Radio România Internațional

Tag: aid scheme

  • April 9, 2024

    April 9, 2024

    MEETING – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis is today meeting, in Bucharest, with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi. The talks that the latter had on Monday with Romanian officials such as Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu and Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja focused on the close collaboration between Romania and the IAEA in the development of the civil nuclear program and on the prospects for deepening cooperation in the energy field. The foreign official highlighted Romania’s international profile and its responsible and internationally recognized nuclear policy.

     

    DEFICIT – Romania’s trade balance deficit in the first two months of this year was 4.142 billion euros, by 228.4 million euros smaller than the one recorded in the same period in 2023, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, published on Tuesday. In February, a trade deficit of 2.174 billion euros was registered. Statistical data show that between January 1 and February 29, 2024, exports totaled 15.042 billion euros, and imports – 19.184 billion euros. Compared to the same period of last year, exports decreased by 0.1%, and imports by 1.2%. In the first two months of 2024, important shares in the structure of exports and imports are held by the product groups: machinery and transport equipment (47.3% for export and 36.3% for import) and other manufactured products (29.1% for export and 27.9% for import). The value of intra-EU27 exchanges of goods in the mentioned period was 11.045 billion euros for shipments and 14.111 billion euros for introductions, representing 73.4% of total exports and 73.6% of total imports.

     

    FISHING – The general ban on fishing began on Tuesday in all natural waters in Romania, according to an order approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment. Consequently, commercial and recreational activity is to be resumed on June 8, with some exceptions. The ban will last 60 days in the natural fishing habitats, while in the waters that form the state border with Ukraine it will last 45 days, being prohibited from April 16 to May 30. The fishing prohibition period is established depending on the reproduction season of the aquatic fauna, so that it is protected, with a view to sustainable exploitation. During the prohibition period, fishermen can carry out their activity in private lakes.

     

     

    EU – The European Commission has approved an aid scheme for Romanian businesses of approximately 2.5 billion euros. This is intended to protect companies affected by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Commission concluded that the reintroduction of support for Romanian companies remains necessary, adequate and proportionate to remedy the significant disturbances in the economy of a member state. The scheme aims to ensure that the affected companies continue to have enough liquidities.

     

    VISIT – The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, announced that he will make official visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He hailed what he called Qatar’s direct involvement in rescuing Romanian citizens from the Gaza Strip, the scene of the war between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, and said he wanted to reiterate his thanks to the Qatari leaders. In the United Arab Emirates, Ciolacu also said, he will hold talks on possible investments in the development of the Constanţa Port (south-east), the TAROM state owned airline and the Bucharest Airport.

     

    CARS – The number of new car registered in Romania went down by 22% in March compared to the same month last year and by more than 17% compared to the previous month, according to the Automobile Manufacturers and Importers Association. The electric car segment experienced a setback of almost 36% compared to the same period in 2023. As regards the market share depending on the engine, gasoline cars occupy the first place, with over 58%, followed by electric ones, with almost 24%, and Diesel, with almost 18%. In March 2024, the best selling 100% electric cars in Romania were Dacia Spring and Tesla

  • November 18, 2022 UPPDATE

    November 18, 2022 UPPDATE

    Aid — The European Commission approved, on Friday, an aid scheme worth approximately 200 million Euros (985 million lei), notified by Romania to support processors of agricultural products, in the context of the war waged by Russia against Ukraine – shows a EC press release. The measure addresses, in particular, operators in the milling, oils and fats, dairy products and animal feed industries. The scheme aims to provide liquidity to eligible beneficiaries who are affected by the current geopolitical situation and the rising energy costs. The commission found that Romanias framework aid scheme meets the stipulated conditions. Thus, the value of the aid will not exceed two million Euros per beneficiary, and the support is granted until December 31, 2023 at the latest.



