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Tag: Rabla

Discussions regarding the Car Scrapping (Rabla) program

The Car Scrapping (Rabla) programs were implemented by the Environment Ministry to renew the car fleet in Romania, by gradually replacing old, polluting cars with new ones. In particular, Rabla Plus program had the ambition and, partially, succeeded in accelerating the dynamics of environmentally-friendly hybrid and electric car purchases. Romanians were tempted to buy such vehicles because they were offered generous ecobonuses, going up to 10 thousand Euros in the case of electric cars. Last year, however, the decrease of the ecobonus for electric vehicles from 10,000 to 5,000 Euros caused a market setback of about 32%. Starting from this reality, the representatives of the Automobile Manufacturers Association in Romania are discussing with the authorities scenarios aimed at revitalizing the Rabla program.

The general secretary of the Association, Adrian Sandu has details: “As of last year, we started the dialogue with the Environment Fund Administration and the Environment Ministry to draw up the new program. We want a five-year program, because we want regulated fiscal and legislative predictability. This is the first basis of the development of a business based on healthy principles. Regarding the Rabla program, we want it to be a single program, to no longer have the Rabla Clasic and Rabla Plus programs and to start as soon as possible”.

According to the representatives of the Automobile Manufacturers Association, if the financing of the ecobonus is made from money obtained from green certificates, it is possible that its value be more substantial than if it is made from the state budget, which, this year, is subject to constraints. At the beginning of the month, the Romanian Automobile Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA) announced that it supports the implementation of a new ‘Rabla’ Program with efficient subsidies of 8,500 Euros for electric cars, which will provide predictability at least until the year 2030. The association campaigns for complementary legislative measures for the development of charging station infrastructure and for the adoption of concrete, planned measures to support sustainable mobility in Romania.

According to Automobile Manufacturers and Importers Association, the evolution of the market in 2025 will depend both on economic factors and consumer demand, as well as on political decisions that can accelerate or slow down the transition to electromobility. The Association forecasts that, in 2025, the general market of new registered vehicles will no longer grow as in the last three years, a slight decrease of 0.4% being estimated, with a number of 179,000 units sold. At the same time, ‘electric’ vehicles will have an increase of 34.6% compared to 2024, registering a much more intense pace than in previous years, a trend that will be directly influenced by the future subsidy conditions. Romania ranks fifth among the largest car manufacturers in Europe, and the domestic car industry has generated a turnover of 35 billion Euros in 2023, on the rise as compared to previous reports. (LS)

21 February 2025
August 19, 2024 UPDATE

GROWTH According to the Fiscal Council, this year Romania may register an economic growth under the 3.4% the government initially forecast. In its annual report published on Monday, the Council, which is an independent institution, has drawn attention to the fact that the budget deficit at the end of this year will exceed 7% of the GDP. The new pension law and the pay rises in the public sector are expected to generate additional costs in the second half of the year. According to the Council representatives, Romania needs concrete and credible policies to support fiscal-budgetary consolidation on medium term – both in terms of incomes and improving the tax-collection process.

HEAT A persistent heat wave has engulfed Romania, where code red, orange and yellow alerts have been in place for a couple of days now. Extremely high temperatures have been reported in most of the regions with a Temperature-Humidity Index above 80 units. The highs of the day are ranging between 29 and 39 degrees Celsius. For a couple of days now, Romania’s capital city Bucharest has been seeing temperatures of 37-38 degrees Celsius.

ATHENS Romanian firefighters are carrying on operations of putting out wildfires in Greece, especially in the region of Attica. Several fire engines are being employed for this mission, including a special one able to carry 30 thousand liters of water. In this mission, the Romanian firefighters are operating under the coordination of their Greek counterparts who are monitoring the situation in the regions with a higher risk of wildfires. Since August 14^th the Romanian Air Forces have also been carrying out firefighting missions in Albania, a country, which is also facing the danger of wildfires.

PENSIONS Millions of Romanian pensioners will receive pension benefits based on a new calculation formula as of September 1^st. Authorities promise this new system would remove all inequities in the pension system. According to official data, after recalculation the average public pension benefits will increase from around 460 Euros to around 540 Euros. The finance minister, Marcel Boloș, says that in the forthcoming period the pressure on the public deficit will increase. Under the new regulations, in order to receive public pension benefits in Romania the minimum payment contribution period will be 15 years, with the retirement age planned to reach 65 for both men and women in 2035.

RABLA A new session of the “Rabla Plus” national car scrapping programme, aimed at facilitating the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles by individuals, public institutions and local administration units, was launched on Monday. According to the Environment Fund Authority, applicants receive a voucher for the purchase of a new vehicle, in return for scrapping 1 or 2 vehicles older than 6 years. The voucher for the purchase of an EV is worth approx. EUR 5,000, and the one for a hybrid car or electric motorcycle is around EUR 2,600, irrespective of the number of cars scrapped. For public institutions, the voucher amounts to EUR 24,000.

(bill)

19 August 2024
Romanian authorities are trying to refresh the country’s car fleet

Still poor if we compare it to other member states of the European Union, Romania has a car fleet dominated, statistically, by old and polluting cars, many of them second-hand, from the West. And, for many years, the authorities have been trying to improve the situation through the so-called Rabla car-scraping program, through which drivers are encouraged to give up their old cars and buy new ones that comply with ecological standards.

It is encouraging, for example, that the purchase of electric vehicles has continuously increased, from 39 pieces in 2016 to over 2,400 in 2020. In 2021 – over 10,000, in 2023 – over 11,000. In all these years, the authorities say, more than 38,000 purely electric cars were financed. The Ministry of the Environment in Bucharest launched, on Tuesday, the Rabla Plus 2024 program, which allocates one billion lei (the equivalent of about 200 million euros), a record amount, for electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The funds allocated for both legal entities and state institutions ran out in less than two hours after the launch of the program, according to data analyzed by the economic press.

The Rabla program for this year was inaugurated by the Minister of the Environment, Mircea Fechet, at the Ford Otosan factory in Craiova (south), the first producer of electric vehicles in Romania.

