Radio România Internațional

Tag: mining

  • Roșia Montană, a win for Romania

    Roșia Montană, a win for Romania

    At the end of a 9-year long litigation, Romania has won the Roşia Montană case tried by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington (ICSID) against the Canadian company Gabriel Resources.

     

    Under the ruling, Romania will not have to pay billions of Euros in compensations, while the plaintiffs are bound to cover some of the court fees and the arbitration costs, up to around EUR 2.4 million.

     

    The complicated story of the Roşia Montană case started 25 years ago, when the Canadian corporation won a contract for the processing of gold deposits in central Romania, and obtained a gold mining license. This was a huge project, as research indicated the Roşia Montană deposits, the largest in Europe, reached 323 tonnes of gold and over 1,600 tonnes of silver.

     

    More than 10 years later, in 2013, the Government gave the green light for the works in Roşia Montană, but under the pressure of protests against the possible use of cyanide in the mining process, Parliament dismissed the project.

     

    Another 4 years on, Romania applied for UNESCO Heritage protection for the mining community in the region, and the procedure ended in 2021, when the exceptional universal value of the Roșia Montană site was officially recognised, based on 4 out of the 6 cultural criteria listed in the World Heritage Convention.

     

    Underneath the 4 Roşia Montanǎ massifs there are over 150 km of mines, including the largest Roman-era gold mining complex known today (7 km), a vast 17th-18th Century gunpowder mining system (10 km), and contemporary (19th-20th Century) dynamite mining galleries (53 km). The UNESCO Heritage listing meant the definitive closure of any mining works in the region.

     

    Claiming they had incurred huge losses for not being able to implement their mining license, the Canadian firm Gabriel Resources called Romania before the World Bank’s arbitration court, demanding nearly USD 6.7 bln in compensations.

     

    “After many years of disputes and debates, both political and legal, we are now at the moment of truth: Romania wins the case for Roşia Montanǎ, without penalties or damages, fighting and succeeding to protect the national heritage,” president Iohannis posted on social media, congratulating the teams of professionals involved in supporting Romania’s cause. (AMP)

  • February 18, 2021

    February 18, 2021

    VACCINE A new batch of over 163,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine reaches Romania today. This is the third COVID-19 vaccine available in EU member states, and was introduced in Romania this week. According to the National Vaccination Coordination Committee, since the start of the vaccination programme in Romania on December 27, over 1.2 million doses have been administered. Most people have received the Pfizer vaccine, and the others doses produced by Moderna, available in Romania since February 4. Meanwhile, 3,058 new SARS-CoV-2 cases were reported in the past 24 hours. 71 people died and 936 patients are in intensive care.



    DEFENCE The Romanian defence minister Nicolae Ciucă, taking part in a meeting of NATO defence ministers, pointed out Romanias commitment to covering defence expenditure. He reaffirmed Bucharests support for deepening and strengthening NATOs defence and deterrence posture, in line with medium and long-term security requirements. NATOs secretary general Jens Stoltenberg suggested the Alliance should increase funding for joint defence and deterrence activities. One of the reasons for suggesting increased NATO funding for deterrence and defence is that this will incentivise more Allies to provide more capabilities, especially in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, the NATO chief explained. Jens Stoltenberg also said the Alliance needs to invest more in new technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing.



    BRANCUSI A number of events devoted to the Constantin Brâncuşi National Day, celebrated every year in Romania on February 19, are organised across the country this week, to mark 145 years since the great sculptors birth. On Friday, the “Tinerimea Română National Art Centre will host a special concert devoted to the occasion, and illustrated with images of Brancusis works on display at the National Museum of Art. Also on Friday, an exhibition entitled “Mirrors of Brâncuşi opens at the Romanian Peasant Museum. On Saturday, the National Library has an event entitled “Dialogues at the table of silence: 145 years since the birth of sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi. The event is held online, on Zoom platform, and can also be followed on the Youtube channel of the National Library of Romania. In turn, the Romanian Cultural Institutes in Bucharest, Brussels, Chişinău, Lisbon, London, Madrid and Paris have scheduled online events devoted to the world-famous Romanian artist.



