Radio România Internațional

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  • Fiscal resetting in Romania

    Fiscal resetting in Romania

    The finance ministry made public the bill modifying the Fiscal Code of Romania, due to be endorsed by the government next week.



    The planned amendments include increases of the tobacco and alcohol excises, of taxes on gambling revenues, a lower ceiling for tax facilities in the constructions sector, agriculture and the food industry, and scraps previous tax facilities for the hospitality industry, with operators in the sector set to return to a regular tax on turnover. All these measures are scheduled to take effect on August 1.



    The document also includes provisions due to come into force as of January 2023, such as a raise on dividend taxes from 5% to 8% and a change in the criteria that define microenterprises by lowering the revenue ceiling from EUR 1 mln to EUR 500,000, with the microenterprise legally bound to have at least one employee.



    Also, as of January 1, VAT will be raised from 5% to 9%, both for food and beverage deliveries and for restaurant and catering services, as well as for accommodation services. The bill also stipulates changes in property owners taxes.



    On the other hand, governmental sources also mention a possible adjustment of pension benefits to the inflation rate, starting next year.



    The draft amendments to the Fiscal Code were one of the topics discussed by president Klaus Iohannis in a recent press conference. He pointed out that a modernisation of the fiscal legislation was due, and added that he had discussed this with the Liberal PM Nicolae Ciucă and the relevant ministers. The president also emphasised that no taxes and charges were considered for regular people, but that the changes are related to situations that had not been regulated properly before:



    Klaus Iohannis: “I have asked them to analyse things very carefully, to avoid putting additional burdens on regular people and not to discourage businesses, but instead to make changes that make things more transparent and fairer. Virtually, this would improve revenue collection to the state budget, and better collection means less tax evasion.”



    Romania does not plan an austerity procedure at this time, the president also added, and explained that measures of that kind taken during the 2009 economic crisis failed to yield good results. He also warned that the government cannot earmark substantial funds for offsetting the rise in fuel prices at the expense of investments, which are still necessary.



    Mr. Iohannis voiced satisfaction with the work of the government, and said the Cabinet members did their job well and solved a lot of problems. (AMP)

  • July 1, 2022 UPDATE

    July 1, 2022 UPDATE

    SECURITY
    NATO’s deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană said on Friday in Constanţa,
    south-eastern Romania, that the Alliance would continue to support Ukraine and
    that the Black Sea region remains a strategic one in the current military
    context. He took part in the ‘Black Sea Security Summit’, co-chaired by the
    Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu and the US Senator Roger Wicker.
    Geoana also mentioned that Russia is the greatest threat at present, and that
    China’s expansion is a challenge for NATO’s interests, values and security.
    In turn, Bogdan Aurescu highlighted that trans-Atlantic coordination in the
    face of the Russian aggression was flawless, and that it must remain so. If
    president Putin sought to divide us, he failed, the Romanian diplomat pointed
    out. Secretary of state Simona Cojocaru said Romania hailed Russian forces’
    pull-out from the Serpent Island. Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Oleksandr
    Polishchuk said Russia is willing to make compromises when it sees the free
    world not only having the means to defeat an aggressor, but also ready to take
    action and fight. The event in Constanta was held in Romania for the first
    time, and is the first multi-lateral dialogue in this format between regional
    allies and partners on the topic of security at the Black Sea.


    BACCALAUREATE 75.2% of the
    students sitting the Baccalaureate have passed the exam, the education minister
    Sorin Cîmpeanu announced in Bucharest, after the appeals stage. This year over
    49,000 appeals were submitted, fewer than last year, the education ministry
    said. Prior to this stage, the pass rate in this summer’s exam was 73.3%, the
    highest in the last 10 years, as minister
    Cîmpeanu explained. Eighth-graders have already found out their results
    in the national evaluation. The grades in this exam are the main criterion for
    high school admission. Over 80% of the participants have passed, again a record for the past 10 years.


    FUEL The authorities
    in Bucharest Friday hailed the decision of the main oil companies operating in
    Romania to lower the price for fuel in their stations by approximately EUR
    0.10, in line with the Government’s emergency order. Energy minister Virgil
    Popescu thanked the companies that volunteered to lower fuel prices. PM Nicolae
    Ciucă also welcomed the decision, calling on fiscal and consumer protection
    agencies to monitor fuel prices. Haulers will benefit from a partial subsidy for
    fuel. The PM says the measure was designed to avoid the shortage and rationing
    of fuel, as reported in other countries. Romania now has one of the lowest fuel
    prices in Europe, with stations across the country selling standard diesel for
    approximately EUR 1.7 and petrol for approximately EUR 1.6.


    EMPLOYMENT Hiring new personnel
    in public institutions and authorities in Romania is suspended until the end
    of the year, under an emergency order issued recently by the government. However,
    employment procedures started before 1 July will be completed. Other exceptions are
    also possible, in cases that are thoroughly justified and in compliance with
    personnel budgets. The government suspended hiring in the public sector in
    order to reduce expenditure and meet the budget deficit target.


    TENNIS Romania is left with only one player in the 3rd round of
    the Wimbledon tournament: Simona Halep
    (30 WTA). Halep will play on Saturday against Magdalena Frech (92 WTA) of
    Poland. On Friday, Irina Begu left the competition after being defeated by
    Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, in 3 sets. (AMP)

  • Radio Bod

    Radio Bod

    Radio Romania has been broadcasting permanently since 1928. It has been the most constant source of information and an active witness to the 20th Century landmarks of Romanian history.



    The first broadcast station was obviously located in Bucharest. But in order to cover the entire national territory, the station network had to be systematically expanded in the 1930s. One of the most important local stations airing the programmes of the central structure was in the village of Bod, in Brașov County, central Romania.



