Radio România Internațional

Tag: energy

  • US – EU trade war?

    US – EU trade war?

     

    Not without other economic strengths, such as being the largest Romanian river port and a university city, or its position next to the Moldovan and Ukrainian borders, Galati has been revolving for decades around its steelworks, in turn the largest in the country.

     

    Opened in 1966, the plant had over 50,000 employees six years later. A 2011 survey showed that two-thirds of the population of Galati had worked or were still working in the mill or in its related plants. The city and county’s star football team itself, a champion of Romania 14 years ago, is called “Oţelul” (“Steel”).

     

    After the collapse of the communist dictatorship, the plant was privatised. Today it is owned by Liberty House Group, founded by the Indian-born British businessman Sanjeev Gupta. And it is now feeling the full impact of the general crisis in the energy-intensive European industry.

     

    On Wednesday, dozens of Liberty Galati employees protested over delays in the payment of salaries and other rights. The plant has been out of work for 9 months, and its management obtained court approval for a settlement procedure which allows for a 4-month postponement of the payment of creditors’ claims.

     

    For the time being, the Galati steelworkers are not considering an all-out strike, and say they are still waiting for clarifications from the management. The Social-Democratic MEP Dan Nica, who has been living in Galaţi for 40 years, warns against the danger of the plant closing, which would leave thousands of families without incomes:

     

    Dan Nica: “The European industry is in the worst situation it has ever been. The Galaţi plant is in great danger of ceasing its operations, and tens of thousands of people may be losing their jobs. The same is true for the aluminium industry, the same is true for the cement industry, the chemical fertiliser industry, because we failed to take appropriate measures: high energy prices, imports from countries outside the European Union that are made with high carbon dioxide emissions and that have invaded the European Union market, the lack of financing from any source, EU programmes, the European Investment Bank that refuses to finance all these programmes.”

     

    In addition, experts say, the increase in American duties on steel imports will severely impact the EU steel industry and implicitly Romania. The MEP Iuliu Winkler (Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania:

     

    Iuliu Winkler: “This means adding an extra 25% to the costs, so it actually comes to deepen the crisis affecting the steel industry in both the European Union and Romania, because it is a crisis generated, first and foremost, by the price of energy. Energy is about 3 times more expensive in Europe than in the United States and that destroys the whole concept of ​​European competitiveness.”

     

    In terms of volume, Romania is the third-largest European steel exporter to the United States and, together with Germany, the main aluminium exporter. (AMP)

  • Energy price caps, extended

    Energy price caps, extended

    In Romania, the energy price cap will further apply after April 1.

     

     

    The government in Bucharest has announced the extension of the electricity and natural gas price cap. This will apply after the end of next month, when the current price compensation mechanism was due to expire. For electricity, the cap will be extended for three months, until the end of June, and for natural gas, the extension will be for one year, until March 31, 2026. This extension will respect the scheme that is currently in force and aims to protect citizens’ incomes, said Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja. According to him, the ministry opted to extend the energy price capping period because, as calculations show, had it been liberalized now, it would have prompted increases in bills ranging from 60% to 100% for 95% of the consumption points. He specified that the one-year extension of the natural gas cap is aimed at restoring deposits for next winter, which would be done at low prices.

     

    Burduja also explained that, in making the decision to extend the cap, it was considered the fact that, in recent months, for reasons unrelated to Romania, prices on international markets have increased significantly, after the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine was halted. The price of gas has increased by up to 65% on the European market and the price of electricity by around 25%. Sebastian Burduja also said that the compensation-cap scheme ensured, according to Eurostat data, the fifth lowest price for electricity and the fourth lowest price for gas in the entire European Union. For natural gas, the maximum price will remain the same for another year, until March 31, 2026, because, the Energy Minister specified, at the end of the current cold season, deposits will reach a very low level, and their refill will mean an increased demand for gas, which will implicitly lead to price increases and much higher bills next winter for the population.

     

    In the meantime, the Ministry of Labor will develop a support mechanism, energy cards or vouchers that will later be granted to vulnerable people as support to cover costs. The Government’s decision to extend the electricity and natural gas price cap  was taken on the same day that Hidroelectrica, a state-owned company and the main producer and supplier of electricity in Romania, announced an increase in electricity prices by approximately 60% starting April 1. Minister Burduja recommends  Romanians to constantly check the website of the National Energy Regulatory Authority and opt for the best offer. (EE)

  • February 27, 2025 UPDATE

    February 27, 2025 UPDATE

    ENERGY The Romanian government passed an emergency order to extend the cap on electricity prices beyond the 31st of March deadline, until 30th June this year, and the one on natural gas prices until the beginning of April next year. The latter move is intended to prevent a rise in natural gas prices when the stocks for next winter are refilled. The energy minister Sebastian Burduja said recently that the government wishes to protect Romanian households and support the competitiveness of Romanian businesses. After the energy market was deregulated in January 2021, Romania was one of the European countries the worst hit by soaring electricity and gas prices.

     

    DEFICIT Romania’s budget deficit reached 0.58% of GDP in January, as against 0.45% in the same month last year, according to data made public by the finance ministry on Thursday. The institution said total revenues amounted to almost RON 47 billion, down 1.4%, amid lower EU funding and some current returns, such as VAT and excise duties. Expenditure, on the other hand, which amounts to RON 58 billion, went up by 4.5% compared to the corresponding period last year. The finance ministry mentions that this year’s state budget is based on an economic growth rate of 2.5% and a budget deficit of 7% of GDP. In 2024, the deficit went up to 8.65% of GDP, from 5.61% in 2023.

