the highest in the EU, according to audited figures published by Cystat and Eurostat. Government debt at the end of that year stood at €20.05 billion, or 52.3% of GDP.

However, Cyprus’ seasonally adjusted government surplus narrowed to 3.3% of GDP in the second quarter of 2026, from 3.8% in the first quarter.

The figures come from Eurostat’s latest government deficit and debt release, based on member states’ second 2026 notifications under the EU’s Excessive Deficit Procedure and compiled under the European System of Accounts 2010 methodology.

Cyprus recorded the European Union’s highest government budget surplus in 2025, at 3.6% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to figures released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) and Eurostat.

The surplus amounted to €1.36 billion, based on audited data compiled under the European Commission’s Excessive Deficit Procedure. Government debt stood at €20.05 billion, equivalent to 52.3% of GDP.

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Cyprus Among Five EU Countries With Budget Surpluses

Cyprus was one of only five EU member states to record a budget surplus in 2025. Denmark followed with 2.9% of GDP, ahead of Greece at 2%, Ireland at 1.8% and Portugal at 0.7%.

All other member states recorded deficits. Romania had the largest, at 7.8% of GDP, followed by Poland at 7.2%, Belgium at 5.2% and France at 5.1%. Eleven countries reported deficits of at least 3% of GDP, the EU’s reference threshold.

Government Revenue Rises 7.7%

Cyprus’ government revenue increased by 7.7% in 2025, rising by €1.14 billion to €15.9 billion from €14.76 billion a year earlier, Cystat reported.

Social contributions rose by €379.8 million, or 8.4%, to €4.9 billion, while taxes on income and wealth increased by €379.1 million, or 10%, to €4.18 billion. Taxes on production and imports grew by 1.4% to €4.75 billion.

Revenue from the sale of goods and services climbed 18.1% to €1.06 billion, while other current transfers increased by 21.4% to €480.1 million. Capital transfers and property income also rose.

Net value added tax was the main exception, declining by €16 million, or 0.5%, to €3.15 billion.

Capital Spending Drives Higher Expenditure

Government expenditure rose by 9.2% in 2025, increasing by €1.22 billion to €14.54 billion from €13.31 billion in 2024.

Compensation of employees, including imputed social contributions and civil servants’ pensions, grew by 7.6% to €4.17 billion. Social transfers increased by 5.3% to €5.59 billion, while intermediate consumption reached €1.59 billion.

Capital expenditure recorded the sharpest increase, surging by 46.4% to €1.76 billion from €1.2 billion in 2024. The rise reflected higher gross capital formation and other capital expenditure.

Meanwhile, subsidies fell by 18.6% to €139.6 million, while property income payable edged down.

Cyprus Outperforms EU And Euro Area Averages

Across the EU, government expenditure amounted to 49.4% of GDP in 2025, compared with revenue of 46.3%. In the euro area, expenditure reached 49.8% of GDP and revenue 46.8%.

Cyprus’ surplus reflects revenue growth outpacing expenditure, despite higher public investment. The country’s fiscal performance stood out against a wider EU picture in which most member states continued to run budget deficits.

The Cypriot economy expanded by 3.3% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, according to the Statistical Service of Cyprus.

Growth Measured In Real Terms

The increase in gross domestic product was recorded in real terms and based on seasonally adjusted data, offering a clearer view of underlying economic momentum.

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Which Sectors Led The Expansion

According to the production approach used to calculate GDP, the growth was mainly supported by four sectors: wholesale and retail trade and the repair of motor vehicles, information and communications, financial and insurance activities, and construction.

The figures suggest that Cyprus continues to benefit from a broad-based economic mix, with domestic demand and business activity helping sustain output across several key industries.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into whether Booking.com complied with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), focusing on fraudulent property listings, phishing scams and the transparency of paid search results.

Regulators will assess whether the platform adequately identified and mitigated consumer risks, including financial losses caused by fake accommodation offers and deceptive messages.

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Fake Listings And Consumer Protection

As part of the investigation, the Commission will examine whether Booking.com took sufficient steps to address listings for non-existent properties, impersonation fraud and accommodation offers that may not meet applicable requirements. It will also assess the platform’s safeguards for removing fraudulent or non-compliant listings.

