Radio România Internațional

Tag: output

  • October 26, 2024 UPDATE

    October 26, 2024 UPDATE

     

    NATURAL GAS Romania has become the EU’s largest natural gas producer, with an output of 2.3 billion cubic metres in Q2, the energy minister Sebastian Burduja announced. According to him, Romania has outperformed the Netherlands, which reported 2.2 billion cubic metres, and compared to last year Romania’s natural gas output was 1% higher. The energy minister also mentioned that during the same period Romanians benefited from the fourth-lowest gas price in Europe, according to Eurostat. As of 2027, Burduja added, Romania will practically double its gas output thanks to the deep-water natural gas drilled in the Black Sea. “We will see even better gas prices, we will attract even more investments in our economy and will help the entire region reduce its dependence on Russian gas,” he said.

     

     

    MIDDLE EAST The European Union Saturday called on all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, after Israel’s retaliatory attack against Iran, AFP reports. “The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliations risks causing a further expansion of the regional conflict,” the EU warned. Gulf countries have condemned the recent Israeli strikes on Iranian military targets, and warned against possible ripple effects in the region. In turn, Washington called on Iran not to retaliate. Should Tehran choose to strike back, we will be prepared and there will be consequences, the US Administration said. Israel announced that its operations in Iran were over, after 3 rounds of attacks on military targets, particularly the defence system and arms production facilities. Iran says the strike was countered and that damages were limited. The international community had been anticipating this operation for about a month, as a response to Iran’s missile attack on October 1.

     

     

    WINTER TIME Sunday is the longest day of the year in Romania, after switching to winter time on Saturday night, with clocks set one hour behind. The switch is aimed to save energy by aligning work hours with natural light hours. A public poll conducted by the European Commission a few years ago indicates that most Europeans are against the change. The EC considered eliminating the shift, but member states failed to agree on which of the times should be kept. A number of states have given up switches between winter and summer time, such as Mexico in 2022 and Turkey in 2016. Ukraine also decided that as of 2025 it will no longer switch to Daylight Saving Time.

     

     

    AWARD The Romanian writer Ana Blandiana received the 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, in a ceremony hosted by Spain’s Royal Family at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, the Romanian Cultural Institute announced on Saturday. The jury presented the award to Ana Blandiana, whose work reflects profound knowledge of the Romanian spirit during a historic period of oppression, while establishing hope and defeat as the guidelines of her literary undertaking. Ana Blandiana, the first Romanian writer to receive the award, said this was a confirmation of how her books were received in Spain and the result of the many reviews they had received, because in Spain more than in other countries, poetry is in the spotlight. Ana Blandiana, also a Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Salamanca, saw as many as 11 of her books translated into Spanish. She has so far authored more than 30 works, translated into 25 languages, and has received many international awards.

     

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep takes on seed no. 6 Yue Yuan (China), in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament in Hong Kong. Apart from Halep, a former world leader and a wildcard in the Hong Kong tournament, Romania is also represented in the competition by Ana Bogdan, set to face Australia’s Kimberly Birrell in the first round. (AMP)

  • May 19, 2024

    May 19, 2024

     

    OIL Romania’s crude oil output dropped 3.4% in the first quarter of 2024, while imports went down 15.1% compared to the corresponding period in 2023. According to the National Statistics Institute, in Q1 2024 Romania produced over 682,000 tonnes of equivalent oil less than in the corresponding period of 2023, while crude imports exceeded 1.7 mln toe. According to the National Strategy and Forecast Commission, Romania’s crude output will be on a downward trend until 2026, with an average annual drop of 2.2%, as a result of the natural decline in deposits. On the other hand, the Commission predicts an increase in crude imports by an annual 4.1%.

