Radio România Internațional

Tag: recovery

April 27, 2022 UPDATE

UKRAINE Romania condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s blatant violation
of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and of its obligations
under international law, the PM of Romania Nicolae Ciucă said after Tuesday’s
meeting in Kyiv with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal. Mr. Ciucă announced
on Wednesday that Romania is considering opening new checkpoints on the Ukrainian
border. He emphasised the importance of the opening of the Isaccea-Orlivka
checkpoint in the south-east in 2020, and of deregulating freight transport for
Ukrainian operators on April 5. The number of Ukrainian nationals to enter
Romania was 50% higher on Tuesday than on the previous day, the Border Police
announced on Wednesday.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT The
legal committees in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies Wednesday passed a
favourable opinion on all candidacies for judge posts with the Constitutional
Court of Romania. Parliament is due to vote on the candidacies next week. This
June, the terms in office of 3 judges come to an end: Valer Dorneanu, nominated
by the Chamber of Deputies, Mona Pivniceru, nominated by the Senate, and Daniel
Morar, nominated by the Presidency. The Constitutional Court comprises 9 judges
appointed for non-renewable 9-year terms in office, with one-third of the
members replaced every 3 years.

GOVERNMENT The
finance minister Adrian Câciu stated at the Government Hour debates that the
measures included in the Support for Romania package pave the way for
preserving the country’s economic growth trend. Invited to the talks by USR
party in opposition, Mr. Câciu emphasized that in order to have a high economic
growth rate this year, Romania must primarily encourage the agriculture and
constructions sectors. Adrian Câciu also mentioned that Romania, which relies on imports in many sectors, needs to
increase its domestic output and invest in processing.

NATURAL GAS Russia’s decision to discontinue natural gas supplies to Poland and
Bulgaria is an aggressive and unacceptable move, seen by the EU as a form of
blackmail, said the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. We
will make sure that Gazprom’s decision has the smallest possible impact on
European consumers, she told a press conference on Wednesday. The
European Commission chief advised European energy providers not to give in to
Russia’s request to have natural gas supplies paid for in rubles, and
emphasised that this would most likely be a violation of the EU sanctions
against Russia. After they refused to pay for natural gas in the Russian
currency, Poland and Bulgaria are the first EU member states targeted by a
suspension of Russian gas supplies. In this context, Greece announced it would
assist Bulgaria, while Poland announced current gas supplies cover the
country’s domestic demand.

RECOVERY
Romania has fulfilled all the goals set out in the National Recovery and
Resilience Plan approved by the European Commission, the economy minister
Florin Spătaru said in Bucharest. He emphasised that certain benchmarks related
to the reforms undertaken as part of the plan will have to be revised in the
forthcoming period, and along with the investment element they will contribute
to a major progress of the Romanian economy, which has the potential of growing
up to four-fold by 2030, provided that the principles in the Recovery Plan are
observed and funding is used wisely. According to the economy minister, the
opportunities offered by the Recovery Plan are not only the money, but also the
economic and administrative reform principles, which will lead to reshaping
Romania’s economy in line with the principles of digitisation and green economy.

TENNIS Three Romanian athletes play in the WTA Madrid tournament’s main
draw. Romania’s Irina Begu (62 WTA) Wednesday qualified into the tournament
after defeating Kamila Rakhimova (96 WTA) of Russia, 6-1, 6-0. In the first
round, Simona Halep will play against Shuai Zhang of China, and Sorana Cîrstea
against Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain. WTA Madrid Open takes place between April
28 and May 7. Simona Halep won the 2016 and 2017 tournaments. (AMP)

27 April 2022
December 23, 2021 UPDATE

BUDGET Romania’s state budget for the next year was endorsed by
Parliament in Bucharest on Thursday. Most of the budgets earmarked for the
state’s major institutions and ministries remained in the form proposed by the
government. The national insurance budget was also endorsed on Thursday. The
opposition USR has announced its intention to notify the Constitutional Court
on the state budget, about which USR vice-president Dan Barna says it
discriminates against the Romanians and supports the present Parliament
majority. On Monday, the PSD-PNL-UDMR approved the drafts and gave assurances
they are based on predictability and stability. The budget is based on a 4.6%
economic growth, a GDP of 260 billion Euros, and an inflation rate of 6.5%.

EU FUNDING The government of Romania passed an
emergency order allowing for the accessing of a roughly 15-billion euro loan
granted by the European Commission under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
The loan agreement between the European Commission and Romania was signed in
Bucharest on 26th November and in Brussels on 15th
December. Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Romania benefits
from some 29 billion euro, of which approx. 14 billion in non-reimbursable
funds and some 15 billion in loans. The loan will be available until the end of
2026. We have more on this after the news.

COVID-19 775 new SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in the past 24 hours in Romania,
along with 81 related fatalities, 44 of them from a previous date. Since the
start of the pandemic Romania has had around 1.8 million COVID-19 cases, and more than 58,000 patients
died. Amid anti-vaccine sentiments fuelled by
some media, politicians and opinion leaders, the country has the 2nd
lowest immunization rate in the EU, after Bulgaria.

