Radio România Internațional

Tag: public pensions

Pensions and protests

Pensions in the
public system are expected to go up starting January 1. The ruling coalition
wants to increase the pension point by at least 10%, which would cover the
effects of the rampant inflation, which this year exceeded 15%, affecting a
large number of pensioners with low incomes. To partially correct the
situation, one of the obstacles hindering this move, namely the cap on pension
expenses imposed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), is
expected to be replaced by an indicator signaling budget possibilities and
other criteria of financial discipline, Romania’s Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciucă,
said in Brussels.

There is a 9.4% cap
stipulated in PNRR for pension budgets, and we agreed we can replace it with an
indicator that should factor in the study of the World Bank and a financial
discipline indicator.

The Prime Minister
went on to say that his talk with European Commission president, Ursula von der
Leyen, tackled the principle of this decision, whereas a group of experts will
next agree on technicalities. Social-Democrat president Marcel Ciolacu in turn
addressed what he has called the ludicrous 9.4% share of the GDP representing
the 50-year cap on pensions. Citizens must be protected, both pensioners and
public workers, the Government in Bucharest promises. Prime Minister Ciucă explained
that the authorities need to identify the necessary funds to make that possible:

We need to have
clear data regarding the planned budget for 2023 and identify the budget we can
use to increase pensions and salaries in a clear and transparent manner.

Amidst protests
staged by CNSRL-Frăția and Sanitas trade confdereations in Romania, people
are losing their patience and have these days staged protests in a number of
counties and in Bucharest, disgruntled with the low living standards and the
effects of the economic crisis. Unionists from the healthcare, education,
transport, public administration and the private sectors protested, criticizing
soaring inflation and the alarming increase in prices for electricity, natural
gas and fuel, against a stagnation of incomes in Romania, some of the lowest at
European level. Romanians’ purchasing power is at its lowest in the last 15
years, trade unionists say. Faced with
the unprecedented crisis of living costs, affecting workers both in Romania and
across the EU, employers, the authorities and the EU must take urgent action,
including with a view to modifying the law on Social Dialogue, thus involving
trade federations in the process of negotiating crisis response measures,
unionists also say. (VP)

28 October 2022
January 28, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA -
Romania’s national vaccination campaign is in full swing, with over 534
thousand people immunized so far. Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu has announced
that certain centers, which immunized people from outside the eligible
categories, are to face sanctions. In turn, Education Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu says that the personnel in
the country’s education system will benefit from a special immunization line,
adding that the evolution of the infection rate is decisive in the decision to
bring students back to school again. Last week, Romania received only half of
the doses requested and now has a deficit of 117 thousand. Over 2,900 new infections
were announced on Thursday. Since the outbreak, 721 thousand people have got
infected in Romania and more than 18 thousand died. About one thousand people
are currently being treated in IC units.

PANDEMIC – Europe’s
concern about the novel strains of the Covid-19 virus is on the rise. The UK
announced it can resort to additional prevention measures, including the
isolation of visitors in hotels made available by the authorities. With six
million, Britain boasts the highest number of people immunized so far. Norway
is expected to close its borders for all visitors, with the exception of those
essential, applying some of the toughest prevention measures in Europe. The
country, which is not an EU member, has announced these restrictions after the
discovery of an outbreak of the more contagious strain initially identified in
Britain. The government in Berlin is considering the cancellation of almost all
international flights in order to prevent the spreading of the mutating virus.
In Portugal, the government decided to cancel all the flights towards Brazil
starting this Friday, due to the growing number of infections. The new strain, initially
discovered in Britain, has also been detected in another 70 countries, the WHO
says. According to worldmeters.info, over 101 million infections have been
registered worldwide so far and at least 2.1 million people have died.

PROTEST – Members
of the Medical Solidarity Trade Union Federation on Thursday protested in
Bucharest, calling for protection measures for the workers in Romania’s medical
field after 93 professionals in this field have so far died in the line of
duty. Besides legal rights, other claims are focusing on various forms of
recognizing the efforts and sacrifices made by the medical personnel. According
to unionists, protests have also been caused by the government’s refusal to
participate in a social dialogue. Also on Thursday, in Iasi, north-eastern
Romania, trade unionists from the country’s penitentiary system protested over a
planned wage freeze in the sector. Protesters have called for the elimination
of unequal pay in the public system, the implementation of the pay law in
state-owned institutions and a minimum wage adjusted to the latest price hikes
in consumer goods.

