Radio România Internațional

Tag: fraud

July 31, 2024

OLYMPICS – Romanian athletes are competing on Wednesday, at the Olympic Games in Paris, in rowing, swimming, judo, table tennis, archery and triathlon. Japan remains in the top position in the medal standings at the Paris Olympics after Tuesday’s races, the fourth official day of competition, while Romania is 16th after the gold won by swimmer David Popovici in the 200m freestyle race on Monday. On Tuesday, David Popovici also qualified to the semifinals of the 100 m freestyle event. The final is taking place today. The Romanian artistic gymnastics team competed in the women’s team finals and finished in 7th place, 12 years after their previous participation, at the London Olympics, when they took the bronze medal. Romanian rowers Ancuța Bodnar and Simona Radiş, the Olympic champions in women’s double rowing, qualified, on Tuesday, to Final A. At the same time, Romanian rowers Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci qualified to the final in men’s double sculls, after winning the first semi-final.

FIRES – 40 Romanian firefighters with 8 technical means left for Greece on Tuesday, where several wildfires are active. The mission lasts until September 15, the purpose of the program being to reduce the response time in the event of forest fires and improve interoperability between the participating forces. The head of the Romanian Department for Emergencies, Raed Arafat told the firefighters that, although they are going on a support mission, the situation is difficult in Greece and, most likely, they will participate in the interventions. The mission of the Romanian firefighters is part of the assistance program financed by the EU, provided as a measure of support for the Greek communities, after the devastating fires recorded in the past years.

TAROM – TAROM flights to and from Beirut have been suspended on Wednesday and Thursday, amid the growing tensions in the Middle East and following the alert issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest to avoid any travel to this region, the national air operator announced. Other European countries have also suspended their flights on the Beirut route. Several countries, including Romania, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands, have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon urgently, due to growing concerns about a possible large-scale retaliation by Israel, after Saturday’s rocket attack that killed 12 young people on the Golan Heights and for which the Lebanese group Hezbollah is accused. The Israeli army said it carried out a targeted strike in the area of the Lebanese capital against the Hezbollah command on Tuesday evening.

FRAUD – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office alerted Romania regarding several cases of fraud, including one with a possible damage of 4.3 million euros, involving a mafia group from Italy. The institution led by the Romanian Laura Codruţa Kovesi informed the Ministry of Investments and European Projects in Bucharest that there are possible systemic vulnerabilities in contracts with European funds in the country. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has signaled a high risk of fraud with letters of guarantee issued by fictitious entities or which did not have the right to issue such documents. According to a press release by the European institution, based on these false documents, several public tenders were won and then ended up being investigated.

HAMAS – The Palestinian group Hamas said that its leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran, in an Israeli raid on his residence in the capital Tehran. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the “coward assassination” of the political leader of Hamas. Turkey also condemned the assassination of Ismail Hanyeh, a close associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said that the blood of the assassinated Hamas leader will not be wasted. We remind you that the war in the Gaza Strip broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas committed an attack in southern Israel that led to the death of nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Another 250 people were kidnapped then. In response, Israel promised to destroy Hamas, in power since 2007 in the Palestinian territory, which it sees as a terrorist organization, a position shared by the US and the EU. (EE)

31 July 2024
January 12, 2022 UPDATE

COVID-19 Romania reported
8,600 new Covid cases and 44 related deaths on Wednesday. The incidence rate is
on the rise around the country, including the capital Bucharest, where it
passed 3 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, the city now being in the red tier. This
means that restaurants, cinemas, gyms and other venues can open at 30%
capacity. Also, schools where the vaccine uptake among staff is under 60% will
switch to online teaching. The National Public Health Institute confirmed the
sustained community transmission of the Omicron variant, saying almost half of
the cases did not have contact with someone infected. In the meantime,
preparations are being made for opening outpatient Covid evaluation centres
around the country.

CORRUPTION The Interior Ministry’s Anti-Corruption Directorate
Wednesday conducted 25 home searches in the counties of Neamţ and Iaşi (north-east),
as part of investigations concerning forgery and fraud offences involved in the
obtaining of COVID vaccination certificates. Physicians and nurses received
bribes in exchange for fictitious vaccination certificates. Late last year the Anti-Corruption
Directorate announced that since the start of the pandemic 168 criminal cases
were initiated with respect to fictitious vaccination and other offences. According
to the institution, Romania saw the largest-scale frauds in the EU in this
respect, with over 3,000 fake COVID certificates issued at Petea border
checkpoint. Some 1.8 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Romania
since the start of the pandemic, and around 60,000 COVID patients died. Amid
anti-vaccine feelings fuelled by certain media outlets, politicians and opinion
leaders, Romania has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the EU.