REVOLUTION Romania’s Parliament convened on Thursday morning in a
solemn meeting devoted to the 32 years since the anti-communist revolution of
December 1989. Originating in Timișoara (west), on 16th December, the
uprising spread across the country, culminating with dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu
fleeing the capital city on 22nd December amid the protests of hundreds of
thousands of Romanians. Captured by the Army, Ceauşescu and his wife Elena were
subject to a summary trial and executed in the southern town of Târgovişte.
Romania was the only country behind the Iron Curtain where the change of regime
was accompanied by bloodshed. Over 1,000 people were killed and some 3,000
wounded.

(bill)

23 December 2021
December 23, 2021

REVOLUTION Romania’s Parliament convened this morning in a solemn
meeting devoted to the 32 years since the anti-communist revolution of December
1989. Originating in Timișoara (west), on 16th December, the uprising spread
across the country, culminating with dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu fleeing the
capital city on 22nd December amid the protests of hundreds of thousands of
Romanians. Captured by the Army, Ceauşescu and his wife Elena were subject to a
summary trial and executed in the southern town of Târgovişte. Romania was the
only country behind the Iron Curtain where the change of regime was accompanied
by bloodshed. Over 1,000 people were killed and some 3,000 wounded.

BUDGET Romanian MPs are due to vote today on the draft state budget and
social security budget laws for 2022. The government
passed the bills on Monday and promised the budget ensures stability and
predictability. The Liberal leader and ex-PM Florin Cîţu criticised the fact
that 6.7% of GDP was earmarked for investments, instead of 7% as agreed within
the ruling coalition. The Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu argued
however that the budget execution is more important than the exact breakdown of
expenditure. The leader of USR party in opposition, Dacian Cioloş, says the
draft budget relies on over-estimated revenues and said although public
education is a priority for President Iohannis, not enough funding has been
earmarked for the sector.

COVID-19 775 new SARS-CoV-2 infection cases were reported in the past 24 hours in Romania, along with 81 related
fatalities, 44 of them from a previous date. Since the start of the pandemic
Romania has had around 1.8 million COVID-19 cases,
and more than 58,000 patients died. Amid
anti-vaccine sentiments fuelled by some media, politicians and opinion leaders,
the country has the 2nd lowest immunisation rate in the EU, after Bulgaria.

EU
FUNDING The government
of Romania passed an emergency order allowing for the accessing of a roughly
15-billion euro loan granted by the European Commission under the Recovery and
Resilience Mechanism. The loan agreement between the European Commission and
Romania was signed in Bucharest on 26th November and in Brussels on 15th
December. Under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Romania benefits
from some 29 billion euro, of which approx. 14 billion in non-reimbursable
funds and some 15 billion in loans. The loan will be available until the end of
2026.

BASKETBALL The national men’s basketball champions, Universitatea-Banca
Transilvania Cluj-Napoca, qualified into the second stage of the Champions
League group matches, after defeating the Turkish side Daruşşafaka in a suspensefull
match away from home, 103-101. The Romanian team is thus the leader of Group G,
with 5 wins and one defeat. Group leaders go straight into the second stage of
the competition, scheduled for January-March 2022. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

23 December 2021
Economic forecast for Romania

The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has substantially improved its estimate
on Romania’s economic performance for this year, and in a recent report it expects
a 7.2% growth rate as opposed to the 6% estimated in June.

Further on, in 2022, the
European funds earmarked under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are expected to
lead to an increase in investments and improvement of exports, which jointly
with the predicted fiscal consolidation and the slow-down in private
consumption may translate into a GDP growth by over 4%.

However, EBRD cautions
that these forecasts are rather tentative. The main risk, as far as Romania is
concerned, is the pandemic, given that the country has the second-lowest
vaccination rate in the EU.

Other risk factors are
the high prices for natural gas and oil, because Romania, just like other
countries, is forced to offset the high electricity expenses for low-income
households. Other alarm signs are related to possible disruptions in supply
chains, and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to the
international financial institution, 3 south-eastern EU member states-Greece,
Romania and Bulgaria-are currently seeing a significant economic recovery,
after a rather difficult year 2020. In Romania’s case, domestic demand is the
main engine for growth.

On the other hand, the high prices for raw
materials may undermine the post-pandemic recovery of European economies, insofar
as they strongly affect the trade balance of energy-importing countries like
Romania.

According to the report,
the high energy prices may be a test of the public’s support for a greener
future. While global support was strong and growing in the past few years, in
some economies, including Egypt, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Poland and Romania the
support rate is lower than in the late 1990s.

According to EBRD,
economies in the region will see an average growth rate of 5.5% in 2021, which
accounts for a 1.3% upgrade since the bank’s June forecasts. In 2022, as
economies recover, the rate will slow down to an average 3.8%. These forecasts
come with a high uncertainty element, given the risks entailed by the Covid-19
pandemic, by a possible worsening of international circumstances and a more
modest growth rate among the main trade partners.