SCHENGEN -
Romania is ready to become a Schengen member as soon as possible, Interior
Minister Lucian Bode said on Thursday on the sidelines of a videoconference of
the informal Justice and Home Affairs Council. Minister Bode called for
stepping up discussions in this matter, underlining the important contribution
Bucharest has made to common efforts to manage migration, by means of constant
participation to FRONTEX activities, by means of actions to relocate people in
need of international assistance in the wake of search and rescue operations in
the Mediterranean. Originally slated for March 2011, Romania’s Schengen
accession was repeatedly postponed due to opposition voiced by Member States
regarding insufficient reforms in the justice sector.

PENSIONS -
The Labor Ministry on Thursday started a large-scale assessment of the 5
million pensions in the public system by means of an EU-funded project that will
last 18 months. According to Labor Minister Raluca Turcan, based on this
assessment and on an upcoming law, a recalculation of pensions will follow.
Minister Turcan says discussions regarding a new pension law, which should
include a new formula for calculating pensions, will start within the month.
The last recalculation was operated in the 2005-2010 period. In other news,
children’s allowances will go up 20% starting February 1. Children aged 2-18
will receive some €44 per month. Children up to 2 years of age and those with
disabilities will receive €90 per month.

CORRUPTION -
Romania is one of the most corrupt countries in the EU, being bottom of a
ranking, the same as Hungary and Bulgaria, according to a Transparency
International report on the 2020 Corruption Perception Index. The ranking
reflects the perception of independent experts and businessmen on existing
corruption. Romania has a score of 44 points of a 100, the same as in 2012,
which, according to experts, indicate that the measures taken in the last 10
years have not been consistent, failing to change public perception on
corruption. The lack of transparency on public procurement, the underfunding of
the medical system, the lack of consistent measures to digitize administrative
processes are all constant issues at national level, which have only gotten
worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Romanian society, the report also shows,
has also lost its eagerness in sanctioning corruption and the lack of
integrity. (V.
Palcu)

28 January 2021
May 24, 2020 UPDATE

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The death toll for the COVID-19 pandemic in
Romania stands at 1.185. The number of confirmed cases exceeds 18.000, while
some 11.400 people have recovered. The number of people in quarantine has
dropped by some 30% since the beginning of the week. The Bucharest City Hall
has launched an online platform where 11,000 volunteers can sign up for free
tests for COVID-19. The City Hall next week will launch another testing project
addressing a sample population of 10,500 people from Bucharest. At the same
time 15 experts with the Romanian Ministry of Defense, five physicians, five
nurses and five military specialized in dealing with chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear threats will leave on Monday to the United States, to
help Alabama local authorities combat the pandemic. The team will provide
expert support to US counterparts in medical units and will report on the
methods the US is using the combat the coronavirus.

REPATRIATIONS
– 125 Romanian citizens working on cruise ships in Mexico and the Philippines
have been brought home. An additional 277 Romanian citizens were repatriated
from France and Great Britain on Saturday, in a joint effort of the Foreign,
Interior and Transport Ministries. According to the Foreign Ministry, the 140
Romanians repatriated from France are Erasmus students, people whose labor
contracts have been terminated, tourists transiting France from the United
States and medical residents who completed their internships in France. The 137
Romanians from the UK are students, hospitalized people whom the British
authorities helped repatriate, people without shelter and seasonal workers from
Jersey Island. The Romanian authorities also helped four foreign citizens
return to Romania, two French, one Canadian and 1 British. The operation was
carried out using two special flights operated by the national airliner TAROM
to Paris and London. The flight to Paris also helped 76 French citizens return
to their home country. Also on Saturday, 92 Romanian citizens, including seasonal
workers, were repatriated from Germany via a special flight coordinated by the
Ministries of Transports and the Interior in cooperation with the relevant
German authorities. The flight was operated by a private airliner via Nurnberg
– Frankfurt – Cluj. The operations are part of the Government’s efforts to
repatriate Romanian nationals with temporary stay permits abroad who have been
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PENSIONS
– Public pensions will go up starting September 1, but the quantum will depend
on the state of the economy, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban told a television
station on Saturday. The Romanian official said the economy has been affected
by the coronavirus crisis, adding that a report on the state of the economy and
the budget will be made public after the first half of the year. The Prime
Minister also said local elections might be organized in late September, while
legislative elections could be scheduled for December 6, depending on the
evolution of the pandemic.