     

    MUSEUMS Around 250 cultural institutions in Romania were opened last night as part of the White Night of Museums, organized concurrently in several European countries. Taking part in the anniversary 20th edition of the event were museums, historic house museums, art galleries, creative studios, theatres, opera houses and philharmonic orchestras in over 70 towns and cities in Romania and several in neighbouring Moldova. Most participating venues were in the capital city Bucharest, and in Sibiu, a former European Capital of Culture in 2007, several museums and other institutions could also be visited free of charge. Exhibitions, interactive tours, performances, street events and concerts were organized on this occasion. The number of participating institutions was nonetheless smaller than usual, because of personnel protests over salary levels. On Saturday, hundreds of museum staff picketed the Ministry of Culture and the Government building. They say they feel abandoned by the government and demand a fair salary structure. PM Marcel Ciolacu has recently announced the culture ministry submitted proposals concerning museum staff pay raises. The finance ministry will analyse the proposals, the PM promised, and next week salary increases may be granted.

     

    NUCLEAR The Cernavodă nuclear power plant’s Unit 1 has been shut down for regular maintenance works today, Nuclearelectrica announced. The company promised the works will be safe for the power plant personnel, for citizens and for the environment. The Cernavodă nuclear power plant, the only one in Romania, has 2 operational units with an installed production capacity of 700 MW. The 2 reactors in Cernavoda cover around 20% of Romania’s energy consumption. The plant uses the Canadian technology CANDU 6 (Canadian Deuterium Uranium), using natural uranium as a fuel.

     

    REFUGEES The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated on Saturday that 800,000 people have fled the clashes in Rafah since May 6, when the Israeli army launched land operations in this town in the south of Gaza, France Presse and Reuters report. According to the Agency director, Philippe Lazzarini, all these people were forced to leave their town without benefiting from safe passage or protection, and are heading for areas where water resources and hygiene conditions are poor. On the other hand, Austria announced it would resume financing for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, suspended following Israeli claims that Agency staff were involved in the Hamas attack on October 7, AFP writes. As a result of Israel’s accusations, around 15 states suspended their contributions to this UN agency. Many of them, including Germany, Sweden, Canada and Japan, have since resumed donations.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse (aged 26, no. 148 WTA) failed to qualify for the Trophee Clarins tournament final in Paris. On Saturday she was defeated by Emma Navarro of the US (aged 22, no. 22 WTA), 6-0, 6-2. In the doubles competition, Monica Niculescu/Lin Zhu (Romania / China) were outperformed in the final by Asia Muhammad (USA)/Aldila Sutjiadi (Indonesia), 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 11-9. Other Romanian players taking part in the Paris tournament were Simona Halep (who retired in the second set of the match against McCartney Kessler of the US) and Ana Bogdan (who also retired in the match against the French Varvara Gracheva). (AMP)

  • Record-high car output

    Record-high car output

    Last year, Romania saw a record-high increase in its domestic car output, to more than 4% above the total number of cars reported in 2019. According to Adrian Sandu, secretary general of the Romanian Carmakers Association, this increase was possible thanks to the efforts of the 2 local manufacturers, Dacia and Ford. The Romanian carmaker Dacia was set up in the mid-1960s, following a cooperation agreement with the French manufacturer Renault, which in 1999 took over 51% of the companys stock. In turn, Ford Romania, based in Craiova (south), is a subsidiary of the US producer Ford. Adrian Sandu believes the record is owing to the solutions identified by the 2 companies to the shortage of electronic components:



    Adrian Sandu: “The teams in both Dacia and Ford did their best to ensure a steady parts supply flow, so that, aided by a substantial demand, we were able to see a new record for the Romanian automotive industry, with some 513,000 units produced in 2023. We are hoping the year 2024 will bring further development, we hope for a new record to be reached this year, but this depends on the supply element, on steady or even growing demand for products made in Romania in the Western European and international market.ˮ



    On the other hand, the number of new automobiles registered in Romania went up 11.6% in 2023 compared to the previous year, with EV registrations witnessing an increase by over 25%, to a market share of nearly 24%, according to data made public by the General Directorate for Driving Licenses and Vehicles Registration and processed by the Association of Automobile Producers and Importers.



    According to statistics, the best-selling vehicle brand in Romania in 2023 was Dacia, with over 46,000 units, followed by Renault, with over 15,000. In 2023, Dacia Spring was also the best-selling EV brand in Romania, with nearly 6,900 units.



