Russians Return to Cyprus, a Favorite Tax Haven

This article discusses the business transition to Cyprus by Latin Americans, Canadians, Germans, and the largest, Russians. The question they are aiming to answer is, why now? Even after a financial crisis, investors see that the legal and tax system is relatively stable, especially compared to that of Russia. When Cyprus's economy crashed last spring, they had seized most of the offshore accounts and turned them into bank shares; allowing wealthy Russians to become some of the biggest Cyprus bank shareholders- whether they wanted to or not. Unemployment jumped from 14% to 17.5%, among that, youth unemployment is at a heaping 40%. Now, 300% of private debt is represented in the 17 billion euro country due to defaults on loans and decreased deposits.

The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be the tax haven that businesses see. Even with a corporate tax increase last year, Cyprus still holds one of the lowest in the eurozone. At 12.5%, they compete with other popular countries like France, 33.3%, and Germany, 29.5%. Now, the registration list is overflowing at 273,000 companies that wish to move in.
I would think that after the crisis and the bank share stunt that was pulled, Russians would have no interest in moving. The reality is, for many, is that they have no other options. Returning to Russia would have no benefit. But, their mindsets are the same as many; very small investment is going towards Cyprus banks. Even with promises and tightened regulations, no one has expressed interest in taking the risk.