Radio România Internațional

Tag: Stock Exchange

  • December 11, 2024

    December 11, 2024

    Schengen – The full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area from January 1 will be on the agenda of Thursday’s meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council. Austria has recently announced that it will give up its right of veto that blocked the Schengen accession of the two countries with land borders as well. The argument was that the Austrian authorities’ insistence on combating illegal immigration led to a decrease in the number of migrants intercepted near the border of Austria with Hungary, the most frequent entry route into the country. The only uncertain thing is the maintenance, after January 1, of controls at the land borders between Hungary and Romania and between Romania and Bulgaria for a period of at least six months. These controls would be necessary to mitigate a possible change in migratory routes and to prevent any serious threat to public order or internal security. We remind you that Romania and Bulgaria partially joined Schengen with air and sea borders at the end of March.

     

    Inflation – The annual inflation rate rose, in November, to 5.11%, from 4.67% in October, as the price of foods and non-foods rose by over 5%, and services by over 7%, show data published by the National Institute of Statistics. The National Bank of Romania has revised upward, to 4.9%, from 4% previously, the inflation forecast for the end of 2024. The national bank also anticipates that inflation will reach 3.5% at the end of 2025.

     

    Stock exchange – The Bucharest Stock Exchange closed Tuesday’s session with all indices rising for the third consecutive day. The main index, BET, which includes the 20 most traded listed companies, grew by almost 1%. The Bucharest Stock Exchange has announced that it is exploring the options of establishing a stock exchange in Chişinău, in order to build a robust capital market in the neighboring state. Thus, the aim is to stimulate bilateral cooperation and a wider access to financing for companies from the Republic of Moldova, which, together with those from Romania, will become regional leaders over time.

     

    Negotiations – In Romania, the Social Democratic Party – PSD and the National Liberal Party – PNL (in the current governing coalition), Save Romania Union – USR, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR and the group of national minorities have agreed to jointly form a government and a pro-European parliamentary majority. The four parties and the national minorities, which together hold about two-thirds of the Legislature, will work on a common governing program based on development and reforms aimed at reducing public expenses and bureaucracy in the administration. They also agreed to increase the current pace of investments and reforms from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Regarding the presidential election, the pro-European parties have pledged to support a possible common candidate.

     

    NATO – Romania remains firmly committed to the assumed Euro-Atlantic path, and the decision to make our own contribution to strengthening security in the region remains solid, the Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, said. Together with the ambassador of the United States in Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, he visited the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base (south-east), where he met with a delegation made up of defense attachés from NATO member countries, accredited in Bucharest, and with the allied military who carry out their activity there. (LS)

  • December 20, 2018

    December 20, 2018

    PARLIAMENT The Parliament of Romania is today debating and voting on the second no-confidence motion against the Government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, and headed by Viorica Dăncila. According to the Opposition, the current Cabinet is a threat to Romanias national interests, to its economic and political stability. The authors of the motion criticise the laws on the judiciary and claim the Prime Minister failed to comply with the governing programme undertaken at the start of her term. In reply, the PM claimed that the alternative the Opposition offers to citizens is to suspend income increases and even to slash salaries and pensions. Viorica Dancila also defended the justice laws, emphasising that they were endorsed by Parliament, rather than by an emergency decree as it was the case with the Ciolos Cabinet. Initiated by the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the Peoples Movement Party and unaffiliated MPs, the document was signed by 163 MPs, but needs 233 votes in order to pass. Yesterday the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania announced that its MPs would attend the meeting, but would abstain from voting.



    STOCK EXCHANGE The Association of Capital Market Professionals says the prospective endorsement of a recent government decree on fiscal and budgetary measures is the most brutal and irrational attack against the Romanian capital market since its re-establishment in 1995. The Bucharest Stock Exchange opened on a slight increase today, but plunged back down, after experiencing its worst day so far on Wednesday. Substantial losses were reported by banks and energy and utilities companies, after on Tuesday the Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici announced that by the end of the year a government decree would be passed introducing certain fiscal and budgetary measures. These include a so-called “tax on greed charged on banking revenues, and a package concerning energy companies, such as a 3% of turnover contribution, a cap on natural gas prices and electricity price control. The business community in Romania warned against the negative effects of the new taxes announced by the Government for 2019. President Klaus Iohannis urged the Cabinet to reconsider the decree, to negotiate it with employers and trade unions and to endorse a more sustainable version after thorough analysis and review.



    EU The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, receives in Bucharest on Friday the Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council. Romania will symbolically take over the presidency of the EU Council, which it will hold as of January 1. The 2 officials will discuss the priorities on the European agenda, such as the future of the Union, the EU budget after 2020, Brexit, and the elections for the European Parliament. On Wednesday in a meeting with the EU ambassadors to Bucharest, President Klaus Iohannis said Romanias goal during its presidency of the EU Council is to begin as soon as possible the negotiations on the future relations between the Union and Britain, if the withdrawal agreement is ratified by London and approved by the European Parliament. Iohannis also said that Romania supports a stronger European Union, which is closer to its citizens and able to guarantee their security and prosperity. He also emphasised the importance of the informal meeting of European leaders in Sibiu on May 9, 2019, when the EU strategic agenda for 2019-2024 will be discussed.