    It is also worth noting that in Europe, Dacia sales increased by some 17% last year, and the carmaker reached a market share of 4.3%, as against 4.2% in 2022, according to the figures released on Thursday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. The report covers EU member countries, the UK and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), namely Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. (AMP)


  • October 25, 2022 UPDATE

    October 25, 2022 UPDATE

    ARMY DAY The Romanian Army Day was celebrated on Tuesday with a
    series of events staged all over Romania and in other regions around the world
    where Romanian troops are stationed now. Wreath laying ceremonies took place at
    heroes’ monuments around Romania and abroad, in countries like Austria, Bosnia
    and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Russian Federation, Poland,
    the Republic of Moldova and Hungary. The Army has been and will always be a
    symbol of resilience and an essential element in the development of Romania,
    president Klaus Iohannis
    said on this occasion. He added that Romania has a distinct place within NATO
    and is an indisputable provider of security at the Black Sea and on NATO’s
    eastern flank. According to the Romanian Defence
    Ministry, during WWII, out of roughly 540,000 servicemen deployed, 90,000 were
    KIA, 60,000 MIA and over 330,000 were wounded. After freeing the Romanian
    territory on October 25th, 1944, the Romanian army continued to
    fight in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria alongside the allied troops,
    contributing to the May 9th 1945 victory, which marked the end of WWII in
    Europe.


    DEFENCE The Supreme Defence Council, convening on
    Tuesday in Bucharest, approved updates to key directions of the Army 2040
    programme, including the budgeting for personnel needs,
    reconfiguring equipment procurement programmes and revamping the defence
    industry, as well as measures to better retain skilled military personnel. Army
    2040 aims to help develop national military capabilities that enable the
    government to fulfil its constitutional obligation to safeguard the territorial
    integrity of Romania. To this end, the country will earmark 2.5% of its GDP to
    defence as of 2023.The Council also
    reviewed and approved the Energy Ministry’s plan to improve Romania’s energy
    resilience, so as to protect citizens and to secure continuing supplies of
    electricity and natural gas, for prices that are not a burden to households. The
    Council also discussed the support Romania will continue to provide to Ukraine,
    and looked at ways to counter prospective threats.


    DECREE Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis Tuesday signed a
    decree acknowledging the resignation of Defence Minister Vasile Dincu and
    designating Prime Minister Ciuca as the country’s interim defence minister. The
    Social-Democrat Dincu stepped down on Monday, two weeks after he made a number
    of controversial statements concerning the situation in Ukraine. The Social
    Democratic Party (PSD) has called for an emergency meeting of the ruling
    coalition for a decision on Dincu’s successor.


    COAL Romania has increased its coal output in order to cope
    with the energy crisis. According to the National Statistics Institute, the output
    went up by 1.7% and imports by 13.5% in the first 8 months of the year. The
    National Strategy and Forecast Commission estimates for this year a coal output
    10% bigger than in 2021 and imports 2.8% higher, with the coal production expected
    to grow by 8% next year.


    REFUGEES According
    to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine,
    over 2.6 million Ukrainian nationals have transited Romania and over 86,500
    have chosen to stay here. Eight months on from the beginning of the conflict on
    February 24th, Bucharest highlights its active involvement in facilitating the
    transport and transit of Ukrainian grain towards international markets. At the
    same time, the humanitarian hub in Suceava, north-eastern Romania, has
    contributed to 56 humanitarian aid shipments from countries like Italy, France
    or Germany.