EU FUNDING Over 1.9 billion euros will be transferred to Romanian
government accounts on Thursday, as part of the loans given to Romania under
the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, after the targets for Q4 2021 were
reached, the Ministry for EU Projects and Investments announced. The funds will
add to the 1.85 billion euros in grants paid by the European Commission on
December 2, 2021. Bucharest is to receive over 29 billion euros under the
National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The loans in the programme will be used
for the funding of large-scale projects, including motorways, water supply and
sewage networks, the digitisation of SMEs and reforestation, the Ministry
explained.

GROWTH The
National Institute of Statistics confirmed its 0.4% estimate with regard to the
growth of the Romanian economy in the third quarter of last year compared with
the previous quarter, but changes were made to the share of investments and
consumption in GDP growth. Also, in the third quarter, the net added value saw
important changes in the sectors of information and communications,
constructions, financial mediation and insurances and real estate transactions.

ECONOMY The Romanian economy is expected to grow by 4.3% this year,
as against a 4.5% growth rate forecast in June 2021, reads the World Bank’s report
on Global Economic Prospects, released on Wednesday. For 2023, the World Bank
forecasts a 3.8% GDP growth for Romania, while for last year the institution
estimates the country’s economic growth rate stood at 6.3%. The institution
expects the global economy to grow by 4.1% in 2022 and by 3.2% in 2023.

FOREIGN POLICY
Romania will continue to develop as an active, trusted, involved and
respected member of the EU and NATO. Romania’s approach is focused on
continuity, based on the three essential pillars of its foreign policy:
consolidating the country’s role and influence in the EU and NATO and
developing and deepening the strategic partnership with the US, said
president Klaus Iohannis at his annual meeting with foreign diplomats in
Bucharest. He also said strengthening the US military presence in Romania is a
major goal. Given the recent security challenges, it is obvious that we need
stronger action in terms of defence and deterrence, the Romanian president
added. Iohannis also said Romania is worried about the security situation in
Ukraine and its implications for Euro-Atlantic security and added that Romania
will continue to support the efforts of the Republic of Moldova to join the
European Union. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

12 January 2022
November 17, 2021 UPDATE

Covid-19. Over 3,500 new Covid cases were recorded in the last 24
hours in Romania, as well as 350 related fatalities, including 51 from an
earlier date. The incidence rate over the last fortnight is on the decrease,
with the infection rate dropping to 5.03 cases per 1,000 inhabitants in
Bucharest, as against 5.34 the previous day. The highest figure was reported on
22 October (16.54 per thousand). The indicator is still over 6 per thousand in
44 cities in the country. As of Wednesday Romania has over 7 million fully
vaccinated citizens.

Inflation. The EU year-on-year inflation rose to 4.4% in October, as
against 3.6% in September. The highest rates were reported in Lithuania (8.2%),
Estonia (6.8%), Hungary (6.6%) and Romania (6.5%), Eurostat announced on
Wednesday. Disruptions in energy supply and the growing costs in the sector slow
down the growth of the Eurozone economy and will keep inflation up for longer
than predicted, the head of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde warned
on Monday.

Corruption. Two nurses, 2 clerks and another person in no official capacity were detained under suspicion of
bribe-taking, computer fraud and forgery in an investigation involving forged
COVID-19 vaccination certificates. Some 3,000 false certificates have been
issued in recent months in Vama Petea, north-western Romania, in exchange for 250
to 300 euros each. Early this month the Interior Ministry announced over 360 criminal
cases are pending, with nearly 900 individuals facing fraud charges in similar
circumstances. In related news, the ex-Senator and transport minister Dan Şova
was sentenced on Wednesday to 4 years behind bars for influence peddling. The
sentence can be appealed.

Migrants.
Poland’s defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak warned on Wednesday that the
ongoing crisis on the Belarus border ‘may last for months or even years’, and added
that migrants once again tried to push across the border on Tuesday night.
Several police workers were injured in the clashes with the migrants crowding
at the border between the 2 countries in the past few weeks. Poland, which
strengthened border security, is blaming the crisis on Belarus, but Minsk
dismisses the accusations. Against this background, the EU announced it is
considering a joint military force of up to 5,000 troops, to intervene in a
number of crises without needing to rely on the US. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

17 November 2021
September 22, 2021

INVESTIGATION
Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors are looking into the procurement of
anti-Covid vaccines, amid suspicions of abuse of office and obtaining undue
benefits. Nobody is officially under charges as yet. The incumbent finance
minister Dan Vîlceanu says he has no information regarding the procurement of
anti-Covid vaccine outside the mechanism created by the European Commission and
for prices negotiated at EU level. The former health minister Vlad Voiculescu
claims however that based on the decision of PM Florin Cîțu, Romania ordered
too many doses and was subsequently forced to sell or donate some of them. W

