October 22, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 22.10.2014, 12:15
In the near future Romania will no longer be dependent on gas imports, which dropped from 35% several years ago to 10% this year, head of the National Energy Regulatory Authority, Niculae Havrilet said on Wednesday. He also said that in the month of November, Romania’s gas imports would account for 2%, way below the level of 20 to 40% in previous years. Havrilet pointed out that in September the Government in Bucharest decided to maintain the price of domestic natural gas and postpone, until 2021, the liberalisation of the natural gas market for domestic consumers.
WTA 4th ranked Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Wednesday defeated Serena Williams of the United States, 6-nil, 6-2, as part of the Red Group of the Champions’ Tournament in Singapore. In the first match, Halep grabbed a win over Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, while Williams knocked out Ana Ivanovic. Halep has thus qualified to the semi-finals of the tournament. Simona Halep’s wins in the Doha and Bucharest tournaments, as well as the Madrid and Roland Garros finals and the semi-final in Wimbledon have allowed her to play in this tournament. She is the third Romanian to take part in this competition after Virginia Ruzici in 1983 and 1984 and Irina Spirlea in 1998.
The Romanian Anti-Corruption Directorate is investigating a former communication minister, Adriana Ticau, involved in the Microsoft file. Ticau, who was a government minister in 2004, is suspected of abuse of office, bribe taking, influence peddling and money laundering. The case refers to the purchase of IT licenses for Romanian schools. According to prosecutors, a number of former ministers with several different governments unlawfully signed and extended contracts at prices increased artificially.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta had a telephone conversation with US vice-president Joseph Biden on the strategic partnership between the two countries and hot topics on the international security agenda. According to a Government press release, Ponta and Biden have tackled the developments in Afghanistan and the preparation of NATO’s “Resolute Support” Operation, which will replace ISAF operations as of 2015. Victor Ponta reiterated that Romania is and will be the US’s trusted, strategic partner.
Romanian authorities issued in 2013 over 11 thousand residence permits to non-EU citizens, the EU’s Statistical Office, Eurostat, announced. Romania is one of the countries with a small number of non-EU residents, with only 6 residents per thousand inhabitants. Most of them came from the Republic of Moldova, Syria and Turkey. Most residence permits were issued for study and for family issues. More than 2.3 million first residence permits were issued in the EU28 in 2013.
MEPs have voted by a large majority in support of the new European Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker. The vote went 423 for, 209 against and there were 67 abstentions. It means the Commission can take office next month. The new Commission will start its activity as of November 1st. Romania’s representative in the new Commission is Corina Cretu, who took over the regional policy portfolio.