The EBRD was set up in
1991 to invest in former communist states and assist them in the transition to a
free market economy. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, EBRD became
a major investor in Romania, where it focuses on funding infrastructure, improving
productivity and consolidating the financial sector. So far the institution has
invested nearly 9 billion euros in the Romanian economy, three-quarters of
which went into the private sector. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

5 November 2021
Economic forecast for Romania

The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has substantially improved its estimate
on Romania’s economic performance for this year, and in a recent report it expects
a 7.2% growth rate as opposed to the 6% estimated in June.

Further on, in 2022, the
European funds earmarked under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are expected to
lead to an increase in investments and improvement of exports, which jointly
with the predicted fiscal consolidation and the slow-down in private
consumption may translate into a GDP growth by over 4%.

However, EBRD cautions
that these forecasts are rather tentative. The main risk, as far as Romania is
concerned, is the pandemic, given that the country has the second-lowest
vaccination rate in the EU.

Other risk factors are
the high prices for natural gas and oil, because Romania, just like other
countries, is forced to offset the high electricity expenses for low-income
households. Other alarm signs are related to possible disruptions in supply
chains, and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to the
international financial institution, 3 south-eastern EU member states-Greece,
Romania and Bulgaria-are currently seeing a significant economic recovery,
after a rather difficult year 2020. In Romania’s case, domestic demand is the
main engine for growth.

On the other hand, the high prices for raw
materials may undermine the post-pandemic recovery of European economies, insofar
as they strongly affect the trade balance of energy-importing countries like
Romania.

According to the report,
the high energy prices may be a test of the public’s support for a greener
future. While global support was strong and growing in the past few years, in
some economies, including Egypt, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Poland and Romania the
support rate is lower than in the late 1990s.

According to EBRD,
economies in the region will see an average growth rate of 5.5% in 2021, which
accounts for a 1.3% upgrade since the bank’s June forecasts. In 2022, as
economies recover, the rate will slow down to an average 3.8%. These forecasts
come with a high uncertainty element, given the risks entailed by the Covid-19
pandemic, by a possible worsening of international circumstances and a more
modest growth rate among the main trade partners.

The EBRD was set up in
1991 to invest in former communist states and assist them in the transition to a
free market economy. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, EBRD became
a major investor in Romania, where it focuses on funding infrastructure, improving
productivity and consolidating the financial sector. So far the institution has
invested nearly 9 billion euros in the Romanian economy, three-quarters of
which went into the private sector. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

5 November 2021
Economic forecast for Romania

The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has substantially improved its estimate
on Romania’s economic performance for this year, and in a recent report it expects
a 7.2% growth rate as opposed to the 6% estimated in June.

Further on, in 2022, the
European funds earmarked under the Recovery and Resilience Plan are expected to
lead to an increase in investments and improvement of exports, which jointly
with the predicted fiscal consolidation and the slow-down in private
consumption may translate into a GDP growth by over 4%.

However, EBRD cautions
that these forecasts are rather tentative. The main risk, as far as Romania is
concerned, is the pandemic, given that the country has the second-lowest
vaccination rate in the EU.

Other risk factors are
the high prices for natural gas and oil, because Romania, just like other
countries, is forced to offset the high electricity expenses for low-income
households. Other alarm signs are related to possible disruptions in supply
chains, and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to the
international financial institution, 3 south-eastern EU member states-Greece,
Romania and Bulgaria-are currently seeing a significant economic recovery,
after a rather difficult year 2020. In Romania’s case, domestic demand is the
main engine for growth.

On the other hand, the high prices for raw
materials may undermine the post-pandemic recovery of European economies, insofar
as they strongly affect the trade balance of energy-importing countries like
Romania.

According to the report,
the high energy prices may be a test of the public’s support for a greener
future. While global support was strong and growing in the past few years, in
some economies, including Egypt, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Poland and Romania the
support rate is lower than in the late 1990s.

According to EBRD,
economies in the region will see an average growth rate of 5.5% in 2021, which
accounts for a 1.3% upgrade since the bank’s June forecasts. In 2022, as
economies recover, the rate will slow down to an average 3.8%. These forecasts
come with a high uncertainty element, given the risks entailed by the Covid-19
pandemic, by a possible worsening of international circumstances and a more
modest growth rate among the main trade partners.