COVID-19 7,045 new COVID-19 cases out of 54,000
tests were reported in Romania on Wednesday. This is the highest daily figure
this year. Also, 130 Covid patients died in the past 24 hours, and over 1,000
people are in intensive care. The capital city Bucharest and 3 counties in
Romania are in the red zone after reporting infection rates of over 3 per
thousand. In places with infection rates between 3 and 6 per thousand,
participation in indoor events is conditional on the green certificate. The
Romanian Physicians College calls on citizens to understand the impact and
consequences that the novel coronavirus infection may have, and urges the
authorities to find fair and immediately applicable solutions to contain the
disease. The college also warned that a high infection rate means increased
pressure on hospitals, and supports the opinion of scientists around the world
who say vaccination is one of the most efficient and readily accessible
instruments to fight this pandemic.

UN
While in New York, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis addressed
the heads of state and government of the over 100 countries attending the annual
meeting of the UN General Assembly. In his speech, the Romanian official
emphasized the importance of an international order based on rules. Klaus
Iohannis is also scheduled to take part in a global summit aimed at
coordinating the international response to the pandemic, organized by the US
president Joe Biden, and in a meeting with representatives of Jewish
organisations in the US.

GOVERNMENT The Romanian government may pass today a
programme entitled Caring for children. The short-term goal of the programme
is to ensure psychological and emotional protection for children during the
pandemic and post-pandemic period, and the long-term goal is related to a
mechanism to protect children from physical, sexual and emotional violence both
within families, society and online. The Cabinet is also discussing today the
reorganisation of the Prime Minister’s control corps.

INSURANCE At the request of the City Insurance
shareholders, Romanian prosecutors will investigate the management of this
insurance company. The shareholders filed a criminal complaint with the
Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, and accuse the City
Insurance employees in Romania of forming an organised crime group, fraud and
embezzlement. Other criminal complaints, filed by the Financial Supervising
Authority right before requesting the bankruptcy of City Insurance, may lead to
investigations by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Meanwhile, the
Government may pass today an emergency order stepping up the payment of car
insurance claims before the company is declared bankrupt.

DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan
Aurescu is hosting today in New York the 10th ministerial conference
of the Community of Democracies, on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly.
The conference brings together foreign ministers and other top-level officials
of CoD member states and civil society representatives, to discuss the current
challenges and opportunities facing democracy. The event is titled Democracy
and resilience: shared goals.ˮ

FESTIVAL The 25th George Enescu International Music Festival
continues in Romania. This edition brought together a total of 3,500 Romanian and foreign musicians, performing in
Bucharest, Sibiu, Iaşi, Timişoara and Constanţa. Radio Romania is a co-producer
of the festival, alongside the Romanian Television Corporation. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

22 September 2021
Scandal in the insurance sector

City Insurance, Romania’s leading issuer of civil liability insurance for
car owners, went under the special administration of the Insurance Guarantee
Fund in early June, and has failed to submit in due time the amount stipulated
in the relevant minimum capital requirements. ASF has announced that without this amount, of over 150 million
euro, the company, which has issued some 3 million car insurance policies, can no longer
continue to operate in Romania. Dan Apostol, spokesman for the Financial Supervising Authority:

Dan Apostol: The authority ordered the
company to submit, by the deadline stipulated by law, a short-term financing
plan-in other words, to prove it has the money to cover the minimum capital
requirement. Then they were supposed to come up with a recovery plan to prove
they meet the solvency capital requirement. Also, to ensure a prudential
management of this company, the Financial Supervising Authority appointed the
Insurance Guarantee Fund as a temporary administrator.

The
investigation into the company’s bankruptcy points to possible frauds and
operations conducted in tax haven countries, says the head of the Insurance
Division of the Financial Supervising Authority. According to Valentin Ionescu, City Insurance
declared fictitious amounts in its accounts, and the reinsurance was conducted
via offshore accounts difficult to verify:

Valentin Ionescu: This company placed
outwards reinsurance on 90% of its contracts, going to tax havens. We
investigated with the authority in the Cayman and Barbados, the answers took a
year to reach us, and we found there are also problems with respect to the
insurance of this company.

The Financial Supervising Authority cancelled City Insurance’s license,
declared the company insolvent and initiated the bankruptcy procedure.

At
present, there are tens of thousands of cases involving damaged cars with City
Insurance policies, and the claims will be taken over by the Insurance
Guarantee Fund, which will cover the damages.