     

    FARMERS Romanian farmers stand in solidarity with their counterparts in Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria, who are staging protests against EU agricultural policies, which they see as unfair, and against massive imports of agricultural products from third countries. The Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation, which includes a number of Romanian organisations in the field, said in a statement that Romanian farmers are faced with market distortions caused by duty free imports from Ukraine, the negative impact of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement on the competitiveness of European agricultural production, and by a growing bureaucratic burden caused by EU regulations. All of these pose a threat to food security, destroy local supply chains and affect farmers’ incomes, the Alliance says. Its representatives view the protests as a strong signal that the current agricultural policies must be revised in order to ensure a sustainable future for farmers across the European Union.

     

    INVESTIGATION Călin Georgescu, the far-right front-runner in the cancelled presidential elections in Romania, is under criminal investigation for 60 days, after being questioned by the General Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday. While inquiries are being conducted, he is not allowed to leave the country and must check in with the police regularly. Georgescu is accused of six offences, some in aggravated form, including instigation to actions against the rule of law and presenting false information and giving false statements in respect of his wealth declaration and the funding of his election campaign.

     

    TATE BROTHERS The Romanian body investigating organised crime and terrorism confirmed that the case prosecutor allowed Andrew and Tristan Tate to leave Romania, but emphasised that the brothers are still under criminal investigation and must return to Romania. The two, who are holding dual British-American citizenship, are believed to have left the country on Thursday morning on board a private plane, heading for Florida. They were first arrested three years ago and are charged with rape, kidnapping and money laundering. Last week, the Financial Times wrote that the current administration in Washington is putting pressure on Romania to cancel the restrictions against the Tate brothers, which the Romanian authorities have denied.

     

     

    TARIFFS The tariffs the US could introduce on trade with the European Union would have less impact on Romania, as the country’s main trade partners are EU member states, said the National Bank chief economist Valentin Lazea. He added that 72% of Romania’s foreign trade is with EU states and mentioned the example of tariffs applied in the past on steel and aluminium, which did not affect Romania much, given that exports of these metals to the US are negligible. Lazea warned however that there will be an inflationary effect of the global increase in tariffs, which will push prices up. The US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, in the first meeting of his cabinet at the White House, that he will soon levy 25% customs duties on European products imported into the United States. (AMP)

  • February 22, 2025 UPDATE

    February 22, 2025 UPDATE

    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau of Romania announced that it decided on Saturday to admit the registration of the Protocol on the establishment of the electoral alliance “Romania Forward”, signed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), in the ruling coalition, in order to support Crin Antonescu’s candidacy in the presidential elections. Antonescu is also backed by the group of ethnic minorities in the Romanian Parliament. The Central Electoral Bureau for the election of the president of Romania in May was selected on Friday. The Bureau is made up of 5 judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the president and vice-presidents of the Permanent Electoral Authority and one representative of each party in Parliament. Parties, political or electoral alliances, ethnic minority organisations and independent candidates will be able to submit their candidacies by March 15, after which the Central Electoral Bureau is to rule on their validity. The election campaign begins on April 4 and ends on May 3, with the vote scheduled on May 4 and the second round on May 18. In December the Constitutional Court cancelled the presidential election over foreign interference in the electoral process. Thousands of Romanians, supporters of the independent sovereigntist candidate Călin Georgescu, who came out first in the first election round in December, took to the streets again in Bucharest on Saturday to demand that the elections be resumed with the second round.

     

    MIDDLE EAST Romania’s interim president Ilie Bolojan said on Saturday that Romania welcomes the release of the 6 Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza, one of whom has dual, Israeli and Romanian citizenship. “We take this opportunity to reiterate our support for implementing the ceasefire agreement and releasing the hostages, as well as for the urgent provision of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza,” president Bolojan posted on social media. He also mentioned that Romania thanks the US, Qatar, Israel and Egypt for the efforts made to free the hostages. On Saturday, Hamas handed over the last 6 hostages in a first phase of the ceasefire agreement with Israel in Gaza, which provided for the release of a total of 33 captives. Hamas, in turn, receives over 700 Palestinian prisoners from Israel.

     

    RATING Fitch has sent a clear signal that Romania must carry on its fiscal consolidation measures and restore budgetary balance, in order to improve its fiscal credibility, the finance minister Tanczos Barna said after the international financial rating agency announced on Friday that it is keeping Romania in the investment grade category. In a statement, the agency confirmed Romania’s long-term rating at ‘BBB minus’, with a negative outlook. According to Fitch, the rating relies on the country’s EU membership and capital inflows that contribute to public revenues and macro-stability. The gross domestic product per capita and the governance and human development indicators are also higher than in countries in the same rating category, the agency explains. These strengths are overshadowed, however, by a significant deterioration of public finances and a sharp slowdown in economic growth in 2024. Adding to this is a possible adverse effect of political uncertainty. In December last year, Fitch announced that it had downgraded the outlook assigned to Romania from stable to negative. The same announcement came later from Standard & Poor’s.

     

    ENERGY Electricity and natural gas tariffs could be offset in Romania even after April 1, when the current aid scheme is set to expire. The energy ministry has posted for public review a draft act extending the capping period, under which the scheme for electricity is extended until July 1, and for natural gas by one year, until April 1, 2026. The capping extension proposal comes as prices on European electricity and gas exchanges have increased significantly, and also as the low temperatures in Romania this winter entailed a significant increase in consumption. As a result, the line minister Sebastian Burduja announced that the government had decided to protect Romanians and support the competitiveness of Romanian companies. After the energy market was deregulated on January 1, 2021, Romania was among the European countries the most severely affected by record-high electricity and natural gas prices. Thanks to the government’s price capping decisions, households and businesses were protected from excessive prices.

