“Back in December of last year, Malta spearheaded an initiative that brought on board Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, where together we agreed to promote and work further in the blockchain and DLT sphere, share our expertise and knowledge, and most importantly enhance further our cooperation in this new emergent industry,” said Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation Silvio Schembri.

“The signing of that declaration was clear evidence of a sense of acknowledgement of this emergent industry. Today’s initiative of a memorandum of understanding takes us a step further, it marks our commitment, as the seven EU member states, to establish a framework for the sharing of best practices in the design and application of DLT at a governmental level. This framework will help us as a region, to achieve the maximum potential of such technologies and enable us to enhance the daily lives of our citizens,” the junior minister added, tagging the MoU as a “historic milestone”.

Under the agreement, Malta, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus commit to exploring the possibility to cooperate on cross-border distributed ledger technologies projects and to share best practices in the application of distributed ledger technologies, according to the DOI press release. The MoU has established a framework for the sharing of best practices in the design and application of distributed ledger technologies at a governmental level between the countries.

The post Malta signs MoU on DLT cooperation with six EU countries first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Theodosis Michalopoulos has been named the acting CEO of Microsoft in Greece, Cyprus and Malta, upon the departure of Peggy Antonakou, until a new Chief Executive Officer is appointed, according to a press statement sent to Business Malta. In his new interim role, he will focus on contributing to the transformation and growth of the company’s customers and partners in Greece, Cyprus and Malta.

After leading the branch for seven years, Ms Antonakou will pursue a career outside Microsoft, and her role will temporarily be filled by Mr Michalopoulos, who is a member of the Leadership Team of the company and currently holds the position of Enterprise Commercial and Public Sector Sales Director for Microsoft in Greece, Cyprus and Malta.

Mr Michalopoulos joined the Microsoft in 2014, as of the Director of the Consumer Channels Group. Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, he contributed to achieving a “highly-prosperous period in the sales sector” for three consecutive years, Microsoft says.

Becoming the Enterprise Commercial Sales Director, he led the transformation of a traditional sales approach into a modern customer-centric model “to significantly empower the digital transformation of Microsoft” in Greece, Cyprus and Malta, the Microsoft press statement adds.

Mr Michalopoulos holds a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Sussex, an MSc in Communications & Signal Engineering from the Imperial College of Science & Technology of London and an MBA from the Athens Laboratory of Business Administration (ALBA).

The post Microsoft names interim CEO for Greece, Cyprus and Malta first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The duration of the contract is for one year, with options for extension and Medserv Limited will provide these services from its facilities in the port of Limassol. 

Thanks to this contract, Total became the third major International Oil Company to be working with Medserv in Cyprus, representing a significant step for the enlargement of the Group’s oil and gas client portfolio within the Eastern Mediterranean region, as the press release says.  

In addition, the companies Eni and Total are lining up a multi-well drilling programme off Cyprus. It is expected to begin by the end of this year or early 2020. The two European majors plan to drill five wells with one probe in each of the five blocks.  

The post Total signs a contract with Maltese oil and gas company Medserv in Cyprus first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.