Radio România Internațional

Tag: support for Moldova

  • July 15, 2022

    July 15, 2022

    GOVERNMENT – The Government today adopted
    new amendments to the Fiscal Code. Following a series of talks with social
    partners, employers, trade unions and representatives of local officials, the
    Ministry of Finance has operated a number of changes to the Fiscal Code. The
    Ministry accepted the employers’ proposal that hospitality companies may opt
    between paying regular taxes or the tax on profits starting January 1, 2023.
    Another modification is linked to lowering taxes on betting revenues and the
    elaboration of a separate bill on amending the legislation regarding the
    organization and monetization of games of chance. In the case of property
    taxes, the new bill stipulates that the tax is calculated based on older
    records kept by local authorities whenever notary grids provide for values that
    are lower compared to those used so far.




    COVID – Over 4,100 new cases of
    COVID-19 and 3 related deaths were reported within the space of 24 hours,
    health authorities announced on Friday. Most new cases are reported in
    Bucharest and Ilfov County. Some 1,700 people are treated for COVID in
    hospitals across the country, 101 of whom in intensive care. Since the start of
    the pandemic, over 65 thousand people have died to the virus in Romania.




    LAWS – Two new bills on secondary and
    higher education have been submitted for public debate in Romania. Education
    Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu says the modifications are designed to radically reform
    the system and that they are the results of the project Educated Romania
    launched by president Klaus Iohannis. Over 10,000 education experts have
    contributed to the elaboration of this project.




    VISIT – Germany’s Foreign Minister,
    Annalena Baerbock on Friday said that the Republic of Moldova ‘is not alone’,
    announcing an additional financial assistance package worth 77 million EUR for
    this country. Minister Baerbock is paying a state visit to Romania, attending the
    second ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform in Bucharest,
    alongside her Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, and France’s Secretary of
    State for Development, La Francophonie and International Partnerships,
    Chrysoula Zacharopoulou. In turn, Minister Aurescu underscored the importance
    of providing Moldova with direct grants, saying that every day the war
    generates shockwaves beyond the borders of Ukraine. In turn, Moldova’s
    president, Maia Sandu, pointed out in her address on the sidelines of the
    conference that it is important to know that we’re not alone, that we can rely
    on you. Moldova is a small country, and the scale of the current developments exceeds
    its capacity to cope with the situation. Also today, Minister Annalena Baerbock will pay a visit to the city of
    Constanța (southeast), where she will meet local officials and
    representatives of German businesses to discuss the Ukrainian grain exports.




    BLUE AIR – The National Consumer
    Protection Authority (ANPC) has handed a 2-million-EUR fine to the Romanian
    low-cost flight operator Blue Air, which cancelled over 11 thousand flights
    over April 30, 2021 – April 30, 2022, also forcing the company to return the
    money to its clients within ten days for every flight cancelled. During this
    period, Blue Air received payments worth 13.4 million EUR from clients from 20
    EU Member States. ANPC has recommended consumers to be extremely vigilant and
    avoid purchasing tickets from airlines that cancelled a large number of flights
    in the past and that failed to observe passenger rights. On the other hand,
    ANPC has issued warnings to other airline companies that cancelled flights or
    reported delays during the aforementioned period, with no regard whatsoever to
    passenger rights. This is the biggest fine ever awarded to an economic
    operator, ANPC officials say.




    WAR IN UKRAINE – A national day of
    mourning is today observed in Vinnytsia, Western Ukraine, after a Russian
    missile attack killed at least 23 people on Thursday. Over 100 people were
    wounded and dozens are missing. Two missiles launched from a submarine in the
    Black Sea hit buildings in central Vinnytsia, the blast damaging scores of
    nearby buildings. The UN Secretary General, Antoniu Guterres, and the EU High
    Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, have expressed their shock
    with Russia’s latest aggression. The attack was carried out just ahead of a new
    conference of the International Criminal Court designed to investigate Russia’s
    war crimes in Ukraine. The city of Mykolaiv in the south was also hit by
    missiles. Several buildings were shelled, including two schools and a hotel.
    Hostilities continue in the northeast as well. In the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian
    forces are facing attacks from multiple directions, but have so far been
    successful in preventing the Russians from advancing. In Donbas too, attacks
    have been reported in the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, where Russian
    forces are hitting rail infrastructure to cut off weapon supplies. (VP)



