July 25, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 25.07.2022, 13:43

Drought.
Drought has affected 106,389 hectares of land in Romania, according to figures
published by the agriculture ministry. The southern counties of Teleorman, Olt
and Dolj have run out of water for irrigation because of the significant drop
in the Danube’s river flow, agriculture minister Petre Daea announced on social
media. Waters have retreated so much that they no longer reach the pumping
stations feeding the irrigation system, with part of the Danube’s bed now looking
like sandy beach. In the areas where irrigation was used, the state of the
crops is good. Daea said the authorities are speeding up investment works to
rehabilitate the national irrigation network and to bring Danube water closer
to pumping stations. The minister recently said there is no reason yet to
declare a state of disaster over the drought.

Covid-19.
Covid infections are on the rise in Romania. 4,000 new cases were reported
yesterday, which is almost twice as much as a week ago. A third of new cases
were recorded in Bucharest, with Ilfov and Constanţa counties next in terms of
number of new infections. Almost 3,000 Covid patients are receiving hospital
treatment, including 180 in intensive care, most of them unvaccinated. Four
related deaths were also recorded, including two in persons under 60.

Energy. More than 3,500 MW of renewable energy will be installed in
Romania in the coming period, both solar, using photovoltaic panels, and
wind-generated, according to data provided by a consultancy firm in the field.
Almost 700 such projects have been submitted on the platform made available by
the energy ministry to receive funding under the recovery and resilience plan.
The secretary general of the employers’ association in the field of renewable
energy Mihai Verşescu said investment is needed in this sector, but that
business people are reluctant because of frequent legislative changes. He
emphasised that while funding sources are available, legislation is needed to
ensure predictability.

Employment. Five out of ten Romanian employees changed their jobs in the
last two years, according to a poll published by an online recruitment
platform. Many job applicants look for less stressful jobs and more benefits.
Four out of ten people who change their jobs were driven by higher pay, 27% because
they had lost their jobs a result of a wave of redundancies, and 3% because
their employers did not agree to their working remotely. 35% of respondents
said they are currently looking and applying for new jobs and only 21% are
completely satisfied with their current jobs. In conclusion, Romanians seeking
new employment want better pay, the possibility to work from home, more
additional benefits besides their wages and the possibility to relocate abroad.

Tennis.
The Romanian tennis player Irina Begu won the WTA 250 tournament in Palermo,
Italy, worth 200,000 US dollars in prize money. In Sunday’s final, she
defeated Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in
straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. This is Begu’s fifth WTA title, having also won in
Tashkent in 2012, Seoul in 2015, Florianopolis in 2016 and Bucharest in 2017.
Begu also played the finals in Budapest, Marbella, Moscow and Cleveland. She is
31 years old and is ranked 45th in the world. Until now, Irina
Spârlea had been the only Romanian player to win the singles title in Palermo,
in 1994 and 1995. (CM)