# Euro Crisis in Greece



## Chris Ward (May 13, 2009)

First although I have only been on the forum a few months I am glad Veronica posted a thread to new members as I get irritated at seeing the same questions asked over and over again. I hope I do not keep repeating myself if I do I'm sorry.

I just wondered how the possible demise and subsequesnt bail out of Greece from other EU countries has affected the cost of living in Cypus as it was reported in the newspapers here that only France and Germany were solvent Euro countries. Ireland has had the same problem as Greece but did not receive a bail out and has had to drastically cut it's welfare and public services. 

I have to say Cyprus in the media was closely linked to Greece's problems as being one of the most affected countries with their imports far exceeding their exports/Productivity therefore creating the possiblity of going Greece's way.

Hope everyone is having better weather than I am here as I live in the Brecon Beacons mid Wales and it is snow, snow and snow over the past three months :-(


Chris


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

interesting question Chris.... mmm

As far as I understand it, Greece has not been bailed out. According to the Maastricht Treaty, if a country goes into the Eurozone it will not be bailed out by the others however the others will back it politically as it moves to solve its problems. It seems a lot of pressure is being put onto Greece by the EU to go further in its measures because they aren't strong enough to get the country out of trouble but as you will see from the news there is rioting in Greece so who knows what's going to happen? 

I have not noticed what is happening in Greece impacting on Cyprus but then the government here doesn't seem to publicise much of what is going on here! The line seems to be, the less people know, the less they worry.... but that's a personal observation! 

Which media sources are linking Cyprus with Greece? I haven't heard it mentioned on BBC World or Euronews. They seem more concerned about Spain and Ireland than Cyprus. Also the Cyprus/Turkey situation seems to be of more concern than the Cyprus economy.

Personally I'm far more entertained by the government's attempt to force the oil companies to drop the fuel prices. The government ordered the oil companies to drop fuel prices as they said they were making too much profit (since when did the British Government do that?). The oil companies said they had not been involved in the decision-making process and they wouldn't sell fuel at that price and called a fuel strike! Currently few petrol stations in the Larnaca area are open and there are oil tankers parked on the motorway. As an amused observer who is attempting to learn about how things work here, I wonder who will win? The Government or the Oil Companies?


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

BabsM said:


> interesting question Chris.... mmm
> 
> Unfortunately Cyprus does tend to follow Greece in its cultural attitude to debt, borrowing, and reliance on an over expanded and bloated (and in my view generally inadequate) public service sector. Perhaps the biggest indicator that Cyprus may be heading in the same direction is the beginning of European Comission infringement actions left, right and centre over failure to follow EU Directives. Greece has been (and continues to be) fined hundreds of thousands of euros a day for failing to implement directives and in some areas (health and safety, education, public sector reform etc) Cyprus is following. Greece also has a massive (untaxable) black market economy equating to c.30% of GDP - and there is a thriving black market here (unregistered companies, undeclared income). To be fair the government has been trying to do something about it, but much of the old (and now redundant) governmental infrastructure is still there. It seems to me that rather than make a relative handful of senior civil servants redundant, or give them early retirement, many of these positions are being maintained out of 'tradition', together with ludicrous bonuses (it was revealed yesterday as part of the financial review that some civil servants are recieving bonuses for turning up to work on time!)
> 
> ...


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## zeebo (Nov 15, 2009)

Ahh i heard some people talking about the petrol strike and am looking down on a massive tailback to a petrolina station on MakariouIII.. it all makes sense now! 

What doesn't make sense is why the Cypriots insist on beeping the horns constantly whilst in a queue.. even at 6am!!... yeah right everyone will move out of your way and allow you to go first if you beep...


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

while there are some petrol stations open in Limassol, Nicosia and Larnaca there is not a single one open in paphos. We have been unable to get any petrol since Monday night and as we were not aware of what was happening on Monday we didnt fill up before they closed
Luckily we do have a half full tank in one of our vehicles so we are just being very careful not to go anywhere which is not urgent to try to conserve what we have. Other people are not so fortunate and we know of many who have just enough left in their tanks to limp to a petrol station once they re-open so the dare not go anywhere.
On the up side, the roads are so quiet when we do go out.


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## jkelly (May 21, 2009)

*amazed*



Veronica said:


> while there are some petrol stations open in Limassol, Nicosia and Larnaca there is not a single one open in paphos. We have been unable to get any petrol since Monday night and as we were not aware of what was happening on Monday we didnt fill up before they closed
> Luckily we do have a half full tank in one of our vehicles so we are just being very careful not to go anywhere which is not urgent to try to conserve what we have. Other people are not so fortunate and we know of many who have just enough left in their tanks to limp to a petrol station once they re-open so the dare not go anywhere.
> On the up side, the roads are so quiet when we do go out.


Hi Veronica

The earlier thread said there was no mention of Cyprus in the euro discussion and that seem's to be the case - 

We intend moving over in the next couple of years and doing research as you should do - and when I am looking at the euro issues etc and maps are put up showing the state of each country involved Cyprus is never shown - also the Brit weather map on tv misses off Cyprus.

This reinforces my belief in our desission to come over - Cyprus is a little piece of heaven that carries on and leaves the world to it's own devices.

That's utopia!

Sorry getting a bit carried away!

Jim


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

jkelly said:


> Hi Veronica
> 
> The earlier thread said there was no mention of Cyprus in the euro discussion and that seem's to be the case -
> 
> ...