     

    GERMANY Germany holds federal elections on Sunday that are crucial to the country’s future, as the far-right is on the rise and the economy is heading for a third year of recession. The vote comes after the coalition of the Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens led by the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed late last year. According to polls, the Conservatives are expected to win. With the far-right in second place in the polls, however, analysts say that in order to govern, the Conservatives will have to reach a compromise with the Social Democrats or the Greens, overcoming their differences.

     

    AIRCRAFT US aircraft deployed at the Mihail Kogălniceanu base (southeastern Romania) are performing low-altitude training flights in and around Constanţa County these days, the Romanian Air Forces announced. They say that the exercises will continue until February 28 and promised that all safety measures have been taken to reduce the noise impact on civilians. Officials say that these trainings aim to increase the response capacity of aeronautical personnel.

     

    CORRUPTION A company and 2 individuals are prosecuted in a case handled by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), together with investigators from the US Department of Defence, the DNA announced today. The company owned by a Greek national has allegedly bribed a foreign official to get a EUR 9 mln contract to refuel aircraft at the NATO military base in Mihail Kogălniceanu. Two other individuals are suspected of complicity in continuing bribery in connection with an official of a foreign country.

     

    HANDBALL CS Minaur Baia Mare qualified for the quarterfinals of the men’s handball competition EHF European Cup, although they were defeated by the Finnish team BK-46, 32-31, on Saturday, in Karis, in the second leg of the round of 16. Minaur also played the first match in Finland, on Friday, winning 33-30. Last season, Minaur Baia Mare reached the semifinals of the European Cup. (AMP)

  • February 22, 2025

    February 22, 2025

     

    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau for the election of the president of Romania in May was selected on Friday. The Bureau is made up of 5 judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the president and vice-presidents of the Permanent Electoral Authority and one representative of each party in Parliament. Parties, political or electoral alliances, ethnic minority organisations and independent candidates will be able to submit their candidacies by March 15, after which the Central Electoral Bureau is to rule on their validity. Thousands of Romanians, supporters of the independent sovereigntist Călin Georgescu, who came out first in the first election round in December, took to the streets again in Bucharest today to demand that the electoral process be resumed from where it was canceled. The billionaire Elon Musk, an advisor to the US president Donald Trump, Friday night posted a critical message on his social network X (the third this week) about the cancellation of the December elections. The US vice-president J.D. Vance had also previously questioned the cancellation of the elections. Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Bucharest would try to provide clarifications about the situation through all diplomatic channels.

     

    RATING Fitch has sent a clear signal that Romania must carry on its fiscal consolidation measures and restore budgetary balance, in order to improve its fiscal credibility, said finance minister Tanczos Barna after the international financial rating agency announced on Friday that it is keeping Romania in the investment grade category. In a statement, the agency confirmed Romania’s long-term rating at ‘BBB minus’, with a negative outlook. According to Fitch, the rating relies on the country’s EU membership and capital inflows that contribute to public revenues and macro-stability. The gross domestic product per capita and the governance and human development indicators are also higher than in countries in the same rating category, the agency explains. These strengths are overshadowed, however, by a significant deterioration of public finances and a sharp slowdown in economic growth in 2024. Adding to this is a possible adverse effect of political uncertainty. In December last year, Fitch announced that it had downgraded the outlook assigned to Romania from stable to negative. The same announcement came later from Standard & Poor’s.

     

    ENERGY Electricity and natural gas tariffs could be offset in Romania even after April 1, when the current aid scheme is set to expire. The energy ministry has posted for public review a draft act extending the capping period, under which the scheme for electricity is extended until July 1, and for natural gas by one year, until April 1, 2026. The capping extension proposal comes as prices on European electricity and gas exchanges have increased significantly, and also as the low temperatures in Romania this winter entailed a significant increase in consumption. As a result, the line minister Sebastian Burduja announced that the government had decided to protect Romanians and support the competitiveness of Romanian companies. After the energy market was deregulated on January 1, 2021, Romania was among the European countries the most severely affected by record-high electricity and natural gas prices. Thanks to the government’s price capping decisions, households and businesses were protected from excessive prices.

     

    CORRUPTION A company and 2 individuals are prosecuted in a case handled by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), together with investigators from the US Department of Defence, the DNA announced today. The company owned by a Greek national has allegedly bribed a foreign official to get a EUR 9 mln contract to refuel aircraft at the NATO military base in Mihail Kogălniceanu. Two other individuals are suspected of complicity in continuing bribery in connection with an official of a foreign country.

     

    GERMANY Germany holds federal elections on Sunday that are crucial to the country’s future, as the far-right is on the rise and the economy is heading for a third year of recession. The vote comes after the coalition of the Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens led by the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed late last year. According to polls, the Conservatives are expected to win. With the far-right in second place in the polls, however, analysts say that in order to govern, the Conservatives will have to reach a compromise with the Social Democrats or the Greens, overcoming their differences.

     

    FOOTBALL The Romanian football champions FCSB will face the French team Olympique Lyon in the Europa League round of 16, according to Friday’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland. FCSB will play the first leg at home on March 6, with the return leg scheduled on March 13. FCSB qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League after outplaying the Greek team PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu. The aggregate score was 4-1, with the Romanians defeating the Greeks 2-1 in the first leg, and 2-0 in Bucharest on Thursday evening. (AMP)

  • Will the cap on energy prices stay on?