Mircea Fechet: “And because we are discussing this budget-record of one billion lei, it correlates very well with another element of novelty, equally important, namely the fact that here, in Romania, at the Ford factory , the first electric car will soon be produced. It is extraordinary news for the air quality in Romania and it is extraordinary news for the Romanian economy in general.”

I am convinced, Minister Fechet also states, that one of the main reasons why Romanians chose to purchase an electric car was the fact that the state granted them bonuses.

The Turkish consortium is a strategic investor in the region, and one of the company’s greenest factories is the one in Craiova, said the president of Ford Otosan Romania, Mujdat Tiryaki. According to the statistics provided by the manufacturer, every 61 seconds a car leaves the gates of the factory in Craiova, where more than 1,000 engines are produced every day.

Also in Craiova, the president of the Environment Fund Administration, Laurenţiu Neculaescu, mentioned that the Rabla Classic program had turned 20 years old. During this time, the Ministry of the Environment managed to remove from circulation over one million old, polluting vehicles and over 700,000 new cars were bought. (MI)

20 March 2024
July 31, 2023 UPDATE

Budget. The leaders of the governing coalition in Bucharest have established a series of measures to counter the budget deficit. According to the Social Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, they include the elimination of the 200,000 vacancies in the budget sector, the reduction of the number of management positions in the public system and the capping of management allowances in state companies. Moreover, adjusting royalties in keeping with the inflation rate is considered. The Speaker of the Senate, the Liberal Nicolae Ciucă, has stated that that in state-owned companies the number of councilors will be halved, and the administrative boards will have a maximum of seven members. In the future, holiday vouchers will be granted only to employees in the public sector whose monthly gross salaries are lower than 10 thousand lei.

Medical care. Pregnant women in Romania will no longer have to pay for their tests if they do not have medical insurance or if the laboratories have exhausted their monthly ceiling for free tests. The National Health Insurance House has announced that it has increased funding for preventive medical investigations in these cases. At the first visit, the doctor can register the patient and issue a document certifying the existence of the pregnancy. If the person is uninsured, they can become insured during pregnancy and childbirth by simply submitting the respective certificate to the Health Insurance House in whose records they are, without any other expenses.

Vehicles. The local segment of the car scrapping program known as “Rablaˮ started on Monday in an effort by the Romanian authorities to get heavily polluting vehicles out of circulation. The owners get some 600 Euro in exchange, without being obliged to buy a new vehicle. Apart from the funds provided by the Environment Ministry, local authorities contribute 20% of the vouchers granted to citizens who de-register cars older than 15 years. The Environment Minsitry has earmarked some 50 million Euro for this program and estimates that around 100,000 polluting cars will be scrapped.

Training. The training ship Mircea has returned to the military port of Constanţa, after a 28-day training session in the Mediterranean. On board were 64 sophomore students with the “Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy, as well as 10 exchange students from partner academies in Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Latvia, Italy and Spain. The training ship had stopovers in the ports of Piraeus in Greece, Taranto in Italy and Izmir in Turkey, and completed an over 2,200 mile journey.

Concert. On Sunday night, the Bucharest National Opera orchestra performed for the first time at the Musikverein hall in Vienna, which hosts the traditional New Years concert in the Austrian capital city. The concert was a tribute to the Romanian composer Ciprian Porumbescu, as the year 2023 was declared the year of Ciprian Porumbescu, to mark 170 years since the birth and 140 years since the death of the famous composer. The program consisted exclusively of works by Ciprian Porumbescu: “New Moon,” the first Romanian operetta, the “Ballad,” the “Romanian Rhapsody.” The soloists, choir and orchestra of the National Opera House in Bucharest were conducted by Daniel Jinga, with special guests including maestro Gheorghe Zamfir and the soloist Maria Coman.

Ukraine. Ukraine has confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host a peace summit aimed, according to Kyiv, at restoring peace in line with the “Ukrainian formula,” EFE reports. According to the head of Ukraines presidential office Andriy Yermak, apart from guaranteeing peace for Ukraine, the 10-point formula will create mechanisms to counter future conflicts. For Kyiv, the formula includes the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory. According to Western diplomats, the choice of Saudi Arabia to host the talks is designed to facilitate the participation of China, which has good relations with Moscow and with Riyadh. (MI)

31 July 2023
March 24, 2023

EDUCATION Romania’s
government has today approved a bill on the country’s participation in the 2025
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The government says
Romania’s participation is intended to bring the Romanian education in line
with developments in high-performing education systems in the world, and to
review one’s own performances in relation to the other participating countries.
The initiators argue this participation is important given Romania’s EU
membership and its current observer status and future membership of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development. PISA tests indicate the extent to
which students are prepared to face current society challenges, and measures the
basic skills of 15 year olds in areas like reading, maths and sciences.

SCRAPPING In
Romania, the Rabla Clasic and Rabla Plus scrapping programmes were launched on
Friday. They are designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the
use of non-polluting vehicles. The vouchers provided by the government may
reach EUR 10,000 for the purchase of electric cars worth up to EUR 75,000.

VISIT While in Chişinău, PM Nicolae Ciucă reiterated Romania’s
support for neighbouring Republic of Moldova’s European accession efforts. In a
meeting with his counterpart, Dorin Recean, Ciucă announced the building of new
bridges across Prut river and the set up of new border checkpoints. In turn, PM
Recean announced that very soon EUR 25m out of a non-reimbursable EUR 100m assistance
package provided by Romania will be used for the development of village schools
and infrastructure.

PROTESTS France’s
PM Élisabeth Borne condemned the violence accompanying Thursday’s protests
against the pension reform, which increases retirement age from 62 to 64. Violent
clashes have been reported in several cities. According to trade unions, attending
the protests in nearly 300 localities were 3.5 million people, but the interior
ministry argues there were only 1.2 million. Most protests were peaceful, but in
Paris and some other cities incidents were reported. Some 150 police officers
and gendarmes were injured and hundreds of violent people were arrested. Unionists
are determined to try all legal means to cancel the law endorsed on Monday and
to carry on protests. This weekend, each union will organise actions in their
towns and regions, and a new call for strike and nation-wide protests is
announced for Tuesday, March 28, Radio Romania’s correspondend in Paris reports.

