Radio România Internațional

Tag: scheme

  • February 9, 2025

    February 9, 2025

    TALKS Romania’s Senate will next week be hosting talks with representatives of real estate agencies, notary public, and the National Agency for Cadastre. The MPs want to include in the legislation regulations for the better protection of those who want to buy houses from real estate developers. Three draft laws have already been submitted to Parliament in this respect. The move comes after hundreds of people affected by the Nordis fraudulent scheme have called for amendments to the legislation. The former PSD MP, Laura Vicol, her husband Vladimir Ciorba who is also the main shareholder in the Nordis Group, and other three persons have been placed in preventive detention in connection with the aforementioned file. The investigation is focusing on natural persons and companies accused of having raked in more than 195 million Euros from customers without giving them the apartments they paid for.

     

    VOTE Over 2 thousand Romanian eligible voters residing abroad have so far registered on the website of the Permanent Election Authority to cast their ballot by mail in the presidential election due in May this year. The registration deadline is March 20th and, according to official figures, most registrations came from Germany, Britain, Switzerland, France and Spain. Romania will be hosting presidential election on May 4 and 18. We recall the first presidential round was invalidated by the Constitutional Court in December last year due to interferences in the election process.

     

    CUP Romania’s national fifteen has qualified for World Cup 2027 after a 31-14 win on Saturday against the Belgian side in Rugby Europe Championship. Romania has thus ensured its 10th participation in the World Cup. Only in 2019, Romania was not allowed to attend the competition because it used an ineligible player in the qualifiers. In its debut match in Rugby Europe Championship 2025, Romania secured a 48-10 home win against Germany. Our players will be having their last match at home against Portugal on February 15. Romania ranks first in the standings with nine points followed by Portugal, Germany and Belgium. The first two sides are qualified for World Cup 2027.

     

    SPORTS CS Gloria 2018 Bistrita Nasaud, a women’s handball side from northern Romania, was outperformed by Slovenian side Krim Ljubljana 28-25 on Saturday in an away match counting towards group A of the Champions League. After that game, Gloria has few chances to qualify for the play-offs. In the same group today, CSM Bucharest takes on RK Podravka of Croatia. In the competition’s group B, Rapid Bucharest takes on Ludwigsburg of Germany. In tennis competitions, the Romanian-Italian pair Jaqueline Cristian/Angelica Moratelli has qualified for the doubles finals of the tennis tournament Transylvania Open (WTA 250), a competition hosted by Cluj-Napoca, in north-western Romania, with more than 275 thousand dollars in prize money. The two have clinched a 6-3, 6-2 win against Katarzyna Piter of Poland and Aleksandra Sasnovici of Belarus. In the finals today Cristian and Moratelli will be up against Magali Kempen of Belgium and Ana Siskova of the Czech Republic.

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  • EU assistance for road transport operators

    EU assistance for road transport operators

    With fuel prices steadily rising recently, the European
    Commission has decided to provide support to Romanian road transport operators,
    which have repeatedly asked for assistance.


    The commission
    approved a EUR 60.7 million Romanian scheme to support companies active in road
    transport of goods and passengers. The
    Commission found that the Romanian scheme is necessary, appropriate and
    proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State.


    The scheme was
    approved as part of the Temporary Crisis Framework for state aid, adopted by the
    institution in March this year, in line with the Treaty on the Functioning of
    the EU, which admits that the Union’s economy is facing major disruptions.


    According to
    an EC news release, under this aid scheme Romania will support its road
    transport sector, severely affected by the fuel prices increase caused by the
    current geopolitical crisis and the related sanctions. This is an important
    step to mitigate the economic impact of Putin’s war against Ukraine,ˮ said
    Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy.


    The measure
    will be open to companies of all sizes active in road transport of goods and
    persons with a valid community license that are affected by the current crisis.
    The beneficiaries will be entitled to receive limited amounts of aid in the
    form of direct grants of maximum EUR 400,000 per company, paid by the end of
    this year.


    With a view
    to ensuring legal certainty, the Commission will assess before that date if the
    scheme needs to be extended. Moreover, during its period of application, the
    Commission will keep the content and scope of the Framework under review in the
    light of developments regarding the energy markets, other input markets and the
    general economic situation.


    The
    Temporary Crisis Framework includes a number of safeguards, such as proportional
    methodology, requiring a link between the amount of aid that can be granted to
    businesses and the scale of their economic activity and exposure to the
    economic effects of the crisis. Member States are invited to consider, in
    a non-discriminatory way, setting up requirements related to environmental
    protection or security of supply when granting aid for additional costs due to
    exceptionally high gas and electricity prices. (AMP)

  • Talks on supporting the hospitality industry

    Talks on supporting the hospitality industry

    Representatives of the hotel, restaurant and café sector (HoReCa), one of the most affected by the COVID-19 crisis in Romania, discussed with PM Ludovic Orban and the economy minister Virgil Popescu about a state-aid scheme to offset the losses incurred by the companies in this sector.