The EBRD was set up in
1991 to invest in former communist states and assist them in the transition to a
free market economy. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, EBRD became
a major investor in Romania, where it focuses on funding infrastructure, improving
productivity and consolidating the financial sector. So far the institution has
invested nearly 9 billion euros in the Romanian economy, three-quarters of
which went into the private sector. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

5 November 2021
Radio Romania International Sports Club

Romanian basketball team U-BT Cluj-Napoca has
succeeded an auspicious debut in the Champions League’s group stage. This past
Tuesday, U-BT Cluj-Napoca grabbed a 66-60 win against Turkish opponents Darüşşafaka
Basketbol, in a Group G fixture. The Romanians had an unassuming start for the
game, so much so that on minute 15 the scoreboard indicated a 21-14 advantage
for the Turkish team. However, head-coach Mihai Silvasan’s trainees came from
behind and eventually secured a laid-back win. U-BT Cluj Napoca’s American basketball
players, Elijah Stewart and Patrick Richard, were U-BT Cluj Napoca’s top scorers.
Stewart succeeded 18 points and 6 recoveries, while
Richard succeeded 17 points and 2 recoveries. Another American was the Turkish
team’s best basketball player, Nathan Boothe, with 14 points and 5 recoveries
on his record sheet. Group G also includes Italian team Happy Casa Brindisi and Israeli squad Hapoel U-net Holon. On October 18, U-BT Cluj-Napoca’s will
next play Italy’s Happy Casa Brindisi, away from home.

In the domestic championship, in a second-round game,
on Tuesday CSO Voluntari outclassed Dinamo Bucharest, 84-81, after extra time. Ten
seconds from time, CSO Voluntari’s Swedish player Carl Viktor Gadeffors managed
a successful free throw, failed in his second throw, but Andrei Calenic
recovered the ball and succeeded to level the score. It was only in extra time
that CSO Voluntari managed to have the upper hand, when, two seconds from time,
Dinamo’s Andrei Mandache wasted the opportunity to score from a three-point
throw. The game against Dinamo was CSO Voluntary’s debut fixture in the
domestic championship, since their first-round game against SCM Timişoara was
postponed. In another fixture, CSM CSU Oradea trounced Municipal Târgu Jiu, 89 to
70. After two regular rounds in the domestic championship, CSM CSU Oradea managed
to have four points on their record sheet.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)

—–

6 October 2021
Radio Romania International Sports Club

Romanian basketball team U-BT Cluj-Napoca has
succeeded an auspicious debut in the Champions League’s group stage. This past
Tuesday, U-BT Cluj-Napoca grabbed a 66-60 win against Turkish opponents Darüşşafaka
Basketbol, in a Group G fixture. The Romanians had an unassuming start for the
game, so much so that on minute 15 the scoreboard indicated a 21-14 advantage
for the Turkish team. However, head-coach Mihai Silvasan’s trainees came from
behind and eventually secured a laid-back win. U-BT Cluj Napoca’s American basketball
players, Elijah Stewart and Patrick Richard, were U-BT Cluj Napoca’s top scorers.
Stewart succeeded 18 points and 6 recoveries, while
Richard succeeded 17 points and 2 recoveries. Another American was the Turkish
team’s best basketball player, Nathan Boothe, with 14 points and 5 recoveries
on his record sheet. Group G also includes Italian team Happy Casa Brindisi and Israeli squad Hapoel U-net Holon. On October 18, U-BT Cluj-Napoca’s will
next play Italy’s Happy Casa Brindisi, away from home.

In the domestic championship, in a second-round game,
on Tuesday CSO Voluntari outclassed Dinamo Bucharest, 84-81, after extra time. Ten
seconds from time, CSO Voluntari’s Swedish player Carl Viktor Gadeffors managed
a successful free throw, failed in his second throw, but Andrei Calenic
recovered the ball and succeeded to level the score. It was only in extra time
that CSO Voluntari managed to have the upper hand, when, two seconds from time,
Dinamo’s Andrei Mandache wasted the opportunity to score from a three-point
throw. The game against Dinamo was CSO Voluntary’s debut fixture in the
domestic championship, since their first-round game against SCM Timişoara was
postponed. In another fixture, CSM CSU Oradea trounced Municipal Târgu Jiu, 89 to
70. After two regular rounds in the domestic championship, CSM CSU Oradea managed
to have four points on their record sheet.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)

—–

6 October 2021
September 17, 2021 UPDATE

CORONAVIRUS The government Friday passed a resolution making
the green certificate, attesting vaccination, negative testing or recovery from
COVID-19, compulsory upon entering
restaurants, gyms, or attending public and private events in areas where the infection rate is over 3 per
thousand. This is the same digital certificate required this summer for travel
within the EU. On Friday, authorities announced 4,478 new cases of COVID-19
infection in 24 hours, from over 46,000 tests.
In the same interval, 73 related fatalities were also reported and 762
patients treated in intensive care. Bucharest exceeded, on Friday, the
threshold of 2 per thousand inhabitants cumulated in 14 days, which brings the
capital city in the yellow zone. Meanwhile, on Thursday the National Committee
on Emergency Situations approved a new list of high-risk countries, valid as of
September 19. Bulgaria and France are now back in the yellow zone, and Spain is
listed as a green-zone country.