Phishing Risks And Guest Data

Another area of scrutiny concerns the risks associated with sharing reservation and guest data with accommodation providers, as well as the design of Booking.com’s messaging tools.

Weak safeguards could allow scammers to exploit these channels to obtain personal information or trick customers into making fraudulent payments.

Paid Search Results Under Scrutiny

A further focus is whether Booking.com clearly identifies paid-for search results. Accommodation providers can pay higher commissions to improve their rankings, but EU rules require users to recognise advertisements and understand who paid for them, why they are being shown and how advertising preferences can be adjusted.

Potential DSA Violations

If confirmed, the suspected failures could breach Articles 34 and 35 of the DSA, which require very large online platforms to assess and mitigate systemic risks. The investigation may also concern Article 26(1), which sets out transparency requirements for online advertising.

According to the Commission, the investigation will be treated as a priority. Possible next steps include requests for further information, interviews and inspections. The Commission may also impose interim measures, issue a non-compliance decision or accept commitments from Booking.com.

Opening proceedings does not prejudge the outcome. However, during the investigation, the Commission will directly supervise the suspected advertising-transparency issue under Article 26(1), rather than leaving it to national authorities.

Wider Implications For Online Marketplaces

The investigation follows the Commission’s review of Booking.com’s risk assessment and transparency reports, alongside its responses to formal information requests issued on September 23, 2025, and May 26, 2026. The Commission is working with the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets, the country’s Digital Services Coordinator.

Booking.com was designated a Very Large Online Platform under EU law on April 25, 2023. The case will test whether the company’s safeguards for consumer protection, security and advertising transparency meet the requirements imposed on major online platforms.

US President Donald Trump has proposed that companies building data centres pay a “dividend” to the communities hosting them, arguing that direct financial benefits could help overcome growing opposition to AI infrastructure projects.

Local concerns include high electricity and water consumption, environmental impact and rising utility bills as investment in data centres accelerates.

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Trump Calls For Local Benefits

Trump said projects facing public opposition could become “extremely popular” if developers addressed community concerns. He has also called on data centres to generate their own electricity and supply excess power to local communities or the grid to help reduce energy costs.

Opposition Grows Despite Record Investment

At least 47 large-scale data centre projects were delayed in 2026, while more than 1,000 US communities proposed or sought moratoria, zoning restrictions or tighter environmental rules, according to Investing Live. Nevertheless, US AI infrastructure spending is projected to exceed $10 trillion between 2025 and 2032.

Community Agreements Shape Development

In Texas, Meta’s planned data centre campus in El Paso grew from a $1.5 billion investment announced in 2023 into a $14 billion project, prompting public opposition. Governor Greg Abbott negotiated proposed safeguards requiring Meta to cover electrical infrastructure costs and reuse its water. Critics, including Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa, argued that the agreement lacked binding conditions. More information is available from Meta.

In September, Lancaster City Council in Pennsylvania signed what it described as the first fully executed Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for a US data centre project. The agreement for the $6 billion to $10 billion Lancaster AI Hub includes funds for economic development, clean energy and planning, as well as credit protection for the city.

Digital Realty has taken another approach in De Soto, Kansas, offering residents $1,000 in annual utility and property tax credits for 10 years as part of a proposed $20 million investment in a new data centre campus. The company says the project will create jobs and generate tax revenue. More information is available from Digital Realty.

Europe Explores Community Benefits

The approach is also gaining ground in Europe. OpenAI has said future data centres could include financial contributions to communities in Ireland, where data centres must also meet requirements related to supplying electricity to the grid. More information is available from OpenAI.

In Germany, developers are subject to requirements linked to energy use. In Dietzenbach, where Google is developing a multi-billion-euro campus, infrastructure agreements require excess heat from data centres to be fed back into the grid, helping reduce energy costs for residents. More information is available from Google.

As AI infrastructure expands, community payments, lower utility costs and environmental safeguards are becoming increasingly important to securing public support for new data centres.