    Today, Bod comprises the village itself and the Bod colony, located some 10 km north of the city of Brașov. The village has around 4,000 inhabitants, 84% of which are ethnic Romanians, 8% Hungarians and 1% Germans. The settlement was first mentioned in official documents dating back to 1211, when Saxon settlers from the region between the Rhine and Mosel arrived here. In 1241, the village was burnt to the ground by Tatars. The German name of the settlement, Brenndorf, means precisely burnt village. In 1889, a sugar factory was opened in Bod, and the houses built for the factory workers are the core of what is known today as the colony.



    It is precisely in Bod Colony that in 1933 – 1934 the Romanian government built a longwave radio station which is operational to this day. It is in fact the only longwave station still in operation in Romania. After August 23, 1944, when Romania joined the Allies, Bod saw heavy fighting between Romanian and German troops for control over the station.



    In the ’90s, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation’s Oral History Centre documented the history of the Bod radio station with interviews taken to people who took part in its building. One of them is the locksmith Gheorghe Crisbășanu.



    Gheorghe Crisbășanu: In 1934 I started working at the Bod radio station. I installed the 20 kW unit which was supposed to maintain the wavelength for the 150 kW station due to be installed later. I worked with engineer Ştiubei, the son in law of the writer Mihail Sadoveanu, with Lică Georgescu as manager and with another engineer, Schnoll, who was supervising the operation. The station had 2 panels with 4 vacuum tubes. The cooling system was located in a separate room, with a pump circulating the industrial water used for cooling the distilled water that was cooling down the filaments of the tubes. After that the 150 kW station was built, and the old 20 kW one was dismantled and taken to Chişinău.



    Engineer Alexandru Lică was the manager of the Bod radio station and one of the people who took part in its inauguration:



    Alexandru Lică: On the night when the Bod radio station was to officially begin its operation, I was in Bucharest for a meeting of the Board. The Board members were discussing the commissioning of radio stations. Among them was a guy called Dicem, representing the Marconi corporation, which had built the station. He was an expert, a scientist and he had come to Bucharest precisely to commission the unit. And he said, ‘We will commission the station provided that Mr. Lică Georgescu is there.’ We obviously had someone there, the engineer who had been monitoring the station for a year, but they gave me a car and at midnight I left for Bod, where the station was already on air, but without a programme, it was only for warm-up. When I got to Bod, I put the central studio through and we launched the official broadcast. It was a great satisfaction for me.



    Gheorghe Cristoloveanu worked at the Bod station and still remembers the atmosphere at work and the change in the relations between people after the communists took power:



    Gheorghe Cristoloveanu: We used to get along perfectly, there was perfect harmony and I am not overstating anything. Later on, in ’49-’50 when the communists took power, it was a little more difficult because we had to learn to keep quiet. I stayed with radio Bod because my salary was not really big. Because I had fought in the war and had received every possible medal, including the Iron Cross and Michael the Brave, I was under observation so to say, or rather I was afraid I might get in trouble. This is why I kept to myself, I was more restrained than others. We used to get along quite well, there was this club where we would get together and talk, play ping-pong and backgammon. I wouldn’t say it was a difficult time, we were around 50-60 employees and we all knew each other, we knew what to say when speaking to this or that person and whom to trust.



    The Bod station continues to broadcast in the longwave band for 87 years. An AM veteran, today it competes with FM stations and with the internet. (A.M.P.)


  • Radio Bod

    Radio Bod

    Radio Romania has been broadcasting permanently since 1928. It has been the most constant source of information and an active witness to the 20th Century landmarks of Romanian history.



    The first broadcast station was obviously located in Bucharest. But in order to cover the entire national territory, the station network had to be systematically expanded in the 1930s. One of the most important local stations airing the programmes of the central structure was in the village of Bod, in Brașov County, central Romania.



    Today, Bod comprises the village itself and the Bod colony, located some 10 km north of the city of Brașov. The village has around 4,000 inhabitants, 84% of which are ethnic Romanians, 8% Hungarians and 1% Germans. The settlement was first mentioned in official documents dating back to 1211, when Saxon settlers from the region between the Rhine and Mosel arrived here. In 1241, the village was burnt to the ground by Tatars. The German name of the settlement, Brenndorf, means precisely burnt village. In 1889, a sugar factory was opened in Bod, and the houses built for the factory workers are the core of what is known today as the colony.



    It is precisely in Bod Colony that in 1933 – 1934 the Romanian government built a longwave radio station which is operational to this day. It is in fact the only longwave station still in operation in Romania. After August 23, 1944, when Romania joined the Allies, Bod saw heavy fighting between Romanian and German troops for control over the station.



    In the ’90s, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation’s Oral History Centre documented the history of the Bod radio station with interviews taken to people who took part in its building. One of them is the locksmith Gheorghe Crisbășanu.



    Gheorghe Crisbășanu: In 1934 I started working at the Bod radio station. I installed the 20 kW unit which was supposed to maintain the wavelength for the 150 kW station due to be installed later. I worked with engineer Ştiubei, the son in law of the writer Mihail Sadoveanu, with Lică Georgescu as manager and with another engineer, Schnoll, who was supervising the operation. The station had 2 panels with 4 vacuum tubes. The cooling system was located in a separate room, with a pump circulating the industrial water used for cooling the distilled water that was cooling down the filaments of the tubes. After that the 150 kW station was built, and the old 20 kW one was dismantled and taken to Chişinău.



