August 2, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 02.08.2022, 20:00

NATURAL GAS The Romanian state owned company
Romgaz has announced it completed the acquisition of shares from the American
company ExxonMobil as part of the Neptun Deep natural gas extraction project in
the Black Sea. The energy minister Virgil Popescu said on a social network that
the completion of the USD 1 billion transaction is an important step ahead for
Romania in its effort to achieve energy independence, at a difficult time for
the entire Europe. Romania, which is currently the European country the least
dependent on Russian gas, owns large reserves in the Black Sea – around 200
billion cubic meters. Most of it is in the Neptun Deep perimeter, which Romgaz
will develop alongside OMV Petrom. Meanwhile, in the Midia perimeter, nearly
120 km off Romania’s Black Sea coast, Black Sea Oil&Gas has already began
extraction.

ROMA Improving the quality of life of Romania’s
Roma minority, based on active citizenship, social and economic inclusion and
the Roma cultural heritage is a priority for the government of Romania. This
message was conveyed by PM Nicolae Ciucă on the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day.
The foreign ministry mentioned that the suffering inflicted on the Roma in concentration
and extermination camps run by the Nazi and their allies during WW2 were
unfortunately ignored for too long by the general public. This is why the
foreign ministry supports national and international initiatives to promote
research and commemoration of the Roma genocide. The institution also condemns
hate speech against this community. The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis
also pointed out in a message that stigmatizing and discriminating against minorities
must be penalised harshly.On August
2, 1944, nearly 3,000 Roma at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp were killed by the
Nazi regime. Overall, some 500,000 Roma people were killed in Europe during the
Holocaust.

DROUGHT In Romania, the total area affected by drought has reached
over 190,000 hectares in 24 counties, 30,000 hectares more than the previous
day, the Agriculture Ministry announced. According to weather experts, temperatures
will gradually rise until August 8, in most parts of the country. Moreover, the
Danube river flow is half the multi-annual average for the month of August. The
National Waters Administration announced that the strategic water reserve in
the main 40 lakes in the country is 3.19 billion cubic metres, down from 3.45
billion in early July.

COVID-19 The health minister Alexandru Rafila does not rule out a 7th pandemic wave in
Romania this autumn, when schools and universities resume classes. In
his opinion, wearing face masks in public transportation means and closed areas
is critical to keeping the pandemic under control. On Tuesday over 11,600 new
COVID-19 cases were reported, most of them in Bucharest and in Cluj and Timiş
counties. More than 4,000 COVID patients are hospitalized, of whom nearly 600
are children. 277 patients are in intensive care, and 38 COVID-related deaths
have also been reported, including a child.

TAIWAN U.S. House of Representatives Speaker
Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday with a clear message for China. She said the
US commitment to supporting Taiwan’s democracy is more important than ever.
Nancy Pelosi’s visit, which was immediately condemned by the Chinese
authorities, is the first by a US House of Representatives speaker in 25 years.
On Wednesday she will have meetings with Taiwan officials. Beijing responded immediately,
denouncing what it called a very dangerous attitude on the part of the US.
Taiwan has had its own government since the communist victory on continental
China in 1949, but Beijing views it as one of its own provinces and threatens
to resort to force should the island proclaim its independence.

TENNIS -
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (WTA 16) qualified to the round of 16 of
the Washington tournament after defeating the Moldovan Cristina Bucsa (WTA
123), 6-3, 7-5. Halep will be up next against the winner of the match between
American Madison Brengle and Russian Ana Kalinskaya. Also, the Romanian-Czech
pair Monica Niculescu/Lucie Hradecka (WTA 250) qualified to the quarterfinals
after a victory against Emma Răducanu (UK) /Clara Tauson (Denmark), 6-4, 6-1.
Niculescu and Hradecka will be up next against Americans Makenna Jones/Sloane
Stephens. (AMP)