January 30, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 30.01.2025, 14:15
A roundup of local and international news.
BUDGET – Romania’s draft state budget for 2025 will be finalized today. On Saturday it will be approved by the Government and next week by Parliament, Finance Minister Tanczos Barna announced. He said that the budget includes money for investment in infrastructure and for the payment of salaries and pensions, at the level of November 2024. The budget will be built on a deficit of no more than 7% of the Gross Domestic Product. The funds allocated to the Presidential Administration, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies will be smaller and the budgets of some ministries, such as Environment, Health, Education or Transport, will increase.
ENERGY – Bucharest’s Energy Minister, Sebastian Burduja, has announced that the Court rejected Greenpeace’s request to suspend the work on the Black Sea gas exploitation. He said that this is a victory for Romania’s energy independence and that the strategic project that Greenpeace tried to block in court will double Romanian gas production, create jobs and bring over 20 billion euros to the budget. Moreover, the gas from the Black Sea will ensure a more stable and lower price for Romanians, and Romania will become a regional energy supplier. Last year, Greenpeace requested in Court the suspension of the environmental agreement for the Neptun Deep project, due to concerns related to environmental protection, climate change and compliance with legislation. Neptun Deep is owned in equal shares by OMV Petrom company and the state owned company Romgaz. Production will be approximately 8 billion cubic meters annually for approximately 10 years.
EVACUATION – Numerous Romanians, employed by a private military company operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), crossed the border into neighboring Rwanda on Wednesday to surrender to the authorities there, sources in Kigali said, quoted by international news agencies. The Romanians had been hired to fight alongside the Congolese army in the conflict that opposes it to the M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda, in the Goma region. The Rwandan Ministry of Defense confirmed their surrender and spoke of “280 Romanian mercenaries” being evacuated by buses to the capital, Kigali.
CRASH – An American Airlines passenger plane and a US military Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the Potomac River after a mid-air collision near Reagan Washington National Airport, US officials said, quoted by international news agencies. According to Washington media, several bodies were pulled from the water and no survivors were found. American Airlines said there were 64 people on board the plane – 60 passengers and four crew members. Three military personnel were on board the helicopter. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis sent a message of solidarity, to the American people. “Our thoughts go out to the families of the victims”, Iohannis wrote on platform X.
FOOTBALL – Romanian football champion FCSB and the famous English team Manchester United will meet on Thursday evening at the National Arena in Bucharest, in the eighth and final round of the main phase of the Europa League. United is in fourth place in the standings, with 15 points, and FCSB is in eighth place, with 14 points. The top eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9-24 must get past the the play-off to advance to the round of 16.
RUGBY – The Romanian national rugby team will make their debut on Friday evening in Bucharest, in a match against Germany, in the 2025 edition of the Rugby Europe Championship. The Romanians will also play against Belgium, on February 8, away, in Mons, and Portugal, on February 15, at home, in Botoşani (northeast). Romania can secure direct qualification for the Rugby World Cup in Australia, if it finishes the championship in one of the first two places of the group. With one exception, Romania has participated in all the world final tournaments.
