December 23, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 23.12.2023, 12:47

GDP. Romania’s GDP in 2022 stood at around 1,400 billion lei (the
equivalent of 280 billion euros), more than 8.4 billion lei less compared with
the previous estimate, according to provisional data published by the National
Institute for Statistics. The new figures show that last year’s economic growth
rate was 4.1% instead of the estimated 4.7%. The change was the result of the
reduction of contributions to economic growth, both in agriculture and industry
and the building sector. The final data on the country’s GDP in 2022 will
published in the first part of 2024.

Borders. More than 200,000 people entered the country on Friday, with
the Hungarian border and the airports recording the busiest traffic, said the
Border Police. More than 9,500 of the people who crossed the border into
Romania were Ukrainian citizens, which takes the number of Ukrainians who have
entered Romania since 10th February 2022, two weeks before the
Russian invasion, to almost 7 million. The majority only transited Romania on
their way to western Europe, but around 100,000 have stayed.

Air travel. The Romanian state airliner TAROM said in a statement that
it would resume flights to Tel Aviv from 1st January 2024,
conducting two flights a week. The company said it continues to keep a close
eye on the security situation in Israel and that it is in constant contact with
the local and international authorities with a view to resuming operations. The
flight schedule will be adjusted depending on the situation in Israel, the
company also said.

Defence. Romania signed a 328 million euro contract with the German arms
manufacturer Rheinmetall for the overhaul of its air defence artillery systems,
said the company in a statement. Rheinmetall will supply four systems as well
as training, spare parts and other services. Two systems are to be delivered in
the next two years and two others within three years. The company already has
an operations centre in Satu Mare, in north-western Romania, near the borders
with Ukraine and Hungary, and provides maintenance for army vehicles. (CM)