August 11, 2022 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 11.08.2022, 20:14
Agriculture – In Romania, wheat crops are affected by the drought on an area of over 180,000 hectares, while the total affected area reached on Thursday almost 330,000 hectares in three quarters of the counties, according to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development . The line minister, Petre Daea, announced that this years wheat production is by 15% – 18% smaller than that recorded in 2021. According to the agriculture minister, there is enough wheat to cover Romanias internal needs, namely 2.5 – 3 million tons, and even to ensure a surplus for export.
Fire – Romania will provide emergency external humanitarian aid to France to extinguish the devastating forest fires there, and a ground intervention module is going to be sent. 7 firefighting officers and 70 non-commissioned officers as well as 17 pieces of equipment have been mobilized. The aid will be granted based on the request for international assistance made by the French government, through the European Civil Protection Mechanism. The module will be transported by two C17 planes, which will pick up the components from Bucharest and Timisoara. The two aircraft are from the Papa Air Base in Hungary, a NATO structure that provides strategic air transport capabilities. They will be used with the support of the Romanian Defense Ministry, using the flight resources intended for it. Similar aid by Romania was granted to Greece.
Refugees – The number of Ukrainian citizens with employment contracts in Romania has reached almost 6,500, said the labor minister, Marius Budăi. More than 4,000 contracts were registered after the start of the war. Most are in the manufacturing industry, and also in constructions, hotels, restaurants and trade. More than a quarter of Ukrainians, over 1,200, opted for jobs in Bucharest. On the other hand, the Border Police announced that, on Wednesday, about 13,500 Ukrainian citizens crossed the border into Romania. Starting from February 10 (pre-conflict period), until August 9, almost 1.9 million refugees entered the country, but most of them only transited Romania to other European countries.
Covid – Almost 6,500 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections have been registered in the last 24 hours in Romania, over 800 less than the previous day, the Romanian Health Ministry announced on Thursday. About a fifth of the new cases are in re-infected patients. About 300 people are in intensive care. In the last 24 hours, 29 Covid patients have died.
Inflation – The annual inflation rate in Romania dropped to 14.96% in July this year, from 15.1% in June – the National Institute of Statistics announced on Thursday. Natural gas, oil, potatoes and fuel are at the top of the price hikes in July, followed by energy, plane tickets, flour and corn flour. Telephony services are the only ones that got slightly cheaper, the rest of the products and services registering price increases. According to the data presented, on Tuesday, by the Central Bank governor, Mugur Isărescu, the National Bank of Romania increased the inflation forecast for the end of this year to 13.9% and estimates an inflation rate of 7.5% for the end of next year. (LS)
