Radio România Internațional

Tag: European Investment Bank

  • A European Gas Pipeline Project

    A European Gas Pipeline Project

    A gas pipeline financed by the
    European Commission, to cross Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria is being
    under construction. On Monday, the Economy Ministry announced the European
    Investment Bank is granting the national natural gas operator, Transgaz, some 50 million Euros to finance
    the pipeline, this being the first installment of an approved loan worth 150 million Euros. The transaction
    is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the financial
    pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, known as the Juncker
    Plan.

    Also, as part of the project, the European Investment Bank will
    support Transgaz to conduct a strategic environmental assessment for its 10
    year development plan. The pipeline will connect Romania’s natural gas resources on the Black Sea Coast both to the
    national gas transport network and the BRUA corridor. The gas conveying systems
    in South-Eastern Europe will be connected to those in Central and Western
    Europe. The project announced by the European forum is aimed at building a 308
    km long gas transport pipeline and the needed surface infrastructure.

    The
    pipeline will connect the existing gas transport system to the new BRUA
    corridor in Podisor, west of Bucharest. The Vice-President of the European
    Commission responsible for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, has hailed this
    project which he has said will contribute to tightening energy security and
    enhancing diversity in the region, which has already been characterized as
    being severely vulnerable in terms of natural gas supplies. Maros Sefcovic has also said this is another
    brick in the construction of the Energy Union, thanks to which energy in the EU
    will be safer, more accessible and sustainable. Sefcovic has also said this is
    good news to gas consumers, as prices will go down.

    In turn, the Romanian
    economy minister Niculae Bădălău has said this is a firm commitment to
    Romania’s energy security and proof of Romania’s capacity to develop and implement
    strategic projects, with a positive impact on the whole of the European
    Union. The Transgaz CEO, Ion Sterian, has
    said the connection of the gas extracted from the Black Sea area to the
    national conveying system on the Romanian and EU markets, respectively, is of strategic importance. He has said the financial support granted by
    the European Investment Bank will significantly contribute to expanding the
    national gas transport infrastructure.



  • June 17, 2016 UPDATE

    June 17, 2016 UPDATE

    DANUBE REGION — Developing tourism in the Danube Delta was high on Friday’s agenda for talks, held in Ruse, Bulgaria, between Romanian and Bulgarian authorities, in the presence of EU Commissioner for Regional Policies, Corina Cretu, and Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Vasile Dincu, Minister of Regional Development. The European Commissioner argued that one in five Europeans live and work in the Danube region, which is now home to over 110 million people. Moreover, tourism is a sector of major importance for the EU: 1 euro in 10 of the EU’s GDP comes from tourism, and nearly a quarter of the Danube’s population have revenues from tourism-related activities. Of the 600 million tourists who visit Europe every year, 125 million choose countries in the Danube Region. In this context, Romania and Bulgaria want to turn the region into a major tourist objective.



    UNITED KINGDOM — Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos on Friday sent a message of condolences to his British counterpart, David Cameron, after the assassination of Labour MP Jo Cox. Aged 41, the pro-European Labour MP was killed on Thursday following an attack in her constituency in Birstall, northern England, one week ahead of the Brexit referendum. Prime Minister Ciolos expressed his deep regret for the abominable death not only of a politician who voiced an opinion, but also for the values the British nation shares, promotes and stands for. The Romanian official is confident such gestures would not prevent the British people, not now, not ever, from voicing their opinions freely, in private or in public.



    ROAD ACCIDENT — Four people were killed and over 26 severely injured after the coach they were on was involved in a serious car accident on a mountain national road in central Romania. The authorities have issued a code red intervention alert. Tens of firemen, paramedics, police officers and security forces came to the scene to secure the area and transport the injured to the hospital in the shortest time possible. The coach was transporting children going to a folk festival in western Romania. Prosecutors have started criminal investigations into this matter.



    CONSULTATIONS — Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Monday is holding consultations with his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, during the latter’s official visit to Romania. President Iohannis will underline the interest of the Romanian side to intensify strategic relations with Germany, including with the federal lands. The Romanian president will also underline the need to consolidate economic cooperation, based on the fact that Germany is Romania’s largest trade partner and our economy’s third investor. The two presidents on Wednesday will attend a meeting of German and Romanian business people. The visit of the German president also includes a visit to Sibiu, where he will meet with representatives of the German minority. A former mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Iohannis himself is an ethnic German.


    EIB — The European Investment Bank granted Romania a 300 million Euro loan in support of environmental projects as part of the large infrastructure operational program over 2014-2020, according to the Ministry of Finance. The head of the ministry, Anca Dragu, said that this loan would partially cover the states contribution to projects in water safety, waste disposal, protecting and recovering ecosystems, as well as adapting to climate change. The vice-president of the bank, Cristian Popa, specified that the loan would allow the co-financing of projects worth a total of 4.5 billion Euro.



    MOLDOVA — Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu and French foreign ministry undersecretary Harlem Desir, while on a visit to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, were received by head of state Nicolae Timofti and Prime Minister Pavel Filip. Comanescu issued a strong message of support for Moldovas aspiration to join the EU. He urged officials there to keep up the pace of reform, especially in the judiciary and public administration, stabilizing the economic situation, the fight against corruption, as well as improving foreign investment and the business sector.