    Schengen — The Austrian Interior Ministry officials have announced Viennas opposition to the admission of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia to the Schengen area of ​​free movement – the Austrian press reports, quoted by international news agencies. “It is an inopportune moment to vote on the enlargement now, when the system of external borders is not functional” – said the Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. Austria is currently dealing with an increased number of refugees who have passed through other EU states along the so-called Balkan route. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 90,000 have arrived at the Austrian border since the beginning of the year, and 75,000 of them were not previously registered in any other EU country. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, has said this week that Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia should join the free movement area without delay. Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Ireland and Cyprus are the only EU states that are not part of the Schengen area, to which, however, the non-EU countries Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein have been admitted.



    Drill – About 600 Romanian soldiers from Infantry Battalion 20 Dolj of the Southeast Multinational Brigade from Craiova (south) and allied soldiers from France, Poland, Portugal and the United States of America, with over 70 pieces of technical equipment, will participate, between November 21 – 25, in the joint training exercise Black Scorpions 22.8, at the Joint National Training Center (CNII) Getica in Cincu, Braşov county (centre). According to a statement sent on Friday by the Romanian Defense Ministry, the objectives of the exercise include the joint training of the military and, implicitly, increasing the cohesion of the trained structures through training exercises in the field and tactical exercises with combat firing.



    Rugby — Romania’s national rugby team meets the national team of Samoa, on Saturday, in Bucharest, in its last test match in November. In the previous matches, also at home, the Romanians beat Chile, 30-23, and lost to Uruguay, 16-21. Romania is qualified for the World Cup due next autumn, in France, where it will play in Group B, along with South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Tonga. Romanias matches are scheduled in the cities of Bordeaux and Lille. (LS)

  • Measures to manage the energy crisis

    Measures to manage the energy crisis

    In Romania, gas and electricity bills have skyrocketed in recent months, following the market liberalization and significant global increases. Many bills have doubled and, in some cases, increased 4-5 times, although there is a law under which the prices of these utilities are offset and capped for the period November 1, 2021 – March 30, 2022. In this context, the Romanian government has decided on new measures to protect the population and businesses from the effects of rising energy and gas prices.



    The measures will be applied for one year, guaranteeing the predictability and stability that citizens and the business environment need. Thus, from April 1, single rate tariffs will be applied for household and non-household consumers. As for the household consumers, those who will use up to 100 kilowatts of electricity per month will have a fixed rate of 0.68 lei/kwh. According to the authorities, there are currently over 4 million households that fall into this type of consumption. Instead, those who will consume between 100 and 300 kilowatts per month will pay a little more, namely 0.8 lei per kilowatt. Another 4 million households fall into this second category of consumption, the data show. For non-household customers – SMEs, public institutions, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, places of worship, town halls, universities, NGOs, as well as other such institutions – there will be a single rate tariff of 1 leu/kwh.



    For natural gas, household customers who will have an annual consumption of up to 1,200 cubic meters will benefit from a tariff of 0.31 lei/kw. For non-household consumers, the cost of natural gas will be 0.37 lei/kw. In the case of large energy consumers, electricity bills will be reduced by 20%, and other aid schemes will be adopted for natural gas. The budgetary impact for electricity and natural gas will be about 14.5 billion lei (2.93 billion Euros) by the end of this year. All these tariffs could be adopted by the government next week.



    On the other hand, the authorities also decided on a series of additional measures, without violating European rules, which would expose Romania to the infringement procedure. Thus, the rate of return on the supply cost will be of maximum 5% for suppliers and an additional tax is introduced for trading activity on the Romanian market, in order to discourage repeated transactions that may lead to higher prices. At the same time, the green certificates will be suspended until the end of 2022 and their validity will be extended with a period similar to that of suspension, a measure that will temporarily reduce the fiscal pressure on the budget, which will thus better support the measures to protect the population and the economy. According to the government, the implementation of the new measures after April 1 will allow the “sustainable” continuation of the states efforts to provide protection to the population and the business environment, which, for a year, will have a price stability while observing the free market rules. (LS)