FOOTBALL Romania’s national football team plays against Andorra away
from home on Saturday, in the first round of the EURO 2024 qualifiers. The final
tournament will be hosted by Germany. Also on Saturday in
Group I, which includes Romania, Belarus takes on Switzerland and Israel faces
Kosovo. On March 28, the national team faces Belarus in Bucharest. The top 2
teams in each of the 10 preliminary groups qualify into the final tournament,
with the last 3 participants to be decided in March 2024, after the Nations
League play-offs. (AMP)

24 March 2023
Romania’s automotive market, in the limelight

Romanias automotive market saw the biggest growth in Europe this February, compared to last year. The number of vehicle registrations nation-wide went up 44.5%, to over 12,000 units, whereas in the entire EU over 800,000 vehicles were registered in February this year, according to data made public on Tuesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, which represents Europes top 16 carmakers.

A significant increase of registrations was reported for the French group Renault, particularly thanks to the Romanian brand Dacia, whose European market share has reached 5%, as against 3.6% last February. Taken over by Renault in 1999 and relaunched in 2004 with the Logan make, Dacia has grown steadily into a player with a reputation in the European market.

In Romania, a notable boost for sales comes from the Government, which has been earmarking funds for years under a scrapping programme called “Rabla”, which is highly popular among vehicle owners. This year, the Environment Ministry will channel some EUR 300 mln into the various components of the programme, in a move to get at least 100,000 vehicles older than 15 years off the roads.

The relevant minister, Tánczos Barna, announced on Friday that the “Rabla Clasic” and “Rabla Plus” programmes would be re-launched, with increased budgets. Apart from an increase of the voucher granted upon scrapping a car to some EUR 1,400 and of that for 2 cars scrapped to nearly EUR 2,000, buyers may also receive several bonuses, up to a total of over EUR 3,000.

Under the “Rabla Plus” programme, which concerns the purchase of electric or Plug-in Hybrid cars, the bonuses offered by the government go even higher, up to as much as EUR 10,000.

Apart from these two components, in a months time a third one will be launched, called “Rabla Local” and implemented jointly with local authorities.

Minister Tánczos Barna: “On April 21 we launch the Rabla Local programme. Before that, local authorities will be enrolling in the programme. So I urge all administrative units, all the town halls interested in joining the programme to step up the approval process in their local councils, as soon as the guidelines have been published in the Official Journal, so that they may enrol in due time and that we may start the programme on April 21.”

The budget for “Rabla Local” is close to EUR 50 mln, adding to which will be 20% provided by the local authorities involved. (AMP)

22 March 2023
Funds for the environment

The Bucharest
government has approved the budget of the Environmental Fund Administration
(EFA), which allows the start of the Rabla 2023 car scrapping program by the
end of the month. The Rabla Classic and Rabla Plus
programs have an increased budget, which this year is 1.5 billion lei (305
million euros). This year’s edition brings two major changes compared to
previous years. Thus, for the Classic Rabla program, the
cancellation premium increases from 6,000 lei (1,200 euros), as it was last
year, to 7,000 lei (1,400 euros) to cover the 16% inflation rate registered at
the end of 2022. in total, with two scrapping premiums and a low-emissions
engine, you can get almost a 3,000 euro discount, that is, a quarter of the
price of a new volume car with basic equipment.

In the Rabla
plus program, through which the state offers a bonus of almost 11,000
euros for electric cars, the Ministry of the Environment introduced a threshold
of 75,000 euros for the maximum value of the new car. There is also a new
program – Rabla Local, which will be developed and implemented in
collaboration with local town halls. The budget for this new program is 240
million lei (49 million euros) and 20% of the total is to be covered by the
local authorities. That is, 2,400 lei (490 euros) will be paid from the EFA
budget, and 600 lei (120 euros) from the local budget. Thus, the beneficiary
will receive a total of 3,000 lei (610 euros) for each car older than 15 years
that will be scrapped.

At the same time, in
2023, the program for bicycle lanes continues, with a budget of 50 million lei
(10 million euros), but also Rabla for electrical appliances, with
a budget of 75 million lei (15 million euros ). The government will also
increase funds for environmental programs, such as the Green House, for the
installation of photovoltaic panels, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said. He stated
that the number of beneficiaries is increasing. PM Nicolae Ciuca:

We decided to double the
funds earmarked for such projects. Approximately 2 billion Euro will therefore
are available for the installation of photovoltaic panels, and that could
benefit around 80 thousand households.

And since we talk
about renewable sources, in order to strengthen its development strategy in
this field, Public Power Corp (PPC), the largest utility company in Greece, is
acquiring the operations in Romania of the Italian group Enel, in exchange for
1.26 billion euros. According to experts, through cheap production costs, PPC
will thus double its production from renewable sources, after, in Greece, due
to restrictions, it was forced to reduce its market share. Since 2005, Enel has
played an important role in the energy market in Romania, where it has over 3
million customers. Through this acquisition, the Greek company, which has 6
million customers, is going to strengthen its geostrategic position in the
Balkan region, becoming the largest player in South-Eastern Europe. (MI)

10 March 2023
Nouvelle session du programme “Rabla”

Une nouvelle session du programme de renouvellement du parc automobile national a été lancée ce vendredi 30 septembre et le budget alloué a été rapidement épuisé. Ce programme vise à retirer des routes roumaines les véhicules polluants et de les remplacer par des voitures neuves. Cela fait déjà 18 ans que les autorités encouragent les Roumains à envoyer à la casse leurs vieux véhicules polluants, en leur offrant des primes qui se traduisent par une réduction à l’achat d’un véhicule flambant neuf. P

lus de 700 000 véhicules ont été achetés par le biais de ce programme. Selon une statistique datant d’avant la pandémie, pour une population de quelque 19 millions d’habitants, la Roumanie comptait, plus de 8,7 millions d’habitants, dont presqu’un quart sont des voitures vieilles de plus de 20 ans. C’est-à-dire des véhicules qui respectaient la norme de pollution Euro 1 et même des véhicules non-catalysées. Désormais, les véhicules nouveaux commercialisés en Roumanie à moteurs diesel ou essence doivent absolument respecter la norme de pollition Euro 6d.