FLIGHTS
– The national passenger airliner TAROM will resume its flights operated to
Italy starting Tuesday, with return trips to Rome and Milan. The flights will
be operated under special circumstances, observing regulations under the state
of alert. According to TAROM, Italian citizens, seasonal workers and people
working in the field of transport will be able to travel to Italy. Returning to
Romania will be only Romanian nationals willing to come home. Flights to Rome
will cost 208 Euro, while people travelling to Milan will have to pay 200 Euro.

RENAULT
– The Government in Paris wants the Renault carmaker to stop exporting its
production capacity, in exchange for a 5 billion euros bailout package, French
Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday. Previously, Economy
Minister Bruno Le Maire told Le Figaro
that Renault is fighting for survival in the context of the coronavirus crisis.
The media says the carmaker is planning on shutting down several manufacturing
plants in France, including the one in Flins, where the Zoe and Nissan Micra
models are being produced, but also the plant in Dieppe, as part of a large-scale
restructuring plan soon to be announced. Renault owns the Dacia plant in
Romania. Rebranded in 2004 with the launch of the Logan model, Dacia has become
a major presence in the European car industry.

ECONOMY
– The Romanian economy will shrink by 14.4% in the second quarter of the year,
according to the 2020 Convergence Program published by the Ministry of Public
Finance, Agerpres reports. According to the Ministry, the budget deficit
estimated using the ESA European methodology will stand at 6.7% at the end of
2020, up by 2.4% compared to the level of 2019. This reflects a 39.5% increase
in spending and 32.7% in incomes. Gross investments will go down by 2.6% in
2020, considering private consumption will shrink by 0.7%, Government
consumption will have a positive impact of 2.4% while exports and imports of
goods and services will have negative dynamics.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

24 May 2020
May 24, 2020

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The death toll for the COVID-19 pandemic in
Romania stands at 1.179. The number of confirmed cases exceeds 18.000, while
some 11.400 people have recovered. The number of people in quarantine has
dropped by some 30% since the beginning of the week. The number of people in
isolation at home has gone up, however, after many Romanians returned to the
country after the lifting of the state of emergency. Two villages in the
northeast entered quarantine after 14 confirmed cases were reported in the last
week. The Bucharest City Hall has launched an online platform where 11,000
volunteers can sign up for free tests for COVID-19. The City Hall next week
will launch another testing project addressing a sample population of 10,500
people from Bucharest.

REPATRIATIONS
– 277 Romanian citizens were repatriated from France and Great Britain on
Saturday, in a joint effort of the Foreign, Interior and Transport Ministries.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the 140 Romanians repatriated from France are
Erasmus students, people whose labor contracts have been terminated, tourists transiting
France from the United States and medical residents who completed their
internships in France. The 137 Romanians from the UK are students, hospitalized
people whom the British authorities helped repatriate, people without shelter
and seasonal workers from Jersey Island. The Romanian authorities also helped
four foreign citizens return to Romania, two French, one Canadian and 1
British. The operation was carried out using two special flights operated by
the national airliner TAROM to Paris and London. The flight to Paris also
helped 76 French citizens return to their home country. Also on Saturday, 92
Romanian citizens, including seasonal workers, were repatriated from Germany
via a special flight coordinated by the Ministries of Transports and the
Interior in cooperation with the relevant German authorities. The flight was
operated by a private airliner via Nurnberg – Frankfurt – Cluj. The operations
are part of the Government’s efforts to repatriate Romanian nationals with
temporary stay permits abroad who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PENSIONS
– Public pensions will go up starting September 1, but the quantum will depend
on the state of the economy, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban told a television
station on Saturday. The Romanian official said the economy has been affected
by the coronavirus crisis, adding that a report on the state of the economy and
the budget will be made public after the first half of the year. The Prime
Minister also said local elections might be organized in late September, while
legislative elections could be scheduled for December 6, depending on the
evolution of the pandemic.