Meanwhile,the government is
working on 2 emergency orders on the insurance sector, which are currently
pending approval by the Competition Council, PM Florin Cîţu announced. One of
the orders concerns policy prices, and the other one provides for some form of
protection for the clients of City Insurance, if necessary. The latter is aimed
at stepping up the payment of claims for policy owners.

Under the current legislation, car owners have to wait
months and even years for the court to rule the company bankrupt, as it was the
case with 2 other companies, Carpatica and Astra, which left the insurance
market several years ago. (tr. A.M.
Popescu)

21 September 2021
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office starts operating

Headed by the former chief
of the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruţa Kövesi, the European Public Prosecutor’s
Office starts operating on 1st June. This new body aimed at fighting
fraud withing the bloc is based in Luxembourg and will carry out its
investigations and prosecutions fully independently from the Commission and the
other EU institutions and bodies, as well as from member states, 22 of which are
taking part in this form of consolidated cooperation.

This is the first supranational prosecutor’s office
investigating and prosecuting fraud related to expenditure and incomes, VAT (when
it involves two or more member states and causes losses of at least 10 million
euros), money laundering of funds resulting from defrauding the EU budget,
active and passive corruption and embezzlement that affects the EU’s financial
interests. This new body is also able to investigate and prosecute
participation in a criminal organisation whose activities result in offences
against the EU budget, or any other illegal activity that is inextricably linked
to an offence against the EU budget.

The head of this new body, who says there are no clean
countries, said in an interview to the Spanish news agency EFE that she is
very proud to play the lead role in the historic moment represented by the inauguration
of this new European institution and warned of the high risk of offences linked
to the European fund for post-pandemic recovery. Set up in order to investigate
offences that affect the EU budget, the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office
is an instrument aimed at protecting the bloc’s economic interests, which is
why it should be strong, effective and efficient, Kövesi also said. She estimated
corruption, misappropriation of funds and fraud in its many forms cause annual
losses to the EU budget of some 500 million euros. This financial haemorrhaging
may worsen in the context of the pandemic, with the community bloc establishing,
through loans accessed by the European Commission, recovery funds out of which
member states can access grants and loans based on national recovery and resilience
plans approved by the Commission.

The new body has at its disposal an annual budget of
45 million euros to identify and investigate acts of corruption. Kövesi said
the office can employ 140 prosecutors and added that 50 financial analysts and
experts are also needed given the challenge of conducting investigations in 22
member states, with 22 different criminal codes and procedures. Five member
states, namely Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden and Ireland are not taking part
in the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office as a result of a political decision,
while Finland and Slovenia are yet to appoint their prosecutors. (CM)

31 May 2021
September 30, 2020

COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreaks are spreading in Romania, particularly in care centres and in hospitals. The number of schools resorting to exclusively online classes is also on the rise. According to the latest official report, there are 2,158 new cases in the past 24 hours, and 33 new deaths. So far, 4,825 COVID-19 patients have died in Romania, and more than 127,500 people have tested positive.

ELECTIONS Police and prosecutors carry on investigations in a criminal case initiated after on Sunday a Social Democrat running for a local councilor post was caught by representatives of Save Romania-PLUS Alliance with nearly 500 official reports from polling stations. The Central Electoral Bureau is to announce today a decision regarding the Social Democrats request for a vote recount in Bucharest Sector 1. The candidate backed by the Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance, MEP Clotilde Armand, said she would request the General Prosecutors Office to take over the investigation. The acting Sector 1 mayor, the Social Democrat Dan Tudorache, said he also requested the Bureau to do a vote recount. According to centralised data, Clotilde Armand has won the election with 40.95%, while Dan Tudorache got 39.82% of the votes. In Bucharest, the independent candidate Nicuşor Dan, backed by the Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance, secured some 43% of the votes for General Mayor of Bucharest. At national level, partial results point to major changes in the administration of county capitals. The Liberals, in power, have won 15 county capitals, the Social Democrats in opposition 14, and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians 4 each. As for county councils, the Social Democrats won 20, the Liberals 17, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians 4.

COURT The Constitutional Court of Romania has dismissed an objection raised by the President and Government against a bill authorizing Parliament to set the date of this years parliamentary elections. The current bill is therefore deemed in line with the constitution, and president Iohannis is either to sign it into law, or to send it back to Parliament for a review. Meanwhile, in keeping with current legislation, the Liberal government decided on Friday that the parliamentary election will be held on December 6. Until its publication in the Official Journal, the bill tabled by the opposition parties, the Social Democrats, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and ALDE, is not in force. If this happens, which specialists say is no longer possible because there is not enough time, it will be for the first time in 30 years that the date of general elections in Romania is set by Parliament and not by the Government.