Au cours de ses 18 ans d’existence, ce programme s’est diversifié pour y inclure et même privilégier les véhicules hybrides ou électriques. Désormais, le programme de renouvellement du parc automobile national, appelé par les autorités et la presse le programme « le tacot » a été décliné en deux variantes : le programme « le tacot classique » et le « tacot plus ». Le premier ne vise pas comme on pourrait le croire à première vue les voitures classiques et de collection. Il est destiné aux Roumains qui souhaitent s’acheter un véhicule neuf à moteur thermique, essence ou diesel, avec un faible niveau d’émissions de CO2.

Le programme « tacot plus » s’adresse quant à lui aux automobilistes qui souhaitent acheter un véhicule hybride ou entièrement électrique. Les deux programmes sont destinés aux personnes physiques, morales et aussi aux institutions publiques. Rien qu’un exemple, l’armée roumaine a acheté l’année dernière des véhicules tout terrain justement par le biais de ce programme.Mentionnons que le budget du programme « le tacot plus » destiné aux personnes morales a été épuisé en seulement 21 minutes depuis l’ouverture de la session, durant lesquelles pas moins de 2 316 dossiers ont été déposées.

Le budget destiné aux personnes physiques a quant à lui été épuisé en deux heures par 1 749 bénéficiaires. Actuellement seules les institutions publiques disposent de certains fonds du budget de ce programme. L’intérêt tellement important pour le programme « le tacot plus » est du au fait qu’il propose un rabais à l’achat d’un véhicule hybride ou électrique de pas moins de 10 000 euros. Dans le cas du programme qui encourage les Roumains à s’acheter des véhicules à moteur thermique, le programme « le tacot classique », la valeur du rabais est de 1500 euros. Mais l’État offre aux personnes intéressées la possibilité d’envoyer à la casse deux véhicules anciens pour une prime cumulée de 1 800 euros.Cette nouvelle session des programmes « le tacot » se déroule du 30 septembre au 25 novembre et bénéficient au total d’un budget cumulé de plus de 130 millions d’euros.

10 October 2022
April 26, 2021

Vaccination. Romania
receives, today, the largest batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, more than 725
thousand doses, the National Committee for the Coordination of Vaccination
Activities has announced. Also today, about 41 thousand doses of AstraZeneca
vaccines are expected to arrive. Since the beginning of the vaccination
campaign, on December 27, 2020, almost 5 million doses of vaccine have been
administered to more than 3 million people. Of these, about 1.8 million
received both doses. On the other hand, Bucharest still has 3.68 cases of
SARS-CoV-2 infection per thousand inhabitants. The counties of Ilfov (southeast)
and Cluj (northwest) have reported similar rates. The Strategic Communication
Group announced just over 1,500 new cases of infection in 24 hours. 1,358
people are hospitalized in Intensive Care and 127 people have died from Covid-19
in the same period.

Pandemic. Nearly 148
million people have been infected with the new coronavirus in the world since
the beginning of the pandemic – according to worldometers.info. More than 125
million people have recovered and 3.1 million have died from the infection.
More and more European countries are easing restrictions as vaccination
programs begin to show results. In Italy, 14 regions have today entered the yellow
scenario, which allows the reopening of restaurants, theaters and cinemas. Only
Sardinia remains in the red zone, with the most severe anti-COVID restrictions
still in place. In Belgium, beauty shops and stores are allowed to open. In
France, schools will be reopened as of next week. In Berlin, a so-called
vaccination summit is scheduled between the state leadership and the federal
government, to discuss the suspension or partial lifting of restrictions. Greece
is today lifting quarantine restrictions for tourists coming from several
countries as Greek authorities prepare for the official opening of the summer
seasons on May 15.

Recovery Plan. President Klaus
Iohannis has a working meeting today in Bucharest on the National Recovery and
Resilience Plan (PNRR) with Prime Minister Florin Cîţu, Chamber of Deputies
President Ludovic Orban, Deputy Prime Ministers Dan Barna and Kelemen Hunor and
the Minister of Investments and European Projects, Cristian Ghinea, the
Presidential Administration has announced. Last week, the head of state
announced that he had convened this meeting with government officials working on
the Plan. The government is due to make some changes to the plan, before
officially presenting it to the European Commission, after the EU executive
said that the amounts provided for infrastructure were too high and that it
would not agree with the financing of irrigation systems. The head of state
believes that the document can be improved and accepted by the European
Commission. The document should be submitted to the EC by the end of April, for Romania to
benefit from over 30 billion Euros for development. President Iohannis has specified
that the deadline set for the completion of the plan is indicative, not final. According
to the opposition Social Democratic Party, the rejection of the document is a
failure of the current government. The party’s president, Marcel Ciolacu,
insists that the National Recovery and Resilience Plan be debated transparently
in Parliament.

Diplomacy. The Romanian
authorities have decided to declare the deputy military attaché of the Russian
Embassy in Bucharest, Alexey Grishaev, persona non grata on Romanian territory.
According to a communiqué of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
decision was taken considering that his activities and actions contravene
the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations .
Also according to the Romanian MFA, these elements were communicated to the
Russian side, when the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Bucharest Valery
Kuzmin was summoned at the ministry’s headquarters, at the request of the Romanian
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu.

Moldova. The statement
approved on Friday in the Chisinau Parliament, according to which the
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova allegedly ‘usurps’ power in the
state, shows contempt for the Court’s independence, said Romanian Foreign
Minister Bogdan Aurescu. He criticized the attempt of the pro-Russian majority
in the Parliament to change the composition of the Constitutional Court, an
approach which, he said, shows the importance that must continue to be given to
the rule of law in the Republic of Moldova. The action of the Socialists and their
allies from the Shor party comes after the reformist president of the republic,
Maia Sandu, announced that she would soon sign the decree to dissolve the parliament,
following the Court’s opinion and would announce the date of the early
parliamentary elections. EU officials and the US ambassador to Chisinau
described Friday’s vote as a violation of the separation of powers in the
state.