    JUDICIARY Romanias supreme court suspended the serving of prison sentences received by several high-level officials under corruption charges. Among them are the former chief of the anti-terrorism and anti-mafia directorate Alina Bica, who requested asylum in Costa Rica, the former head of the tax authority, Serban Pop, and former Social Democratic ministers and MPs Dan Şova and Constantin Niţă. They have been released, until final rulings are passed on their appeals. The argument put forth for the suspension of their sentences was that the membership of the 5-judge panels passing the rulings had not been correct. The supreme court held drawing of lots sessions for the 5-judge panels 3 times this year, when the Law on the organisation of courts was modified, further to a Constitutional Court decision, at the request of the Government and following an objection by the Social Democratic Party president Liviu Dragnea, who is tried for corruption at the Bucharest Court of Appeals.



    COMMEMORATION Sirens sounded for 3 minutes in Timisoara today, in memory of the day of December 20, 1989, when Timisoara was proclaimed the first city free from communism in Romania. The largest plants went on strike back then, and workers gathered in the city centre, alongside tens of thousands of other locals. The Army withdrew from streets, the protesters who had been arrested were released, and the peoples demands were read out from the famous Opera House balcony. Also on December 20, the first revolutionary committee, called The Romanian Democratic Front, was set up. Members of the families of the Timisoara victims are traveling to Bucharest today to commemorate one of the most important events in modern Romanian history. They will arrive at the place where the bodies of 44 Timisoara heroes, shot dead on December 17, were cremated. The uprising that started in Timisoara spread on December 21 to Bucharest and other Romanian cities. Over 1,000 people died and some 3,000 others were wounded in the shootings in Romania, the only Eastern Bloc country where the communist regime was toppled violently and where the communist leaders were executed.



    FOOTBALL Romanias national football team will end the year on the 24th position in the ranking that FIFA made public on Thursday. Romania started the year on the 40th place. This years 24th place is the best ranking Romanias football team has held since 2016. The teams future opponents in the EURO 2020 qualifiers are Spain, in 9th place, Sweden – 14, Norway – 46, Faeroe – 98, and Malta – 182.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • April 11, 2017

    April 11, 2017

    STOCK EXCHANGE — The Bucharest Stock Exchange has today launched an Internet platform, which is to offer the amplest information on the shares listed. Under the name InvestingRomania.com the platform will include information about 13 major companies on Romania’s capital market. Published data will come from several sources, including a press agency as well as analyses and estimates by financial pundits, current and periodical reports sent to the stock exchange. Users will also get access to a platform which will allow for the selection of portfolios on the basis of two types of indicators – of transactions and financial.



    ANTI-GRAFT Anti-corruption prosecutors in Romania have ordered restrictions for 60 days against former tennis player Dinu Pescariu and businessman Claudiu Florica for abuse of office in the so-called Microsoft 2 file. At the same time the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) has sent to the general prosecutor a request from Romania’s president concerning the penal prosecution of Gabriel Sandu who was communication minister at the time. According to prosecutors, the two have allegedly paid over 2 million euros to Sandu through a businessman to ease a public bid. The prejudice in the Microsoft 2 file stays at roughly 51 million euros. In October 2016 Sandu got a prison sentence in the Microsoft 1 file, one of Romania’s biggest corruption rows with 60 million euros in bribes and 27 million euros in prejudices to the state.



    DRAFT — Romanian MPs are today debating and voting on a draft law on decriminalizing the conflict of interests through Penal Code amendments. The draft stipulates that unless a public interest prejudice is done, the hiring of a relative or person, the public servant was in a job relation with, is no longer considered a crime. We recall the Chamber of Deputies is a decision-making forum in Romania. Romanian MPs have recently passed an amendment to the law on the status of deputies and senators through which they have obtained a Penal Code derogation. Under that amendment the hiring to the cabinets of people with whom the former worked in the past five years is no longer a conflict of interests.



    G7 — Foreign Ministers from G7 countries have convened in the Italian city of Lucca in an attempt to adopt a common stand over the Syrian conflict. The summit is also being attended by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson who is later expected to fly to Moscow in a bid to convince Russia to cease its support to president Bashar al-Assad. The move comes after the USA on Friday launched missiles against a Syrian government air base in response to a gas attack that killed 89 people in the country’s northwest, an attack that Washington blames on the government troops. Damascus has denied any allegations.



    NATO Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has sent a letter to Parliament asking MPs to respond to a NATO request and endorse the setting up of a counterintelligence unit on the Romanian territory. The new structure will be carrying out its activity within the Command of the Multinational Division Southeast in Bucharest. Romania already hosts two NATO structures founded following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. According to the allies, such a unit would become useful in the context of the challenges NATO is currently facing. The unit will be supporting NATO structures and troops with information over alleged espionage or sabotage acts coming from some hostile forces. The decision on setting up the unit comes against the intense preparations Romania is seeing for the upcoming large-scale NATO exercise the country has hosted so far. According to the US ambassador in Bucharest the event will be attended by 30 thousand military from several allied countries.