    ECLIPSE A partial solar eclipse was visible in Romania on Tuesday.
    According to the Astronomic Observatory in Bucharest, the sun was covered up to
    44% and the eclipse lasted for two hours and a half. (AMP, DB)

  • October 23, 2022

    October 23, 2022

    MILITARY The
    first shipment of French military equipment to join the NATO battle group deployed
    to Cincu, in central Romania, reaches the country on Sunday, the defence
    ministry announced. A second convoy, comprising a Leclerc main battle tank
    company, is set to arrive in November. The NATO Battle Group Forward Presence
    in Romania (BGFP) was created in May by transforming the Allied multinational
    elements of the NATO Response Force deployed to our country. Upon France’s
    proposal to take over the framework-nation role, the French battalion deployed
    to Romania, considered the Spearhead of the Very High Readiness Joint Task
    Force (VJTF), built up the BGFP on our national territory by integrating, on
    rotational basis, Belgian and Dutch troops. BGFP contributes to the increase of
    the Romanian military cooperation with France and, implicitly, to the consolidation
    of the Euro-Atlantic space security on the Eastern Flank. Cooperation with the
    strategic partners and the deployment of relevant combat structures on national
    territory contribute to the increase of defence and deterrence capacity in the
    context of the Ukraine war and the Black Sea region crisis, the defence
    ministry explains.


    BORDER Romania’s
    border police announced that over 97,000 people entered Romania on Saturday, of
    whom more than 9,500 were Ukrainian nationals, up 15.6% since the previous day.
    According to current data, over 2.6 million Ukrainian citizens have entered
    Romania since February 10, and nearly 4,400 of them have applied for asylum
    here.


    NRRP Romania is
    set to receive EUR 2.6 bln in the coming days under the National Recovery and
    Resilience Plan, to be channelled into the country’s economic recovery. The
    funds are transferred after the European Commission authorised the payment of
    the first instalments of the non-reimbursable aid and loan components. Romania submitted
    the first payment request in May, after meeting the targets and benchmarks for
    the 4th quarter of 2021. In September, the European Commission’s assessment of
    these targets was approved and submitted to the Economic and Financial
    Committee, which also approved it. The Romanian minister for investment and
    European projects Marcel Boloş believes this is just the beginning of a long
    road, which, if successfully completed, will translate into investments in
    motorways, railways, schools and hospitals. The next payment request will
    amount to EUR 3.2 bln, for which over 50 targets will have to be met, related
    to the first half of this year. Romania may access a total of nearly EUR 30 bln
    under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, of which it has already
    received 2 pre-financing instalments amounting to a rough EUR 3.8 bln.


    COAL Romania has
    increased its coal output to mitigate the energy crunch. The amounts extracted
    in the first 8 months of the year went up 1.7% and imports rose by 13.5%, the
    National Statistics Institute reports. The National Strategy and Forecast
    Commission estimates for this year a coal output 10% higher than in 2021 and a
    2.8% rise in imports. For 2023, the Commission forecasts an 8% increase in
    output.


    CHINA The Chinese
    president Xi Jinping was re-elected on Sunday as leader of the ruling Communist
    Party, thus becoming China’s strongest leader since Mao Zedong, the founder of
    the Chinese communist regime, international news agencies report. Xi Jinping was
    appointed for a 3rd five-year term in office by a largely reshuffled Central
    Committee, and is very likely to be re-elected president as well in March. ‘China cannot develop without the world, and the world also
    needs China,’ he said, and praised what he called the two miracles achieved
    by his country-rapid economic development and long-term social stability. Xi
    Jinping appointed many of his close allies in the Standing Committee, a 7-member
    group in power in China. The all-powerful Politburo includes no women among its
    members for the first time in 25 years.


    HANDBALL The
    Romanian women’s handball champions, Rapid Bucharest, play at home today
    against Storhamar, of Norway, in a Champions’ League Group B match. Rapid is
    3rd in the ranking, after the Hungarian side Gyor and the French side Metz. On Saturday, vice-champions CSM Bucharest
    lost their first game in the group, away from home, to defending champions
    Vipers Kristiansand of Norway, 35-29. CSM ranks 3rd in Group A, after the
    German side Bietigheim and Kristiansand. (AMP)

  • February 15, 2021 UPDATE

    February 15, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID-19 In Romania, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, with around 700,000 people immunised since December 27. Over 1.1 million doses have been given so far, most of them produced by Pfizer/BioNTech, followed by Moderna, and on Monday people also started receiving AstraZeneca vaccines. According to the authorities, Romania comes 6th in the EU by total number of vaccine doses administered. Meanwhile, the total number of SARS-CoV-2 cases reported in the country since the start of the pandemic is over 763,000. 709,520 people have recovered, and nearly 19,500 died. As of Monday, new rules are in place for travellers coming into Romania from yellow-zone countries.