    Engineer Alexandru Lică was the manager of the Bod radio station and one of the people who took part in its inauguration:



    Alexandru Lică: On the night when the Bod radio station was to officially begin its operation, I was in Bucharest for a meeting of the Board. The Board members were discussing the commissioning of radio stations. Among them was a guy called Dicem, representing the Marconi corporation, which had built the station. He was an expert, a scientist and he had come to Bucharest precisely to commission the unit. And he said, ‘We will commission the station provided that Mr. Lică Georgescu is there.’ We obviously had someone there, the engineer who had been monitoring the station for a year, but they gave me a car and at midnight I left for Bod, where the station was already on air, but without a programme, it was only for warm-up. When I got to Bod, I put the central studio through and we launched the official broadcast. It was a great satisfaction for me.



    Gheorghe Cristoloveanu worked at the Bod station and still remembers the atmosphere at work and the change in the relations between people after the communists took power:



    Gheorghe Cristoloveanu: We used to get along perfectly, there was perfect harmony and I am not overstating anything. Later on, in ’49-’50 when the communists took power, it was a little more difficult because we had to learn to keep quiet. I stayed with radio Bod because my salary was not really big. Because I had fought in the war and had received every possible medal, including the Iron Cross and Michael the Brave, I was under observation so to say, or rather I was afraid I might get in trouble. This is why I kept to myself, I was more restrained than others. We used to get along quite well, there was this club where we would get together and talk, play ping-pong and backgammon. I wouldn’t say it was a difficult time, we were around 50-60 employees and we all knew each other, we knew what to say when speaking to this or that person and whom to trust.



    The Bod station continues to broadcast in the longwave band for 87 years. An AM veteran, today it competes with FM stations and with the internet. (A.M.P.)


  • January 22, 2022 UPDATE

    January 22, 2022 UPDATE


    COVID-19 19,371 new Covid cases and 48 related deaths were reported in Romania on Saturday. The number of fatalities is over 10 times smaller than at the peak of the previous wave of the pandemic, but the infection rate continues to grow, reaching 8.77 per thousand in Bucharest. The highest SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in the capital city (16.54 per thousand) was reached on 22nd October last year. The worst-case scenario considered by the authorities predicts up to 70,000 new cases per day in the first half of February. The health minister Alexandru Rafila says that 173 outpatient Covid-19 evaluation centres are already operational across the country, out of a planned 230.



    CELEBRATION The government of Romania celebrated on Saturday 160 years since the first government of Romania was formed, after the union of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia was officially recognised. On this occasion, on the walls of Victoria Palace in the capital city Bucharest, which hosts the head offices of the government of Romania, images were projected during the evening, which are relevant for this milestone in Romanian history, such as the Romanian flag, the date when the first government of Romania was formed, namely 22nd of January, 1862 and the name of the countrys first prime minister, Barbu Catargiu. On Monday, which is a national holiday in Romania, 163 years since the union of the Romanian Principalities will be marked. On 24th January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, elected ruler of Moldavia the previous week, was unanimously elected sovereign of Wallachia as well, and proclaimed ruler of the United Principalities. During his rule, the institutional foundations were laid for modern Romania.



    STRIKE Romanias capital city Bucharest found itself without above-ground public transportation means on Saturday as well. It was 3rd consecutive day of strike for the Bucharest Transport Corporation, although a court ruled the protest illegal. Unions stand by their demands, which include pay raises and the resignation of the corporations CEO. The drivers who refuse to work risk having their employment contracts terminated, said the Bucharest mayor general Nicusor Dan. He also said the City Hall made available a toll-free number for drivers to report whether they are prevented by their colleagues from going to work, and added that a criminal case has been opened in this respect. Meanwhile, the government is facing demands from trade unions in public education and healthcare as well.



    NATO On Friday NATO rejected Russias request for the pull-out of the Alliances troops in Bulgaria and Romania, and denounced the concept of spheres of influence, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said. Russia requested guarantees from the US and NATO that the Alliance would not enlarge further eastwards, and demanded the withdrawal of the troops and equipment deployed to the countries that have joined the organisation since 1997. Also on Friday, the Pentagon announced a large-scale NATO naval exercise in the Mediterranean, amid tensions with Russia, which also announced major naval manoeuvres, AFP reports. Polands PM Mateusz Morawiecki called on European leaders to take a firm and united stand against Russia, in the context of fears that Moscow might plan an invasion of Ukraine. NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will provide Ukraine with US-made anti-armour and anti-aircraft missiles, the defence ministers of the 3 countries announced in a joint statement. In Romania, president Klaus Iohannis has called a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council on Wednesday. The meeting will focus on the security situation at the Black Sea and on NATOs eastern flank, and measures to develop resilience and response capabilities related to the new security challenges.



    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep qualified in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, after defeating Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, 6-2, 6-1, in the 3rd round of the tournament in Melbourne on Saturday. Halep (15 WTA and 14th seed), won the match in 64 minutes. It was the 8th consecutive win for the Romanian player this season. In the next round Simona Halep takes on Alizé Cornet of France (61 WTA). Also on Saturday, another Romanian, Sorana Cîrstea, won in the 3rd round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, seed no 10. In the next round, Sorana Cîrstea will take on Iga Swiatek of Poland (9 WTA). (tr. A.M. Popescu)


  • Radio România Actualităţi, cel mai ascultat radio din România

    Radio România Actualităţi, cel mai ascultat radio din România

    Radio România Actualităţi este din nou lider de piaţă, înregistrând cea mai mare valoare a indicatorului market share (cota de piaţă) din România, pe mediile de rezidenţă naţional, urban şi Bucureşti, potrivit celui mai recent sondaj publicat luni, de Asociaţia pentru Radio Audienţă (ARA) – valul trei 2021.

    La nivel naţional, Radio România Actualităţi a înregistrat o cotă de piaţă de 12,7%, în mediul urban de 13,7% şi în Bucureşti de 15,4%.

