Radio România Internațional

Tag: car scrapping program

  • August 1, 2023

    August 1, 2023

    MARKUP – The markup for 14 categories of foodstuffs is curbed for a
    limited period of three months according to a government decree adopted in late
    June. Prices for dairy products, meat, vegetable and fruit are therefore
    expected to go down. Farmers will not be obliged to set a cap on prices,
    government officials say. Failure to observe the new legislation will incur
    fines up to 400,000 EUR.




    CAR SCRAPPING – A new car scrapping scheme
    was launched in Romania with a view to scrapping old vehicles owned by
    individual car owners. Apart from the funds provided by the Environment
    Ministry, accounting for 80% of the program’s budget, local authorities also
    contribute 20%. Whereas the first phase in April was addressed to City Halls,
    in the second phase individual car owners can apply. The deadline for
    applications is set for August 31 or until the funds are depleted. The number
    of beneficiaries was set according to the population of each administrative
    unit. The program was supposed to kick off in 2022, but has been repeatedly
    delayed.




    3SI – Bucharest will host a new Summit
    of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) on September 6, held under the high
    patronage of president Klaus Iohannis. The summit will be followed by the 3SI
    Business Forum. Attending will be Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciucă and Prime
    Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The 3SI brings together 12 EU member states from the
    Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech
    Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and
    Slovenia. Political and economic support for Ukraine will rank high on the
    summit’s agenda.




    BORDER POLICE – The Border Police
    announced increased traffic on Romania’s borders despite additional measures to
    ease traffic. The overcrowding of borders is owed to many Romanians in the
    Diaspora coming home to spend their summer holidays with their families and
    friends, while many Romanians choose holiday destinations abroad. The
    authorities urge drivers to use all border crossing points. The Arad Border
    Police spokesman Alexandru Dincă said that border police staff are working at
    full capacity and additional control lanes have been added depending on the
    dynamic of traffic flows. At the same time, mobile control stations will be
    deployed in order to ensure optimal border crossing.




    UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment rate
    stood at 5.4% in June, down by 0.1% compared to May, the National Statistics
    Institute reports. The number of unemployed stood at nearly 445 thousand in
    June, a decrease also compared to the same period of 2022. Broken down in terms
    of gender, the unemployment rate for men exceeded that of women by 0.8%. Youth
    unemployment stands at some 22%.




    JUSTICE – Justice Minister Alina
    Gorghiu met with US Ambassador in Romania, Kathleen Kavalec. The agenda for
    talks included bilateral judicial cooperation, combating human trafficking and
    the digitization of the justice system in Romania. Minister Gorghiu said the
    Strategic Partnership with the USA is key to promoting human rights and the
    rule of law. The Romanian official hailed the good level of bilateral relations
    in the justice field, and suggested new areas of cooperation, such as legal
    education in Romanian schools. Alina Gorghiu highlighted the importance of a
    predictable legislation for the development of the business sector and boosting
    foreign direct investment in Romanian economy. The Romanian official expressed
    Romania’s firm commitment to combat corruption and implement the
    recommendations of the 2022 Rule of Law Report of the Venice Commission. With
    regard to human trafficking, Alina Gorghiu said the Justice Ministry has
    fulfilled its obligations as per the 2022 Report on Human Trafficking and other
    country-specific reports in this field.




    SPORT – Romanian athletes on Monday won
    five medals – three gold, one silver and one bronze – at the Francophone Games
    held in Kinshasa, Congo. In wrestling, our athletes scooped two gold medals,
    one silver and one bronze. Romania’s table tennis team also won gold after
    defeating Tunisia in the final. On Sunday, Romania grabbed three medals – two
    gold and one silver – in the free wrestling competition. Romania thus ranks
    first in the medal standings with 7 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze, followed by
    Morocco and Cameroon. 57 Romanian athletes represent Romania at the 9th
    edition of the Francophone Games in athletics, women’s basketball, free
    wrestling, African wrestling, road bicycle racing, table tennis and judo. The
    competition is hosted by Congo over July 28 – August 6. (VP)







  • Funds for the environment

    Funds for the environment

    The Bucharest
    government has approved the budget of the Environmental Fund Administration
    (EFA), which allows the start of the Rabla 2023 car scrapping program by the
    end of the month. The Rabla Classic and Rabla Plus
    programs have an increased budget, which this year is 1.5 billion lei (305
    million euros). This year’s edition brings two major changes compared to
    previous years. Thus, for the Classic Rabla program, the
    cancellation premium increases from 6,000 lei (1,200 euros), as it was last
    year, to 7,000 lei (1,400 euros) to cover the 16% inflation rate registered at
    the end of 2022. in total, with two scrapping premiums and a low-emissions
    engine, you can get almost a 3,000 euro discount, that is, a quarter of the
    price of a new volume car with basic equipment.




    In the Rabla
    plus program, through which the state offers a bonus of almost 11,000
    euros for electric cars, the Ministry of the Environment introduced a threshold
    of 75,000 euros for the maximum value of the new car. There is also a new
    program – Rabla Local, which will be developed and implemented in
    collaboration with local town halls. The budget for this new program is 240
    million lei (49 million euros) and 20% of the total is to be covered by the
    local authorities. That is, 2,400 lei (490 euros) will be paid from the EFA
    budget, and 600 lei (120 euros) from the local budget. Thus, the beneficiary
    will receive a total of 3,000 lei (610 euros) for each car older than 15 years
    that will be scrapped.




    At the same time, in
    2023, the program for bicycle lanes continues, with a budget of 50 million lei
    (10 million euros), but also Rabla for electrical appliances, with
    a budget of 75 million lei (15 million euros ). The government will also
    increase funds for environmental programs, such as the Green House, for the
    installation of photovoltaic panels, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said. He stated
    that the number of beneficiaries is increasing. PM Nicolae Ciuca:




    We decided to double the
    funds earmarked for such projects. Approximately 2 billion Euro will therefore
    are available for the installation of photovoltaic panels, and that could
    benefit around 80 thousand households.




    And since we talk
    about renewable sources, in order to strengthen its development strategy in
    this field, Public Power Corp (PPC), the largest utility company in Greece, is
    acquiring the operations in Romania of the Italian group Enel, in exchange for
    1.26 billion euros. According to experts, through cheap production costs, PPC
    will thus double its production from renewable sources, after, in Greece, due
    to restrictions, it was forced to reduce its market share. Since 2005, Enel has
    played an important role in the energy market in Romania, where it has over 3
    million customers. Through this acquisition, the Greek company, which has 6
    million customers, is going to strengthen its geostrategic position in the
    Balkan region, becoming the largest player in South-Eastern Europe. (MI)