The Republic of Cyprus, with its 840,000 people, has been in the Eurozone for less than five years. It and its banks burned through mountains of euros faster than anyone could count. Now they need a bailout whose magnitude balloons every time someone blinks. Yet, Cyprus has something other Eurozone debt-sinners don’t have: Russian money flowing back to Russia!
Europe – Cyprus
The Ballooning Cyprus Fiasco
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Ballooning Cyprus Fiasco
In June, Cyprus had held its nose and requested aid from the Troika, those despised austerity thugs made up of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund that have wreaked so much havoc in Greece. This week, these despised Troika inspectors are swarming again over Cyprus. And each time they do, the numbers balloon. How can such a small country blow through so much money? Well….
Cyprus and the EU: Bitter Medicine
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Cyprus and the EU: Bitter Medicine
In Cyprus, it’s panic time. €1.8 billion is needed by June 30. That’s just the beginning. Its banks have been eviscerated by Greek government bonds, Greek corporate debt, a real estate bubble that collapsed, and a title-deed scandal that they colluded in. It has a communist president and vast deposits of natural gas. Russia and China hover nearby. And it points out, unwittingly, why no country should ever do what the EU Summit will focus on: transfer even more sovereignty to the EU.
Manna for Bankrupt Cyprus
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Manna for Bankrupt Cyprus
In Greece’s chaotic wake bobs the listing Republic of Cyprus, soon to be the fifth Eurozone country, out of seventeen, to get a bailout. By June 30. Only last year’s €2.5 billion loan from Russia has kept it afloat. It’s economy is shrinking, unemployment is at a record, and real estate is collapsing after a phenomenal bubble and a nationwide title-deed scandal that has taken down the banks. But Cyprus has something—and it’s huge—that no other troubled Eurozone country has.
Another Eurozone Country Bites the Dust
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Another Eurozone Country Bites the Dust
Real estate in Cyprus has been popular with foreigners—they own 100,000 homes in a country with 803,000 people. Turns out, it’s Cyprus’ national sport sponsored by dumb money. Now the underlying title-deed scandal is unraveling the finances not only of expat owners, but also of the banks and the government … who are hushing it up.