    Datele sondajului ARA indică, de asemenea, că în perioada 30 august – 12 decembrie 2021, în plină pandemie, când nevoia de informaţie promptă şi corectă a fost poate mai acută ca niciodată, aproape 1.800.000 de ascultători au ales zilnic, ca mijloc de informare, Radio România Actualităţi. În Bucureşti, Radio România Actualităţi ocupă a doua poziţie după numărul zilnic de ascultători.

    Audienţa zilnică a programelor Radio România (Radio România Actualităţi, Radio România Cultural, Radio România Muzical, Radio România Antena Satelor şi Reţeaua Studiourilor Regionale) însumează 3,3 milioane de ascultători zilnic, înregistrând astfel o cotă de piaţă de circa 25%, ceea ce poziţionează Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune pe locul I în preferinţele ascultătorilor.

    Radio România mulţumeşte ascultătorilor săi pentru încrederea acordată!

    Valul de toamna al Studiului de Audienţă Radio a fost realizat în perioada 30 august – 12 decembrie 2021 de către IMAS – Marketing şi Sondaje şi Mercury Research. În cadrul cercetării s-a măsurat audienţa posturilor de radio la nivel naţional, respectiv în urban, rural şi în municipiul Bucureşti.

    Eşantionul are un volum de 11.114 persoane, cu o eroare maximă de eşantionare de ±0,9%. În mediul urban s-au realizat 7.765 interviuri, în mediul rural s-au realizat 3.349 interviuri, iar în Bucureşti s-au realizat 1.829 interviuri. În eşantion au fost incluse 1.848 localităţi din România.

    Măsurarea audienţei posturilor de radio în cadrul SAR s-a realizat pe baza metodei rememorării audienţei din ziua precedentă (Day After Recall), la care apelează cele mai multe dintre sistemele de măsurare existente pe plan internaţional, metodologie recomandată de EBU (European Broadcasting Union) şi ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research).

  • Retrospectiva teatrală a anului 2021

    Retrospectiva teatrală a anului 2021

    Acum, la finalul
    anului 2021, al doilea an în care pandemia ne-a obligat să ne reorganizăm viața
    socială, profesională și culturală, scena teatrală românească a reușit să
    inoveze, să se reinventeze și să răzbească, în pofida dificultăților, a
    restricțiilor sau provocărilor din toate domeniile, aducând publicului puțină
    alinare sufletească și intelectuală în mijlocul tumultului cotidian. Au fost
    premiere teatrale importante, scenele au fost redeschise în anumite perioade,
    păstrând măsurile de siguranță impuse de pandemie, teatrul a ajuns la
    spectatori în sălile de spectacol, în spații publice și online.


    În noiembrie a avut
    loc a 31-a ediție a Festivalului Național de Teatru (FNT), ocazie în care
    spectatorii s-au întâlnit cu 136 de evenimente (spectacole de teatru,
    instalații performative și vizuale, producții din străinătate invitate în
    România, conferințe, expoziții, teatru radiofonic și spectacole online). O amplă
    secțiune in memoriam a fost dedicată marelui actor Ion Caramitru, dispărut
    dintre noi în luna septembrie. Ion Caramitru a fost un actor de teatru și film,
    regizor și politician, președintele și amfitrionul UNITER (Uniunea Teatrală din
    România) din 1990 și directorul Teatrului Național din București din 2005.
    Printre marile roluri ale artistului, de pe scândura scenei, se numără de la
    Hamlet (1963) și Profesorul din Steaua fără nume (1964), ambele sub bagheta
    regizorală a lui Costache Antoniu, Herault din Moartea lui Danton (1966,
    regia Liviu Ciulei), Romeo (1967, regia Vlad Mugur), Iulius Cezar (1968, regia
    Andrei Șerban), până la Eduard al III-lea (2008, regia Alexandru Tocilescu).
    Din filmografia lui Ion Caramitru amintim titluri precum Ștefan Luchian (1981),
    Lumini și umbre (1981-1982), și celebra serie Liceenii în care a
    interpretat personajul profesorului Socrate.


    Gala UNITER 2021, din
    iulie, al cărei amfitrion a fost pentru ultima dată Ion Caramitru, a adus,
    între altele, următoarele premii teatrale: Premiul pentru debut – Diana
    Mititelu, Premiul pentru întreaga activitate – Marcel Iureș, Premiul pentru
    spectacole online – Teatrul Național Radu Stanca din Sibiu, cel mai bun actor
    – Răzvan Vicoveanu, cea mai bună actriță – Emöke Kató, cel mai bun spectacol -
    Inimă și alte preparate din carne, regia Radu Afrim, Teatrul Național Marin
    Sorescu din Craiova.


    Ca o dovadă a
    adaptării la noile condiții de spectacol impuse de pandemie, în mediul online
    au apărut piesele de teatru VR (Virtual Reality) și spectacolele online,
    difuzate fie în direct, fie înregistrări de pe scena teatrelor.


    2021 a fost și un an
    al premierelor pe scenă. Teatrul Municipal Baia Mare (nord) a adus 4 premiere
    în fața publicului, dintre care Descompus după texte de Matei Vișniec, apreciat
    scriitor român emigrat la Paris. Teatrul din Suceava (nord) a avut 7 premiere, printre
    care Micul Prinț după Antoine de Saint-Exupéry și O noapte furtunoasă de
    marele dramaturg român Ion Luca Caragiale. În Pitești (sud), Teatrul Alexandru
    Davila a avut 7 premiere, iar teatrele din Satu Mare (nord-vest) și Sfântul
    Gheorghe (centru) câte 3 premiere. Teatrul Odeon din București a avut 4
    premiere în 2021, printre care Cui i-e frică de Virginia Woolf? de Edward
    Albee și Henric al IV-lea de Luigi Pirandello. Teatrul Evreiesc de Stat a
    avut 4 premiere, printre care Alice în Țara Minunilor după Lewis Carroll. La
    Naţionalul bucureştean notăm 3 premiere, între care D-ale carnavalului, de
    Ion Luca Caragiale, regia Alexandru Dabija.


