August 20, 2015
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Newsroom, 20.08.2015, 12:00
The representatives of the Romanian parliamentary parties have reached a consensus on the most important technical details related to the new Fiscal Code bill. Thus, as of January 1st 2016, the VAT for foodstuffs will drop from 24% to 20% to go down to 19% in 2017. The so-called ‘pole tax’ and the extra- excise duty for fuels will remain in force next year as well, until a decision to maintain or eliminate them is subsequently made. The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis sent the fiscal code bill back to Parliament for reexamination on July 17th claiming that its application is not sustainable. The Romanian prime minister though has given assurances that the new fiscal code is sustainable and the amount of money lost from the budget following the VAT cut of 7 billion lei, that is 1.58 billion euros, could be offset by a more efficient tax collection which is estimated at 10 billion lei, namely 2.2 billion euros. The fiscal code bill will be re-analyzed in an extraordinary session by Parliament starting August 24th.
Greece paid Thursday an outstanding debt worth 3.4 billion euros to the European Central Bank after, on Wednesday, the euro zone finance ministers approved the disbursement of a first installment of the aid package worth 23 billion euros, which Greece obtained from international creditors. The agreement reached by the Greek authorities with the international creditors was approved Friday by the Greek Parliament but for it to take effect it needs the subsequent approval of the euro zone finance ministers and of certain national parliaments, such as the German parliament, Germany being the biggest creditor of Greece. Under this 3rd loan agreement Greece will receive 86 billion euros during a period of 3 years. In exchange for the loan, Greece, which is facing an acute financial crisis, has pledged to make a series of reforms to cut budget expenses and strengthen control over banks.
The Anonimul International Film Festival continues in Sfantu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta, until Sunday August 23rd. In the short fiction and animation section more than 400 shorts from 30 countries were registered while the feature film section includes 7 films. The Anonimul Trophy, the award for best fiction short as well as the award for best animation short will be granted based on the votes of the audience, while the Anonimul Foundation will grant the Ovidiu Bose Pastina Award. The festival, organized by the Anonimul Foundation, also has a section called International Panorama which includes films that were awarded prizes at other film festivals in 2015, homage-paying films and retrospectives and a section devoted to actors behind the camera.
Romania’s football champion Steaua Bucharest is taking on, Thursday, the Norwegian team Rosenborg Trondheim in the Europa League playoffs. Also on Thursday Romania’s second representative in the Europa League, Astra Giurgiu, will play on home turf against the Dutch eleven AZ Alkmaar. The away match is scheduled for next week. Rosenborg Trondheim, set up in 1917, has so far obtained 22 national titles, the latest being won in 2010 as well as 9 Norwegian cups. With a 48-year history, AZ Alkmaar won 2 national titles in 1981 and 2009. Steaua Bucharest is playing in the Europa League playoffs after being eliminated in the 3rd preliminary round of the Champions League by the Serbian team Partizan Belgrade.
The Central Electoral Committee in Turkey has suggested that early legislative elections should be held on November 1st, following the failure of negotiations regarding the formation of a coalition government after the June 7th elections. The proposal was made 3 days ahead of the deadline for setting up a new government and will be presented to political parties that are supposed to make a final decision. One week ago Ahmet Davutoglu the leader of the Justice and Development Party, that lost the majority following June’s elections, announced the failure of negotiations with the opposition. On June 7th he was officially charged by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan with forming a new government.