Car scrapping. The Rabla Clasic and Rabla Plus car scrapping programs, for the renewal of the Romanian
car fleet, can be accessed starting today. Rabla Clasic has a budget of 440
million lei (about 88 million euros), higher than last year, which will allow
the purchase of over 55,000 new, less polluting vehicles. At the same time, the
Rabla Plus program, intended for the purchase of electric cars, benefits from a
budget of 400 million lei (approximately 80 million euros), through which
premiums of 10,000 euros will be granted for ‘full electric’ and about 4,500
euro for plug-in hybrid cars, but not more than half the value of the new
vehicle. Based on the budget allocated this year, Rabla Plus will facilitate
the purchase of up to 6,600 electric cars and approximately 5,000 plug-in
hybrid cars.

Oscars.
‘Nomadland’ was the big winner of the 93rd Academy Awards, winning the
‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’ (Chloe Zhao) and ‘Best Best Supporting Actress’
(Frances McDormand) awards. The event, held on Sunday night in Los Angeles,
hosted numerous firsts, as well as the return to the physical format of the glamorous
ceremonies in Hollywood after a long break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters
reports. The list of big winners was completed by the legendary Anthony
Hopkins, who at the age of 83 won the second Oscar of his career for the lead
role in The Father. The award for Best Documentary was
won by the feature film My Octopus Teacher and the Oscar for Best
Foreign Language Film went to the Danish film Another Round. The film
directed by Alexandru Nanau, Collective, did not win any awards but it is the
first Romanian production to have been nominated in two categories of the
prestigious competition: best documentary and best foreign
film.

Tennis. Romanian tennis
player Sorana Cirstea (No. 67 in the world) won the WTA tournament in Istanbul,
with 235,238 dollars in prize money. She defeated the Belgian Elise Mertens
6-2, 7-6 in Sunday’s final. In addition to the two titles won in Tashkent
(2008) and Istanbul (2021), Sorana Cirstea also played in three singles finals,
in Budapest (2007), Toronto (2013) and Tashkent (2019). Last year, the title in
Istanbul was won by another Romanian, Patricia Ţig. (MI)

26 April 2021
Stimuler le renouvellement du parc automobile roumain

En début d’année, le parc automobile de la Roumanie comptait quelque 8,7
millions de véhicules pour une population de quelque 18 millions d’habitants.
24% de ces véhicules étaient des véhicules commerciaux et des automobiles qui
ne respectaient aucune norme de pollution. Voici donc, un élément qui donne en
quelque sorte la mesure du niveau de pollution atmosphérique en Roumanie. L’année
dernière, quelque 660 mille voitures ont été immatriculés, dont seulement 161
mille étaient des voitures et des véhicules commerciaux neufs.

Une
nouvelle édition du programme de renouvellement du parc automobile national a
été lancé le 17 mars de cette année. Surnommé « Le Tacot » (Rabla), le
programme propose depuis une bonne quinzaine d’année une prime à la casse
substantielle aux propriétaires de véhicules anciens qui souhaitent s’acheter
une voiture neuve. Cette année, tant les personnes physiques que morales
reçoivent en échange d’un véhicule ancien envoyé à la casse un ticket de valeur
de quelque 1350 euros, qui constitue une réduction du prix de catalogue d’un
véhicule neuf. Concrètement, toute personne domiciliée ou résidente en Roumanie
qui détient un véhicule de plus de 8 ans et qui n’a pas de dettes au budget
local peut s’inscrire dans le programme « le tacot », dont le budget
total s’élève à quelque 85 millions d’euros. Le but du programme est de soutenir
l’achat de 60 mille voitures neuves qui devraient remplacer le même nombre de
voitures anciennes et polluantes. Ce programme aidera aussi à la relance du
marché automobile.

Une
nouveauté de cette année est aussi l’introduction de la possibilité d’acheter
des motos par le biais de ce programme. La prime à la casse est de quelque 700
euros, accordés en échange d’un véhicule envoyé à la casse. Une autre nouveauté
du programme le Tacot est un système de bonus écologiques accordés en fonction
de la technologie et des émissions de gaz des véhicules neufs achetés. Le bonus
peut varier de 1000 lei, soit un peu plus de 200 euros pour une voiture dont
les émissions ne dépassent pas les 96 grammes de dioxyde de carbone par
kilomètre ou qui est dotée d’un système d’alimentation au GPL. Les bonus
peuvent être cumulés si la voiture remplit les deux conditions. Au total, l’acheteur
peut bénéficier d’un rabais de 10.000 lei, soit plus de 2.000 euros du prix d’un
véhicule neuf. Quelque 21 mille réservations ont déjà été faites jusqu’ici,
certes mois qu’en 2019, mais vu les conditions actuelles de pandémie et l’incertitude
sur l’évolution de l’économie roumaine, les chiffres sont assez encourageants.

Le
programme le Tacot est complété par le programme appelé « le tacot plus »,
qui subventionne l’achat de voiture électriques et hybrides et dont le budget
dépasse les 29 millions d’euros. Ce montant est censé couvrir pour quelque 3
mille tickets d’une valeur allant de 4150 euros pour les véhicules hybrides à
9350 euros pour les véhicules purement électriques. Quelque 1225 voitures électriques
et hybrides ont déjà été réservées dans le cadre du programme le tacot plus,
trois mois après son lancement. (Trad. Alex Diaconescu)

30 June 2020
„Mein erstes Auto“: Abwrackprämie nun auch für Kauf von E-Autos verwendbar

Das Programm Erstes Auto 2019“, das den Rumänen ermöglicht, mit staatlicher Unterstützung ein Auto zu kaufen, ist nun noch zugänglicher. Neben der Möglichkeit, einen neuen PKW mit Verbrennungsmotor zu kaufen, hat die Regierung neue Fahrzeugkategorien eingeführt, die durch dieses Programm erstanden werden können: Elektro- und Hybridautos. Der Staat garantiert bis zu 50% der gewährten Finanzierung. Natürliche Personen können ein Auto mittels des Programms Mein Erstes Auto 2019“ erwerben, auch wenn sie schon vorher einen PKW besessen haben.

