Radio România Internațional

Tag: energy bills

  • November 2, 2022

    November 2, 2022

    AMENDMENTS – The Government is expected to
    pass a number of legislative amendments in preparation of Romania’s Schengen
    accession. The Government noted the current legislation no longer reflects the
    current European framework for exchanging information among Member States,
    while the national digital reporting system also needs improvement. The
    government wants to decide which authorities should have a right to access,
    transmit or consult data from the national digital system.


    COLD SEASON – 58% of Romanians say they
    will have trouble paying energy bills this upcoming winter, estimating
    temperatures in their homes will be lower compared to previous years, a recent
    study reveals. According to its findings, soaring utility expenses have shaped
    Romanians’ purchasing behavior. 55% of Romanians said they have stopped buying
    non-essential products. 40% of respondents have described energy bills as their
    biggest concern for the period ahead.


    MOLDOVA – Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu,
    received assurances regarding Bucharest’s full support for Chișinău
    in the context of the energy crisis in this country. President Sandu on Tuesday
    met Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă in Bucharest, expressing gratitude for
    their support and Romania’s actions to facilitate the provision of electricity,
    natural gas, fuel oil and firewood to Moldovan citizens. Furthermore, Maia
    Sandu thanked Romania for quickly responding to offset Moldova’s electricity
    deficit. We recall Bucharest has started supplying electricity and natural gas to
    Moldova after Ukraine has ceased energy exports to Moldova after its energy
    infrastructure was affected by Russian bombings.


    REFUGEES – The Border Police Inspectorate
    announced some 65 thousand people entered Romania on Tuesday, of whom 7,500
    were Ukrainian nationals. According to a press release, some 2.7 million
    Ukrainians have entered Romania starting February 10, most of them headed to
    countries in Western Europe. Over 86,500 Ukrainians have chosen to stay.


    SHIPMENTS – Russia today agreed to resume grain
    exports from Ukraine after receiving guarantees in writing from Ukraine
    regarding the demilitarization of the maritime corridor used for their transport.
    On Saturday, Moscow suspended grain exports invoking drone attacks on Russian military
    watercraft in the port of Sevastopol. Russia claimed the drones moved along the
    secure corridor addressing trade vessels transporting Ukrainian grain. On
    Monday, Russia had warned against the danger of freight ships continuing to navigate
    the corridor used by Ukrainian trade vessels to reach the Mediterranean through
    the Bosporus strait without its consent.


    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional
    Court of Romania today admitted a notification filed by USR in opposition
    regarding the law that sanctions the building of small power plants in
    protected areas. USR has lodged 11 unconstitutionality claims, including the
    violation of the principle of bicameralism, considering there are major
    differences between the law adopted in the Senate and the version passed by the
    Chamber of Deputies. USR also claims the law is in breach of the right to a
    clean environment. Early this year, Parliament adopted the law stipulating that
    power plants in protected areas that are over 60% complete are considered
    projects of national security and must be rendered operational by the end of
    2025. (VP)

  • October 3, 2022 UPDATE

    October 3, 2022 UPDATE

    WAR IN UKRAINE – Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, as
    well as the presidents of seven other members of NATO from Central and Eastern
    Europe, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro,
    Poland and Slovakia on Monday signed a
    joint statement reaffirming their support for the sovereignty and territorial
    integrity of Ukraine. We firmly stand behind the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit
    decision concerning Ukraine’s future membership, the Romanian president also
    tweeted.


    EDUCATION – Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, on
    Monday said the education laws should stipulate clear provisions for the
    prevention and punishment of plagiarism, which he described as a toxic
    phenomenon in the education system. Attending the opening of the academic year
    at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, the
    president pointed out that obtaining an academic degree is an honor
    exclusively based on real merit. An educated Romania must be fair, without
    exception, Klaus Iohannis said. Some 500 thousand students on Monday started a
    new academic year. Also on Monday, Ligia Deca was sworn in as the new Education
    Minister, replacing outgoing minister Sorin Cîmpeanu, who resigned in the wake of a plagiarism scandal. Ligia Deca was
    nominated by the National Liberal Party after previously serving as
    presidential adviser. Deca was in charge of coordinating Educated Romania, a project
    that will be treated as a top priority during her mandate.


    CAR INDUSTRY – Although the world car industry was
    strongly hit by the global semiconductor chip shortage, with losses to
    companies in the field amounting to 100 billion EUR, the car manufacturing
    industry in Romania saw a growth rate of over 15%, while car sales grew by 5%
    in the first 8 months of the year compared with the same period in 2021,
    according to a study published on Monday. With chip supply chains still at
    threat, state support should remain high for this sector, which makes up more
    than 25% of GDP, the study also writes. Romania is home to two big car
    manufacturing plants: the Ford factory in Craiova, in the south-west, and the
    Dacia-Renault factory in Mioveni, in the south of the country.


    ENERGY – The Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest is
    expected to finalize this week debates on the government emergency decree in the
    field of energy. The draft law was previously adopted by the Senate with
    certain amendments. Therefore, in the current form, the list of social
    categories that benefit from capped prices for electricity and natural gas
    until August, 2023 includes families with a maximum of three children, places
    of worship officially sanctioned in Romania and medicine manufacturers. The list
    of legal entities that benefit from capped prices also includes SMEs, public
    utility services and economic operators in the food industry. On the other
    hand, this week Romanian MPs are expected to cast their votes on the final law in
    the justice law package, more specifically the one regulating the status of
    magistrates. USR in opposition has called on the ruling coalition to suspend
    the debate of these draft laws until December pending the publication of the opinion
    of the Venice Commission, according to a timetable published on Monday.


    GAS – Romania has reached 87% natural gas storage capacity,
    Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said on Monday. The
    Romanian Prime Minister said Romania will be able to provide assistance to the
    Republic of Moldova in case the Russian energy giant Gazprom suspends gas
    deliveries to this country. Romania will be able to deliver as much as 5
    million cubic meters per day, the Romanian official added.


    NOBEL – Swedish paleogeneticist Svante Pääbo on Monday was
    awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2022. The 67-year-old
    researcher was rewarded for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct
    hominins and human evolution. Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
    Medicine was scooped by Americans Ardem Pataputian and David Julius for their
    discoveries of thermal and mechanical transducers. The Nobel Prizes in Physics
    and Chemistry will be announced on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, while
    the recipients of the Nobel Prizes in Literature and Peace will be made public
    on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The final prize in economy will be
    announced next week. Each Nobel Prize is accompanied by a 10-million Swedish
    Krona (the equivalent of some 920 thousand EUR). (VP)