August 1, 2023

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 01.08.2023, 13:55

MARKUP – The markup for 14 categories of foodstuffs is curbed for a
limited period of three months according to a government decree adopted in late
June. Prices for dairy products, meat, vegetable and fruit are therefore
expected to go down. Farmers will not be obliged to set a cap on prices,
government officials say. Failure to observe the new legislation will incur
fines up to 400,000 EUR.

CAR SCRAPPING – A new car scrapping scheme
was launched in Romania with a view to scrapping old vehicles owned by
individual car owners. Apart from the funds provided by the Environment
Ministry, accounting for 80% of the program’s budget, local authorities also
contribute 20%. Whereas the first phase in April was addressed to City Halls,
in the second phase individual car owners can apply. The deadline for
applications is set for August 31 or until the funds are depleted. The number
of beneficiaries was set according to the population of each administrative
unit. The program was supposed to kick off in 2022, but has been repeatedly
delayed.

3SI – Bucharest will host a new Summit
of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) on September 6, held under the high
patronage of president Klaus Iohannis. The summit will be followed by the 3SI
Business Forum. Attending will be Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciucă and Prime
Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The 3SI brings together 12 EU member states from the
Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and
Slovenia. Political and economic support for Ukraine will rank high on the
summit’s agenda.

BORDER POLICE – The Border Police
announced increased traffic on Romania’s borders despite additional measures to
ease traffic. The overcrowding of borders is owed to many Romanians in the
Diaspora coming home to spend their summer holidays with their families and
friends, while many Romanians choose holiday destinations abroad. The
authorities urge drivers to use all border crossing points. The Arad Border
Police spokesman Alexandru Dincă said that border police staff are working at
full capacity and additional control lanes have been added depending on the
dynamic of traffic flows. At the same time, mobile control stations will be
deployed in order to ensure optimal border crossing.

UNEMPLOYMENT – The unemployment rate
stood at 5.4% in June, down by 0.1% compared to May, the National Statistics
Institute reports. The number of unemployed stood at nearly 445 thousand in
June, a decrease also compared to the same period of 2022. Broken down in terms
of gender, the unemployment rate for men exceeded that of women by 0.8%. Youth
unemployment stands at some 22%.

JUSTICE – Justice Minister Alina
Gorghiu met with US Ambassador in Romania, Kathleen Kavalec. The agenda for
talks included bilateral judicial cooperation, combating human trafficking and
the digitization of the justice system in Romania. Minister Gorghiu said the
Strategic Partnership with the USA is key to promoting human rights and the
rule of law. The Romanian official hailed the good level of bilateral relations
in the justice field, and suggested new areas of cooperation, such as legal
education in Romanian schools. Alina Gorghiu highlighted the importance of a
predictable legislation for the development of the business sector and boosting
foreign direct investment in Romanian economy. The Romanian official expressed
Romania’s firm commitment to combat corruption and implement the
recommendations of the 2022 Rule of Law Report of the Venice Commission. With
regard to human trafficking, Alina Gorghiu said the Justice Ministry has
fulfilled its obligations as per the 2022 Report on Human Trafficking and other
country-specific reports in this field.

SPORT – Romanian athletes on Monday won
five medals – three gold, one silver and one bronze – at the Francophone Games
held in Kinshasa, Congo. In wrestling, our athletes scooped two gold medals,
one silver and one bronze. Romania’s table tennis team also won gold after
defeating Tunisia in the final. On Sunday, Romania grabbed three medals – two
gold and one silver – in the free wrestling competition. Romania thus ranks
first in the medal standings with 7 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze, followed by
Morocco and Cameroon. 57 Romanian athletes represent Romania at the 9th
edition of the Francophone Games in athletics, women’s basketball, free
wrestling, African wrestling, road bicycle racing, table tennis and judo. The
competition is hosted by Congo over July 28 – August 6. (VP)