    Teatrele independente
    au avut și ele seria lor de premiere, mișcarea teatrală independentă fiind una
    cu o din ce în ce mai mare greutate pe scena culturală și teatrală din România:
    Apollo111 – două premiere, Teatrul Act – premiera spectacolului Rosto după
    I.L.Caragiale, iar unteatru – 8 premiere.


    2021 a fost un an
    dificil și provocator pentru teatru, pentru scena culturală din România. Dar,
    pasiunea, devotamentul pentru meșteșugul actoricesc, iubirea de scenă și mai
    ales de public a făcut ca acest an să fie trecut cu bine, cu realizări, cu
    premiere, cu săli cu spectatori și cu reinventarea limbajului teatral în mediul
    online, adaptat pentru noile condiții de joc.

  • State budget without new taxes

    State budget without new taxes

    Romania’s ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democratic
    Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians
    in Romania (UDMR), is to submit the draft budget law for 2022 to Parliament by December
    20, for discussion and endorsement. The 3 parties intend to have the
    fiscal-budgetary strategy passed by Christmas.


    The law
    must provide funding for investments, the increase of public pensions and
    allowances, while at the same time keeping the budget deficit under control.


    The idea of
    introducing new taxes has triggered debates in the new ruling coalition. The Liberals
    once again emphasised that next year’s budget will not be based on new taxes. However,
    the Social Democrats and UDMR sought to levy an additional 1% of turnover tax
    on companies with turnover in excess of 100 million euro. According to UDMR,
    the money would cover healthcare and education investment needs, but the
    business community voiced discontent with the measure.


    The Liberal
    president Florin Cîţu mentioned that these companies paid taxes in advance last
    April, when the economy was shut down, and argued that it is not fair for the
    same businesses to be penalised.


    In turn, PM
    Nicolae Ciucă promised there will be no such taxes. This is precisely what we
    pledged in the governing platform, namely that no such tax will be levied this
    year. The governing plan was endorsed by Parliament and it will be applied as
    such,ˮ Nicolae Ciucă pointed out.


    The finance
    minister Adrian Câciu said in turn that the budget will not include new taxes,
    and that any change in the tax system will be predictable and operated after talks
    with private businesses. He said Romania needs solidarity now, to protect
    low-income citizens from price rises, especially in the energy sector. We will
    achieve this by stimulating the economy and encouraging the companies that
    produce in Romania, regardless of their ownership, because all that is produced
    in Romania is produced by Romanian employees. A product made in Romania means
    jobs for Romanians. By supporting Romanian producers, we provide guarantees that
    hundreds of thousands of people will have stable, safe jobs, the finance
    minister Adrian Câciu explained.


    In turn,
    the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu said that should the coalition
    decide to introduce a new tax, this will not take effect sooner than in 6
    months’ time. On the other hand, he said the country has major problems in
    terms of tax evasion and VAT collection. Romania is estimated to have tax
    evasion accounting for 10% of GDP at the moment. Moreover, 34% of the VAT owed
    is not collected,ˮ Marcel Ciolacu warned. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • November 16, 2021 UPDATE

    November 16, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID-19 The coronavirus epidemic stays on a downward trend in Romania. On Tuesday the
    authorities reported 4,128 new Covid infections out of over 55,000 tests, which
    accounts for a 7.41% positive rate. Another 397 related fatalities were also
    reported, including 54 that had not been recorded in the system earlier. Some
    14,000 Covid patients are currently receiving hospital treatment, including
    almost 1,700 in intensive care. The incidence rate is on the decrease in
    Bucharest, dropping to 5.34 cases per 1,000 inhabitants on Tuesday. In related
    news, non-invasive testing is due to begin in schools for children and
    teachers. At the moment, almost three quarters of Romanian schools and kindergartens
    are holding in-person classes, the rule being that only schools with a
    vaccination rate among their staff of at least 60% can reopen for in-person
    teaching, the rest holding classes on line. As for vaccination, the pace has
    dropped steadily in recent days, compared to a peak of over 110,000 doses
    administered on 27 September. Nearly 7 million Romanians are fully vaccinated
    at present.




    SCHOOLS Legal and financial education have become
    compulsory skills in primary and middle schools in Romania. President Klaus
    Iohannis Tuesday signed a law amending the Education Act, to include these
    areas in the national curriculum. The document also includes financial and
    legal education in the teaching programmes of local lifelong learning community
    centres. In a first stage, these subjects can be introduced as optional school
    subjects only, because national curricula must be approved by the Education
    Ministry.




    ECONOMY Romania,
    Hungary and Lithuania have the biggest annual growth rate in the European Union
    in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period last year,
    according to preliminary data published by the European statistical office
    Eurostat. GDP grew in the EU by 3.9%, with Romania at 8%, Hungary at 6.1% and
    Lithuania at 6%. However, according to the latest figures published by the
    National Institute for Statistics, Romania’s economic growth rate slowed down
    to 0.3% in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter. In the first
    nine months of the year, GDP grew by 7.1% compared with the same period last
    year. Economic experts say the growth rate will slow down even more this autumn
    and winter, while the inflation rate may go up to 8% in the context of the
    current political crisis.




    EU Romania’s
    foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu attended a ministerial meeting of the Eastern
    Partnership held in Brussels, where EU foreign ministers agreed to expand the
    criteria for imposing new sanctions against Belarus. The new sanctions would
    target those involved in weaponising the plight of migrants. The European Union
    is accusing Belarus of intentionally creating a migrant crisis on the border
    with Poland and the Baltic countries in retaliation to the Union’s earlier
    sanctions against the regime in Belarus for its crackdown on the opposition.
    Minister Aurescu presented Romania’s stand on the strategic priorities of the
    Eastern Partnership post-2020 and called for a consolidation of the security
    dimension in the Eastern Neighbourhood, as well as for greater involvement from
    the EU in solving the frozen or protracted conflicts in this region.




