INFLATION – The National Bank of Romania has revised down to 3.5% the inflation rate forecast for the end of this year, the Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu has announced today. The previous forecast was 3.6% for 2018. As regards the end of next year, the Central Bank estimates a 2.7% inflation rate. Mugur Isarescu has recently stated that the Central Bank has managed to guide inflation towards a downward trend, but it cannot be stated that the increase cycle of the key interest rate is complete.
CUSTOMS – The Romanian Customs Authority and the Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova on Tuesday signed in Albita, eastern Romania, a joint action plan aimed to render cross border traffic in August more fluid. This time of the year usually sees a 20% increase in traffic across the border between Romania and Moldova. To this end, the two countries customs authorities will upsize the customs staff and will ensure a permanent exchange of information.
CONGRESS – The city of Alba Iulia, in central Romania, is these days hosting a congress of teachers from Romania and abroad. Hundreds of educators, teachers and professors from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia are participating in the event. This edition of the congress, the 41st, is devoted to the celebration of 100 years since the Great Union, which took place in Alba Iulia. One of the topics approached at the congress is teachers role in the unification of the Romanian principalities. The agenda includes a large number of courses and workshops.
SWINE FEVER – The Romanian Agriculture Minister Petre Daea has stated that the order regarding the African swine fever does not say that crops must be destroyed or burnt, except for those plots where an outbreak of fever in wild boars was found, and only if that plot is part of a crop, but no such situation has been reported in Romania so far. According to the latest reports, there are some 580 outbreaks of African swine fever in 100 towns and villages in 8 counties across Romania. Some 78,000 pigs have been culled in farms and households. The owners of these animals will be compensated for their loses, and under the next budget adjustment additional funds have been earmarked for the eradication of the disease.
AWARD – The only Romanian astronaut who has flied into space, Dumitru Prunariu, will receive the Science Award granted by the International Academy of Astronautics. This is the highest distinction awarded by this prestigious institution. The award ceremony will be hosted by Bremen, Germany, on September 30th, reads a release issued by the Secretary General of the International Academy of Astronautics, Jean-Michel Contant. We recall that on May 14th, 1981, Dumitru Prunariu became the first and only Romanian to have flown into space. He took part in the Soyuz 40 mission, under the “Intercosmos” space program, and spent 7 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes in space. The International Academy of Astronautics is an independent NGO, established in 1960, based in Paris. It was recognized by the UN in 1996. Its members, representing 85 countries, are prominent researchers, heads of space missions, astronauts and cosmonauts, heads of space agencies and other personalities from the world of space policy and diplomacy.
ISS – The International Space Station will be crossing Bucharests skies every evening, until August 23rd. It can be seen without special equipment, but only for a few minutes. According to Adrian Sonca, a coordinator with the Bucharest Astronomic Observatory, the ISS appears on the sky as a bright object flying through the stars. NASA has a special service for those interested in finding out which is the exact interval during which the space station is visible to the naked eye.
TENNIS – Several Romanian tennis players are playing tonight in the second round of the WTA tournament in Montreal, with 2.8 million dollars in prize money. Worlds no.1 Simona Halep, first seed at the tournament, which she has won before back in 2016, will play against the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, no.28 WTA. Mihaela Buzarnescu will take on the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, and Sorana Cirstea will play against Venus Williams. In the doubles, Mihaela Buzarnescu and Monica Niculescu will be playing against the pair made up of Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Lidzya Marozava of Belarus. On Tuesday, the Romanian player Ana Bogdan was eliminated by the Byelorussian Aryna Sabalenka and had to leave Rogers Cup from the very inaugural round. Another Romanian, Irina-Camelia Begu, was eliminated in the first round by the Australian Ashleigh Barty.
