August 1, 2017
Higher Defence Council discusses defense spending for upcoming decade; Simona Halep and Patricia Tig play in the WTA tournament
Daniela Budu, 01.08.2017, 14:09
DEFENSE — The Higher Defense Council meets today to plan defense spending in 2017-2026. The previous spending plan, submitted on 4th of July, was withdrawn because it did not take into account the 2% of the GDP commitment made in 2015 by all political parties for defense. Defense Minister Adrian Tutuianu submitted last week a revised version of the plan, which now includes that particular commitment, including eight investment programs worth over 100 Euros. Among them is the purchase of Patriot missiles and 36 F-16 fighter jets.
GRANTS — Limited liability companies and other types of companies may apply for grants worth 2.5 million Euro for producing ice cream, bread products, dairy products, and artisanal beer, through the Rural Development Program. The applications for financing and projects can be submitted on-line, between August 1- 31 October. The Ministry of the Business Environment will introduce by the half of August two new programs aimed at the business environment, one for commerce and another one for small industries.
HEALTH — Romania launches today the new European program to encourage healthier eating in schools, for which Romania will get 17 million Euro. EU authorities want to introduce the entire program starting this school year, allocating a total of 250 million Euro to promote healthy eating for children. Half of the amount goes towards fruits and vegetables, and the rest to milk, on condition no additional salt, sugar and fat be on the list of ingredients. Around 30 million European children have had the benefit of similar programs.
TENNIS- The world’s number two tennis player, Romanian Simona Halep, with a wild card, is today tanking on Sloane Stephens of the USA in the first round of the WTA tournament in Washington, a competition with 250,000 dollars in prize money. Another Romanian, Patricia Tig, will today be playing British Heather Watson; also on the main draw, Monica Niculescu from Romania is taking on Japanese Nao Hibino also today. In the men’s competition, Romanian Marius Copil has today qualified for the competition’s second round after securing a win against Sekou Bangoura of the United States. In the doubles, Dutch player Jean Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau from Romania will be playing a Bulgarian-French pair made up of Grigor Dimitrov and Lucas Pouille.
CHINA – PM Mihai Tudose discussed with the Ambassador of China to Bucharest, Xu Feihong, about several projects in railway and road infrastructure. One of these is a bridge over the Danube, at Braila, which is included in the National Transportation Masterplan and for which the invitation to tender has already been launched. Other projects include the building of a motorway connecting Bucharest to the Bulgarian capital city Sofia and the development of a high-speed rail network in a partnership with Bulgaria, Serbia, and possibly Greece. All these projects may receive EU funding and may be developed in a public-private partnership, in which Romania could benefit from the know-how of major Chinese construction companies.
