Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian agriculture

  • May 16, 2016 UPDATE

    May 16, 2016 UPDATE

    FREE TRADE AGREEMENT – Bulgaria and Romania might veto the EU Free Trade Agreement with Canada, because of the discriminatory treatment applied to the citizens of the two countries as regards the visa regime, New Europe reports. The two countries have issued a common letter, critical of the Canadian government and they sent it to the EU trade ministers, who joined in a meeting in Brussels last Friday. The letter, quoted by EUobserver, is written by the two countries ambassadors to the EU. The document shows that it will be very difficult for both the Bulgarian and Romanian governments to find arguments in support of adopting the Free Trade Agreement in their countries.



    ETHNIC ROMANIANS – A joint program marking the Day of the Romanians Around the World will be developed on May 28 and 29 by the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Bucharest-based “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi Institute and the Romanian Foreign Ministrys Department of Policies for the Relation with the Romanians Around the World. The events will bring together representatives of the Romanian communities living in Romanias neighbourhood and in the Balkans, as well as prominent personalities of the Romanian Diaspora. The result of a fruitful partnership between the “Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum, the “Carol I Central University Library and Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, the program also includes a conference on the issue of national identity abroad and a fair of folk traditions specific to Romanian communities. Romanian traditional music recitals and folk dances will be performed by folk ensembles from Ukraine (the historical Maramures region), Serbia (the Timoc Valley), Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova and Romania. Since 2015, the Day of the Romanians Around the World is celebrated on the last Sunday of May.



    SIMPLE MOTION-The Chamber of Deputies on Monday debated the simple motion against the agriculture minister, entitled “Achim Irimescu- the biggest disaster in the Romanian agriculture after December 1989. The motion was tabled by 84 MPs, members of the Social Democratic Party and of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, ALDE. Signatories to the motion have pointed out the flawed payment to farmers, the blocked investment in the irrigation infrastructure and the defective management in the Agriculture Ministry. A final vote on the aforementioned motion will be cast in a plenary session due on Tuesday, May 17.



    SWABIANS OF BANAT-The community of Transylvanian Saxons and Swabians is a priceless source for consolidating ties with Germany and Europe, Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said on Sunday at the annual meeting of Swabians of Banat, which took place in Ulm, Germany. Ciolos, who paid a two-day visit to Germany, has praised the bilateral relations, which he described as “privileged, excellent relations with a long history. The Saxons came to southern Transylvania back in the 13th century, while the Swabians settled there in the 17th – 18th centuries. The community of ethnic Germans in this region stood at several hundred thousands between the two world wars but it barely numbers several tens of thousands nowadays.



    REACTIONS TO BMD IN EUROPE– Moscow and Minsk have agreed to draft joint measures in response to the installation of elements of the US anti-missile defence system in Europe, Belarusian foreign minister Vladimir Makei said fresh from the talks he had had with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. According to Makei, Moscow and Minsk share concern about the US anti-missile system in Europe. We recall that on Thursday, May 12, the “Aegis Ashore US anti-missile facility was inaugurated at the Deveselu base in Romania, and on May 13, a ceremony laying the foundation of a similar site was held in Redzikowo, Poland.



    DIPLOMACY- Foreign ministers of the EU, the USA and Libyas neighbouring countries convened in Vienna for talks over the situation in the north-African country of Libya, currently facing political divergences and Jihadi threats. According to France Press, the meeting came at a crucial moment, after ISIS Jihadists had extended their influence to the western city of Sirte and the failure of the UN-backed national unity government to impose itself after two months in power. The international community wants an executive capable of fighting the Jihadists and stemming migration towards Europe, France Press reports. Vienna will also be hosting a meeting of the international support group for Syria, agreed upon by US secretary of state John Kerry and the head of the Russian diplomacy Serghei Lavrov.



