Figure It – Episode 10 (Energy Series 1): What happened at the government’s regional energy gathering on 29-30 May? (5/6/2023)

In this episode of Figure It and the first in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen and analyst Andromachi Sophocleous put on their professional energy hats to analyse the regional energy workshop of oil and gas companies on 29-30 May.

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 10 (Energy Series 1): What happened at the government’s regional energy gathering on 29-30 May? (5/6/2023)

Figure It – Episode 9: Mustafa Besim unpacks Turkey’s economic protocol with the Turkish Cypriots (10/6/2022)

In this episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Dr Mustafa Besim, Professor of Economics at Eastern Mediterranean University and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, about the economy of northern Cyprus, in particular the latest economic and financial protocol worth around 240 million euro signed between the Turkish Cypriot administration and Turkey. What are the protocol’s strengths, what are its weaknesses and what should be the priority for Turkish Cypriot economic policy?   

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 9: Mustafa Besim unpacks Turkey’s economic protocol with the Turkish Cypriots (10/6/2022)

Figure It – Episode 8: Migration in Cyprus: unpacking the numbers with Nasia Hadjigeorgiou (24/11/2021)

In this episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Dr Nasia Hadjigeorgiou, Assistant Professor in Human Rights and Transitional Justice at the Cyprus campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), about the many and often confusing figures cited by Republic of Cyprus officials about various categories of non-Cypriots: regular migrants, irregular migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees and even non-Cypriot children. What do all these categories mean? Do the government’s figures add up? Are the claims that people are being sent over the UN-monitored buffer zone (Green Line) by the Turkish government credible? And how do various…

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 8: Migration in Cyprus: unpacking the numbers with Nasia Hadjigeorgiou (24/11/2021)

Figure It – Episode 7: East Med geopolitics with Madalina Vicari (21/6/2021)

In this seventh episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen discusses recent geopolitical developments in the region with independent analyst Madalina Vicari. How significant is the EU’s application to become an observer member of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMFG)? With the Republic of Cyprus will holding the presidency of the EMGF and EMGF-member France holding the EU’s rotating presidency of the European Council in the first half of 2022, what can we expect from the EMFG? Will Turkey ever join? Are we heading for a rapprochement between Turkey and various key players in the region? And if so, what does it mean for Cyprus?

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 7: East Med geopolitics with Madalina Vicari (21/6/2021)

Figure It – Episode 6: Halloumi/Hellim and the Green Line Regulation (20/5/2021)

In this sixth episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen discusses the famous squeaky cheese of Cyprus, known as hellim in Turkish and halloumi in Greek, with the former president of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and current MP with the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Fikri Toros. In April of this year the European Commission “registered Χαλλούμι/Halloumi/Hellim as a protected designation of origin (PDO)”. This means that only hellim/halloumi produced in Cyprus “according to the product specification” may now use the registered name. We also discuss the obstacles put in the way of the Green Line regulation (European Council Regulation 866/2004) and how these longstanding issues prevent intra-island trade form reaching its full potential.

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 6: Halloumi/Hellim and the Green Line Regulation (20/5/2021)

Figure It – Episode 5: Chevron and East Med gas (16/9/2020)

In this week’s episode, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks about the commercial aspects of natural gas with the East Mediterranean Editor of Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), Peter Stevenson. The recent bid by US energy giant Chevron to buy out Noble Energy - the lead company in the Cyprus Aphrodite and Israeli Leviathan and Tamar fields - has been challenged by the activist investor, Elliott Management. What is the difference between the two companies and what would either company’s ownership mean for East Med gas development prospects?

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 5: Chevron and East Med gas (16/9/2020)

Figure It – Episode 2: Comparing notes about the economic policy response in Cyprus with Mustafa Besim (2/6/2020)

In this week's episode I talk to fellow economist Professor Mustafa Besim about economic issues in Cyprus. With the lockdown hitting small business and households, we compare notes about the economic policy response on both sides of the island and discuss how effective they can be.

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 2: Comparing notes about the economic policy response in Cyprus with Mustafa Besim (2/6/2020)

Figure It – Episode 1: Talking Covid-19 in Cyprus with Rüştü Yücel and Christophoros Christophorou. What comes next? (4/5/2020)

As new Covid-19 virus cases hit zero in the northern part of Cyprus and single digits in the south, I talk to Rüştü Yücel and Christoforos Christoforos how this compares with elsewhere, what it means for tourism and whether life can really ever get back to normal.

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 1: Talking Covid-19 in Cyprus with Rüştü Yücel and Christophoros Christophorou. What comes next? (4/5/2020)