CONFLICT The Romanian Foreign Ministry announces that Romanian embassies in Erevan and Baku are prepared to provide consular assistance to Romanian citizens in the conflict in the region. Romanian citizens are urged to be cautious and to seek information in official sources as regards possible changes in travel conditions in the 2 countries. The European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to refrain from any measures, especially military ones, that might infringe upon civilians rights. Clashes between Azeri and Armenian troops over the Nagorno-Karabakh refion continue, in spite of an appeal for cease-fire and negotiations coming from the UN Security Council. According to official data, 98 people, mostly Armenian separatist fighters and , and 17 civilians on both sides, have been killed in the past few days in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

TENNIS The Romanians Simona Halep (no. 2 WTA, seeded 1st) and Irina Begu (72 WTA) are playing today in the 2nd round of the Roland Garros tournament. Other Romanians have also qualified into the second round: Ana Bogdan defeated Timea Babos (Hungary), Irina Bara secured a surprising win against Donna Vekic (Croatia), and Patricia Ţig outplayed the Swiss Stefanie Voegele. In the doubles, Ana Bogdan / Rebecca Peterson (Sweden) are taking today on Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) / Arantxa Rus (Netherlands), Romanians Andrea Mitu and Patricia Tig are pitted against Madison Brengle (USA) / Yana Sizikova (Russia), Monica Niculescu (Romania) / Misaki Doi (Japan) are playing against Irina Bara (Romania) / Fanny Stollar (Hungary), and Sorana Carstea (Romania) / Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) play against Alison Riske(USA) / Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia). (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

30 September 2020
Fighting fraud in EU spending

Romania reported the largest number of frauds involving European funds of the member countries in 2014-2018, reads a report issued by the European Commissions Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF. More precisely, 477 frauds were reported in the past 5 years, accounting for nearly one-third of the total number of frauds investigated at EU level. Romania is followed by Poland, Hungary and Italy. At the opposite pole, countries like Belgium, Luxembourg and Malta reported one fraud each during the same period.

Romania also ranks among the first in terms of the total amount of misappropriated funds. According to OLAF, Romania comes second, with frauds amounting to over 62 million euros, as against payments of around 14 billion euros made by the EU to Romania during these 5 years. First ranks Poland, with frauds amounting to some 110 million euros, followed by France, Bulgaria, Italy and Hungary.

As for last year, Romania once again reported the largest number of frauds involving EU funds, i.e. 114. The amount was over 18 million euros, again one-third of the amount embezzled at EU level. Whereas in Poland, the country with the highest fraud amount, the number of misdeeds dropped considerably, in Romania the number of offences rose from one year to the next, OLAF emphasised.

In fact, the European authorities announce that on the whole the number of frauds against the EU budget has dropped, but it has concentrated and increased in a small number of states. Thus, irregularities identified in 7 member countries (Italy, Romania, Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, France and Lithuania) exceed 70% of the total number of offences reported last year at EU level. Also, the OLAF report emphasises that in 2018 the offences identified in only 2 countries, Romania and Italy, accounted for 61% of the total number of frauds EU-wide. The incidents were reported mostly in the field of agriculture and rural development funding.

EU budget frauds are expected to decrease in the coming years, given that the European Public Prosecutors Office is scheduled to become operational at the end of 2020. The institution will be in charge with investigating, prosecuting and bringing to justice crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud, corruption offences or cross-border VAT frauds in excess of 10 million euros. The EPPO will be headed by the Romanian Laura Codruta Kovesi, endorsed last month by both the European Parliament and the EU Council. So far 22 member states joined the EPPO network, including Romania.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

14 October 2019
February 12, 2019 UPDATE

STATE BUDGET The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, said on Tuesday that the 2019 state budget bill drafted by the left-of-centre Power is “rushed and based on unrealistic economic estimates. The head of state warned that this is not the budget of the Social Democratic Party, but of Romania, and that stability and prosperity in the years to come depend on this, reads a news release issued by the Presidency. Iohannis is particularly critical of the funding cuts affecting national security institutions, which he sees as an irresponsible decision. Similar comments had been made previously by the right-wing Opposition as well. In Parliament, debates on the budget bill continued in the specialised committees, with the final vote scheduled for Friday. The budget is based on an estimated economic growth rate of 5.5%, a budget deficit of 2.5% of GDP and a GDP of over 200 billion euros.