    Will the cap on energy prices stay on?

     

    After the energy market was deregulated on January 1, 2021, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Romania was among the European countries the most severely affected by record-high electricity and natural gas prices. For half a year, in the chaos that set in amid ineffective communication by the authorities at the time, both household and business consumers suffered. The situation became even more complicated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when the entire European market was deeply shaken, including Romania.

     

    Gradually, however, the situation at national level calmed down, including as a result of the government’s decisions to cap prices. By offsetting electricity and natural gas bills, individuals and industrial operators have been protected from exorbitant prices.

     

    As of April 1 this year, however, the capping should end, at least in theory. Some household consumers have already received written notices to this effect from their energy suppliers. Against the backdrop of steep inflation that has meant a decrease in living standards for many Romanians, significantly higher electricity or gas bills–even doubled in certain cases–would be a hard blow to the family budget.

     

    In this context, the Romanian government could take a decision this week on keeping on the current offset and capping scheme. The solution would be implemented through an emergency order.

     

    The energy minister Sebastian Burduja spoke out however in favour of better targeting this support towards those vulnerable consumers for whom paying for energy utilities represents too great a burden:

     

    Sebastian Burduja: “We expect to have a final decision in the Government, therefore a normative act, an emergency order that will establish exactly what the period after April 1 will look like, namely whether this basic scenario and the same capping and offsetting scheme will be kept for a period of time, let’s say until the end of the year, as the prime minister suggested, or whether there will be a formula to better target the aid for vulnerable Romanians.”

     

    Minister Burduja’s message for dissatisfied consumers is that they can change their supplier at any time:

     

    Sebastian Burduja: “Consumers have full power in their hands. This power means changing their supplier whenever they want. There are no contracts that hold them captive. So, when they receive an offer that they don’t like from their supplier, they go to the National Energy Regulatory Authority website and in a few minutes, online, they can change their supplier to the one that offers them the lowest price or the best conditions, in their opinion.”

     

    And to end with a joke, one of the suppliers in Romania reminds its customers that, in fact, the cheapest energy is the one they don’t consume. (AMP)

  • February 17, 2025

    February 17, 2025

    Energy – The Romanian government is to make a decision this week regarding the continuation of the current compensation-capping scheme for electricity and natural gas prices for domestic consumers. The energy minister, Sebastian Burduja, said however that he supported a better targeting of this support to those vulnerable consumers for whom the payment of utilities represents too big a burden. A government decision is to be implemented through an emergency ordinance.

     

    Inflation – The National Bank of Romania (BNR) Governor, Mugur Isărescu, presents, today, the Quarterly Report on Inflation. According to a National Bank statement sent to AGERPRES on Friday, the annual inflation rate will record a pronounced fluctuation in the first semester of 2025, and in the second semester it will decrease on a higher trajectory than the one in the previous projection. Based on the evaluations and available data, as well as in the context of high uncertainties, the BNR Board of Directors decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at the level of 6.50% per year. Also, the BNR decided to maintain the current levels of the mandatory minimum reserve ratio for liabilities in lei and in foreign currency of credit institutions.

     

    Paris – The leaders of the main European powers are having an emergency meeting, today, in Paris, to discuss European security and the war in Ukraine. Participating are the prime ministers of Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, the president of the European Council, the president of the European Commission and the NATO secretary general, the French presidency announced. Today’s talks could later be expanded into other formats, with the aim of bringing together all partners interested in peace and security in Europe. The meeting in Paris takes place at a particularly delicate moment in the relationship between the European Union and the United States, after the initiatives taken in recent days by American President Donald Trump and his team to negotiate peace in Europe directly with Vladimir Putin, the European countries and Ukraine being excluded from decision-making, Radio Romania’s correspondent reports. On the other hand, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated that Ukraine and Europe would be involved in ‘real negotiations’ for peace. According to Reuters, Rubio’s statement suggests that the meeting between the U.S. and Russian representatives, which will take place in the next few days in Saudi Arabia, is just a move for Washington to feel the pulse and see if Moscow is really willing to negotiate. The Russian-American talks will begin on Tuesday in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, the BBC reports.

     

    Germany – Germany is getting ready for Sunday’s parliamentary elections, in a more polarized climate than ever over immigration, further inflamed by the Trump administration’s open support for the far right, AFP reports. According to surveys, the nationalist anti-immigration movement AfD will take second place in the legislative elections, with at least 20% of the votes, behind the conservatives, who are rated at 30-32%. In a speech delivered at the Munich Security Conference, the U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance urged the traditional parties in Germany, and the classical right in particular, to give up the ‘protective wall’ or ‘sanitary cordon’ that they established after the Second World War to refuse to govern with the extreme right. I refuse such interference in the German parliamentary elections and in the formation of the government that will follow in Germany. I will not let an American vice-president tell me who I should talk to here in Germany’, said the leader of the Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, a favorite in the polls to become the next chancellor. In turn, the social-democratic chancellor, Olaf Scholz, described the intervention of the American vice-president as unacceptable. Instead, AfD leader Alice Weidel welcomed J.D. Vance’s statements and emphasized the similarities between her program and that of the Trump administration.