    PROTESTS Over one hundred workers at the Lupeni coal mine in Valea Jiului (central-western Romania) are carrying on the sit-in protest initiated yesterday. Their salaries are nearly 10 days late although the union signed a protocol in this respect with the Hunedoara Power Compound management. Meanwhile, leaders of coal mining trade unions convene to find legal methods to step up salary payments. Yesterday, protests were staged by Cartel Alfa and Solidaritatea Sanitara trade unions, both in front of the government headquarters and of parties in the ruling coalition. Trade unions are unhappy with the 2021 state budget bill, which they say will extend the economic crisis and will drive down living standards. Railway workers also picketed the government head offices on Tuesday and Wednesday, demanding investments and salary increases in the railway sector.



    PANDEMIC The European Commission announced a deal was signed with Moderna for an additional 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, to be delivered this year, and confirmed a previous agreement on the purchase of another 200 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. On Wednesday, the Commission also unveiled plans to monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants, to step up the approval of vaccines against such variants and to strengthen vaccine production capabilities in Europe. The EC initiated a bio-defence preparedness plan called “Hera Incubator, targeting new coronavirus variants that threaten to reduce the efficacy of current vaccination campaigns. Moreover, the EC president Ursula von der Leyen announced the Commission boosts measures against the growing number of COVID-19 vaccine frauds. In turn, the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called on G20 to set up a “global vaccination plan so that no country is left behind in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • October 29, 2019

    October 29, 2019

    GOVERNMENT The Romanian Prime Minister designate, the Liberal Ludovic Orban, has signed political agreements with several parliamentary parties, to secure the necessary support in Parliament for his new Cabinet. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the matter on Monday, November 4. In order to be endorsed, the new government needs at least 233 votes. Today and tomorrow, the specialised committees in Parliament are hearing the candidates. Ludovic Orbans Liberal government follows the Social Democratic cabinet headed by Viorica Dancila, which was dismissed on October 10th through a no-confidence vote.




    PROTESTS In Romania, trade unionists in the forestry sector picketed the Chamber of Deputies headquarters in Bucharest on Tuesday, against the backdrop of the growing number of attacks against forestry workers. The 6 foresters killed over the past few years by wood thieves were commemorated, but apart from them, the protesters say, over 650 employees have been assaulted, threatened, and attacked by criminals caught during illegal logging attempts. The unions lobby for immediate changes in the legislation regulating the forestry professions, to the effect of strengthening the authority of foresters.



    MINING In Romania, over 100 coal workers from Paroşeni and Uricani, in the Jiu Valley area in the centre-west of the country, continue to protest underground, for the second consecutive day. They are unhappy with the lack of redundancy packages for the employees to be made redundant early next year. A shut down and renaturation programme at the Paroşeni and Uricani mines was initiated in late December 2017. In 2018 and 2019, operations were conducted to secure the coal deposits and to drain the water from galleries. In 2020 the main ventilation unit is scheduled to shut down, and access to the underground will be sealed.




    AGEING Population ageing is deepening in Romania, with 471,000 more citizens over 65 than children under 14 on July 31st 2019, the National Statistics Institute announced today. The total population by domicile has reached 22.155 million people, 0.1% less than on July 1st, 2018. Urban population and women account for the majority of the Romanian population (56.4% and 51.2% respectively).




    TENNIS The Japanese player Naomi Osaka, number 3 in the world, had to leave the WTA Finals in Shenzhen (China), because of an injury. She was replaced in the Red Group by the Dutch Kiki Bertens, number 10 WTA, who is to play today against the Australian Ashleigh Barty (1 WTA). In the other match today, the Czech Petra Kvitova (6 WTA) takes on the Swiss Belinda Bencic (7 WTA). On Sunday, in the first matches, Osaka outplayed Kvitova, and Ashleigh Barty defeated Bencic. The Romanian Simona Halep (5 WTA) is playing on Wednesday in the Purple Group against the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (8 WTA), and the Canadian Bianca Andreescu (4 WTA) against Karolina Pliskova (2 WTA). On Monday, Halep defeated Andreescu 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, while Svitolina outperformed Pliskova 7-6, 6-4. Simona played the finals of the WTA tournament in Schenzhen in 2014, at her first participation, when she was defeated by the American Serena Williams (9 WTA).