BANKING The Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, Tuesday assured Parliament that there is no deviation of the ROBOR index from the true market level. In a hearing at the Senates committees on budget-finances and the economy, Isarescu explained that the current level of ROBOR, the index used in calculating floating interest rates for national currency loans, can only fluctuate within the 1.5% to 3.5% range, because this is the only way the central bank can attract deposits from and provide loans to commercial banks. On the other hand, the chair of the Senates economic committee Daniel Zamfir (ALDE, a junior party in the ruling coalition), said the Romanian banking sector had the lowest financial intermediation rate in the EU, and profit rates twice the EU average. The dispute between Zamfir and Isarescu deepened after in January the local currency, the leu, dropped to all-time lows against the euro for several consecutive days. During the same period, ROBOR came close to 3%, pushing up the interests for national currency loans.

EU The EU member states committed on Tuesday to consolidate the legal framework for the supervision of financial institutions, in order to find the best means to fight money laundering. The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union was invited to initiate as soon as possible negotiations with the European Parliament on the relevant legislative package. According to the Radio Romania correspondent in Brussels, the Romanian Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici, who chaired the ECOFIN meeting, emphasised that the rules for combating money laundering will be fully implemented in all EU member countries.

DEFENCE The Romanian defence minister Gabriel Leş is taking part on Wednesday and Thursday in a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. According to a news release, topics of major interest are on the agenda, concerning the implementation of the decisions made in the latest NATO summit last year. On the sidelines of the meeting, the Romanian official will also have bilateral talks with his counterparts from the UK, Canada, and other NATO member and partner countries, including Georgia and Ukraine.

FRAUD Bucharests “Carol Davila Medical and Pharmacy University announced that a woman working as a volunteer physician in a public hospital in Bucharest does not appear in its records as a graduate of Bachelors and Masters degrees. The Healthcare Minister, Sorina Pintea, says the documents presented by the individual, who had been practicing gynaecology for 10 years, are forged, and that a criminal investigation will be initiated in this case. Prompted by a media investigation, the new case follows the one involving an Italian citizen who worked unlawfully as a plastic surgeon in private clinics in Romania. A secondary school graduate working as a parking valet in Italy, he already had a 1.5-years suspended sentence in his own country, for claiming to be a physician for a long time.

DIPLOMACY The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, Tuesday travelled to Slovakia as part of his on-going European tour. In Bratislava, he reiterated the statements made previously in Hungary, concerning the importance of supporting Ukraines sovereignty and integrity, and said that Western Allies must not allow Russia to create division between NATO member states. Moscow is not the only power intent on eroding freedom in the region, Pompeo also warned, hinting at China. The US officials tour also includes Warsaw and Brussels, where he will have talks with the EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini.

TENNIS Romanias womens tennis team went up 3 places and is currently ranked 5th with 8,912.5 points, in the Fed Cup standings released by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The increase is owing to the away win against trophy holder the Czech Republic on Sunday. Romanias next opponent in the Fed Cup semis is France, ranking 4th with 12,995 points, after defeating Belgium (3-1), in Liege. Romania outplayed the Czech Republic, 3-2, thanks to Simona Haleps 2 wins and to Irina Begu and Monica Niculescus victory in the doubles. Romania will take on France away from home on April 20th and 21st, in its first presence in the Fed Cup semi-finals since 1973.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

12 February 2019
September 2, 2017 UPDATE

DIPLOMACY – The Ambassador of Romania to the USA, George Maior, says the relations between Bucharest and Washington are currently at the highest level of implementation of the bilateral strategic partnership, in all its aspects, from defence, economy, diplomacy to culture. However, the Romanian Ambassador said Romania seeks strengthened cooperation with the US in terms of defence. In this context, on September 18 the Romanian Defence Minister Adrian Ţuţuianu will have a meeting with his American counterpart, James Mattis. Ambassador Maior also mentioned the visit made by the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the US in June, when he had a meeting with the US President Donald Trump.

PARLIAMENT – In Bucharest, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have convened for the second regular parliamentary session of the year. Romanian MPs are scheduled to handle overdue bills from previous sessions, and the new draft legislation tabled by the Government. Debates are to begin next week. Apart from the emergency orders concerning special pension benefits, child allowances and police salaries, Parliament is also to discuss a bill on mandatory vaccination. The most eagerly awaited debates concern the new Pension Bill, which is to reach the Parliament chambers by October 1, and the changes of the laws on the judiciary and the set-up of a Sovereign Investment Fund.

CORRUPTION – The former president of the National Healthcare Insurance Agency, Marian Burcea, has been placed under 30-day arrest in an investigation into illegal refunds for healthcare services. According to the Bucharest Court of Appeals, in the same case the judges have also decided to place other individuals under pre-trial arrest. Anti-corruption prosecutors suspect frauds involving the funds of the Bucharest City Healthcare Insurance Agency, consisting in the refund of fictitious healthcare expenditure. The refunds were allegedly granted based on hundreds of fake medical records and involved agency personnel protected by top officials of the National Healthcare Insurance Agency. Tens of searches conducted at the offices of companies and institutions as well as at the homes of several individuals in Bucharest seem to indicate losses of 3 million euros caused to the public budgets.