     

    Motion – The motion of censure aimed at Romania’s coalition government led by the social democrat Marcel Ciolacu will no longer be submitted to Parliament today, the president of the opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion announced. In a Facebook post, he said that he expected all the opposition MPs, including those from the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Young People’s Party (POT), to join the initiative. The AUR leader added that he expected a reaction from them by Friday. The motion of censure, signed by 125 elected representatives from S.O.S. Romania and AUR, had to be submitted in Parliament today. At the moment of gathering the signatures, the USR president, Elena Lasconi, advised her colleagues not to support the initiative, on the grounds that Romania needs calm and stability. (LS)

  • January 25, 2025 UPDATE 2

    January 25, 2025 UPDATE 2

     

    RATING The financial rating agency Standard & Poor’s confirmed Romania’s ‘BBB minus’ rating, but revised the outlook from “stable” to “negative”. The reasons are related to high fiscal and external risks, the agency reports. According to S&P, the fragmented and uncertain political environment, as well as the substantial spending ahead of the elections, pushed the fiscal deficit to almost 8.7% of GDP, far above expectations. The Romanian finance minister Tánczos Barna says the change in the outlook from stable to negative indicates that measures are needed to reduce the budget deficit, and that the country needs a balanced public budget and a streamlined government structure. He also said that the government’s measures to reduce the deficit and consolidate economic growth must be implemented at an alert pace, in the form already agreed on with the EU.

     

    UKRAINE The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that, taking into account Ukraine’s cooperation with the Republic of Moldova, it is possible for Kyiv to cover Moldova’s entire electricity demand, and a 30% discount on the supply price is also possible. He made these statements at a meeting on Saturday in Kyiv with the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu. The two officials also discussed possible coal deliveries to the Republic of Moldova. In turn, Maia Sandu accused Russia of trying to create economic and social chaos in Moldova and bring a pro-Russian government in power in Chisinau. She traveled to Kyiv amid energy tensions in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region between the two countries, AFP reports. This strip of land with a population of about half a million, which remains outside Moldova’s control, was supplied by the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom for free, through a pipeline that crossed Ukraine. The latter ended the contract with Moscow on January 1, thus cutting off supplies to Moldova, including to Transnistria, which declared a state of emergency. With Kyiv fighting the Russian invasion for three years, Chisinau is worried about a possible spillover of the conflict to its territory, especially through the destabilisation of Transnistria by Russia. The rest of Moldova is for now safe from energy cuts, thanks to electricity and gas imports from Romania.

     

    ELECTIONS The Liberals will convene on Sunday in a special National Council meeting to validate the former party president Crin Antonescu as the joint candidate of the ruling coalition in Romania. The Social Democrats scheduled a special congress on February 2 for the same purpose, and UDMR will make its decision at the beginning of next week. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections are scheduled for May 4 and 18. So far, the mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, the independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the president of Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi, have announced plans to run for president. The latter two were top placed in the presidential elections canceled last year. After the first election round on November 24 was validated, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the election as a whole on December 6, although voting in the second round had already begun abroad. The Court made its decision after the Supreme Defence Council published a report indicating foreign interference in the electoral process, but investigations have so far failed to confirm it. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets to demand that the second round be resumed.

     

    EXHIBITION Romania’s foreign ministry announced that on Saturday the National Museum of History of Romania (MNIR) and the Culture Ministry were notified that an explosion took place and several exhibits were stolen at the Drents Museum in the Netherlands, which is hosting an exhibition called ‘Dacia! Rijk van goud en zilver’ (Dacia! Kingdom of gold and silver), organised jointly with MNIR. According to the institution, initial investigations indicate that the blast was design to help as yet unidentified perpetrators to break into the museum building and steal pieces from Romania’s Dacian treasure. The foreign ministry notified the Romanian interior ministry and the Romanian police, and the Romanian embassies in all neighboring countries are on alert. Romania’s foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu spoke with his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp, ​​highlighting the exceptional importance of the stolen exhibits. The Dutch side assured Romania of its operational and political determination to solve the case. The Dutch police also activated cross-border cooperation mechanisms and informed the Interpol of the matter.

     

    HOLOCAUST The minister of culture Natalia Intotero will represent Romania, on Monday, at the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. The event, held under the patronage of the president of Poland, marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day declared by the United Nations, and brings together camp survivors, official delegations of states and international organisations. Romania’s participation in the ceremony on January 27 reflects its solid commitment to keeping alive the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, to fighting all forms of denial, distortion, or downplaying of this tragic moment, as well as to fighting anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalisation and hate speech, while at the same time promoting respect for fundamental human rights, both at national and international level, the Romanian culture ministry said. (AMP)

  • January 14, 2025 UPDATE

    January 14, 2025 UPDATE

    Meeting – The Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Tuesday had talks in Bucharest with the US Deputy Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, James O’Brien, about the progress made in deepening the bilateral strategic partnership in the fields of security, economy and the Visa Waiver. During the meeting with the Foreign Minister, Emil Hurezeanu, the American official showed confidence in the solidity of the Romania – US Strategic Partnership and in its capacity for further development based on ongoing bilateral projects. In turn, the Romanian minister appreciated the US contribution to the security and defense of NATO’s Eastern Flank, as well as to the development of the strategic approach regarding the Black Sea region. The Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, also highlighted, during the meeting with the US official, the crucial role of the Black Sea region in ensuring European and transatlantic security, in the context of the continuation of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Angel Tîlvăr emphasized Romania’s firm commitment to NATO’s collective security and appreciated the substantial contribution of the US in ensuring the security of the Alliance’s Eastern Flank. On Monday, James O’Brien was in Chisinau, where he declared that the development of the transport infrastructure in Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine will create a new opportunity for the economic development of the three states.