    CANNES-Romanian director Bogdan Miricas debut film “Dogs was premiered in Cannes, where it is presently running in the festivals “Un Certain Regard section. Another Romanian director, Alexandru Nanau has been awarded the France Culture Cinema prize in Cannes for a documentary entitled “Toto and his Sisters. The award is granted every year to the best production running in cinemas across France. Last week saw the screening of “Sieranevada by Cristi Puiu, a director who in 2005 reaped the “Un Certain Regard award for a feature film entitled “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. “Sieranevada, which is currently running in the “Palme dOr section, has been well received by critics. Another Romanian film, “Bacalaureate, directed by Cristian Mungiu, a Palme dOr laureate in 2007 and currently at its third participation in the festival, is to be screened on Thursday. Romania is also being represented in Cannes by two short reels.



    TENNIS-Romanian tennis player Irina Begu has climbed up onto the 28th position in the WTA rankings made public today and will be a top-seeded player in Roland Garros, the years second Grand Slam tournament, which kicks off this week. This past Saturday Begu failed to go past the semi-finals, since she was defeated by the worlds number one tennis player Serena Williams. WTA top 100 players includes other Romanians as well. Best-placed is Simona Halep, ranking 6th. Monica Niculescu ranks 35th, while Sorana Carstea comes 100th. In the main draw at Roland Garros, joining Irina Begu are three other Romanians, Simona Halep, Monica Niculescu and Alexandra Dulgheru.



    SUPER MODEL OF THE WORLD – Bianca Nicole Draghiciu of Sibiu, in central Romania, has won the title of “’Super Model of the World, and the special prize of the jury, “’Best of the Best, in the international contest “Little Miss World Universe 2016, held in Bodrum, Turkey. At the end of five years of training in modelling, Bianca now boasts her own fashion show for children, on a Romanian television channel. She was followed in the contest by Elisabeta Titova and Albina Cercaska, both from Ukraine.


    (Translated by Daniel Bilt and Diana Vijeu)

  • Support for bee farmers

    The first apiary complex in the world was built in Baneasa, near Bucharest, at the beginning of the 1970s, which shows how important bee-farming was for Romania at a time when agriculture was an important part of the country’s economy. Most of the products deriving from bee farming were exported, which, in the opinion of the communist government of the day, significantly improved the country’s image abroad. When the communist regime collapse in 1989, bee farming went into decline, in particular as a result of the dismantling of the communist farming cooperatives, local structures into which the communists had split farming activity following the seizure of privately-owned land between the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1960s.



    Twenty-five years after the fall of the communist regime, Romania’s bee farming sector is seeing a revival. Romania is in fact 4th in Europe in terms of its bee farming production. However, just like in the communist years, most of it is exported. At 500 grams per inhabitant per year, Romania’s domestic consumption is far below that of other European states, such as Germany, with its 2 kg per inhabitant per year. Because of bad weather, production dropped this year.



    The agriculture minister Daniel Constantin promised to approve aid worth almost 1 million euros this week to help bee farmers. He said the government was also looking for ways to compensate cattle and sheep breeders who can no longer export livestock because of the bluetongue disease. Daniel Constantin, speaking about possible solutions to help these farmers:



    Daniel Constantin: “If exports of livestock are restricted, we will try to export carcasses and develop abattoirs, so we will probably come up with a specific strategy in this respect in the coming period.”



    Farmers have not lost hope yet. Dumitru Andresoiu, the vice-president of the Pro Ovis Federation:



    Dumitru Andresoiu: “We hope to identify the origin of the disease and prevent it from spreading all over the country. Exports in the meantime have stagnated.”



    Problems in the field appeared when Jordan announced a ban on meat imports from Romania, which was the second largest supplier of meat for this Middle East country, after Australia.

  • Romanian Economy During the Reign of King Carol the 1st

    Romanian Economy During the Reign of King Carol the 1st

    Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, the ruling prince of the United Romanian Principalities starting 1867 and the first king of Romania as of May 10, 1881, is still described as the most important state personality in Romanian history. During his 48-year reign, Romania gained its independence and became a constitutional monarchy: at that time, the foundation was also laid for the modern Romanian state. In terms of domestic policy, Carol I tried to strike a balance between various factors, favoring a climate of discipline and rigor, two qualities he acquired tanks to his Prussian-style upbringing, in a family with a strong dynastic tradition.