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Issues facing miners in the Jiu Valley

    Issues facing miners in the Jiu Valley

    The employees of the Lupeni mine refuse
    to go into the mines. Radio Romania’s correspondent in the Jiu Valley says the
    roots of the protest lie in the unprecedented crisis the Hunedoara Energy
    Complex has been going through. Not even basic stuff needed in the underground
    can be purchased anymore, because of the difficult financial problems facing
    the complex. Miners fear they might lose their jobs and would like to receive a
    concrete program regarding either the
    continuation of their mining activities or the closing down of the mines.


    We have been lied to all the time, either about insolvency or
    about getting awards, and this can no longer continue. We have been humiliated
    to an incredible extent. If the activity can’t continue, we are going home. We
    are neither the first nor the last to lose their jobs. Let’s establish once for
    all what should be done, but we should be all aware of what’s going on.


    The protesters
    call for the resignation of the current management, whom they blame for
    incompetence. They are particularly discontent with the conduct of the deputy
    director Petru Nica, a
    former trade union leader until the autumn of 2016, whom they accuse of trying
    to intimidate the miners and of threatening them with lay offs if they do not
    resume their activity. The protests staged by the trade unions come shortly
    after the European Commission approved the allotment of approximately 100
    million Euro by the Romanian state for the closing down of the Lupeni mine and of another loss making
    coal mine in the Jiu Valley, Lonea.

    More than half of the money will be spent on workers, who will receive
    severance payment and will benefit from professional reconversion programs, as
    well as on a number of activities needed in the underground, to rehabilitate
    the region and to return the land to agriculture. This is only an episode in
    the long agony of the Romanian mining industry. Enjoying a privileged status
    during the communist dictatorship, for both pragmatic and ideological reasons,
    the mining industry assures the vitality of the energy-consuming economy. A
    polluting and loss making sector, the mining industry started to lose ground in
    the mid 1990’s, when the first mines were closed down.









  • 4 January, 2017

    4 January, 2017

    PRIME MINISTER — The 26 ministers in the cabinet put together by the newly elected majority in Parliament, headed by Sorin Grindeanu, are being under confirmation proceedings in Parliament in Bucharest. If a confirmation vote comes through, the new government can be sworn in today in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis. The president previously rejected the Social Democratic candidate for prime minister, Sevil Shhaideh. As part of the coalition, the Social Democratic Party proposed ministers for education, the economy, health, justice, transportation and the interior ministry, while the partner Alliance of Liberal and Democrats proposes ministers for foreign relations, parliament relations, energy and environment.



    MEASLES — The measles outbreak may be widening, according to experts with the main infectious disease hospital in Timisoara, in the west of Romania, the main city in the region with the most cases. According to them, 124 children have been stricken by the disease. In the first three days of the year alone, 30 patients have been admitted into hospital for the disease, the youngest being six weeks old. The epidemic broke out in Romania in the autumn, with 10 confirmed deaths and over 2,000 infections throughout the country. According to the Ministry of Health, the main reason for the outbreak is parents refusing to vaccinate their children, which physicians warn is hazardous.



    TURKEY — The Turkish Foreign Minister said the authorities have identified the perpetrator in the attack that left 39 dead on New Years Eve in Istanbul, without providing details. Turkish media alleged on Tuesday that he is from a Central Asian country. 16 people, including the wife of the attacker, have been detained. The attack occurred as Turkish forces are attempting to retake the northern Syrian city of Al-Bab, a stronghold of the so-called Islamic State, where Ankara leads an offensive against Jihadists, as well as Kurdish militias.



    MINING — The miners in Lupeni, in Romanias coal country, have gone today on a spontaneous protest against the economic situation of their employer, the Hunedoara Energy Complex. The protesters claim that they work for low wages only four days a week. The complex, which employs 5,200 people, has filed for insolvency proceedings, and awaits a court decision, which is the only way it can continue work.