    MILITARY The EU is considering a joint military force of up to 5,000 troops by
    2025, to intervene in a number of crises without needing to rely on the US,
    according to a draft strategic plan, Reuters says. The EU
    Rapid Deployment Capacity should include land, sea and air capabilities. Two decades after the EU leaders first agreed to
    set up a force of 50,000-60,000 troops, which never became operational, the
    strategy drafted by the EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell is the most concrete
    effort to create an independent military force that does not rely on US assets.
    Not all the 27 EU member states would have to contribute troops, but a
    consensus would be required for any deployment. Since 2007, the EU has had
    battlegroups of 1,500 troops available, but they have never been deployed, in
    spite of efforts to use them in Chad and Libya.





    Radio and TV Parliament
    approved the new leadership of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation,
    which Radio Romania International also forms part of. With the support of the
    Social Democratic Party, the new director general at Radio Romania isRăzvan-Ioan
    Dincă, a former National Opera director who has a court of first instance
    conviction for abuse of office and false statement but who was later acquitted.
    The leadership of the Romanian television was also appointed, with the
    journalist Dan Cristian Turturică becoming the new director general, with the
    support of the National Liberal Party. The members of the new boards are
    appointed for a 4-year term and have to take an oath in Parliament. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • October 19, 2021

    October 19, 2021

    COVID-19 Romanian authorities announced on Monday over 10,000 new SARS-CoV-2 infections and 261 COVID-related deaths in 24 hours. More than 1,700 patients are
    currently in intensive care. As regards vaccination, in Romania, the number of
    people that went through a full vaccination plan stands at roughly 5.7 million.
    The Romanian interim Interior Minister, Lucian Bode, has announced that 26
    patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 have been transferred to Hungary and that the
    situation these days is rather critical. Meanwhile, 32 medical staff from the
    neighbouring Republic of Moldova came to Romania on Monday and will treat
    COVID-19 patients for 12 days, in a mobile hospital in the village of Leţcani,
    Iaşi County. Romania now has new vaccination targets, after missing the
    previous ones because of citizens’ reluctance to the jab.


    AID Poland and Slovenia announced they are ready to help
    Romania fight the on-going healthcare crisis. The offers came after president
    Klaus Iohannis presented the situation in a videoconference ahead of a European
    Council meeting due in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Attending the
    conference were the prime ministers of the 2 countries, who voiced their
    willingness to help Romania, as well as the president of the European Council,
    Charles Michel, ho undertook to facilitate EU-level aid. Hit hard by the 4th
    wave of the pandemic, Romania has already received medical equipment from Poland,
    Italy and Denmark.


    GOVERNMENT The relevant parliamentary committees are interviewing
    today the proposed members of PM designate Dacian Cioloş’s cabinet. Deputies
    and Senators will discuss with both former ministers in the coalition
    government comprising the National Liberal Party, Save Romania Union and the
    Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, headed by the Liberal Florin Cîţu.
    Stelian Ion is once again nominated for justice minister, Ioana Mihăilă for
    health minister and Cătălin Drulă for transport minister, while former deputy
    PM Dan Barna is the proposed foreign minister. New names in the cabinet include
    environment activist Mihai Goţiu for environment minister, the former prefect
    of Bucharest Alin Stoica for interior minister and former fighter pilot Nicu
    Fălcoi for defence minister. The decision of Save Romania Union (USR) to
    present Parliament with a proposed one-party government was made after
    negotiations with the former partners failed to lead to the restoration of the
    right-wing coalition. The Liberals and
    ethnic Hungarian party would not resume cooperation with USR, because the
    latter backed a motion of no-confidence against the Cîţu government. The Social
    Democrats in opposition are also against a government headed by Cioloş, whom
    they accuse of irresponsibly protracting this political crisis. The Social
    Democrats and the nationalist party AUR demand early elections. Cioloş’s team
    needs 234 votes in Parliament, and USR only has 80 MPs. The vote on the
    proposed government is scheduled for Wednesday.


    AUTOMOTIVE The Ford production unit in Craiova (south-western Romania) is
    temporarily downsizing operations because of a semiconductor shortage. Until
    Thursday the plant will operate in one shift instead of three, both in the
    vehicle and the engine production divisions. The vehicles for which sale
    contracts have already been signed will be a priority, the management announced.
    Employees will be paid idle time up to 78% of their base salaries. In turn, the
    Dacia plant in Mioveni, Argeș County, controlled by the French group Renault, suspended
    its operations for lack of electronic components on October 8, sending home
    around 90% of its 14,000 employees at the time.


    OPINION POLL The Army and the Church rank first in terms of public
    confidence in Romania, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Information
    Warfare analysis and Strategic Communication Laboratory. Specifically, some 87%
    of the Romanians say they trust the Army, 70% the Church, 67% – the Romanian Intelligence
    Service and the Romanian Academy. Confidence is politicians is low, at some 20%,
    with the President, Parliament and Government on the top 3 positions. The main
    threats against Romania, according to over 40% of the respondents, are the
    politicians’ corruption and incompetence. The main threats facing the EU are an
    economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and disagreements between some member
    states. the poll was conducted by telephone between October 1 and 10, with a de
    +/- 3.1% margin of error.