CONNECTING EUROPE Romania needs to step up investments in the rail
infrastructure, the European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said on
Friday. Attending the arrival in Bucharest’s main railway station of Connecting
Europe Express, a special train designed in the European Year of Rail, she
explained that Romania must plan its investments well, come up to solid
projects and manage these investments as efficiently as possible. I am aware of
the situation of railways in Romania and I undertake to do everything in my
power to help finance and develop it, the interim transport minister Dan Vîlceanu
said in his turn. Connecting Europe Express will stop in stations in 26
countries during its five-week, 20,000-km journey, before arriving in Paris on
October 7. The train departed from Lisbon and, before reaching Paris, it will
stop in Ljubljana, connecting the Portuguese, Slovenian and French presidencies
of the Council of the EU.

VISIT The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will be in
Bucharest on September 27, the EC deputy spokesperson Dana Spinant announced on
Friday. She added that in the coming days the Commission will complete its
assessment of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Under the Plan,
Bucharest is set to receive over 29 billion euro, half of it in grants and half
in loans. Romania plans reforms and investments in transports, environment,
agriculture, healthcare, education, business environment, research, innovation,
digitisation as well as resilience in crisis situations. According to the
Commission, 18 states have already seen their national recovery plans approved,
and 12 of them have already received the first instalments of the funds for
investment projects.

COURT Romania’s Constitutional Court will discuss on September 28 the notification filed by the Liberal Prime
Minister Florin Cîţu’s Cabinet, in connection with an alleged constitutional
conflict with Parliament concerning the no-confidence motion filed by the
USR-PLUS alliance, a former junior coalition partner, and AUR, a nationalist
party, in the opposition. The Government denounced Parliament’s alleged
unconstitutional, disloyal and abusive behaviour towards the Government, as the
no-confidence motion tabled by the latter had allegedly been initiated, tabled
and communicated in terms that are against the Constitution. Pending the Court’s ruling, the debate and
vote on the motion are in standby, Parliament decided.

NEW
MEDIA ART The
biggest new media art event in Romania will be held on Saturday. iMapp
Bucharest – Winners league is also among the top three international video
mapping competitions. The works of teams from the US, Germany, Ukraine, Japan
and Hungary will be presented on the world’s biggest screening area, namely,
the façade of the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, of 23,000 sqm. The theme of
this year’s edition is The Show Must Go On and celebrates through works that
blend light, technology and music, the way in which people have been returning
to normal life.

NATO Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant-General Daniel
Petrescu is taking part over September 17-19 in the conference of the NATO
Military Committee, which brings together in Athens, Greece heads of military
from Allied countries. Talks will tackle NATO operations, missions and
activities. Additionally, the conference will also address means of
implementing the Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area, and NATO’s
Warfighting Capstone Concept. According to the Romanian Defence Ministry, the
Military Committee will analyze the NATO 2030 initiative and all its military
implications and opportunities. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

17 September 2021
Optimistic economic forecast

Romania will have the highest economic growth rate in the EU this year, according to the summer forecast of the European Commission, which predicted the Romanian economy will grow by 7.4% this year and by 4.9% next year.

The new forecast for 2021 is 2.3% higher than the spring estimates, because, according to the European institution, the Romanian economy performed strongly in the first quarter. The confidence of consumers and business people has also remained high so far. Private consumption is expected to stay sound, backed by the lifting of COVID restrictions, particularly in the fields hit severely by the pandemic, and by the increase in salaries in the first months of the year, the Commission said.

Moreover, investments will remain strong in 2021-2022, supported by both the private and public sectors. Exports are set to improve in line with the ongoing recovery in Romanias main trading partners but the contribution of net exports to growth is expected to remain negative over the forecast horizon, the Commission believes. Growth is projected to continue into 2022, although at a slower pace.

PM Florin Cîţu says these forecasts are the consequence of the private sector responding well to the measures implemented so far, and having confidence that all the reforms announced by the government will be implemented.

Meanwhile, professor Mircea Coşea, Ph.D., explains what these figures actually mean for Romania, in his opinion:

Mircea Coşea: “This 7% growth is actually not growth but recovery. In macroeconomic terms, there is a major difference between recovery and economic growth. What we are actually doing is recovering, that is, getting back to where we were. This is not necessarily to mean we will live better. Moreover, if we look at whats behind these figures, we will see things are rather disquieting. A recovery at this record-rate for the EU is not healthy. Compared to other countries around us, this extremely high figure means that in fact Romania does not rely on a proper economic foundation, but on loans.

At EU level, the economy is expected to grow by 4.8% this year and 4.5% in 2022, after economic activity above expectations in the first quarter and after the easing of COVID containment measures in the second quarter. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

8 July 2021
June 18, 2021 UPDATE

COVID-19 On Friday 70 new cases of coronavirus infection were reported in Romania, out of over 32,000 tests performed. Also, 6 deaths were reported. The number of patients in intensive care has dropped below 200. The head of the vaccination campaign in Romania, Valeriu Gheorghita, has announced that vaccination coverage at national level stands at 25% of the eligible population. 29,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in the past 24 hours, accounting for less than one-third of the number reported during peak vaccination periods. Since the start of the national vaccine roll-out, on December 27, more than 4.6 million people have been immunised in Romania, of whom 4.3 million with both doses. According to a survey by the Research Institute for Quality of Life, even if most Romanians are aware of the threat posed by the coronavirus, some 2 million are against vaccination, and 800,000 say the pandemic is not real.