    TENNIS — Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, right now ranking fourth in the world, has been defeated by Czech player Katerina Siniakova, 52nd seeded, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in the eighth finals of the WTA tournament in Shenzhen, China, with 625,000 dollars in prize money. Romania has no other representative in the competition, after Sorana Carstea, 78th seeded, was defeated by Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska, 3rd seeded, and Monica Niculescu, 38th seeded, lost to Wang Qiang, 73rd seeded. In the womens doubles, the Romanian-Ukrainian pair Raluca Olaru- Olga Savchuk will be playing in the quarter finals against the Chinese pair Chen Liang- Jing Jing Lu. We recall that Simona Halep was the winner of the Shenzhen tournament in 2015.



    EU PRESIDENCY — This year, Malta takes over the rotating presidency of the EU. Over the next six months, the new team will have to grapple with major issues such as migration, security, and social inclusion, as well as the expected Brexit crisis. Malta joined the EU in 2004, and is right in the path of refugees trying to reach Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.



  • October 29, 2016

    October 29, 2016

    COMMEMORATION – A rally will be held in Bucharest on Sunday to commemorate the victims of the tragedy that took place on October 30 last year in “Colectiv night club in the capital city. Sixty-four people died and more than 100 were injured on that occasion. The Government has approved a 2-year extension of the funding for those who undergo treatment abroad. The club owners were sent to court under charges of manslaughter, bodily harm and of failing to ensure workplace safety and health standards, and the owners of the company that supplied the fireworks. Abuse of office charges were also brought against some employees of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, who failed to take any measures although the club did not have a fire security license. The General Prosecutors Office has also been investigating whether the Colectiv victims were treated appropriately in the hospitals in the country, following criminal complaints from the families of the patients who died from hospital acquired infections rather than burns. The Colectiv tragedy was followed by large scale street protests that triggered the resignation of the Social Democrat Victor Pontas Cabinet.




    DST – Romania falls back from Daylight Saving Time to standard time tonight, with 4 AM local time becoming 3 AM local time (GMT+2). Sunday will thus be the longest day of the year – 25 hours. The measure reverses the switch to DST operated in March, when clocks were advanced by one hour so as to ensure maximum use of sunlight and reduce electricity consumption. Romania will switch back to DST on the last Sunday in March.




    MOLDOVA – In the Republic of Moldova the election campaign ended and the first round of the presidential election is scheduled on Sunday. Citizens are electing their president through direct voting, after 16 years in which the head of state was designated by Parliament. According to analysts, the vote is crucial for the future geopolitical course of Moldova. The pro-Russian Socialist leader Igor Dodon is seen as the most likely to win in all opinion polls. His main challenger is the former reformist Education Minister Maia Sandu, who pleads for a reform of the state and European integration, and who has the support of other pro-Western candidates having pulled out of the race.




    ROSIA MONTANA – The Romanian Culture Minister, Corina Şuteu, has announced that Roşia Montană in the centre of the country has been included in a UNESCO tentative list, which is the first step towards inclusion in the much shorter UNESCO Heritage List. Roşia Montană was the most active mining centre in the Western Carpathians, starting with the Bronze Age, to ancient times, the Middle Ages and down to modern times. Traditional mining, based on family initiatives and small miner associations, was ended by the nationalisation of 1948, and was followed by a form of large-scale industrial mining which came to an end in 2006. The defining features of the site are the galleries, the over ground landscape and the mining fair. Several NGOs have requested international protection for this town in the Western Carpathians, hoping this will prevent the implementation of a controversial gold mining project in the area.




    CETA – The European Union and Canada will hold a summit meeting on Sunday to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the president of the European Council Donald Tusk announced last night. The signing ceremony will take place in Brussels. The deal became possible after it was approved by the Parliament of Wallonia, which had initially opposed it. Bucharest, too, had opposed the free trade agreement with Canada until the latter accepted the gradual lifting in 2017 of travel visa requirements for Romanians. At present Romanians and Bulgarians are the only EU citizens who need visas in order to enter Canada.




    DIPLOMACY – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Lazar Comănescu, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, are attending today the Taras Sevcenko bust unveiling ceremony, in Sighetu Marmaţiei, near the Romanian-Ukrainian border. Taras Sevcenko is the national poet of Ukraine. The event is organised by the Ukrainian Union in Romania. Lazăr Comănescu has visited today the new consular office of Romania in Slatina, across the river Tisza, which will open on Monday, and had meetings with representatives of the Romanian community in Transcarpathia.

    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)