The Central Bank of Cyprus has issued a statement to the public that Thursday and Friday, 21 and 22 March 2013 respectively, have been declared as bank holidays. The stock exchange also remains shut.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not meet with Cyprus Finance Minister Michael Sarris, who is in the Russian capital for talks, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman of the Russian President said to news agency Itar-Tass.
No such meeting has been scheduled, according to Peskov.
Sarris met on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart, Anton Siluanov. “We continue our talks to find a solution that will help us secure Russian support” the Cypriot Minister stated after the meeting.
He added that no final decision has been taken yet, adding that “we had very good, constructive and very sincere talks”. We do realize the gravity of the situation, Sarris noted. The Russian Finance Minister issued no statement.
Sarris also met with First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov, in the presence of Siluanov, negotiations will continue on Thursday.
