Radio România Internațional

Tag: sector

  • July 1, 2022 UPDATE

    July 1, 2022 UPDATE

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


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


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


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


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

  • רובע 4 של בוקרשט אטרקטיבי לרשויות ומשקיעים בישראל

    רובע 4 של בוקרשט אטרקטיבי לרשויות ומשקיעים בישראל

    ראש עיריית רובע 4 בבוקרשט, DANIEL BALUTA, ושגריר ישראל ברומניה, דוד סרגא, ביקרו באתרי הבנייה של העירייה .



    הם ביקרו באתר הבנייה של תחנת המטרו החדשה “טודור ארגזי”, ולאחר מכן ביקרו בבית החולים לרפואת שיניים הראשון שבונים ברומניה ב -50 השנים האחרונות, פרוייקט משותף שפותח על ידי העירייה רובע 4 והאוניברסיטה לרפואה ורוקחות קרול דבילה.



    אני שמח שהמאמצים שאנו עושים ברובע 4 בשנים האחרונות רלוונטיים כעת גם לקהילת העסקים הבינלאומית. ניצלנו את העובדה ששגריר ישראל ברומניה בחר לבקר בקהילה שלנו וביקשנו ממנו לתמוך בנו על מנת לזהות אפשרויות השקעה ישראליות ברובע 4. אנו זקוקים למומחים ישראלים בתחומים מרכזיים בהם השקענו כגון סמארט-סיטי, תשתיות כבישים או תשתיות רפואיות וחינוכיות, אמר ראש עיריית הרובע.



    ביוני הגיעה לרומניה משלחת של אנשי עסקים שליוותה את נשיא ישראל לשעבר, ראובן ריבלין, בביקורו הממלכתי ברומניה. אז הם ביקרו גם ברובע 4 כדי ללמוד מקרוב את פתרונות העיר החכמה המיושמת בהצלחה. היום, שגריר ישראל, דוד סרנגה, שוב הצביע על התענינות קהילת העסקים הישראלית למימוש פרויקטים משותפים אמר ראש העיר בלוטה.



    בחרנו להעמיק את הקשר עם רובע 4, מכיוון ששמנו לב שכאן ראש העירייה ומשרד ראש העיר השקיעו בתחומים חשובים, כמו סמארט-סיטי, תחבורה ובריאות, תחומים בהם יש לישראל מומחיות וטכנולוגיה חדשה, שיכול להביא ערך מוסף לפרויקטים שבפיתוח. אני מבטיח לך כבוד ראש העיר שיש לך שותף בישראל וכי ביחד נוכל לבנות עתיד משותף, שיתוף פעולה ארוך טווח, אמר דוד סרנגה.

  • Changes in labour legislation

    Changes in labour legislation

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

  • Aid for the hospitality industry

    Aid for the hospitality industry

    Heavily hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, Romanias hospitality sector is hoping to recover this year. The Hospitality Employers Federation has recently asked the right-of-centre coalition government in Bucharest to disregard infection rates in this sector as of 1 June, given that by that date 90% of the staff will have been immunised and around 5 million people will have received vaccines nation-wide.



    According to the Federation president, Corina Macri, the hospitality industry is at a turning point: “after authorities failed to support the sector following the lockdown and arbitrarily restricted our activity for a year, it is very important for the business environment that the reopening be conducted in the best conditions, she said.



    In this respect, apart from decoupling the reopening from infection rate requirements, the Hospitality Employers Federation has also suggested a number of protection measures. These include, among others, shorter opening hours for indoor and outdoor restaurants and bars, 50% occupancy rates or a cap on the number of people seated at a table at 6. The organisation also suggests strict guidelines for the operation of hospitality businesses during the pandemic, with the Federation undertaking to communicate them to all stakeholders and to firmly recommend their implementation.



    Another proposal is to reintroduce a financial support measure, under which the government covered 41.5% of the gross salary of former employees who are re-hired after they have been idled. Employers also want a salary tax facility or an increase in the minimum wages in the sector.



    The Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Ministry has already announced drafting an order under which over 73,000 companies in the hospitality sector across the country, whose operation has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, may benefit from a state-aid scheme. The draft order, which is currently under public debate, earmarks 500 million euro for this scheme, with the money coming from national public funds, foreign funding or both.



    The scheme will run until the end of the year, with payments to be finalised by the end of June 2021, within budgetary constraints. The ceiling for the state aid to be provided to each beneficiary is 800,000 euro, the document posted by the ministry also reads. (tr. A.M. Popescu)