FLIGHTS
– The national passenger airliner TAROM will resume its flights operated to
Italy starting Tuesday, with return trips to Rome and Milan. The flights will
be operated under special circumstances, observing regulations under the state
of alert. According to TAROM, Italian citizens, seasonal workers and people
working in the field of transport will be able to travel to Italy. Returning to
Romania will be only Romanian nationals willing to come home. Flights to Rome
will cost 208 Euro, while people travelling to Milan will have to pay 200 Euro.

ECONOMY
– The Romanian economy will shrink by 14.4% in the second quarter of the year,
according to the 2020 Convergence Program published by the Ministry of Public
Finance, Agerpres reports. According to the Ministry, the budget deficit
estimated using the ESA European methodology will stand at 6.7% at the end of
2020, up by 2.4% compared to the level of 2019. This reflects a 39.5% increase
in spending and 32.7% in incomes. Gross investments will go down by 2.6% in
2020, considering private consumption will shrink by 0.7%, Government
consumption will have a positive impact of 2.4% while exports and imports of
goods and services will have negative dynamics.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

24 May 2020
June 30, 2018

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP — Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis on Friday reaffirmed our country’s determination to develop and expand its Strategic Partnership with the United States of America in a speech marking the anniversary of Independence Day, celebrated at the US Embassy in Bucharest. Cooperation between Romania and the US at political, military and security levels has reached an outstanding standard, the president argued, adding that action is further required to also consolidate economic relations. To that end Romania needs stability, predictability and a powerful and independent system, transparent and responsible governance that should observe the rule of law, President Iohannis said. In turn, US Ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm said the two countries will try to expand and consolidate the Strategic Partnership, and that cooperation in all fields will continue.

PENSIONS — Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said public pensions will go up starting July 1. The pension point will go up by 10%, will the minimum pension will increase by 20%. The measure addresses over 5 million Romanians. Additionally, social allowances for people with disabilities will also go up. The Government has also adopted a measure aimed at implementing 8 strategic investment projects under private-public partnership. Among these projects there is the construction of two regional hospitals, a plant specialized in producing electric vehicles, a national blood and stem cells bank as well as a new tourist center in the Fagaras Mountains.

EXTREME WEATHER — Romania is under orange and yellow codes against heavy rainfall and storms in place until Sunday morning. During the interval rainfall is expected to exceed normal limits, while reports of extreme weather instability, with electrical storms and strong winds are expected locally. Meteorologists say the weather phenomena are expected to engulf the whole country until the end of the warning interval. Highs will range between 19 and 29 degrees Celsius. Hydrologists have also issued warnings against floods for 19 counties.

INTERVENTION — Over 20,000 firemen and gendarmes intervened to deal with the damages caused by the floods triggered by the heavy rainfall of the last three days in Romania, Interior Minister Carmen Dan announced on Saturday during an emergency meeting called at the ministry. There are cases where the population has been evacuated pre-emptively, with measures being taken to find temporary accommodation. Scores of national roads have been blocked due to the rain, while traffic has been diverted in the region. Several towns and villages were cut off from the power grid and hundreds of households have been flooded and are now isolated.

DECISION — The European Council adopted the European Parliament’s decision to cut down the number of MPs from 751 to 705, following Brexit. Of the 73 seats currently held by British MPs, 43 will be preserved for future EU enlargements, while 27 will be redistributed to underrepresented countries. Romania will be granted an additional seat, raising the number of Romanian MEPs to 33. The decision highlights that the new redistribution of seats will be enforced only if Britain leaves the community bloc. Otherwise, the current structure will be kept in place until Brexit is finalized from a judicial point of view.

TENNIS — The tennis pair made up of Irina Begu and Mihaela Buzarnescu is toadying playing the doubles finals at the WTA tournament in Eastbourne, the United Kingdom, totaling 850 thousand dollars in prize money. On Friday, the two players knocked out Nadia Kicenok of Ukraine and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, 4-6, 6-0, 10-6. In the final match the Romanians will play Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Yifan Xu of China.

