January 6, 2017 UPDATE
President Klaus Iohannis Friday signed into law a bill scrapping 102 charges and fees
Newsroom, 06.01.2017, 00:05
LAW – The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, Friday signed into law a bill scrapping 102 charges and fees, after the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this respect, rejected his request to have the bill revised. Previously, the head of state had also challenged the law with the Constitutional Court. The charges in question include the public radio and television license fee, the environment fee charged on second-hand vehicles, a number of consular and citizenship fees, and the ones for the re-issue or the amendment of certain documents.
LOCAL WEATHER – The east of Romania remains subject to a code yellow alert against blizzard and snowstorms until Saturday. Snowfalls will not be substantial, but the wind is expected to reach 50 – 60 km/h and even 70 km/h in places. Several counties in the east and south-east of the country were subject to red code and orange code alerts against bad weather. The Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, announced that a person died, because the ambulance arrived too late. Tens of national roads were closed down and hundreds of villages and towns were left in the dark by power shortages. Railway traffic was temporarily suspended in the south east, while several other trains, connecting Bucharest to other European capital cities and Romanian destinations were cancelled.
WEATHER IN EUROPE – Blizzard and extremely low temperatures are also reported in the Republic of Moldova, where a code orange alert against heavy snowfalls is in force, in the centre and the south. Operations in the international commodity and passenger port Giurgiuleşti were suspended and several checkpoints on the Romanian and Ukrainian borders were closed down. The heavy snowfalls and blizzard also disrupted air traffic at the Chisinau International Aiport. Flights from and to Bucharest, London, Istanbul and Moscow reported delays and some were cancelled altogether. The situation is similar in central Europe. Poland is swept by a wave of cold, with temperatures dropping to minus 25 degrees Celsius. Heavy snowfalls are reported in the northern half of Italy and Germany is facing the same situation, with a high risk of flooding. Bad weather is also reported in Denmark, Sweden and Croatia.
Govt – The Government of Romania Friday approved an increase of the national minimum wage from about 280 euros to 320 euro as of February 1. According to a news release issued by the Government, the measure will raise the economic growth rate by a rough 0.2% and will encourage employment. At the same time, the document reads, the increase will have a notable social impact, helping to raise living standards and bridging social gaps. Also, the salaries of artists and the personnel of performing arts institutions were raised by 50%. The Government also raised public pensions, with the minimum guaranteed social pensions set to reach 115 euros as of March 1.
STRIKE – The coal workers at the Lupeni pit in the Jiu Valley area in south-western Romania Friday resumed the protest they had suspended on Thursday night, disgruntled with not seeing any of their demands met. Among other things, they want solutions to be found for the supply of strictly necessary materials underground, and want the management to give up plans to idle the employees for a one-week period each. Several miners and trade union leaders are on hunger strike.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