    MOLDOVA The leader of the Socialists Party in the neighbouring Republic of
    Moldova, the pro-Russian ex-president Igor Dodon, announced he stepped down as
    a Parliament member and party president. He said he will continue to work as
    part of the Moldovan-Russian Entrepreneur Union, to strengthen economic
    relations with Russia. Dodon explains his role as an opposition leader will be
    better served from outside Parliament. One year ago he lost the presidential
    election to pro-European Maia Sandu, whose party, Action and Solidarity, defeated
    the Socialists and their allies, the Communists, in July’s early parliamentary
    election. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Une nouvelle prolongation de l’état d’alerte

    Une nouvelle prolongation de l’état d’alerte

    Le gouvernement de Bucarest a décidé cette semaine de prolonger d’un mois l’état d’alerte en place depuis plus d’un an, malgré la baisse évidente des cas de contamination. Cela va nous permettre d’intervenir rapidement au cas où la situation commence à se dégrader, ont justifié les autorités leur décision. Cette prolongation de 30 jours de l’état d’alerte limitera la présence du public dans les tribunes du stade Arena National de Bucarest à 50% de ses capacités d’accueil, pour le match des huitièmes de finale du Championnat européen de football.

    Par ailleurs, les autorités permettront l’organisation et le déroulement en plein air des événements à l’agenda de la campagne électorale en vue des élections locales partielles du 27 juin, en limitant la présence des participants à un millier de personnes. Et puis, la Roumanie autorise à nouveau les cérémonies familiales telles les mariages ou les baptêmes à l’intérieur des restaurants et avec une participation de 200 personnes tout au plus, à condition de préserver la distanciation entre les invités. Pour le reste, les mesures d’assouplissement décidées début juin resteront en vigueur. Il s’agit, on vous le rappelle, de la majoration de 500 à 1000 du nombre des personnes souhaitant participer aux différents événements culturels et artistiques en plein air à condition d’avoir été vaccinées, d’avoir contracté déjà la maladie ou de détenir un test PCR négatif. Cette nouvelle jauge d’un millier de personnes pourrait être dépassée si tous les participants sont pleinement vaccinés et que l’organisateur assume la responsabilité d’en détenir la preuve.

    Le nombre des participants aux différentes activités culturelles, scientifiques ou artistiques déroulées dans des espaces clos a lui aussi connu une majoration allant de 50 à 70% des capacités d’accueil de l’endroit respectif. Une fois de plus, la jauge pourrait être augmentée à 100% si tous les participants sont immunisés contre la Covid-19. Les aires de jeu d’intérieur ont rouverts leurs portes et leur capacité d’accueil est de 50% à condition que les accompagnateurs adultes fassent la preuve de leur vaccination ou d’une contamination au coronavirus par le passé. Les salles de fitness ont elles aussi agrandi leurs capacités d’accueil de 50 à 70% et même à 100% si tout le monde est vacciné. Les piscines d’intérieur fonctionneront elles aussi à 70% de leurs capacités, tandis que les restaurants ont accru leur jauge de clients.

    Au début de la saison estivale, les structures d’hébergement au bord de la Mer Noire ont augmenté leurs capacités d’accueil. Les bars, les clubs, les boîtes de nuit et les salles de jeux attendent à nouveau les clients entre cinq heures de l’après-midi et minuit. Toutes ces structures fonctionneront à 50% de leurs capacités d’accueil et recevront uniquement des personnes vaccinées. A partir du 1 juin, le masque n’est plus obligatoire dans les bureaux où travaillent 5 personnes tout au plus, à condition que tout le monde soit immunisé. En revanche, les Roumains sont tenus de garder le masque dans les lieux communs.Par ailleurs, une nouvelle liste des pays à fort risque épidémiologique vient de paraître. En ce moment, seul le Royaume Uni reste en scénario rouge. (Trad. Ioana Stancescu)

  • Ana-Maria Boghean, responsable de la communication à l’IFR

    Ana-Maria Boghean, responsable de la communication à l’IFR

    L’antenne de Bucarest de l’Institut français de Roumanie accueille à nouveau le public. Ana-Maria Boghean, responsable de la communication à l’IFR, passe en revue les événements de ce début d’été.


  • Sala Radio se redeschide pentru public

    Sala Radio se redeschide pentru public

    Începând din 31 mai, se pun în vânzare biletele pentru concertele ce se vor derula în luna iunie la Sala Radio. După câteva luni în care toate evenimentele stagiunii au fost transmise live de la Sala Radio – pe calea undelor sau online, publicul va reveni fizic în sală.

    Pentru a se asigura siguranța spectatorilor și a se respecta normele în vigoare în context pandemic, sala va fi plină în procent de 30% din capacitatea totală. Nu este necesară prezentarea niciunui certificat de vaccinare sau test. Accesul la concertele organizate la Sala Radio este permis până la ora 18:50 și publicul este rugat să respecte cu strictețe regulile de acces afișate la intrare și pe www.orchestreradio.ro.

    Primul concert pentru care se vor putea achiziționa bilete este cel prezentat de Orchestra Națională Radio în data de 4 iunie. Un frumos program Mozart/Schubert va fi dirijat de Lubnan Baalbaki (Liban) și concertul va fi un prilej de a o aplauda în ipostază solistică pe pianista Sînziana Mircea.

    Biletele în format electronic pentru toate concertele lunii iunie vor fi puse în vânzare începând cu 31 mai, în sistem online, pe iabilet.ro. Biletele se vor găsi și în magazinele Flanco, benzinăriile Rompetrol, Metrou Unirii 1, magazinele Muzica, IQ BOX, Uman și pe terminalele Selfpay. Online, puteți plăti cu cardul, prin Paypal, carduri de tichete culturale Sodexo, pe factură la Vodafone sau Orange sau ramburs prin Fan Courier, oriunde în țară.

    De asemenea, biletele se pot achiziționa şi de la casa de bilete a Sălii Radio – începând cu 2 iunie.

    Programul casei de bilete: Luni – închis; marţi – vineri: 15:00-18:00.

