13 May, 2016 UPDATE

Prime minister Dacian Ciolos travels to the US on May 22-25. Romanias economy grew by 4.3% in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same period last year.

Newsroom, 13.05.2016, 12:15

President Klaus
Iohannis and prime minister Dacian Ciolos agreed on Friday on the need to amend
the public procurement law in the medical field as soon as possible to ensure a
more efficient control of the products purchased by hospitals. According to the
president’s office, standardising the procurement process will make sure that
hospitals are supplied with materials and equipment that do not pose a threat
to people’s health. Judicial sources said on Friday that charges were brought
against the Hexi Pharma company for foiling disease control and forging and
replacing food and other products. Recent controls carried out in Romanian
hospitals have confirmed revelations in the media that the substances supplied
by the company have a lower concentration than required. The health minister
has resigned over the scandal.

Prime minister
Dacian Ciolos will be travelling to the US between the 22nd and the
25th of May. According to a government release, he will have talks
with vice-president Joe Biden and other senior US officials, as well as with
business people and members of the Romanian community in the Washington area.
The purpose of his trip is to highlight the success of the Romanian-US
strategic partnership in the area of security and discuss economic aspects, the
government’s release also writes.

The speaker of the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest Valeriu Zgonea met the US ambassador in Romania Hans
Klemm. Talks focused on the bilateral strategic partnership and the fight
against corruption. The meeting came one day after the inauguration of the US
missile defence facility in Deveselu, southern Romania, which was attended by
ambassador Klemm.

Romania’s
economy grew by 4.3% in the first quarter of the year compared with the same
period last year, according to estimates published on Friday by the National
Institute for Statistics. Also, the country’s GDP went up by 1.6% compared with
the last quarter of last year. In its spring forecast, the European Commission
estimates that Romania’s economy will see a 4.2% growth rate in 2016 before
slowing down to 3.7% in 2017.

Sieranevada, the latest work from Romanian director Cristi
Puiu, which is vying for a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Festival, has been
described by the French magazine Le
Monde as a domestic
ballet, a symphony of movement, while the American Variety magazine wrote that Puiu is something
of a philosopher. In 2005, Cristi Puiu won the Un Certain Regard award in
Cannes for his dark comedy The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. On Sunday, another Romanian
production will compete in the Un Certain Regard section, the thriller Dogs,
from first-time director Bogdan Mirica. Five Romanian productions are in the
running in Cannes this year, including Graduation, by Palme d’Or
winner Cristian Mungiu. The film explores the challenges of being a parent in
Romanian society today.

Irina Begu of Romania has qualified for the semifinals of the
tennis tournament in Rome worth 2.6 million dollars in prize money. The Italian
Open is the last big competition ahead of Roland Garros. Begu defeated Misaki
Doi of Japan in straight sets. Last week at the Madrid Open, she reached as far
as the quarterfinals, where she lost to another Romanian player, Simona Halep.

The Romanian
high jumper Mihai Donisan and race walker Claudia Stef, who had qualified for
the Rio Olympics, tested positive for traces of meldonium, a substance banned
at the beginning of the year. Earlier, two other Romanian athletes, Eva Tofalvi
and Mirela Lavric had also failed the meldonium test, while rower Liviu
Dumitrescu, a European and world champion, last month tested positive for the
growth hormone. Dumitrescu says, however, that he has not taken any drugs and
that he will request to be tested again.

Indian food and culture will
be celebrated in Bucharest between May 15 and June 30 as part of the Namaste India festival. The event, held under the high patronage
of the Indian Embassy in Bucharest, is currently in its 8th year.
Its 6-week programme features film screenings, concerts, dance
performances, language classes, yoga sessions, exhibitions as well as
cooking demonstrations. All these events will be held at three locations in
Bucharest: the Elisabeta Theatre, the Elvira Popescu Cinema Hall and
the Dimitrie Gusti Village Museum. (Translated by: E. Enache and C. Mateescu)