August 17, 2023 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 17.08.2023, 19:10
TRAFFIC – Cargo traffic through the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa has reached almost 50 million tons in the first seven months of the year which is a record high. The grain trade accounted for 19 million tons, a quarter more than in the same period last year. Almost half of it is made with Ukraine. To facilitate the work, the Maritime Ports Administration will soon launch an IT application for booking road truck traffic, which will manage the flow of goods in real time. Since the beginning of the year, more than 385 thousand trucks have entered the port of Constanta.
MIGRANTS – More than 450 Ukrainian men have illegally crossed the border with Romania since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, to flee the war. Of these, 190 took refuge this year. The Ukrainians have either crossed the borders with Romania and the Republic of Moldova illegally, or they entered by corrupting customs officers and border policemen from Ukraine. The Romanian Border Police reported that the people were detected in Botoşani county (north-east) and requested a form of protection from the Romanian state, as a result of the fact that they are coming from a conflict zone. The border police notified the General Inspectorate for Immigration, and the persons in question were taken over by the Regional Accommodation Center for Asylum Seekers in Rădăuţi. After martial law was declared in the neighboring country, Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 no longer have the right to leave the national territory and are obliged to join the army the army, if necessary.
FUNDS – The Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism will grant non-refundable financing to people who want to invest in the infrastructure of Romanian spa and balneal resorts. Some 15 million lei have been allocated to the program for this year, approximately 3 million euros. Among the activities that will be financed are the expansion and modernization of accommodation facilities, public food and spa treatment, the purchase of equipment, furniture and specific medical equipment. The call for projects will be launched next month and registrations will be carried out exclusively online, on the turism.gov.ro website.
UKRAINE – The Romanian authorities firmly condemn Russia’s repeated aggressions against innocent people and civilian infrastructure after the attack on the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Izmail, located near Romania. The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, underlined that through these blatant violations of international law, Russia continues to endanger global food security and the safety of navigation in the Black Sea. The structures of the Romanian Defense Ministry, which ensure the monitoring of the airspace, state that they have not identified any threats of a military nature to Romania’s national territory or territorial waters following the attack, and have announced increased measures to monitor the national terrestrial, maritime and air space, in cooperation with the NATO structures.
TRADE – Germany is Romania’s most important commercial partner, the value of bilateral trade in 2022 standing at 40.68 billion Euros, higher by 17%, shows a press release of the Economy Ministry. In the same period, Germany was the first destination for Romanian exports, with a share of 20% of Romania’s total exports. At the same time, Germany represents for Romania the second source of foreign direct investments, with over 25,000 investing companies, mostly in the high tech industrial sectors. On Wednesday, the Economy Minister, Ştefan-Radu Oprea, met with the ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bucharest, Peer Olav Gebauer. The talks focused on boosting bilateral economic cooperation, aiming both at attracting German investments in Romania and at encouraging national companies that want to initiate and develop projects on the territory of Germany.
FOOTBALL – Romania’s football champions, Farul Constanţa (south-east), qualified for the Europa Conference League play-off, on Wednesday evening, after defeating the Estonian team Flora Tallinn with the score 2-0, away from home, in the second leg of the third preliminary round of the competition. In the first match, Farul had won 3-0. Farul will play in the play-off against the loser of the match pitting Qarabag FK (Azerbaijan) against HJK Helsinki (Finland), a match that takes place in the third preliminary round of the Europa League. The other two Romanian teams present in the Conference League, Sepsi Sfântul Gheorghe (central Romania) and FCSB, are playing today. Sepsi will play in Kazakhstan against FC Aktobe, after a one-all score in Romania, and FCSB will play in Norway against FC Nordsjaelland, with whom they ended the first match from Bucharest in a tie, 0-0. (EE)