Das Programm akzeptiert als Vorschuss diesmal auch Ökobonusse und Ökotickets aus den Verschrottungsprogrammen Rabla Clasic“ und Rabla Plus“. Die Käufer müssen mindesten 5% des Kaufpreises eines neuen Kraftwagens mit Verbrennungsmotor bezahlen bzw. mindestens 25% des Kaufpreises eines Hybridfahrzeuges oder mindestens 30% des Preises eines elektrischen oder elektrisch-hybriden Autos. Gemä‎ß der Umweltministerin Graţiela Gavrilescu sind seit 2004 und bis jetzt ca. 700.000 alte Autos verschrottet und mit über 550.000 neuen, umweltschonenderen ersetzt worden:

Wir sind daran interessiert, den Autobestand zu erneuern, nicht nur mit Blick auf die Umwelt, sondern auch mit Blick auf den Stra‎ßenverkehr. Das Programm »Erstes Auto« ist, ähnlich dem Programm »Erstes Haus«, ein sehr wichtiges Entwicklungsprogramm, dass den Rumänen zugutekommt. Sie werden die Abwrackprämie im Werte von umgerechnet rund 1.400 Euro bei der Bank als Garantie für den Kauf eines neuen Autos hinterlegen können. Wir haben vieles, was vorher falsch war, korrigiert, und zusätzlich stehen die Programme »Rabla Clasic« bzw. »Rabla Plus« zur Verfügung. Ich muss hinzufügen, was wir uns gro‎ße Mühe gegeben haben, den Fonds aufzustocken, und zwar bis auf 50 Tausend Abwrackprämien in Jahre 2018. Wichtig wäre noch, darauf hinzuweisen, dass wir keine Entwicklungsprogramme für den exklusiven Erwerb von elektrischen oder hybriden Plug-in-Autos umsetzen können, ohne dafür Ladestationen bereitzustellen. Darum haben wir in unserem Haushalt Geld für die Landkreishauptstädte vorgesehen. Die meisten dieser haben bereits Anträge für den Bau von Ladestationen gestellt, die von Umweltfonds ausgewertet werden. Demnächst werden wir den staatlichen Zuschussplan für die Aufrüstung der öffentlichen Stra‎ßen mit Ladestationen vorstellen.“

Das Programm Erstes Auto“ gibt es schon seit 5 Jahren. Bisher haben lediglich 260 Rumänen ein Auto mithilfe des Programms erworben. Das hei‎ßt, 65 Autos pro Jahr wurden mit Unterstützung dieses Programms erstanden.

15 April 2019
16.10.2018 (mise à jour)

Rome — La visite d’Etat du président roumain Klaus Johannis en Italie a été dominée mardi par les sujets économiques, alors que lundi, l’attention avait été portée sur l’importance de la communauté roumaine vivant en Italie et sur les priorités de la présidence roumaine du Conseil de l’UE, lors des rencontres que le président roumain a eues avec son homologue et le premier-ministre italiens. Le chef de l’Etat a pris part à l’ouverture du Forum d’affaires Roumanie/Italie, censé stimuler la dimension économique du Partenariat Stratégique renforcé existant entre les deux pays. C’était pour M Iohannis l’occasion d’encourager les hommes d’affaires italiens, qu’ils soient Italiens de souche ou d’origine roumaine, d’explorer les avantages compétitifs de l’économie roumaine, notamment dans les secteurs de l’énergie, de l’IT, du commerce et des services, puis d’encourager également les exportateurs roumains traditionnellement présents sur le marché italien dans des domaines tels que l’automobile, les équipements électriques, l’industrie textile et d’ameublement. Mardi encore, le président roumain a décoré Laura Mattarella, fille du président italien, et Ugo Zampetti, secrétaire général de la présidence italienne, avec l’ordre national « Steaua Romaniei / L’Etoile de la Roumanie », la plus prestigieuse distinction de l’Etat roumain, en grade de Grande Croix, pour leur contribution exceptionnelle dans le développement des relations d’amitié entre les deux pays. Mardi toujours, le chef de l’Etat a rencontré la maire de Rome, Virginia Raggi, ainsi que des représentants de la communauté roumaine, à la fois la plus importante communauté étrangère d’Italie et la plus importante communauté des Roumains vivant à l’étranger.

Pays du Golfe — La première ministre roumaine, Viorica Dancila, effectue cette semaine une visite de travail dans les pays du Golfe. Mardi elle a eu des pourparlers avec le scheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-président et premier ministre des Emirats Arabes Unis, et chef de l’Emirat de Dubaï. Les responsables se sont penchés sur les relations bilatérales entre leurs deux pays, notamment dans le domaine économique. L’occasion pour Mme Dancila de présenter les principaux avantages pour investir en Roumanie et d’encourager les compagnies des Emirats Arabes Unis de participer aux projets financés par des programmes de partenariat public-privé. La cheffe du gouvernement de Bucarest s’est également entretenue avec Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, le président des Ports, des Douanes et de la Zone libre de Dubaï et avec le président de l’Autorité Maritime de Dubaï. Pour la Roumanie, la coopération économique sur le long terme avec les Emirats Arabes Unis est une priorité, notamment dans les domaines des constructions civiles et industrielles, le transfert de technologie, l’agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire, l’utilisation de l’énergie nucléaire et les énergies renouvelables, la défense et l’IT.

