1 August, 2018
Swine flu affects Romanian farmers; Romanian consumers pay more for natural gas
Roxana Vasile, 01.08.2018, 13:00
BUCHAREST – The authorities in Bucharest present today new measures to combat African swine flu, which has been affecting Romania this summer. New measures will be taken after a government meeting attended by eight ministers, the head of the Emergency Department, and public health officials. According to a tally issued a few days ago, over 440 infection points have been identified. 99% of the cases were in household raised pigs, and two in pig farms. The first payments to owners have been issued, worth over 130,000 lei, the equivalent of about 28,000 Euro. The payments are reimbursements for culled pigs, as well as collateral losses. The swine flu was discovered in Romania last summer, but it reemerged two months ago. The disease does not affect people, but it has a high social and economic impact.
BUCHAREST — Natural gas for consumers goes up in price 5.85% starting August 1, according to the National Energy Regulatory Agency. This is the third price hike for home consumers this year. Starting on April 1 2017, the price of gas for domestic consumption was liberalized, with producers no longer being state regulated in terms of prices. The agency issued calculations showing that between 2013 and March 2019 gas prices go up almost 76%.
OSCARS – Radu Judes movie I dont care if we go down in history as men is Romanias entry to the 2019 Oscars in the foreign film category. The film is a behind the scenes look at a historical reconstruction of the battle of Odessa in WWII as a street performance. This is Radu Judes sixth feature length movie, and was dubbed by international critics as a smart alarm signal regarding populism, a challenging, sarcastic and crucial look into the past and the present, and a daring comedy drama. I dont care if we go down in history as men is Radu Judes second film submitted by Romania for the Oscars. The first was Aferim!, which ran in 2016.
UNTOLD – The Untold electronic music festival opens on Thursday in Cluj, in central Romania, lasting until August 5. Around 350,000 people are expected to attend it. The festival goers come from 75 countries, including New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Argentina, and Canada. In total, 10 stages have been set up this year, for the 250 artists performing, such as The Chainsmokers, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Tujamo and Afrojack. The authorities say that the security measures taken make this the safest festival in Europe. Along the four days of the festival, over 1,100 gendarmes, police, firefighters and medical staff will provide security and safety. 70 surveillance cameras will monitor the perimeter of the festival.
WORKERS — The General Inspectorate for Immigration in Romania issued in the first half of the year over 4,000 work permits for foreign citizens, more than twice the number in the same period last year. According to GII data published Tuesday, Romania hosts over 100,000 foreign citizens, most of them living in and around Bucharest, Timisoara, and Cluj. In terms of the highest numbers of citizens by country, top is Vietnam, followed by Turkey, China, Serbia, and Sri Lanka.
FOOTBALL — Romanian football champions CFR Cluj plays today away from home against Swedish side Malmo FF in the second preliminary round of the Champions League. In the first leg the Romanians lost at home nil-1. In the Europa League, on Thursday, also in the second preliminary round, Romanian vice-champions FCSB are playing the Slovenian team Rudar Valenje, after the former had defeated them last week 2-nil. In the same stage of the competition, Viitorul Constanta plays the Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem, after holding them to a 2-all tie. Romanian Cup holders CSU Craiova goes directly to the third round.