ENESCU FESTIVAL – The George Enescu International Festival, one of the most prestigious music events in Europe, opened on Saturday. For 3 weeks, 80 concerts and other events will bring together in Bucharest and 7 other major Romanian cities more than 3,000 of the best international artists. The honorary president this year is the famous conductor Zubin Mehta, and another conductor, Vladimir Jurowski is the artistic director. Radio Romania is the only media institution in the country to broadcast the concerts live, on its channels Radio Romania Music and Radio Romania Culture. The opening show, a performance of George Enescus opera “Oedipus by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductor Vladimir Jurowski, included multimedia features. First organised in 1958, 3 years after the famed Romanian composer had died, the George Enescu Festival was discontinued in 1971 by the communist regime, and was resumed in 1989. It has been held every 2 years ever since.

POLICE – Fifty Romanian policemen have carried out operative support missions in France this year, according to the Romanian General Police Inspectorate. They have provided direct assistance to the French authorities in securing the areas with high seasonal tourist inflows and have facilitated data and intelligence exchanges. These activities have been requested by the French partners, as a result of the good cooperation and based on an administrative arrangement between the Romanian and French interior ministers, the Romanian Police Inspectorate also said.

HARVEY – The US President Donald Trump has requested Congress to earmark 7.85 billion US dollars for relief and reconstruction following hurricane Harvey, Reuters reports. Trump is to visit the disaster-hit areas today, for the second time. Harvey, one of the worst hurricanes to have hit the US in terms of the damages it has caused, forced one million Americans out of their homes. Tens of people died. Houston, the largest city in Texas and the fifth-largest in the US, is still paralysed by floods. In Beaumont, over 120,000 people are without drinking water.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

2 September 2017
September 2, 2017

PARLIAMENT – In Bucharest, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have convened for the second regular parliamentary session of the year. Romanian MPs are scheduled to handle overdue bills from previous sessions, and the new draft legislation tabled by the Government. Debates are to begin next week. Apart from the emergency orders concerning special pension benefits, child allowances and police salaries, Parliament is also to discuss a bill on mandatory vaccination. The most eagerly awaited debates concern the new Pension Bill, which is to reach the Parliament chambers by October 1, and the changes of the laws on the judiciary and the set-up of a Sovereign Investment Fund.

CORRUPTION – The former president of the National Healthcare Insurance Agency, Marian Burcea, has been placed under 30-day arrest in an investigation into illegal refunds for healthcare services. According to the Bucharest Court of Appeals, in the same case the judges have also decided to place other individuals under pre-trial arrest. Anti-corruption prosecutors suspect frauds involving the funds of the Bucharest City Healthcare Insurance Agency, consisting in the refund of fictitious healthcare expenditure. The refunds were allegedly granted based on hundreds of fake medical records and involved agency personnel protected by top officials of the National Healthcare Insurance Agency. Tens of searches conducted at the offices of companies and institutions as well as at the homes of several individuals in Bucharest seem to indicate losses of 3 million euros caused to the public budgets.

ENESCU FESTIVAL – The George Enescu International Festival, one of the most prestigious music events in Europe, opens today. For 3 weeks, 80 concerts and other events will bring together in Bucharest and 7 other major Romanian cities more than 3,000 of the best international artists. The honorary president this year is the famous conductor Zubin Mehta, and another conductor, Vladimir Jurowski is the artistic director. Radio Romania is the only media institution in the country to broadcast the concerts live, on its channels Radio Romania Music and Radio Romania Culture. The opening show, a performance of George Enescus opera “Oedipus by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductor Vladimir Jurowski, will include multimedia features. First organised in 1958, 3 years after the famed Romanian composer had died, the George Enescu Festival was discontinued in 1971 by the communist regime, and was resumed in 1989. It has been held every 2 years ever since.

HARVEY – The US President Donald Trump has requested Congress to earmark 7.85 billion US dollars for relief and reconstruction following hurricane Harvey, Reuters reports. Trump is to visit the disaster-hit areas today, for the second time. Harvey, one of the worst hurricanes to have hit the US in terms of the damages it has caused, forced one million Americans out of their homes. Tens of people died. Houston, the largest city in Texas and the fifth-largest in the US, is still paralysed by floods. In Beaumont, over 120,000 people are without drinking water.