PROTEST Romanian freight carriers Friday deliberately hampered traffic on the main roads in the country. The protest came after the Transport Ministry announced that it will change the way the road fee, known as the vignette, is going to be calculated from now on, namely per kilometer and depending on pollution standards, rather than on duration, as it is now. Transport companies are also unhappy with the inspections conducted by the tax authorities, which plan to levy taxes on drivers daily allowances when traveling abroad.

COMMEMORATION On Friday, for the first time, Romania commemorated the Day of Communist Regime Deportation Victims. Deportation under the Romanian communist regime was inspired by the Soviet gulag model. Such actions started in 1944, and targeted ethnic Germans accused of collaboration with the Nazi authorities. That was followed by the relocation of the families of land owners, factories or other commercial enterprises. The peasants who opposed collectivisation were also deported. The most tragic episode in this respect took place on June 18, 1951, when about 44,000 people on a 25 km strip on the border with Yugoslavia were deported to Bărăgan (south), in one of the most secret, quick and repressive actions ever organised by the communist authorities. After 1955, former political detainees released from prisons were sent to various localities, most of them in the Bărăgan villages already built as a result of the 1951 deportation. In 1967, the deportation of Romanian citizens was declared illegal even by the communist authorities.

DEFICIT The European Council Friday adopted the recommendation under the excessive deficit procedure for Romania. The recommendation establishes that Romania should put an end to the excessive deficit situation by 2024 at the latest. The procedure was launched in April 2020, after Romania exceeded the 3% budget deficit ceiling in 2019. The Council said that an extension to the current deadline for Romania to correct its public deficit would be important in order not to compromise the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The recommendation also says that, in order to meet the new deadline, Romania would need to achieve a general government deficit target of 8.0% of GDP in 2021, 6.2% of GDP in 2022, 4.4% of GDP in 2023, and 2.9% of GDP in 2024, which is in line with the Romanian governments objectives.

UN The UN General Assembly Friday appointed the Portuguese António Guterres to a second 5-year term as secretary general. Guterres, 72, had been endorsed on June 8 by the UN Security Council, the most difficult stage of the selection of a new secretary general, in that it requires the consensus of the worlds major powers. The former Portuguese Socialist PM had no challengers and will begin his second term on January 1, 2022. Prior to this position with the UN, Antonio Guterres served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees for a 10-year period.

TENNIS Horia Tecău (Romania) / Kevin Krawietz (Germany) qualified into the doubles final of the tennis tournament in Halle (Germany), ATP 500, after defeating the Belgians Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen, 7-6, 7-5. Tecău and Krawietz are playing their 3rd final this season, after having lost the ones in Rotterdam and Barcelona. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

18 June 2021
June 17, 2021

PRESIDENCY The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis carries on his official visit to Estonia. Today he has meetings scheduled with PM Kaja Kallas and with the Estonian parliament speaker Jüri Ratas. The Romanian president will also lay flowers at the Independence War Memorial and will visit the Tallin City Hall, the e-Estonia Centre and the Unicorn Squad robotics school. On Wednesday Klaus Iohannis had talks with his counterpart Kersti Kaljulaid. After the talks, Iohannis announced having invited Estonia to take part in the Euro-Atlantic Centre for Resilience in Bucharest. Romania and Estonia share views and interests at EU level, which facilitates the close cooperation between our countries in relation to the current agenda and future priorities of the EU, Iohannis said. He also added that the talks tackled means to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the digital sector, in cyber security and AI, given Estonia’s experience in the field and the fact that Romania is hosting the EU’s new cyber centre.

COVID-19 Romanian authorities announced on Wednesday 104 new SARS-CoV-2 cases for the past 24 hours, out of over 30,000 tests. Close to 1,000 people are hospitalised, with 192 patients currently in intensive care. Another 71 COVID-related deaths have also been reported, but only 18 of them occurred in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the vaccine roll-out continues, although the pace is considerably slower than in previous months. As many as 4.6 million Romanians have received the COVID-19 vaccine, and over 4.2 million of them have received both doses. A new batch of 48,000 doses of Johnson&Johnson vaccine reaches the country today.

COLECTIV The Bucharest Court of Appeals set the next hearing in the Colectiv trial on September 22. Earlier this week, the case was split, but judges reconsidered the decision and re-joined the proceedings. This autumn, 3 judges will decide whether to change the charges against some of the defendants, including the former Bucharest sector 4 mayor, from abuse of office to criminal negligence. The December 2019 ruling of the court of first instance in this case has been appealed. The original sentences ranged between 8 and 12 years behind bars and damages of over 50 million euros for the victims of the fire in the Colectiv nightclub. The fire of 30 October 2015, which killed 64 people and injured another 200, led to street protests, the resignation of the PM and of the Sector 4 mayor.

