Tax – In Romania, part of the fiscal measures recently adopted by the coalition government will come into force as of August 1. Thus, as of Monday, the excise tax on tobacco will increase, from cigarette packs to the e-cigarette liquid, and the tax on gambling winnings will be augmented. Changes have also been made to the salaries of employees in constructions, agriculture and the food industry, in the sense of lowering the ceiling starting from which exemptions are made. Other changes to the Fiscal Code will be applied from the beginning of next year, one of the sectors targeted being the hospitality industry where the VAT will increase from 5% to 9%. The value added tax will also increase from 9% to 19% for very sweet drinks or free-alcohol beer. Another VAT increase will be for the trading of houses larger than 120 square meters or over 120,000 Euros.
NATO – A unitary approach to the Eastern Flank is the most efficient way to defend every inch of the NATO territory, and the presence of the American troops in Romania is a real proof of the US commitment to its security, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said. He participated on Saturday at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Military Base (south-east) in the battle flag presentation ceremony of an American unit additionally deployed in Romania (the 2nd Combat Team Brigade within the 101st Airborne Division). The PM thanked the American soldiers deployed in Romania for their effort and contribution to the security of the country. “Your presence is very welcome. Together we are strong”, Nicolae Ciucă told them. He recalled that, for a better adaptation to the new security paradigm, the Romanian authorities, together with the NATO allies, are in an advanced stage of implementing the multinational battle group led by France, with the participation of troops from Belgium and the Netherlands. In turn, the commander of the 101st Airborne Division, Major General Joseph McGee, said that the mission of the American division is to defend allies and to defend peace. He appreciated the “warm welcome” given by Romania, showing that the Romanians professionalism and combat training is “impressive”.
Olympiad — The PM Nicolae Ciucă congratulated the Romanian students, teachers and coordinators for the outstanding results obtained in this years International Linguistic Olympiad. The education minister, Sorin Cîmpeanu, has also praised the results of the Romanian team at this competition: one gold medal, one silver and one bronze. “Together with the young people who obtained excellent results in other subjects at the Olympiad, who have recently written success stories, they show that Romanian education is performing well and has a beautiful future. Good luck! We are proud of you” the PM Ciucă wrote in a message posted on the Governments Facebook page. We remind you that, this year, the Romanian students obtained the 3rd place in the world at the International Geography Olympiad and the second place in Europe. In Physics, the Romanian students won four gold and one silver medals, and in Mathematics, with two gold and four silver, the Romanian team ranked 5th in the world, out of 104 participating countries, and 1st in Europe.
Sighisoara festival — Knight fights, demonstrations about the healing power of fairies, fairs, theater or medieval dances – these are some of the surprises that have been announced for Saturday, the second day of the 28th edition of the Sighişoara Medieval Festival, in central Romania, organized under the High Patronage of Her Majesty Margareta Custodian of the Romanian Crown. The Festival program also includs a painting workshop for children, an archaic music workshop and a horse riding and archery workshop. We recall that Sighişoara is the only inhabited medieval fortress in southeastern Europe.
Covid – 7,532 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were registered in 24 hours in Romania, almost 1,300 less than the previous day – the Health Ministry announced on Saturday. The infection rate in 14 days, at national level, is 3.09 per thousand inhabitants. All in all, since the start of the pandemic, around 3,060,000 cases of infection have been registered in Romania. On the other hand, the first two deaths of people infected with monkey pox, outside Africa, were announced on Friday by Spain and Brazil, but it is not known if the respective virus has caused the deaths. The two deaths in Brazil and Spain bring to seven the number of deaths reported worldwide since May. The World Health Organization last week declared this disease a global health emergency, after approximately 16,000 cases have already been reported in 75 countries, many of them in Europe.
Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan qualified to the final of the WTA tournament in Warsaw, after defeating Katerina Baindl (from Ukraine) on Saturday, 7-5, 7-5. On Sunday, she will be up against the French Caroline Garcia, seed no. 5. The two have never faced each other before in the professional circuit. The Warsaw tournament has total prizes up for grabs worth 250 million dollars. (LS)
