Cy

NICOSIA — The Bank of Cyprus, the island's largest lender, said on Thursday it posted post-tax losses of 134 million euros ($168 million) in the first six months because of provisions for bad loans and a Greek debt write-off.
"Losses after tax and including the impairment of Greek government bonds reached 134 million euros for the first half of 2012 compared to 107 million in the first half of 2011," said a BoC statement.
The bank asked for state assistance in June after it fell 500 million euros short in bolstering its regulatory capital as required by the European Union.
The island's second largest bank, Cyprus Popular, needs 1.8 billion euros to recapitalise, forcing a cash-strapped government to request an EU bailout in June to prop up the banking system.
Nicosia is still negotiating with the troika -- the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund -- over the terms of a loan deal, with estimates putting the amount needed at around 15 billion euros.
EU officials are expected back in September to finalise an agreement.
Cyprus has a low-interest, 2.5-billion-euro loan from staunch ally Russia to meet its financing needs for the year, and is still holding out for a fresh five-billion-euro loan from Moscow to soften the bailout impact.
The BoC's provisions for impairment of loans reached 568 million euros, a 210 percent increase compared with the same period last year, the bank's statement said...