Hi jim, you are welcome to get as carried away as you want. However although Cyprus is to me the best place to be it is not without its faults and it would be wrong to look at it as perfect. There is no perfect place, even the best have things which can be very frustrating and if you come expecting to have found perfection you will very qucikly find yourself being disillusioned. 
I love it here and have no intention of leaving if I can possibly help it but I am aware of the irritations and frustrations which we encounter on daily basis but I accept these things as part of everyday living.
Life here is so much better than life in the UK as long as you have the income to sustain it.

Veronica


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## zeebo (Nov 15, 2009)

Hi Jim,

Cyprus is not heaven. I think it probably once was before the expanses of ugly housing went up everywhere but it is sadly looking quit spoiled. for example cape greco has a landfill site overlooking it and there seems to be rubbish everywhere. Apparently its got better but even on lara beach (3 miles down dirt tracks with no shops etc) we still found litter and junk. Also in cyprus national parks double up as 4x4 tracks and nature reserves as illegal hunting hotspots.. There are so may "hunting prohibited" signs with shotgun holes in and cartridges everywhere. 

Im looking forward to going over to the north soon as it is not so bad (i have heard). 

Cyprus is still a very beautiful place and very different from the UK though so worth coming. I am slowly learning but there are some very nice things too.. example: People are angry and shout here, at first i took this to be real aggression like in the UK, but it is all just hot air and pretty much ignored. Here if someone is driving like an A-hole people will beep and shout "malaga" etc but you will never see the offending person pull over to fight like the do in the UK... 

Its actually quite fun to drive like a hole and then go round shouting malaga at people without fear of reprisal, give them the finger and call them a shistos... Hey i might see if i can get a shotgun to take out some flamingos and then empty my car of McDonalds wrappers into the baths od Aphrodite! JOKE!! dont kill me...


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## handsomeguy31 (Jan 21, 2010)

zeebo said:


> Hi Jim,
> 
> Cyprus is not heaven. I think it probably once was before the expanses of ugly housing went up everywhere but it is sadly looking quit spoiled. for example cape greco has a landfill site overlooking it and there seems to be rubbish everywhere. Apparently its got better but even on lara beach (3 miles down dirt tracks with no shops etc) we still found litter and junk. Also in cyprus national parks double up as 4x4 tracks and nature reserves as illegal hunting hotspots.. There are so may "hunting prohibited" signs with shotgun holes in and cartridges everywhere.
> 
> ...



Yes same in a lot of countries. If you tailgate, beep,etc in the UK its classed as offensive and will cause trouble. Me I just ignore it when it happens. Same with pushing in queues,etc. Its a recipe for a brawl doing that. I was waiting for a bus in Russia 2 years back and it was around -22C and a bus came and some bloke just pushed in front of me and got on and he didnt see nothing wrong with it.

But in Cyprus there is huge wastage like in the UK but the country aint got the power to sustain it. Without getting into race issues you have to look at the amount of asylum seekers they take per population. The UK is bad but Cyprus takes 10 times as many per population. Its stuff like this that needs cutbacks instead of targeting Cypriot petrol station owners first.


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## Chris Ward (May 13, 2009)

I am a bit lost on this discussion now but it is interesting to see a good debate being held and not the usual how much does it cost to live there and will I find work.
I find this type of discussion much more useful in grasping the life and culture of Cyprus so I am glad I posted a topical thread hope everyone else is and no one is offended.

Furthering somwhat along the line of the last post a survey in the UK says that if labour wins the next election a HUGE number of the British population that have worked here all their lives will be leaving. Another survey says that Cameron should pledge a referendum on our EU membership in order to win the election.
I do wonder where the grass is greener as I am hoping for a piece of that grass (smile)

Chris


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Chris Ward said:


> I am a bit lost on this discussion now but it is interesting to see a good debate being held and not the usual how much does it cost to live there and will I find work.
> I find this type of discussion much more useful in grasping the life and culture of Cyprus so I am glad I posted a topical thread hope everyone else is and no one is offended.
> 
> Furthering somwhat along the line of the last post a survey in the UK says that if labour wins the next election a HUGE number of the British population that have worked here all their lives will be leaving. Another survey says that Cameron should pledge a referendum on our EU membership in order to win the election.
> ...


For me the Cypriot grass is far greener than the UK grass if only figuritively
Now of course, that could change in the next few years as nothing is ever constant, no one can know what is around the corner. 
There are lots of things that annoy me about Cyprus and the attitude of the Cypriots but there are far more things that I love about Cyprus and every time I go to the UK to visit family within a few days I can't wait to get back here.


but back to the original post, most Cypriots you talk to do believe that Cyprus will be affected in a big way by the problems which Greece has. We are heavily tied in with Greece in economics.

Veronica


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## jkelly (May 21, 2009)

*not put off*



Chris Ward said:


> I am a bit lost on this discussion now but it is interesting to see a good debate being held and not the usual how much does it cost to live there and will I find work.
> I find this type of discussion much more useful in grasping the life and culture of Cyprus so I am glad I posted a topical thread hope everyone else is and no one is offended.
> 
> Furthering somwhat along the line of the last post a survey in the UK says that if labour wins the next election a HUGE number of the British population that have worked here all their lives will be leaving. Another survey says that Cameron should pledge a referendum on our EU membership in order to win the election.
> ...


Well I started something there didn't I! like a bush fire in Austrailia!

What ever you say Britain is well and truly broken, If you were here you would see how fear is in the streets, there are two generations of people who are breeding bad manners ( sound like my Dad!) violence and drug addicts, also two generations of people who don't want to work but our government panders to them and pays them for it -still sound like my Dad -

Sorry about all that 

I'm comming over and I don't think it will be a bed of roses, don't like the thorns -
I think a bed of rose pettals will be OK.

Still can't wait to intigrate with the Cypriots and start a new life.

Jim


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