  • July 26, 2021 UPDATE

    July 26, 2021 UPDATE


    COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – 84 new infections and 2 related fatalities were reported on Monday in Romania. 38 people are now in intensive care, while experts say the fourth wave of the pandemic is by now inevitable. The National Institute for Public Health expects the rate of infection to exceed 1,500 cases per day by mid-September. Health Minister Ioana Mihăilă warned that unvaccinated people pose the highest risk of infection. As regards immunization, over 14,000 people have taken the anti-COVID jab in the last 24 hours. Some 4.8 million people have completed the full vaccination scheme since the start of the vaccination campaign.




    PHARMA – The competition between pharmaceutical companies to develop an anti-Covid oral medicine intensifies. A Japanese company has already started clinical trials and enters the race alongside Pfizer or Merck Sharp & Dohme. The pill developed by the Japanese company should be taken once a day and should neutralize the virus within ten days from infection. American laboratories Pfizer and MSD are in a more advanced stage of this process. Pfizer announced that its oral medicine, to be administered twice a day, could reach the market this year. On the other hand, the Israeli Health Ministry announced a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer -BioNTech vaccine in preventing symptomatic Covid infections, but said this vaccine is still highly effective in preventing severe forms of the disease. The Delta strain of Covid-19 has become dominant in Israel where a third dose of the vaccine is already being administered to people with low immunity, people who underwent organ transplant and to patients under chemotherapy. Across the world at least 194 million people have been infected with COVID-19, and there are more than 4.1 million related casualties, according to worldometers.info.




    JRC – The feeling of loneliness doubled across the EU during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, reads a report of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. According to the report, loneliness increased four times for peopled aged 18-35 compared to 2016. Whereas in 2016 some 12% of EU citizens said they felt lonely half the time, the share went up 25% in the first months of the pandemic. Loneliness increased by less than 10% in Romania over April-July 2020.




    EDUCATION – Romanian Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu said that physical presence in school is necessary for students to catch up with what they missed when classes were held mostly online, due to the pandemic. Cimpeanu has said in a news conference that he is confident a prospective fourth wave of the pandemic will not be as aggressive as to disrupt classes that start in autumn. According to the minister, around 60% of the teaching staff have been vaccinated and the figure is higher in the case of university professors.




    SUPPORT – Romania granted 300,000 Euro to the Republic of Moldova for the consolidation of civil society and the independence of the media. The announcement was made by the Romanian Foreign Ministry on Monday, which specified that the move comes after a decision in this respect had been taken last week by Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu during an official visit to Chisinau. A similar contribution, of 250 thousand Euro, was made in November 2020. On this occasion, the Romanian Foreign Ministry reiterates the countrys strong commitment to supporting Moldovas European path.




    OLYMPICS – Boxer Maria Claudia Nechita on Monday advanced to the quarterfinals in the 54-57-kg category after ousting Somalias Ramla Said Ahmed Ali on points, 5-0. Nechita thus secured the first win in womens boxing at the Olympics. In the next stage she will go up against Sena Irie of Japan on July 28. A win would secure a medal. The womens double scull crew and the mens four crew have qualified to the A final to be held on July 28. So far, Romania has scooped only one medal in this years edition, the silver won by Ana-Maria Popescu in the womens epee event.




    HEAT WAVE – A heat wave will grip Romania this week, and temperatures will increase gradually to exceed 40 degrees Centigrade locally, meteorologists have warned. Thermal discomfort will spike during this period. Minimums will not drop below 20 degrees at night. (VP)