Figure It – Episode 13: Things you didn’t know about UNFICYP (7/3/2024)

In this 13th episode of Figure It  Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to James Ker-Lindsay, Visiting Professor at the University of Kent, Research Associate at LSE and producer of the popular conflict/international relations YouTube channel called “Prof James Ker-Lindsay”, to discuss some little known facts about UNFICYP - the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus that commemorated its 60th anniversary on 3 March. Prof Ker-Lindsay started his career researching how UNFICYP came into being and explains how it nearly didn’t happen.

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 13: Things you didn’t know about UNFICYP (7/3/2024)

Figure It – Episode 12 (Energy Series 3) What does ENI’s latest gas discovery offshore Cyprus actually mean? (22/2/2024)

In this 12th episode of Figure It and the third in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Peter Stevenson, East Mediterranean Editor at the specialist oil and gas publication, Middle East Economic Survey (MEES). They discuss the announcement made on 15 February by the Italian oil and gas company, ENI, about its natural gas discovery in the Cronos reserve of the Republic of Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). What did the rather technical announcement mean? And can we expect natural gas to be exported from there by late 2026 or early 2027, as…

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 12 (Energy Series 3) What does ENI’s latest gas discovery offshore Cyprus actually mean? (22/2/2024)

Figure It – Episode 11 (Energy Series 2): East Med Energy and the Cyprus problem: why it is in the EU’s strategic security interests to get involved (8/2/2024)

In this 11th episode of Figure It and the second in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Ahmet Sözen, a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) and a veritable ‘ideas factory’ when it comes to new approaches to the Cyprus problem. Prof Sözen is also part of the Eastern Mediterranean Initiative of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and has recently produced papers with Diplomeds on Eastern Mediterranean energy issues. In this episode we discuss the proposals put forward in these papers, such “engagement without recognition”…

Continue ReadingFigure It – Episode 11 (Energy Series 2): East Med Energy and the Cyprus problem: why it is in the EU’s strategic security interests to get involved (8/2/2024)

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)