2018 WORLD CUP — France is playing Argentina while Uruguay will take on Portugal in the first two matches counting towards the 2018 World Cup round of 16. France won Group C with 7 points in three matches. On the other hand, Argentina was ranked 2nd in Group D with 4 points in three matches.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

30 June 2018
January 7, 2017 UPDATE

WEATHER IN ROMANIA – Romania will continue to be affected by extremely cold weather in the next 24 hours as well. The sky will be mostly overcast and snow will be present in a number of regions. Meteorologists have extended the yellow code alert for blizzard until Sunday night, for half of Romanias counties. In the east, southeast and the mountain areas the wind may reach 75 km/hour. Also, a yellow code alert for severe cold is in force until Monday for the entire country, with temperatures expected to drop to minus 16 degrees Celsius during the day and to minus 25 degrees Celsius during the night. Kindergartens, schools and several universities will be closed on Monday and Tuesday in the capital Bucharest and three counties. Two people died in the south-east of the country due to the bad weather. The heavy snowfall left several localities without electricity and the road, rail and air traffic have been disrupted. Tens of national roads have been closed, a number of trains have been cancelled with many others having reported delays. All Black Sea ports have been closed because of the strong wind. The Board of Bucharests Public Transport Authority has been dismissed because of the improper manner in which they have handled the situation.

WEATHER IN EUROPE – The severe winter weather is affecting a number of European countries, including the south of the continent. In only ten days, the extreme cold killed 10 people in Poland, where temperatures plunged below minus 20 degrees Celsius. In Moscow, minus 30 degrees Celsius were registered on Friday night. A snowstorm paralyzed the Turkish city of Istanbul, while in Bulgaria road and rail traffic was seriously disrupted because of the heavy snowfalls. Ukraine is also in the grip of severe cold and blizzard while Moldova, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia face weather-related problems as well. Things dont stand better in Western Europe either. A cold front from Scandinavia sent the mercury plummeting in France. In Italy, strong winds are reported in most of the country. In Sicily, a Romanian homeless, aged 45, died in an abandoned building due to winter weather.

ST. JOHN – Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians in Romania on Saturday celebrated St. John the Baptists feast day. Called by the Church the Forerunner, St. John foretold the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ, whom he later baptized in the waters of Jordan. St. John died a martyr, beheaded for having the courage to scold the Jewish King Herod in public for his debauched marriage to his brothers ex-wife. Nearly 2 million Romanians celebrated their name day on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian and Serbian nationals observing the old Julian calendar celebrated Christmas, 13 days later compared to the modern Gregorian calendar.

NATO – The United States has started to strengthen its military capabilities in Eastern Europe and is transporting military equipment to Romania, Poland and the Baltic states via Germany, Der Spiegel reports. The first military transport has reached the German port of Bremerhaven on Friday. We remind you that in July 2016 NATO decided to consolidate its presence in Eastern Europe with the deployment of thousands of military in Poland and the Baltic states. A multinational allied structure is to be dispatched in Romania. Moreover, NATO has taken over the defensive anti-missile shield that has interception elements in Deveselu, southern Romania.

GOVERNMENT – The Romanian Government on Friday approved an increase in the national minimum wage from about 280 euros to 320 euro as of February 1. The Government also raised public pensions, with the minimum guaranteed social pensions set to reach 115 euros as of March 1. However, representatives of the Committee for social dialogue have said that the Governments social measures should be doubled by economic measures. The opposition in Parliament and the head of state, Klaus Iohannis, have asked for explanations over how the 3% budget deficit will be maintained, while the Central Bank Governor, Mugur Isarescu, is waiting to see how the 2017 state budget is shaped up.