FOOTBALL – Romanias national football team had some difficulties defeating Armenia. The Romanians only managed to score in extra time, although they missed a penalty shot and the guests had a player taken off the pitch. Ranked 4th in the group, 7 points behind the group leader Poland and 4 points behind Denmark and Montenegro, Romania will play its next match on Monday, in Podgorica, against Montenegro. In this qualifying campaign, Romania is for the first time coached by a foreign manager, the German Cristoph Daum, who has been the target of growing criticism lately, from supporters, experts and the media, because of the poor performance of the national squad.

BASKETBALL – The national basketball team of Romania plays today against Croatia, in Cluj-Napoca, in Group C of the European Basketball Championship, FIBA Eurobasket 2017. Romania was defeated on Friday by the Czech Republic, 83-68. Returning to continental basketball elite competitions after a 3-decade gap, Romania was only able to keep up with the Czech team in the first half of the game. In the other matches played on Friday in the same group, Croatia beat Hungary 67-58, and defending European champions Spain defeated Montenegro 99-60. The best 4 teams in each group will move on to the eighth-finals held in Turkey. The FIBA EUROBASKET 2017 final will be played in Istanbul, on September 17.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

2 September 2017
May 31, 2016

Anti-missile shield – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, says the recent statements made by Moscow are inaccurate, and emphasises that the anti-missile platform in Deveselu does not target Russia. Such ungrounded threats reconfirm that Romanias approach, namely to strengthen NATO security in response to Moscows stance in the Black Sea region, is the right one, Iohannis said in Bucharest today, upon opening the Black Sea Security Programme. On Saturday, the Romanian Foreign Ministry expressed its surprise with the statements of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who said Romania might be in the sight of Russian rockets because it hosts elements of the American missile defence system. These statements, said the Foreign Ministry, may be read as a threat to regional security.

Corruption – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has today sent to the Justice Minister a request to prosecute four ministers accused of establishing an organised criminal group. They are Mihai Tanasescu, Sebastian Vladescu, Gheorghe Pogea, former finance ministers, and Dan Ioan Popescu, former Economy and Commerce Minister. According to prosecutors, there are indications and data that the four committed offences like abuse of office, aiding embezzlement and establishment of an organised criminal group. They are suspected of having colluded with several business people to promote an emergency ordinance under which the 2003 public budget debts of Rompetrol Rafinare, amounting to more than 600 million USD, were converted into bonds underwritten by the Finance Ministry.

Justice – The Romanian Justice Minister, Raluca Prună, says the rate of recovering damages in the criminal cases where a final sentence has been passed is only 8%. She also says that recovering the proceeds of crime remains a priority, although for the time being it is a chapter that she describes as “defective. Minister Prună explained that the Justice Ministry, the Ministry for Public Finances and the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF), with its specialised directorate, are working together to improve the damage recovery rate.

OLAF – Nearly one billion USD worth of EU funds were paid last year to fraudulent applicants, with the highest frequency of suspected fraud cases reported for Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, reads the 2015 report of the European Anti-Fraud Office released today and quoted by Reuters. Last year, 187 million euro were recovered through judicial proceedings and returned to Brussels, which is 10% less than in 2014. OLAF has the authority to investigate corruption cases, but it cannot take the perpetrators to court.

NATO – The NATO Parliamentary Assembly Monday called on the Allies, at the end of a three-day session in Tirana, to be prepared to respond to Russias potential threat against one of its members, France-Presse reports. The declaration, signed unanimously by the nearly 250 representatives of the 28 NATO member states, urges the Alliance to provide guarantees to its members, particularly those on the eastern flank, Romania included, that feel their security comes under threat. NATO strengthened its eastern flank further to Russias annexation of Crimea and to its support for the separatists in east Ukraine.

Diplomacy – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazar Comanescu, is taking part today, in Pravetz, near Sofia, in a meeting of the 12 foreign ministers of the South-East European Cooperation Process, at the end of the one-year Bulgarian presidency of the structure. According to the Bulgarian presidency, the participants will discuss the current challenges facing South-Eastern Europe and joint actions for the future development of the region. The meeting takes place one day ahead of the Summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process due on Wednesday in Sofia, where Romania will be represented by PM Dacian Ciolos. In 2016 the initiative, aimed at promoting dialogue and regional cooperation in various fields, celebrates 20 years since its launch at Bulgarias initiative.

Roland Garros – The Romanian player Simona Halep (seed no. 6) and the Australian Samantha Stosur (seeded 21) are to resume today their game in the eighth-finals of the Roland Garros Grand Slam, which was suspended on Sunday because of the weather. Originally rescheduled for Monday, the game, suspended at 5–3 for Halep, could not be resumed yesterday, because of the rain. In the mens doubles, Florin Mergea of Romania and the Indian Rohan Bopanna Sunday won the match against Brian Baker/Marcus Daniell (US/New Zealand), in the eighth-finals of the same tournament.

31 May 2016