     

    Energy – Romania has no problems in terms of energy supply for the entire cold season, the energy minister Sebastian Burduja gave assurances again, on Tuesday, after the Winter Energy Command meeting. He specified that the measures established to increase domestic production, including coal-based production, were applied. According to him, energy production from gas is still the main source of electricity production during the cold season, except for days when the wind blows and wind power plants are the first source of production in Romania.  The Energy Minister also emphasized that the domestic demand for natural gas is not affected by daily exports to the Republic of Moldova.

     

    Gas – Half of the electricity consumed in the Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population), on the right bank of the Dniester River, comes from internal sources, including renewable energy, and the other half comes from imports from Romania, the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu said on Tuesday, in a press conference. She convened a meeting of the Supreme Security Council which tackled the situation in the energy sector and assistance measures for the population. On the other hand, Maia Sandu says, the energy and humanitarian crisis in the separatist region of Transdniester is caused by the Russian Federation with the aim of destabilizing the political situation in the Republic of Moldova. We remind you that since January 1, the Transdniester region has no longer received natural gas from Russia.

     

    Inflation – The annual inflation rate went up to 5.14% in December 2024 from 5.11% the previous month, amidst a 5.09% increase in the price of foodstuffs, 4.38% in the price for non-foods and 7.10% in the cost of services, according to National Statistics Institute data made public on Tuesday. Compared to 2023, the annual inflation rate in December last year stood at 5.5%. The National Bank of Romania upgraded its inflation forecast for the end of 2024, from 4% previously to 4.9%, and estimates the inflation rate will go down to 3.5% at the end of 2025.

     

    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse, coming from the qualifications, defeated another Romanian player, Irina Begu, 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round at the Australian Open tennis tournament on Tuesday. In the next round, Ruse will take on Madison Keys of the United States, who knocked out Ann Li of the USA in the first round. This is the second time Gabriela Ruse reaches the main draw in Melbourne after in 2022 she reached the second round. Another Romanian player, Jaqueline Cristian, is playing Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the second round. (LS)

     

  • Romania and the strategic industries

    Romania and the strategic industries

    The European Union supports Romania in becoming a key player in new industries.

     

    Visiting Romania, as part of a European tour, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Stéphane Séjourné, responsible for industrial prosperity and strategy, promised to support important sectors of the local industry, from battery production to the steel sector. He announced that, next month, the European Commission will publish a strategic plan that will simplify the regulatory framework in the field of reindustrialization and will include all the issues of the battery sector, including decarbonization and the competitiveness of companies. He visited, together with the Minister of Economy, Bogdan Ivan, the Romanian factory “Prime Batteries Technology”, which produces state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries and customized energy storage systems.

     

    The European official had meetings with the authorities in Bucharest and also visited the National Institute for Aerospace Research and Development, the main research center in the field of aerospace sciences in the country. In this context, he stated that Romania is one of the most industrialized states in Europe and that he will support the continuation of this process. “We need Romania in these moments of economic uncertainty and reindustrialization”, he said. In turn, Minister Bogdan Ivan emphasized the importance of this visit, as a clear message that the Union supports Romania in becoming a key player in new industries. Bogdan Ivan: “When we talk about the industrial development of Europe and reducing dependence on other continents, we talk about making the most of the resources that we have here, and Romania has huge resources of critical materials. It has, on the other hand, an extremely important geo-strategic position”.

     

    The minister added that the focus will be on complementary projects between the EU member states, avoiding internal competition and aligning national objectives with the European vision. The value of the global battery market is estimated to double in the coming years, due to the increase in demand for lithium-ion batteries, considered the most efficient energy storage solutions for the automotive and energy industries. Currently, Europe depends significantly on imports of rare metals and, in terms of batteries, it produces much less than the market needs. To reduce this dependence, the European Union aims to become the second largest battery producer in the world, after China. As for the steel industry in Romania, the European official said that this is an essential sector for batteries, automobiles and wind energy, which is why it will be a priority topic of his upcoming visit to Bucharest.

     

  • Japanese Investments in Energy and Technology

    Japanese Investments in Energy and Technology

    Important Japanese companies have expressed their interest, these days, in Bucharest, to invest in Romania, in transport infrastructure, energy, digitization and high technology. The Romanian PM, Marcel Ciolacu, had a meeting, on Tuesday, with a delegation of Japanese investors from the fields of energy, research and technology, industry, infrastructure and banking, led by the Japanese Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Shinji Takeuchi. According to a government press release, the Prime Minister appreciated the level of bilateral relations developed on the basis of the Strategic Partnership, the common values ​​promoted by the two states and the economic opportunities offered by the current international context.

     

    Marcel Ciolacu stated that Romania’s role as a factor of stability in Europe and in the region, as well as its geostrategic, economic and political advantages qualify the country as a destination for investors. He also mentioned the State aid schemes, as well as the investments in new technologies, that should help Romania become a technological hub in the center and southeast of Europe. In this context, he mentioned Romania’s interest in developing the Port of Constanţa on the Black Sea, as well as in supporting regional interconnection projects. In turn, the Japanese economic delegation showed its interest in strengthening financial support for Romania in projects in the fields of transport infrastructure, energy, digitization and high technology. ‘The investment opportunities offered by Romania are particularly important and offer new perspectives to develop our bilateral relations’, said the Japanese deputy minister.