    According to the economy minister, the estimated budget is 500 million euros, and the financing ceiling for a company will be 800,000 euro. Next week at the latest, the Government will come up with a bill approving the mechanism under which hospitality companies and travel agencies will receive these grants.



    The state-aid scheme will be implemented after being approved by the European Commission, and the implementation mechanism will be facilitated by a software solution to cut the red tape.



    Other measures discussed at the meeting were the granting of furlough payments to employees, and means to implement flexible working hours. The PM believes a 6-month extension of the furlough programme to be necessary for the employees whose activity was affected by the health crisis, and flexible working hours to be useful and meeting the needs of the HoReCa sector.



    The talks between the government and industry officials will continue in the coming period. So far, the government has granted tax cuts, continued to pay furlough benefits and paid over 41% of the salaries of employees.



    Restaurants are currently closed in Romania over the large number of coronavirus infections, and the cold weather prevents outdoor bars, cafes and restaurants from running at full capacity. According to statistics, 10,000 restaurants have been closed in Romania so far over the pandemic. Moreover, estimates indicate that the next 6 months will be dramatic for the hospitality industry, with 70-80% of the hotels expected to shut down. Business owners say they have lost nearly 80% of their turnout and that almost 100,000 jobs in the sector, accounting for almost half of the total, will be lost by the end of the year.



    This is why representatives for the industry request concrete measures to be taken by the government, so that the industry may survive in the forthcoming period. According to entrepreneurs, the industry will not return to normal parameters until 2023, and the hotel industry in another 2 years.



    A survey conducted recently at the request of the HORA Romanian Hotel and Restaurant Employers Organisation says that almost 8 out of 10 Romanians believe restaurants should be reopened. (translated by A.M.Popescu)

  • November 25, 2020 UPDATE

    November 25, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19 President Klaus Iohannis Wednesday had a meeting with Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Health Minister Nelu Tătaru and the head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, to assess and present measures aimed at managing the COVID-19 pandemic. After the meeting, president Iohannis told a press conference that a downward trend in the number of infections has been noted since November 20, as a result of local lockdowns. He added the measures remain in place, and further restrictions will be introduced where necessary. Iohannis also said the authorities are not planning to introduce a nation-wide lockdown after the general election due on December 6. Also on Wednesday, the finance minister Florin Cîţu signed a 12-million euro advance payment to the European Commission for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine. Romania wants to make sure it will be among the first countries to have access to the vaccine. In other news, the Romanian Red Cross has started a COVID-19 awareness raising campaign. On Wednesday, another 9,700 new COVID-19 infections and 168 related deaths were reported for the last 24 hours. Over 1,200 people are in intensive care.



    SURE Romania will receive in the ensuing days a first instalment of 3 billion euros of the loan granted by the European Commission under SURE scheme, the Romanian finance minister Florin Cîţu announced on his Facebook account. The total loan requested by Romania amounts to 4.1 billion euro. The money will cover the deficit generated by measures like furlough or flexible working hours in the context of the pandemic. Apart from Romania, another 15 EU member states have access to this scheme, including Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Belgium. The SURE programme makes available a total 100 billion euros.



    INVESTMENTS 46% of the foreign investors in Romania have this year cancelled, reduced or suspended investments, while 51% made no changes to the planned projects, according to a survey made public on Wednesday. 41 out of 100 investors believe Romania will still be attractive after the end of the pandemic, in sectors like agriculture, IT and the automotive and transport industries. On the other hand, the main areas in which Romania should invest in order to increase its competitiveness include education, infrastructure and technology. At the end of last year, the biggest investors in Romania were the Netherlands, Austria and Germany. Another survey, focusing on the state of the national economy, reveals that 58% of the SMEs in the country only have reserves for the next 1-2 months, while 22% estimate their existing funds would be enough for 2-4 months.



    MEETING Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and Economy Minister Virgil Popescu Wednesday met with representatives of the hospitality sector, one of the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The talks focused on offsetting the losses incurred by this sector. PM Orban argued in favour of extending furlough for all employees whose activity has been affected by the health crisis and introducing flexible working hours so as to better meet the needs of the hospitality industry. Consultations between the Government and HoReCa operators will continue over the coming period. The Government has so far given tax breaks and continued to pay unemployment benefits to employees in furlough. The Government has also adopted a state-aid scheme whereby hospitality businesses are to receive 20% of the turnover they reported the previous year. All restaurants are currently shut down in Romania due to the high infection rate, and restaurants with outdoor seating have few clients because of the cold weather. Business owners in the sector say their losses amount even to 80%, and expect some 100,000 jobs to be lost by the end the year.



    MARADONA World football legend Diego Armando Maradona, 60, died of a heart attack on Wednesday, international news agencies report. Maradona was struggling with depression and an alcohol addiction. Early this month he was hospitalised for routine checks, but 3 weeks ago he underwent emergency surgery for a blood clot in his brain. Diego Armando Maradona will be remembered as the footballer who scored some of the greatest goals in history. He played for Argentina for 17 years (1977-1994), scored 50 goals in 115 games and won his country its second World Cup in 1986. He retired from football at the age of 37. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)