    PROTESTS Fresh trade union protests are taking place in Romania. On Monday Sanitas Federation picketed the head offices of the Finance Ministry, demanding a higher budget for investments in public hospitals and healthcare staff salaries. Union members say the funds earmarked this year to the healthcare sector to be insufficient, given the pandemic. Protesters then moved in front of the Parliament building. In turn, Cartel Alfa union announced protests at the end of the month, to demand decent minimum wages, fair pension benefits, high-quality public services, resuming collective bargaining, fair taxation and proper enforcement of the law.



    MOTION Romanias parliament is discussing the first simple motion in the current term in office. The motion targets the health minister Vlad Voiculescu, of the USR PLUS Alliance, a partner in the ruling coalition. Entitled Lack of competence and and of responsibility kills people. Vlad Voiculescu—a threat to Romanianshealth, the motion was tabled in the Chamber of Deputies by the Social Democrats in opposition, less than 2 months since the cabinet headed by the Liberal Florin Cîţu came to power. The Social Democrats accuse the new minister of failing to take the necessary measures to prevent the fire that killed patients in a Bucharest hospital. They also claim Voiculescu has not had enough COVID-19 testing centres for citizens. The health minister replied the Social Democrats are the ones to blame for the disaster in Romanias healthcare sector, and added that 3 of that partys former ministers are under investigation for corruption. The USR-PLUS co-president Dan Barna said the Alliance is firmly supporting all its cabinet members, while the Liberal leader Ludovic Orban says the Liberals will vote against the motion on Wednesday.



    HOSPITALITY Many European countries are adopting the holiday voucher system to support the hospitality industry, recovering after the losses incurred during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, whereas in Romania these vouchers are scrapped without sound reasons, Romanian tourism employers say in a news release. Last week PM Florin Cîţu announced that the holiday vouchers for this year would be issued in 2022, to the discontent of hospitality businesses, which argue that this would deepen the crisis faced by this industry. Representatives of the sector had a meeting on Monday with the economy minister Claudiu Năsui, who said the government has earmarked funds to support the industry but that holiday vouchers cannot be issued this year.



    BUDGET The Romanian government wants the budget bill currently under public debate to get Parliaments approval by February 20th along with the amendments accompanying it, including an emergency order cancelling holiday vouchers and other one freezing pensions to the level of last year. According to the government, the present draft budget is set to lay the foundations for a multi-annual approach of the reforms and public finances with a gradual reduction of the deficit from 7.16% this year to 3.4% in 2024. At the same time, the budget targets investments of 5.5% of the GDP, the largest so far. According to Prime Minister Citu, the bill has support from the European Commission, which provides the biggest part of the funds for reform and investments.



    ECONOMY The EU industrial output dropped 1.2% in December 2020, compared to the previous month, according to data released on Monday by the European statistics office (Eurostat). The biggest monthly increases were reported in Denmark (2.4%), Portugal (1.8%), Estonia and Luxembourg (1.6%) and România (0.9%), and the most severe decline in Hungary (negative 2.5%). For the entire year 2020 compared to 2019, the Unions industrial output fell by 8%. Meanwhile, in December 2020 the EU reported roughly 30 billion euros in trade balance surplus, as against roughly 22 billion euros in 2019. As regards Romania, in 2020 its exports fell by 10%, to nearly 62 billion euros, while imports dropped 7%, to 80.5 billion euros, leading to a trade deficit of 18.7 billion euros compared to 17.6 billion the previous year.



    TENNIS The world’s number two tennis player, Romanian Simona Halep is to take on Serena Williams in the quarter finals of the Australian Open. The American has 9-2 wins in head-to-head matches although Simona won a major Wimbledon tournament in 2019. In the doubles eighth finals, the Romanian-Brazilian pair Horia Tecau/Marcelo Melo lost to Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia 4-6, 3-6. (tr. A.M. Popescu)