     

    Previously, during the first edition of the Romania-Japan Energy Forum that took place on Monday and Tuesday, in Bucharest, the Energy Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with a Japanese company, Itochu, for the Tarniţa-Lăpuşteşti hydropower plant project, in Cluj County (north – western Romania). According to the ministry, it is a project of strategic importance for balancing the national energy system. The Japanese company will participate, according to the relevant minister, Sebastian Burduja, in reviewing the technical documentation for the development of the hydropower plant in Romania, and also in such stages as the feasibility study, technical design and project execution. Also, ELCEN (the State Electric Power Plants Company in Bucharest) and Panasonic are working on a joint project aimed at a complex system of photovoltaic panels, battery storage and green hydrogen production, a symbolic step towards what we call the green transition of the energy sector, minister Sebastian Burduja says.

     

    Moreover, the Romanian civil nuclear program will benefit from Japanese support, the minister has assured, who also discussed with Japanese businessmen about a possible collaboration in the production of blue ammonia. ‘Through our partnerships, Romania assumes the role of regional leader in renewable and nuclear energy. We have taken a concrete step in the direction of a safer, more competitive and more sustainable Romania from an energy point of view’ said Sebastian Burduja. (LS)

  • November 5, 2024

    November 5, 2024

     

    EUROPEAN COMMISSION Roxana Mînzatu, Romania’s nominee for European Commissioner for People, Skills and Preparedness is interviewed today by Parliament’s specialist committees. She is one of the six vice-presidents of the European Commission, headed by Ursula von der Layen. Mînzatu aims to make the teaching career more attractive, given that at least 24 EU member states are facing a shortage of teachers, and at the same time to improve the Erasmus+ programme, viewed as far too expensive by many Romanian students. On November 12, next week, Roxana Mînzatu will be heard in the specialist committees of the European Parliament.

     

    DEFENCE “The Romanian and French military are fully engaged in ensuring security and stability in the Black Sea region,” the Romanian defence minister Angel Tîlvăr said in Paris, at a meeting with his French counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu. The agenda included current topics related to bilateral cooperation, with an emphasis on strategic defence priorities, in the complex security context of the Black Sea region and of the Russian Federation’s continuing war of aggression in Romania’s neighbor, Ukraine. The 2 officials also discussed aspects related to the collaboration between the two states within NATO, the European Union and bilaterally. Minister Tîlvăr was among the Romanian officials accompanying PM Marcel Ciolacu, who met with his counterpart Michel Barnier on Monday.

     

    FINANCE The Romanian finance minister, Marcel Boloş, took part  in Brussels today in the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, where they discussed VAT in the digital age, the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the annual reporting, EU statistics, international meetings and financing the climate transition. The Council will also pass two legislative acts in the field of insurance.

     

    FORUM Bucharest is hosting the Romania-Japan Energy Forum, an event that brings together companies and public institutions in the field of energy from both countries. The forum stepped up joint projects in the field of energy, in particular the development of new generation nuclear power, the expansion of renewable energy storage capacities, the production of green hydrogen and the implementation of carbon capture, use and storage technologies. As part of the forum, the Romanian energy ministry and the Japanese company Itochu Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of the Tarnița-Lăpuștești investment (central Romania), a project of strategic importance for balancing the energy system in Romania in the context of increasing the share of energy from renewable sources. Relations between Romania and Japan were raised to the strategic partnership level on March 7, 2023.

     

    ELECTION DAY US citizens today elect their president. Running for office are vice-president Kamala Harris, supported by the Democratic Party, and the former White House leader Donald Trump, the candidate of the Republican Party. Both finished their campaign in Pennsylvania, a state that could decide who the next president will be. Over 80 million voters have already cast their early vote by mail, a record number that shows interest in this election, seen by many as critical for the future of American democracy. A staggering USD 2.6 bln has been spent in the last eight months to convince the voters. Opinion polls show that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are practically tied.

     

    GEORGIA Thousands of Georgians gathered in the centre of the capital city Tbilisi on Monday evening, to protest the results of the October 26 legislative elections, won by the ruling party, Georgian Dream, and challenged by the opposition, whose supporters are now announcing protests will continue until the election is repeated. The newly elected opposition MPs refused to enter Parliament, and described the election as illegitimate, while Western observers speak of irregularities during the campaign and the vote. The opposition parties, supported by the pro-Western president Salome Zourabichvili, claim that there have been frauds and demand an international investigation or repeat elections under ‘international administration’. Both ideas are rejected by the government. Attending the protest, Salome Zourabichvili told the demonstrators that the Republic of Moldova won, referring to the victory of her pro-European counterpart Maia Sandu, and that “Georgia must not give up either”. Russia dismissed the Georgian opposition’s accusations of meddling in the election process, and the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation last Wednesday to investigate election fraud allegations. (AMP)

  • October 24, 2024 UPDATE

    October 24, 2024 UPDATE

    AID The European Commission on Thursday approved a state-aid scheme of 400 million Euros in compensations for the Romanian farmers affected by the severe drought between September 2023 – August 2024, says a communique released by the commission. The aid scheme has been made available for the agricultural producers whose crops of wheat, barley, oat, rape, sunflower and corn were directly affected by the drought. In order to benefit the compensations, farmers must prove that at least 30% of their crops were affected between the autumn of 2023 and the summer of 2024. Under the aforementioned aid scheme, farmers will benefit from direct grants amounting to 200 euros per hectares in the case of losses of 100% and will not exceed 30% of the eligible costs. Compensations will be granted until December 2024.

