December 28, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 28.12.2022, 13:55

Romania-Ukraine. The Romanian economy minister Florin Spătaru has rejected
allegations that Romania is delivering weapons to the neighbouring Ukraine. He
said his ministry has no on-going contracts with Kyiv to provide either
equipment or ammunition made in Romania. These allegations about a potential
delivery of such products […] are, as far as I’m concerned, ungrounded, said
the minister when asked to comment on statements by Russian officials on the
delivery on Romanian weapons to Ukraine. Romania is very actively supporting
us in our fight against the aggressor, Romania supports the idea of forming an
international court, Romania supports our way to the future, Ukraine’s prime
minister Denys Shmyhal said last month at the opening of a new checkpoint on
the joint Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Vicovu de Sus-Krasnoilsk. This was the first checkpoint between Ukraine and a EU
member state to open since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on 24th of
February. In these difficult times for Ukraine, tragic moments as a result of
the aggression of the Russian Federation, together we need to show solidarity
and unity, said Romanian prime minister Nicolae
Ciucă. He also said that at this point, the movement of goods and persons is of
vital relevance for Ukraine, given that the illegal, premeditated and
unprovoked aggression of the Russian Federation has disastrous effects and
consequences for Ukrainian citizens.

Poll. The latest poll conducted by INSCOP on the performance of Romanian
political parties indicates that two of the three parties in the ruling
coalition, namely the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party,
lost percentages in December, while the nationalist Alliance for the Union of
Romanians, in opposition, grew by 2%. The poll conducted in December indicates
that the Social Democrats lost almost 5%, but are still ahead in voting
intentions, with 31.5%. The Liberals are in second place with 20.2%, followed
by the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, with 18.1%, and the Save Romania
Union, also in opposition, with 10.9%. The junior partner in the ruling
coalition, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, maintains its
usual percentage of 5% which would allow it to enter Parliament. The INSCOP
experts say the data were collected both before and after Romania’s bid to join
the Schengen free-movement area was rejected, on 8th December. The
INSCOP director Remus Ştefureac said the data showed a zigzag performance by
the parties, with no clear, predictable trends yet for 2024, when presidential,
parliamentary, local and European elections will take place in Romania.

Budget.
Romania’s general consolidated budget went up to 4.2% of GDP in the first 11
months of the year, according to a report published by the finance ministry.
Compared with the same period in 2021, the budget deficit dropped by 0.5%
between January and November. The target deficit level for this year is 5.8% of
GDP.

Power plant. Mass Global Energy Rom, a company based in Jordan, has
become the owner of the Mintia thermal power plant in Hunedoara county, in central
Romania, after making the final payment of over 80 million euros as established
after it won a tender held in August. The new owner promised that in the next
three years, the plant would see an extensive development process, with
investments of over 1 billion euros and the creation of new jobs.

Handball.
The north-western Romanian city of Oradea is today and tomorrow hosting a new
edition of the Carpați Trophy, one of the oldest international handball
tournaments in Europe. Participating are the strong sides of Egypt and Algeria,
who have already secured their qualification for the World Men’s Championships
to be held in January next year, as well as Slovakia. Egypt are playing Algeria
and Romania are playing Slovakia in today’s semifinals. The final and the match
for the third place will take place on Thursday. Romania’s Spanish coach Xavi
Pascual has called up 24 players to the squad. (CM)