    În zilele de concert/spectacol casa de bilete va fi deschisă până la ora 18:50.

    Sâmbătă – duminică: închis. În zilele de concert/spectacol (sâmbătă – duminică): 14:00-19:00.

    Alte informaţii legate de Orchestrele şi Corurile Radio, pe www.orchestreradio.ro.

  • May 12, 2021 UPDATE

    May 12, 2021 UPDATE

    COVID-19 Romania stays in the so-called green scenario as Bucharest and all counties report COVID-19 infection rates below 1.5 per thousand. In the past 24 hours 930 new cases were reported, out of over 24,300 tests conducted acros the country. The Strategic Communication Group announced another 98 COVID-related deaths, which brings the total death toll to 29,233, and 874 patients in intensive care. The coordinator of the vaccine rollout Valeriu Gheorghiţă said the fall in infection numbers is the result of the immunisation campaign. Over 3.7 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 2.5 million have also got the booster dose. People may get jabs without prior appointment in all vaccination centres in the country. After Timişoara (west) and the capital Bucharest, another major city, Craiova (south), is organising a vaccination marathon, with similar events scheduled this weekend in other cities in Romania.



    RECOVERY The PM of Romania Florin Cîţu reconfirmed, during his
    meeting with the European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis in
    Brussels on Wednesday, the Romanian government’s goal to ensure economic
    recovery and sustainable post-pandemic economic growth, with a focus on reform
    and investments.Florin Cîţu also voiced gratitude to the European
    Commission for its support, guidance and cooperation, after the talks on
    Romania’s priorities as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan held
    on Wednesday with Margrethe Vestager, EC executive vice-president. Previously,
    the Romanian PM had also had talks with Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for
    Transport.



    PUBLIC MEDIA As of Tuesday night, Romania’s public radio and TV corporations have new interim directors. Parliament has appointed journalist Liviu Popescu as head of the Romanian public radio, while Ramona Saseanu has become interim director of the national TV. The two are to hold these positions for 6 months, until the appointment of new boards of directors for the two institutions. On Tuesday, Parliament rejected the annual reports submitted by the two institutions for the years 2017, 2018, 2019, which entailed the dismissal of the 2 boards of directors.



    ECONOMY Romanias economy is expected to grow by 5.1% in 2021 and 4.9% next year, according to the spring economic forecast made public by the European Commission. The institution has upgraded its February estimates, when it forecast a 3.8% growth this year and 4% in 2022. Brussels also expects the unemployment rate in Romania to go up from 5% last year to 5.2% in 2021, but to drop to 4.8% in 2022. Inflation is also set to reach 2.9% this year, with a slight decrease to 2.7% predicted for next year. According to the same forecast, the budget deficit will drop from 9.2% of GDP last year to 8% of GDP this year and to 7.1% of GDP next year.



    CONFERENCE Strengthening Romanias Strategic Partnership with Poland underscores the special relationship and the firm commitment to contributing to regional security, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis said in a message on Wednesday at an international conference devoted to the centennial of the Romania-Poland Defensive Alliance. The event was hosted by the Romanian Embassy in Poland. The head of the Romanian state mentioned that the Romanian-Polish Defensive Alliance signed in 1921 was the first regional collective security project and the first strategic partnership with Poland.



    DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign ministry confirmed that the Russian Federation declared the deputy military attaché with the Romanian Embassy in Moscow, Alin Iliescu, a persona non grata, in retaliation to a similar measure taken by Romania on April 26 with respect to the Russian Embassys deputy military attaché Aleksey Grishaev. Romanian authorities argued that the decision was prompted by Grishaevs activity, which came against the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. Many central and east-European ex-communist countries made similar decisions to expel Russian diplomats in the past few weeks. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Changes in labour legislation

    Changes in labour legislation

    The government of Romania has passed a memorandum laying down the principles for revising and updating the legislative framework concerning the salaries of public sector staff.



    Ministries have 30 days to submit proposals regarding salary policies in the public system. The government plans to draw up a new law on public sector salaries within a year, and to submit it to Parliament.



    The memorandum, signed by all ministries, is a reflection of their commitment to presenting their own view of the occupational fields they coordinate, the labour minister Raluca Turcan said. She also made it clear that the document will not pave the way for pay cuts, but on the contrary, that the goal is to increase those salaries that have always been overlooked because of inequities in previous regulations.



    “Once the salary system becomes fair and public institutions become efficient in relation to citizens, the competition with the private sector will be stronger, the quality of work will improve both in the public and in the private system, and we will see better salaries both in the public and in the private sector, the labour minister added.



    Raluca Turcan also explained that the pay grade structure will be reanalysed for each occupational group, and some bonuses will be included in the core salary. Also, the bonuses that can be made flat-sum will be paid as a fix amount, while the remaining ones will not exceed 20% of the individual base salary. Base salaries should be the same for everybody, Raluca Turcan believes, because, she argues, it is unacceptable for some public sector staff to be paid according to the 2019 salary level, and others to a level only possible in 2022.



    Meanwhile, the government endorsed emergency orders that simplify working relations by digitisation and by cutting red-tape.



    One of these orders regulates the use of advanced or qualified electronic signatures, accompanied by time stamps, in signing employment contracts, in the relations between businessses and public institutions, and enables employers to purchase electronic signatures for their employees. The same order, the labour minister also explained, is designed to streamline teleworking, given that at present around 400,000 employment contracts include telework clauses, as opposed to only 50,000 last year.



    Another emergency order targets nearly 445,000 micro-enterprises in Romania, which have a maximum of 9 employees. These businesses are now no longer bound to draw up job descriptions and company regulations or to keep attendance registers, and thus the workload of business owners is reduced. (tr. A.M. Popescu)