    King Carol I gave his support for all economic structures to become modern, in a country whose political structures were still very much backward halfway through the 19th century. The capital city Bucharest itself resembled a country-side town. Yet Carol’s disciplined mind, a feature typical of all Germanic monarchs, as well as his experience as a King, were instrumental to speeding up Romania’s modernization. A politically astute personality, the King succeeded in having both liberal and conservative governments come to power, so that none of the two sides could have the possibility to undermine his authority.



    Immediately after his arrival in the country, Carol I introduced an extremely important monetary reform, bringing the Leu on the money market. Although at that time it had not been an independent country, Romania managed to impose its own currency in 1867. Initially, only the metal coin was issued. Later, however, once Romania’s National Bank was founded, and also with the boost of private capital, in 1880 bank notes had also started being issued. With the help of the National Bank, but also through private capital, by early 20th century no less than 24 banks had been founded, while by 1914 an additional 210 were founded in Romania.



    During the reign of Carol I, Romanian economy was predominantly agrarian. More than half of the peasants held plots of farmland with a surface area smaller than 5 hectares, while between 5 and 10 hectares of farmland were required for the support of one single family. It was a time of uncertainty for Romanian agriculture, so the so-called “people’s banks” were established. Such banks developed mainly because their managers were locals who were familiar with the circumstances of the local economy, and knew those who would take out loans. Most of the agricultural production was provided by the great landowners and for its most part was export-bound.



    During the first forty years of Carol I’s reign, the country’s farming production grew six times. Agriculture provided a strong foundation for the entire economy, which had a strong bearing on Romanian industry. Crude oil extraction and refining saw a strong progress. Textile and foodstuff factories doubled their numbers. The influence of foreign capital on Romanian industry, however, led to the country’s industrial potential being clustered in certain regions, while other regions across the country were lagging behind. The Germans controlled 35% of the industry; following them were the British with 25%, the Dutch with 13%, the French with 10% and the Americans with 5.5%. The Romanian capital accounted for a meagre 5.5%. Between 1903 and 1914, most of the companies were founded, which later on would dominate Romania’s oil industry until the outset of the Second World War. Associate Professor Alin Ciupala, of the University of Bucharest’s History Faculty, has the details.



    “During the reign of Carol I, Romanian economy remained an agrarian one, just as it used to be until 1866 and just as it would be in the interwar period. Yet a certain amount of change did occur. Late into the 19th century, a couple of resources were being put to good use, such as the crude oil deposits. For Romania, crude oil was an extraordinary opportunity and shortly afterwards the world’s biggest oil companies started doing business in Romania. Crude oil revitalized the country’s economy, since it was exploited by joint venture companies the Romanian state had set up with foreign companies. Profits, therefore, soon started coming in and the Romanian Government used the money primarily to develop infrastructure. Also, in 1887, the first important industry-boosting law was promulgated, aimed at stepping up the development of that sector of Romanian economy. However, as I said before, despite the fact that lots of new elements would appear until the First World War, Romanian economy was a predominantly agrarian one, and the main revenues were provided by the exploitation of the farmland. That also posed a big social problem, since the Romanian village was dominated by the existence of the large-scale land ownership. There were no small-time landowners, capable of representing the biggest part of land ownership, quite the contrary — in Romania there were big farmland estates, and that led to a rather low rate of agricultural progress. There was little to no interest in investing significant amounts of money in the development of agriculture, as long as big landowners were in need of cheap workforce.”



    Quite unlike industrialized European states, urban areas could not absorb Romania’s large rural population given the country’s still weak industry. So strong was the mounting social pressure that in 1907 an unprecedented social movement broke out. The peasants’ uprising got the whole world witness the failures of King Carol I’st reign, within a year since the opening of the 1906 Jubilee Exhibition, which was meant to showcase Romania’s economic progress during King Carol I’s 40-year reign.