Cour constitutionnelle — La Cour constitutionnelle a admis partiellement la requête du président Klaus Iohannis déposée à l’encontre des modifications apportées à loi relative au statut des élus locaux, plus précisément en ce qui concerne l’introduction d’une batterie de sanctions visant les conseillers locaux ou départementaux, sanctions qui faisaient par ailleurs l’objet d’une autre loi en vigueur, celle traitant du conflit d’intérêts. Aussi, le parlement devra revoir sa copie, pour mettre en accord les articles de la loi avec la décision de la Cour. Les juges de la Cour Constitutionnelle ont également admis mardi la saisine du chef de l’Etat formulée à l’encontre de la loi modifiant la loi d’organisation et de fonctionnement de la Cour des Comptes. Mais la Cour a remis au 25 octobre prochain l’examen de la saisine présidentielle, et celles des partis d’opposition portant sur les modifications apportées par le Parlement au Code administratif. Le chef de l’Etat avait saisi la Cour à ce sujet en faisant valoir que l’acte normatif avait été adopté lors d’une session extraordinaire, organisée de manière inconstitutionnelle par la Chambre des députés, selon le chef de l’Etat, ce qui enfreindrait le principe du bicaméralisme. Mardi encore, la Cour a reporté au 24 octobre l’examen d’une autre saisine présidentielle, au sujet des modifications apportées au Code pénal et des lois visant à prévenir et à sanctionner les faits de corruption.

Compétition — L’équipe censée représenter la Roumanie aux Jeux paralympiques militaires Invictus Games qui se dérouleront cette année à Sydney, a rencontré mardi le ministre de la Défense, Mihai Fifor et le chef de l’Etat major, le général Nicolae Ciuca. Les 15 soldats roumains blessés sur le front participeront du 17 au 29 octobre à six compétitions individuelles – tir à l’arc, athlétisme, ergomètre d’aviron, powerlifting, cyclisme et natation auxquelles s’ajoute le concours de volley-ball assis. Lors de l’édition 2017 déroulée à Toronto, au Canada, la Roumanie a décroché une médaille d’or, une autre d’argent et deux de bronze. Créés sur une idée du prince Harry de Galles, les Jeux Invictus sont une compétition multisports internationale destinée aux soldats et vétérans de guerre blessés ou handicapés, à l’image des Jeux Paralympiques ou des Warrior Games organisés aux Etats-Unis.

Environnement — Le programme « Rabla », en français « Le Tacot », se poursuivra l’année prochaine, a annoncé devant le Parlement le président de l’Administration du Fonds pour l’environnement, Cornel Brezuica. Une modification notable toutefois : les voitures bénéficiaires du programme devraient avoir le contrôle technique à jour. Car par cette décision, publiée dans le Journal officiel, le Fonds vise à envoyer à la casse des automobiles anciennes mais en état de marche, et non pas de celles qui font du surplace dans les parkings. Depuis le début de l’année le programme « Le Tacot» a été utilisé par 40 mille acquéreurs de voitures neuves, moins polluantes. 9 mille tickets demeurent toujours disponibles pour cette année. La valeur du ticket varie entre 1.400 € à l’acquisition d’une auto neuve et 9.650€ à l’acquisition d’une voiture intégralement électrique.

Bruxelles — La ministre du Travail et de la Justice sociale, Lia Olguţa Vasilescu, a participé mardi à Bruxelles au Sommet social tripartite, démarré sous la baguette du président de la Commission européenne, Jean-Claude Junker, et du président du Conseil, Donald Tusk. Consolider la compétitivité, créer du travail durable et assurer l’équité sociale au sein de l’Union européenne ont été les principaux thèmes présents à l’agenda du Sommet. La ministre roumaine a rencontré à cette occasion Marianne Thyssen, Commissaire européenne pour lemploi, les affaires sociales, les compétences et la mobilité des travailleurs, pour lui exposer les priorités de la présidence roumaine du Conseil de l’UE, qui prendra effet pour 6 mois, à partir du 1er janvier prochain.

Météo — Les météorologues annoncent du beau temps en Roumanie dans les 24 prochaines heures, avec des températures trop élevées même pour cette période de l’année, notamment dans le nord du pays. Les maxima iront de 19 à 26 degrés.

16 October 2018
September 17, 2018

RULING Romania’s Constitutional Court has today ruled over a draft on
reviewing the country’s Constitution, which stipulates the family is based on
the freely consented marriage between a man and a woman, not between spouses as
it is at present. The draft, endorsed by the Senate last week, must be
validated through a referendum, which is due on October 7th. With
the exception of the opposing USR (Save Romania Union) all Parliamentarian
parties have endorsed the draft, which is based on a citizens’ initiative,
which gathered over 3 million signatures from all over the country. According
to ACCEPT, an organization that campaigns for sexual minority rights, the vote
in the Senate infringes upon the right to private and family life, which
belongs to all people irrespective of gender and sexual orientation.

RABLA A programme aimed at renewing Romania’s car fleet called RABLA has resumed in Romania today.
According to environment Minister Gratiela Gavrilescu 30 thousand scrapping
incentives have been made available after the government has approved another
43 million Euros for environmental preservation. So, any Romanian who may want
to buy a car can benefit from a bonus of 14 hundred Euros and another 366 Euros
for the purchase of a hybrid car. Legal persons can also benefit the Rabla programme.

CLEANUP Roughly 340 thousand volunteers have participated in the 6th
edition of the National Cleanup Day staged by ‘Let’s Do It, Romania!’
foundation on September 15th. Let’s Do It, Romania! is the largest
social movement in Romania and the event on Saturday was part of the World
Cleanup Day, carried under the aegis of Let’s Do it, World and the United
Nations Environment Programme. 13 million volunteers from 155 countries have
joined the international cleanup action. The objective of the World Cleanup Day is
to mobilize 5% of the world population in order to change people’s attitude
towards the proper waste management and disposal and could be considered the
most ambitious civic initiative at world level ever.

SUMMIT Today and tomorrow, Bucharest is seeing the third Summit
of the Three Seas Initiative, an informal political platform at presidential
level, which brings togehter the 12 EU members between the Baltic Sea, the
Adriatic and the Black Sea – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The initiative’s main objective is development on three main directions:
transportation, energy and digital. The first edition of the Initiative’s
Business Forum is to take place on the sidelines of the event, which is
attended for the first time by the European Commission president Jean Claude
Juncker. The initiative’s first two editions took place in Dubrovnik, Croatia
in 2016 and Warsaw, Poland in 2017.

