Sapienta Cyprus Selection, 14 Dec 2022
Regular Cyprus-relevant links
A regular selection of links to articles of medium- to long-term relevance to people living and doing business in Cyprus. Topics marked with * will be or already have been analyzed in our monthly issues of Sapienta Country Analysis Cyprus. Learn more about the different subsections of Sapienta Cyprus Snippets here.
A misunderstanding by a reader last week has led us to add a new “relevance to Cyprus” explainer to entries. Where entries require significant and/or high value-added information, the full explanation will come in our flagship paid subscription product, Sapienta Country Analysis Cyprus.
Banks.* We have been keeping Country Analysis subscribers informed of the never-ending saga of foreclosure law. Article from Cyprus Mail: https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/12/08/anastasiades-signs-foreclosure-law/. Relevance to Cyprus: the actions of MPs raise borrower costs and harm banking sector stability, while giving no additional protection to the most vulnerable borrowers.
New central bank era. A really interesting and entertaining podcast arguing among other things that the era of the “Brahmins” (unassailable central bankers) is over and that the “kings” (politicians) will start wrestling back control. “The end of competence” on The David McWilliams Podcast: https://davidmcwilliams.ie/podcast/. Relevance to Cyprus: if true it will also affect the European Central Bank.
Natural gas.* The partners in Israel’s Tamar field announced they would spend $673m expanding production at Tamar, one of the larger and older Israeli fields. Article from Globes: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-chevron-and-partners-to-expand-tamar-production-100143222. Relevance to Cyprus: it has pros and cons for Cyprus that will be explained more fully in our monthly Sapienta Country Analysis Cyprus.
Turkey-Israel. Relations between Turkey and Israel continue to develop. A trade delegation visited last week. Article from Hurriyet: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-israel-seek-to-boost-trade-ties-179187. Relevance to Cyprus: ties between the Republic of Cyprus and Israel strengthened particularly rapidly when Israeli-Turkish relations were at their worst. Rapprochement between Israel and Turkey could conceivably have an impact on Israel’s foreign policy priorities over the longer term.
Energy Egypt 2.0. Last week a reader misread the my reason for linking news about Egyptian desalination plants. Relevance to Cyprus: high demand for electricity in Egypt bolsters the case for the EuroAfrica Interconnector, a project to connect Cyprus, Greece and Egypt via submarine electricity cable. The EuroAfrica is the sister of the more developed EuroAsia Interconnector project. For the record I do not have any commercial connections with either project. More about the EuroAfrica Interconnector here: https://www.euroafrica-interconnector.com/at-glance/.