August 1, 2023 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 01.08.2023, 20:00
FOODSTUFFS The markup for 14 categories of
foodstuffs is curbed for a limited period of three months under a
government order passed in late June. Prices for dairy products, meat,
vegetable and fruit are therefore expected to go down. Farmers will not have to
set a cap on prices, government officials say. Failure to observe the new
legislation will incur fines up to EUR 400,000.
VEHICLES The local segment of the car
scrapping programme Rablaˮ started in Romania, in an effort to get
heavily polluting vehicles out of circulation. Apart from the funds provided by
the Environment Ministry, local authorities contribute 20% of the vouchers
granted to citizens who de-register cars older than 15 years. In a first stage
in April, town halls enrolled in this programme, and between August 1 and 31
citizens may apply for the funds available in the programme. The number of
beneficiaries for each administrative unit was set according to its population.
The programme was originally scheduled for 2022, but it was postponed several
times.
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 a 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.
FORESTS The surface areas in Romania where forest
clearing is banned will be increased approx. 10 fold, to nearly half of
Romania’s forests, the environment minister Mircea Fechet announced at a press
conference releasing the new draft Forestry Code for public consultation. The
document will enable the government to take over the task of reforesting land
that has been cleared and subsequently abandoned by its owners. Concurrently,
the Criminal Code will also be amended, to include penalties of up to 5 years
of imprisonment for false statements concerning the transport of wood. Vehicles
that carry wood illegally will also be seized. An updated Forestry Code is
necessary given the infringement procedure initiated by the European Commission
against Romania for failure to meet its environment protection obligations. Critics
warn however that the bill might have the exact opposite effect to the desired
one.
TENNIS Romania currently has 4 athletes among
the WTA top 100 players. Sorana Cîrstea stays on the 32nd position
and Irina Begu on 41st. Ana Bogdan has lost 8 places and currently
ranks 47th. Simona Halep, who was provisionally suspended after
testing positive for a prohibited substance at the US Open in 2022, dropped 2
places, to 56. In the doubles ranking, Gabriela Ruse and Monica Niculescu keep
their positions as 39th and 48th players in the world,
respectively. (AMP)