TENNIS The Romanian Simona Halep continues
to have a laid-back lead in the WTA professional tennis rankings made public on
Monday. Now in her 46th week as a world standings leader and 11th-placed
according to an all-time a classification, Halep is more than 2,000 points
clear of runner-up Danish Caroline Wozniacki, and more than 2,500 points clear
of third-placed tennis player, German Angelique Kerber. Of the Top 100 WTA
Romanian tennis players, only Irina Begu went two notches down, from the 53rd
to the 55th position, while the other Romanian tennis players have
retained their WTA places; Mihaela Buzarnescu is still 23rd-placed and
Sorana Carstea is 50th-ranked, while Ana Bogdan is ranked the 80th
and Monica Niculescu is on the 81st position. The rankings remain
unchanged for the 2018 WTA Finals as well, with Simona Halep at the top of the
table, followed in descending order by Angelique Kerber, who is almost 1,800
points down from Halep. Both tennis players have qualified for the Singapore
competition while third-placed is the Czech Petra Kvitova.

(translated by bill)

17 September 2018
Calitatea aerului şi a apei din Europa

Cifrele arată că respirăm, bem, trăim mult mai sănătos decât acum 30 de ani. Potrivit Agenţiei Europene de Mediu, emisiile de gaze cu efect de seră au scăzut cu 19% faţă de 1990, chiar dacă activitatea economică a crescut cu 45%. Utilizarea combustibililor fosili a scăzut şi ea, ca şi emisiile unor poluanţi proveniţi din transport şi industrie.

Normele stabilite de Uniunea Europeană privind nivelurile maxime de poluanți din aer există de peste două decenii – și, totuși, câteva zeci de orașe europene nu reușesc să atingă standardele actuale privind calitatea aerului. Printre ele se află şi trei de la noi: Bucureşti, Iaşi şi Braşov, pentru care România a primit avertizări. Probleme sunt la depăşirea frecventă a limitelor de emisii de particule fine, numite tehnic PM10, şi dioxid de azot.

La solicitarea Comisiei, Ministerul Meidului a trimis la Bruxelles un plan consistent de măsuri de reducere a poluării, după cum a declarat pentru Radio România Actualităţi, directoarea pentru evaluare, impact şi controlul poluării, Dorina Mocanu: Măsurile se pot împărţi pe 3 categorii: acţiuni care se reflectă în managementul traficului, inclusiv programul de stimulare a înnoirii parcului auto, numit Rabla, programul naţional pentru crearea de infrastucturi pentru maşini electrice, modernizarea transportului public, inclusiv prin trecerea la transportul publci electric. A doua categorie de măsuri se referă la încălzirea rezidenţială: măsuri de creştere a eficienţei energetice prin reabilitarea termică a clădirilor, prin modernizarea sistemelor de termoficare, instalarea sistemelor de încălzire care utilizează energie regenerabilă, înlocuirea sau completarea sistemelor clasice de încălzire cu sisteme moderne. Cele mai multe dintre aceste măsuri sunt deja finanţabile sau finanţate din programele fondului pentru mediu. Al treilea set de măsuri se referă la realizarea de spaţii verzi.

În fiecare an, peste 400 de mii de europeni mor prematur din cauza noxelor din aer și mult mai mulți suferă de boli respiratorii și cardiovasculare, cauzate de poluarea atmosferică. În România, cel puţin 25 de mii de decese sunt puse pe seama aerului pe care îl respirăm. În termeni economici, costurile determinate de calitatea proastă a aerului depășesc, la nivel european, cu mult 20 de miliarde de euro pe an, din cauza creșterii cheltuielilor medicale și a reducerii productivității lucrătorilor. Comisia dorește să coopereze cu statele membre pentru a le ajuta să se încadreze în limitele de emisii pe care au convenit să le respecte și care garantează sănătatea cetățenilor.

20 March 2018
The 2018 Car Scrappage Program

The Car Scrappage program, under which Romanians can replace their old cars with new ones, thus reducing pollution levels, continues this year, and those willing to do that can start collecting all necessary documents, as the suggestively called programs “Rabla Classic”, the classic version, and “Rabla Plus”, the extension to electric cars, were launched on Thursday.

Out of the total budget allotted to the two segments of the government program, 133 million lei (over 28.5 million Euros) are earmarked for the “Rabla Clasic” and 120 million lei (over 25.7 million Euros) for the “Rabla Plus”. The Ministry of Environmental Protection estimates that this year’s financial allocation will cover the costs with the purchase of some 19,000 new cars, under the classical version of the program, and of 2,000 electric cars, under the “green” version of the program.

The scrappage premium in 2018 stands at 6,500 lei (some 1,400 Euros). A bonus of up to 1,600 lei (some 350 Euros) can be added to this, depending on the level of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the engine of the new car. Apart from the scrappage premium, an additional sum of 10,000 Euros can be offered if the buyer purchases an electric car. The current norms also provide for a sum of 5,000 Euros in the case of a hybrid car. Environment minister Graţiela Gavrilescu has more.

Gratiela Gavrilescu: “Natural persons in Romania, can go, as from now, to the authorised producers and to start collecting the documents which are necessary for purchasing a new car, a vehicle from the “Euro 6” generation, a fully electric car or a plug-in hybrid car. The program is also intended for legal persons who can submit their documents by September 28, 2018. As a novelty, we wanted to introduce buses in the program, so they are eligible, too.”

The Environment minister has also said that accessing the “Rabla Plus” Program is not conditioned by the scrappage and taking out of circulation of a worn out vehicle, and the premium offered under the “Rabla Clasic“ Program can be cumulated with the eco-tickets offered by the “Rabla Plus” Program, only if the applicant purchases either a new electric car or a plug-in hybrid car.

This year, one of the changes brought to the Financing Guide for the Car Scrappage Program, refers to the creation of a private online space for the issuing of fiscal certificates and stipulates that it is mandatory for buyers to licence the new cars purchased under the program, on the name of the buyer, within a specific time-span, since the purchase invoice was issued. Last year, over 28,000 highly polluting cars were scrapped under the car Scrappage Program. Also, 467 new cars, of which 370 fully electric cars and 97 plug-in hybrid cars were purchased under the “Rabla Plus” Program.

16 March 2018