     

    F-16 According to the Ministry of National Defence, three F-16 Fighting Falcons, Romania bought from Norway landed in Campia Turzii, central Romania, to join the 48 Fighting Squadron. We recall that another 9 F-16s had been received earlier. Romania has signed a contract of buying 32 F-16 fighters with the Kingdom of Norway and the entire batch is expected to be completed at the end of the next year. According to a communiqué from Romania’s Defence Ministry, the aforementioned jet-fighters are to ensure the transition to the fifth generation of aircraft, F-35, whose purchase actually represents a transfer of capabilities between two NATO allies.

     

    ENERGY The energy minister Sebastian Burduja promised that national gas storage is enough for Romania not to need natural gas imports this winter. He added that Romania is not importing Russian gas at all, and when imports are needed it resorts to Turkey and Azerbaijan. The Romanian official also added that the people who have difficulties paying their bills will still be protected, even after April 1, 2025, when natural gas and electricity prices will no longer be capped.

     

    ELECTIONS The campaign for the first round of the presidential election begins on Friday at midnight and ends at 7 am on November 23. The presidential elections are scheduled this year on November 24 (the first round) and on December 8 (the second round). In between, on December 1, the parliamentary election will be held. Competing in the presidential race are 14 candidates, 10 of them backed by political parties and 4 running independently. Local and EU parliamentary elections were also held in Romania this year, on June 9.

    (bill)

  • October 24, 2024

    October 24, 2024

    ELECTIONS The campaign for the first round of the presidential election begins on Friday at midnight and ends at 7 am on November 23. The presidential elections are scheduled this year on November 24 (the first round) and on December 8 (the second round). In between, on December 1, the parliamentary election will be held. Competing in the presidential race are 14 candidates, 10 of them backed by political parties and 4 running independently. Local and EU parliamentary elections were also held in Romania this year, on June 9.

     

     

    ENERGY The energy minister Sebastian Burduja promised that national gas storage is enough for Romania not to need natural gas imports this winter. He added that Romania is not importing Russian gas at all, and when imports are needed it resorts to Turkey and Azerbaijan. The Romanian official also added that the people who have difficulties paying their bills will still be protected, even after April 1, 2025, when natural gas and electricity prices will no longer be capped.

     

     

    BUDGET The European Parliament Wednesday voted a budget of EUR 201 billion for 2025. The formula chosen by the EP favours the countries with smaller contributions to the European budget, such as Romania, which stand to gain from the distribution of funds through EU policies and programmes. A final decision on the budget will be reached after negotiations with the member states in the Council, where a EUR 10 bln lower ceiling has been proposed.

     

     

    UN On the celebration of the United Nations Day on October 24th, the Romanian foreign ministry emphasises that supporting and strengthening multilateralism, centered on the UN system, remain vital and the only response proportionate to the scale and complexity of the global crises that affect UN member countries at the same time. The annual world-wide celebration marks the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter, ratified by most signatory countries, including the 5 permanent members of the Security Council.

     

     

    SPORTS Romania’s football champions, FCSB (Bucharest), play tonight away from home against Glasgow Rangers, in their 3rd match in the new Europa League format. FCSB has 2 wins so far, 4-1 against RFS (Latvia) and 1-0 against the Greek champions, PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Razvan Lucescu. In men’s handball, Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest Wednesday night defeated Sporting Lisbon, 33-29, in the Champions League Group A. Sporting remains top placed in the group with 9 points, while Dinamo ranks 3rd, with 8 points. (AMP)

  • Winter heating in Romania

    Winter heating in Romania

    The energy minister, Sebastian Burduja, has given assurances that Romania’s gas deposits are full to the brim and the country will be able to get through the winter season without resorting to imports. He has added that Romania does not import Russian gas at all, and when needed, the country turns to Turkey and Azerbaijan. In fact, Romania follows the trend of the entire European Union. A European Commission report has recently showed that the EU’s dependence on Russian gas fell from 45% in 2021 to just 15% in 2023. And the downward trend in this dependence continued throughout this year.

     

    As for the situation in the country, Sebastian Burduja explained, for Radio Romania: “Today we have 3.280 billion cubic meters of gas stored in our gas storage facilities. That means a 103.29% degree of filling. We therefore have all the necessary capacity to be able to get through the winter season without resorting to imported gas. Even in the event of a harsher winter, I am convinced that we are ready to have enough gas and supply it to the Romanians”.

     

    The minister has also said that people who have difficulties in paying bills will continue to be protected. ‘Romanians should not be affected this winter either by the fear of bills, or the cold, or the temperature. They will benefit from gas supply, and the bills will continue to be capped, exactly as they were last winter’ the minister added.

     

    In this context, the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI) launched on Wednesday, in partnership with the Energy Ministry, the second edition of the “Houses with Heat” project, through which it aims to distribute firewood needed to heat homes in winter for families in difficulty. 3.5 million households in Romania are heated with wood. 80,000 are only in Bucharest and in the neighboring county of Ilfov, and over 7,000 are inhabited by vulnerable families, according to the data of the “Registry of Heat-Free Houses”, drafted by the Intelligent Energy Association.

     

    Adrian Halpert, director general at the Red Cross, believes that this program is even more important as the prices of energy and energy resources have continued to rise: “Energy comfort should not be a luxury for anyone. A minimum of energy comfort is a basic issue, which we must all have, and, after all, if you don’t have it, it affects human dignity. Energy prices continued to rise also for energy resources, such as wood. I hope to reach several thousand families this winter”.

     

    According to official statistics, 39% of Romanians are in the energy poor category. The authorities assure that, even after April 1, 2025, until the prices of natural gas and electricity are capped, they will take support measures for vulnerable people. (LS)