TENNIS – The team made up of the Romanian Raluca Olaru and the Ukrainian Olga Savciuk was defeated on Saturday in two sets, 6-1, 7-5 by the Czech Andrea Hlavackova and Shuai Peng of China, in the doubles final of the WTA tournament in Shenzhen, China, with 625,000 dollars in prize money. This is the second WTA final for Olaru and Savciuk after the one in Tashkent in 2008, when they won the title. In Shenzhen, back in 2014, Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu won the titled together with Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, while in 2016 she won the same tournament alongside the American Vania King. Romanias best-ranked tennis player, Simona Halep, number 4 in the world, won the singles tournament in Shenzhen in 2015. (Translated by Elena Enache)

7 January 2017
January 7, 2017

WEATHER IN ROMANIA

Heavy snowfalls and blizzard have been taking Romania in their grip as of Friday. Half of Romanias counties are under a yellow code alert for blizzard, valid until Sunday night. Strong wind is reported in the mountain areas and a new layer of snow is expected to form on Saturday night. Also, a yellow code alert for extremely cold weather is in force until Monday for the entire country, with temperatures expected to drop to minus 16 degrees Celsius during the day and minus 25 degrees Celsius during the night. Kindergartens and schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday in the capital Bucharest and the neighboring Ilfov county due to the low temperatures. The heavy snowfall left several localities without electricity and the road, rail and air traffic have been disrupted. All Black Sea ports have been closed because of the strong wind. However, air traffic on the Bucharest airports unfolds under normal winter conditions, with no flights being cancelled but with several delays of up to 30 minutes being reported.

WEATHER IN EUROPE

Europe is in the middle of a bitter winter blast bringing blizzards and severe cold even in the south of the continent, where the weather is usually milder. In north-eastern Bulgaria the heavy snowfall and strong wind disrupted road and rail traffic. Hungary is also in the grip of a cold wave. In the Republic of Moldova, snowstorms created havoc on the roads. 10 people were killed by the severe cold in Poland, where temperatures stood at minus 20 degrees Celsius. In Moscow, temperatures plummeted to minus 30 degrees. A snowstorm was even reported in Istanbul, Turkey. Things dont stand any better in Western Europe either. A cold front from Scandinavia sent the mercury plummeting in France. In Sicily, a Romanian homeless died because of the cold in an abandoned building. Authorities in all European states have taken measures to accommodate homeless people in order to keep the safe. Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia are also fighting the heavy winter.

ST. JOHN

Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians in Romania are today celebrating St. Johns the Baptists feast day. Called by the Church the Forerunner, St. John foretold the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ, whom he later baptized in the waters of Jordan. St. John died a martyr, beheaded for having the courage to scold the Jewish King Herod in public for his debauched marriage to his brothers ex-wife. Nearly 2 million Romanians celebrate their name day today. Also today, Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian and Serbian nationals observing the old Julian calendar celebrate Christmas, 13 days later compared to the modern Gregorian calendar.

NATO

The United States has started to strengthen its military capabilities in Eastern Europe and is transporting military equipment to Romania, Poland and the Baltic states via Germany, Der Spiegel reports. The first military transport has reached the German port of Bremerhaven on Friday. We remind you that in July 2016 NATO decided to consolidate its presence in Eastern Europe with the deployment of thousands of military in Poland and the Baltic states. A multinational allied structure is to be dispatched in Romania. Moreover, NATO has taken over the defensive anti-missile shield that has interception elements in Deveselu, southern Romania.

GOVERNMENT

The Government of Romania Friday approved an increase in the national minimum wage from about 280 euros to 320 euro as of February 1. According to a news release issued by the Government, the measure will raise the economic growth rate by a rough 0.2% and will encourage employment. At the same time, the document reads, the increase will have a notable social impact, helping to raise living standards and bridging social gaps. The Government also raised public pensions, with the minimum guaranteed social pensions set to reach 115 euros as of March 1. However, representatives of the Committee for social dialogue have said that the Governments social measures should be doubled by economic measures. The opposition in Parliament and the head of state, Klaus Iohannis, have asked for explanations over how the 3% budget deficit will be maintained, while the Central Bank Governor, Mugur Isarescu, is waiting to see how the state budget for 2017 looks like.

TENNIS

The team made up of the Romanian tennis player Raluca Olaru and the Ukrainian Olga Savciuk are today playing against the Czech Andrea Hlavackova and Shuai Peng of China in the doubles final of the WTA tournament in Shenzhen, China, with 625,000 dollars in prize money. This is the second WTA final for Olaru and Savciuk after the one in Tashkent in 2008, when they won the title.

7 January 2017