December 12, 2025
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 12.12.2025, 13:55
Rare earths. Romania will process rare earths for the United States, Romanian energy minister Bogdan Ivan has announced. The minerals are to be extracted from Greenland and processed at the Uranium Concentrate Processing Plant in Feldioara (in central Romania), owned by Nuclearelectrica. An agreement for the development of this industrial facility was signed between the American company Critical Metals Corp and the Romanian producer. The energy minister said the project involves investments in Romania of about 3 billion euros and explained that the production will go to the defence industry, as well as the aerospace industry and the construction of satellites and microchips. The minister also said that the project will constitute the first fully integrated supply chain for critical materials in the Western world and will make Romania the most important ally of the United States in terms of rare earths in all of Central and Eastern Europe.
Reconstruction. Bucharest is hosting an international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine. The endeavour will require an amount of capital Europe has not mobilised since the aftermath of WWII, said Romanian finance minister Alexandru Nazare, who on the first day of the conference stressed that many Romanian companies are preparing to become involved in this process. Nazare explained that clear agreements are needed between Bucharest and Kyiv for specific projects and that “Romania is ready to contribute (…), as a neighbour and as a committed partner, in the building of a stable, prosperous and modern Ukraine”. According to the minister, reconstruction is not an independent project, but involves a rethinking of the entire economic system, requiring political vision, financial engineering, institutional cooperation and a decisive involvement of the private sector.
Protests. Hundreds of students protested on Thursday in the university cities of Cluj and Braşov against the austerity measures taken by the Government, especially in the field of education. Young people are dissatisfied with the cuts in academic allowance and say the measures adopted are a serious setback for higher education. In response, education minister Daniel David said talks are being held with the ministry for investments and European projects and the European Commission to identify solutions for financial allocation through EU funds, in order to maintain students’ social allowances. He estimated that the first payments will be made in February.
Inflation. The annual inflation rate in Romania stagnated at 9.8% in November, according to the National Institute of Statistics. Compared to the same month last year, the price of services and non-food goods grew by almost 11%, while food prices increased by almost 8%. Romania’s trade deficit continued to grow this year to reach almost 28 billion euros, some 276 million euros higher than that recorded last year. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics, exports grew by 4.3% and imports by 3.4% compared to last year. At the same time, retail trade is on a downward trend compared to last year, a sign that the engine of economic growth, namely consumption, is losing steam.
Football. Romanian football champions FCSB last night won 4-3 their home match against the Dutch side Feyenoord Rotterdam, as part of the 6th leg of the Europa League competition. FCSB will next play Dinamo Zagreb on 22nd January away and Fenerbahce on the 29th of January at home. Also on Thursday evening, Universitatea Craiova lost 2-1 to Sparta Prague, in the 5th leg of the Conference League competition. This is Universitatea’s first defeat since the Portuguese manager Filipe Coelho took over. They have one more match to play, against AEK Athens, on 18th December, away. (CM)