TALKS The US president Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had talks in Geneva on Wednesday, in a 4-hour summit. The US-Russia relation must be stable and predictable, president Biden said in a separate press conference after the summit. In turn, the Russian president agreed with Biden to begin talks on strategic stability. The 2 presidents jointly committed to the principle that a nuclear war cannot have winners and must never be started. The same principle had been agreed by the USSR and US leaders in a 1985 meeting in Geneva.

EU The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is on a diplomatic tour which covers today Denmark and Greece, for talks on these countries plans for spending the EU funds for post-COVID-19 recovery. On Wednesday the Commission approved the first national reform and investment plans, submitted by Portugal and Spain. On Friday the EU official will travel to Luxembourg.

ECONOMY Bucharest approved a memorandum allowing the sale of Romanias stake in the Krivoi Rog steel works in Ukraine, started in the ‘80s by several Eastern European socialist countries. Romanias contribution at the time was around 1 billion US dollars, but the project was halted after the collapse of the communist system and the plant is now in ruins. The only participants left in the project are Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia, and Romania pays around 1 million euros per year for conservation and security.

FOOTBALL Bucharest is hosting tonight another EURO 2020 football match, pitting Ukraine against North Macedonia in Group C. Also today, in Group B, Denmark takes on Belgium, and in Group C the Netherlands plays against Austria. Italy is the first team to qualify in the eight-finals, after defeating Switzerland 3-0, in Rome, in Group A. In the other match of the group, Wales beat Turkey 2-0 in Baku. Also on Wednesday, Finland was defeated by Russia 0-1, in St Petersburg, in Group E. It is for the first time ever that Bucharest hosts European championship final tournament matches, and also for the first time that 2 Romanian referee teams are taking part. However, the national team performed poorly in the qualifiers and failed to take part in this years European competition. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

17 June 2021
June 12, 2021

G7
Leaders of the world’s seven most developed countries are expected to endorse a
proposal by US president Joe Biden for a global minimum corporate tax of at
least 15%, the White House has announced. The Global Minimum Tax plan, also
known as GMT, would effectively put an end to the practice of global
corporations seeking out low-tax jurisdiction to move their headquarters to,
even though their customers, operations and executives are located elsewhere. A
decision on the GMT is going to be officially made during the G 7 summit, which
kicked off in Cornwall, the UK, on Friday. The summit of G7 countries whose
economies account for 40% of the global economy has an ambitious agenda.
Leaders from the United States, France, the UK, Germany, Canada, Japan and
Italy plus the EU leaders are trying to find solutions to global issues, such
as vaccine supplies for the entire planet, solutions to the present economic
crisis as well as ways to fight the global warming. Britain announced a
donation of over 100 million vaccine doses to the poor countries while the USA
is going to donate 500 million doses to 100 developing countries.

COVID-19 The number of Covid-19 infections in Romania is still low with 127
new cases reported on Saturday. 5 new Covid-related fatalities have been
reported in the past 24 hours and 236 patients are in intensive care. The
vaccine rollout continues at a lower pace though with only 41 thousand doses
administered in the past 24 hours. Since the vaccine rollout kicked off in
Romania in late December, over 4 million people have been fully vaccinated.

RELAXATION New relaxation measures were imposed in Romania on Friday night
when the state of alert across the country had been extended for another month.
So, indoor private events can be attended by 200 people in regions with an
infection rate below 3 per thousand only if the participants are all
vaccinated, tested negative for the virus or already had the disease. Outdoor
events may have an attendance up to the maximum capacity of the facility
hosting the event. In Bucharest mask mandates are still in place around schools
as well as indoor or crowded outdoor facilities.

PNRR The European Commission has started assessing the recovery plans
it has received from the member countries willing to access funds from the
European recovery plan. The Commission has made a series of observations and
called for additional information after it received the recovery and resilience
plan made by Romania. The European Commission has two months to assess the
national recovery plans, one of the main conditions being that the applicants earmark
at least 37% to ecological transition and 20 % to the digital sector.
Education, healthcare, transport and infrastructure as well as digitization and
public administration reforms are the main domains the National Plan of
Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) focuses on and where Romania pledges to invest
all the roughly 30 million Euros it is going to attract. All investment must be completed by 2026.

WEATHER Romanian meteorologists have issued a
yellow alert for unsettled weather all over the country. Rain showers,
thunderstorms and hail are expected in almost all regions. Temperatures are
ranging between 20 and 29 degrees Celsius with a noon reading in Bucharest of
24 degrees. Flood alerts have been issued for 15 counties until Monday at noon.

