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Key Role for Financial Offer in Cyprus Stock Exchange Privatization, Says State Aid Control Office

Published January 14, 2026, 19:19
Key Role for Financial Offer in Cyprus Stock Exchange Privatization, Says State Aid Control Office

The bill for the privatization of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) is moving towards final approval in the Plenary Session of the Parliament, following a discussion in the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget. The Office of the Controller of State Aid, Stella Michaelidou, reports that the financial offer will now play the dominant role in evaluating bids, with qualitative criteria remaining as an assessment criterion. This development marks the acceptance of the Controller’s Office’s position, which initially proposed pre-notification of the issue to the European Commission for legal certainty. The amendment to the bill provides for an open and transparent competition, without exclusions, with pre-defined participation criteria. According to the final configuration, the financial offer will have a weighting of 70%, while the qualitative criteria and business plan will have a weighting of 30%. This distribution was the result of consultation in the Parliamentary Committee, as initially it was proposed that the financial offer have a weighting of 100%. The Controller emphasizes that this final outcome was achieved after discussion and persistence from her Office, as well as with the participation of all stakeholders, including the European Commission, which stressed the importance of maintaining the financial offer as the dominant criterion.