Cyprus starts talks with EU, IMF officials on terms and size of bailout for its troubled banks

Source: Washington Post

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus began talks Tuesday with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to gauge how much bailout money it may need to prop up banks weighed down by their huge exposure to Greek debt.

Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said officials from the so-called ‘troika’ — the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the IMF — will meet with Cyprus government and central bank authorities, among others, during the course of the week to gather information.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/markets/cyprus-starts-talks-with-eu-imf-officials-on-terms-and-size-of-bailout-for-its-troubled-banks/2012/07/03/gJQAzaiJKW_story.html

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From 2 weeks ago :

For Rescue Line, Cyprus Prefers a Russian Loan.

LIMASSOL, Cyprus — Caviar and pelmeni line the supermarket shelves in this picturesque seaside Cypriot city, so pervasively Russian that it has been dubbed “Limassolgrad.”

Now many on this tiny island nation, whose banks and government are facing economic insolvency, are hoping for financial salvation from Russia rather than Germany and the European Union.

“I would much rather be saved by Moscow,” said Elena Tsolia, 30, an attendant at the department store Debenhams, where Russian shoppers snap up bottles of Dior and Chanel perfume. “We are a small island and we don’t want to be owned by Germany.”

The slim victory by a pro-bailout party in Greek elections on Sunday has helped allay some concerns that a potential Greek exit from the euro zone would sink the Cypriot economy, which is heavily exposed to Greek banks. But as a backlash against austerity spreads across Europe, Cypriot officials say they are determined to avoid the kind of severe budget cuts that unhinged the Greek economy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/world/europe/cyprus-counts-on-its-close-ties-to-russia.html?pagewanted=all