(bill)

12 June 2021
May 28, 2021

AGENDA Romania managed to introduce for the first time on the agenda of an EU
Foreign Ministers meeting, the one that ended in Lisbon on Thursday, the issue
of the frozen conflicts of the EU’s eastern neighbourhood. Romania’s Foreign Ministry
Bogdan Aurescu has told Radio Romania the measures proposed focus on setting up
the position of EU special envoy for frozen conflicts and resilience of the
states in the Eastern partnership, the idea of imposing sanctions in areas like
Transdniester, a breakaway region in the neighboring, ex-soviet
Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, as well as providing post-pandemic assistance.
The head of diplomacy in Bucharest has explained that the entire bloc is aware
of the danger posed by the frozen conflicts and of the fact that Russia is
behind all these conflicts. Also high on the agenda of the latest informal
Gymnich meeting in Lisbon was the enlarged Black Sea region, the EU-Africa
relations and the EU strategic vision for India-Pacific.

TENNIS Eighth seeded Magda Linette, a tennis player from Poland, is today up
against Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the semis of the WTA tournament in
Strasbourg, a competition with roughly 200 thousand euros in prize money. In
the round of 16, Cirstea clinched a two-set win against Shuai Zhang of China
and qualified for the semifinals after Canadian player of Romanian descent
Bianca Andreescu had withdrawn. Cirstea has a 2-1 head-to-head lead against
Linette.

COVID-19 The number of people infected with Sars-CoV-2 in Romania has been going
down for quite some time now. Authorities on Thursday announced 307 new cases
out of over 31 thousand tests conducted. Capital city Bucharest and all the
other regions are now in the so-called green zone. Since the vaccine rollout
kicked off in Romania in late December, 3.3 million have been fully vaccinated.
Over 1,000 physicians, nurses and administrative personnel have volunteered for
the second edition of the vaccination marathon due to last in Bucharest until
May 31st. New relaxation measures are to come into effect as of June
1st. The government has specified the conditions under which mask
wearing is no longer mandatory in indoor places, how many people can attend an
event and what entertainment facilities can be opened.

AID The government in Bucharest has endorsed a new humanitarian aid for the
neighboring Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova in an attempt to help the
authorities there to contain the coronavirus pandemic. According to a
communiqué issued by the Health Ministry, the aid consists of 100 thousand
doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In another development, state secretary with
the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Dan Neculaescu is presently on a working visit
in Cernauti with a view to providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. On this
occasion Neculaescu will be meeting representatives of the Romanian community
in Ukraine and is expected to have talks with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vasyl
Bodnar and with officials from the Regional State Administration in
Cernauti.

PLAN Parliaments in Austria and Poland on Thursday approved Europe’s 672
billion euro recovery plan aimed at offsetting the economic impact of the
pandemic, which is a step forward towards ratifying the project at EU level.
The 672 billion euros in subsidies and loans are to fund investment in the
green and digital transition. The first installments are most likely expected
by the end of July. Every member state is to come up with an investment plan in
Brussels. 19 countries have already presented their plans and Ludovic Orban,
president of the National Liberal Party, the main ruling political party has
said in Bucharest that Romania will make public its plan on June 2nd,
shortly after its presentation in Brussels. The opposition PSD has said that
through the aforementioned plan the Executive has assumed a series of austerity
measures and the opposition is going to table a censure motion.

(bill)

28 May 2021
Encouraging economic figures

The National Statistics Institute (INS) announced on Tuesday that Romanias GDP went up 2.8% in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2020. The same figure was made public by the EU statistics office, Eurostat, which noted that Romanias economy in the first quarter of the year was the most dynamic in the EU.

Also, according to the National Statistics Institute, the quarter-on-quarter economic growth rate was negative 0.2% in nominal terms, whereas the seasonally adjusted rate was zero.

At the end of April, the National Strategy and Forecast Committee had operated an upward adjustment to its economic growth estimate for this year, and similarly improved figures came from the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.

After Tuesdays announcement by the INS and Eurostat, the Liberal PM Florin Cîțu spoke about the quickest economic recovery in history after the most severe crisis of the last century. He also said his right-of-centre coalition cabinet is working on new measures to ensure the post-pandemic economy is stronger and more competitive. And, PM Cîțu added, for the forthcoming years an economic growth rate is foreseeable that will “beat all previous estimates.

The economic analyst Aurelian Dochia confirms that figures are better than expected:

Aurelian Dochia: “We are already close to the maximum the Romanian economy saw in the first quarter of 2020. In other words, we have recovered all we lost last year, and the prospects for 2021 will likely be some of the best weve ever had.

Marcel Ciolacu, the head of the Social Democratic Party in opposition, argues that what is truly historic is the collapse of peoples spending power. The Social Democrat mentioned 17% higher electricity bills, 9% more expensive fuel, skyrocketing food prices and an inflation rate above 3%, which, he says, has “ripped through the peoples incomes already frozen by PM Cîțu.

His party colleague Mihai Fifor, a former defence minister, also states in a news release that behind the economic growth rate reported for the first quarter of the year as against the last quarter of 2020, publicised as a victory for the Liberals in power, is the truly relevant indicator, namely the comparison between Q1 2021 and Q1 2020. What PM Florin Cîţu sees as an accomplishment is in fact, according to Mihai Fifor, “the worst economic result for a first quarter in the past 5 years, worse even than last year when Romania went into lockdown. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

19 May 2021