The life of Romanians in Cyprus is no longer so easy. How much does it cost to live and why does a young man want to return to Romania. “Do you know how much I paid for the electricity?”

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The Romanians represent, numerically, the third foreign community in Cyprus, after the Greeks and the British, but the life of the Romanians on the island is no longer so easy and many of them would like to return to Romania.

According to the data available at the level of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), over 30,000 Romanians live in Cyprus.

Florin Jucan, originally from Alba Iulia, has been in Cyprus since 2003 and works as a storekeeper at the AEK Larnaca club, informs Sports Gazette.

“When I arrived here, it was like paradise. Everything was cheap, it was a big difference compared to Romania. Now everything is expensive, salaries are low, people can barely manage. I’ll stay for another year or two and return home”, stated Florin Jucan.

Florin explained that his salary is not too high, only about 1200 euros, but in addition the AEK club also pays his rent. Rents in Cyprus are very high and start from at least 500 euros for a studio apartment.

Another problem is the payment of utilities. “Being very hot, you can’t stay without air conditioning, and electricity is very expensive. I have now paid 200 euros for the last two months,” says Florin.

Another Romanian, a tavern owner, says that for two months of summer he paid 650 euros just for electricity, although he only has two air conditioners.

The Republic of Cyprus is one of the European countries with the highest energy prices. According to Eurostat, in the second part of 2023, the average in Cyprus was 0.36 euros per kWh, while in Romania it was 0.19 euros per kWh.

Food is also expensive. For example, in a Romanian store in Nicosia, a bag of puffs costs 0.80 euros, a bag of seeds costs 1.50 euros, and a small casserole is between 6.95 and 9.95 euros.