The Week in Cyprus, 16 Oct 2023
Collated news links of interest to ‘outsiders looking in’
Energy: Aphrodite heading for a crash? The 5 November deadline is looming for the Republic of Cyprus government and the Chevron-led partners of the offshore Aphrodite natural gas field to find an agreement on the development plan. Things do not seem to be going well. This article (in Greek) speaks of “serious” differences. Source: Ant1. To date Cyprus has not managed to produce any gas. In a worst-case scenario, the consortium will walk away or the government will kick it out, with potential knock-on effects for relations with other energy companies with licences offshore Cyprus.
Energy: EuroAsia decisions. The government will decide whether or not to have any financial involvement in the EuroAsia Interconnector Project to link Israel, Cyprus and Greece via a high-voltage underwater electricity cable after it receives an independent report in mid-November. (Source: Cyprus Mail.) As we noted last week, the project has a new project manager.
Economy: IMF forecast. The IMF has revised down its biannual forecast for the Cyprus economy and now expects real GDP growth of 2.2% in 2023. (Source: Financial Mirror.) Subscribers to Sapienta Country Analysis Cyprus reports receive an updated forecast every month, so will already have seen that we revised real GDP growth down to 2.3% in August.
Politics: security. Historically the Cyprus economy has tended to benefit from the crises that befall its its neighbours. But it also has to worry about the potential fallout. The president, Nikos Christdoulides, has therefore announced additional security measures on the island. (Source: Cyprus Mail.)
Cyprus problem: Peace in Pyla? After a nasty clash in August between UN peacekeepers and people working for the Turkish Cypriot administration, which we covered in the August issue of Sapienta Country Analysis Cyprus, the head of the peacekeeping force (UNFICYP), Colin Stewart, announced that “an understanding” had been reached on Pyla. Some have challenged the contents of the deal but construction companies on both sides will be happy. (Source: UNFICYP).