July 10, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 10.07.2022, 20:00

COMPANIES – The
number of companies with foreign capital set up in Romania has gone up in the
first five months of the year by 35% compared to the similar period of 2021,
according to data centralized by the National Trade Register Office. Most new
companies were set up in the administrative, scientific and technical sectors,
in trade, car repairs and transport. In May, most enterprises with foreign
capital participation had investors from Italy – over 50,000 companies with a
total capital of 4 billion USD, whereas companies with the largest capital were
from the Netherlands, with total investments of 12 billion USD, invested in
approximately 5,800 companies.

USR -
Former transport minister Cătălin Drulă has
been elected president of USR in opposition. Drulă grabbed 71% of the vote held online over the course of
a number of days. Ranking second was MP Cătălin Teniță with 14%, while the
former head of the Environment Guard,
Octavian Berceanu came in third with 11%. Drulă promised to step up the
opposition’s efforts. The vote is expected to be validated at the USR
Congress scheduled on July 16. After leaving the ruling coalition last year,
USR has been affected by a number of internal disputes, which led to the
withdrawal of its former president, MEP Dacian Cioloș. Cioloș has in the meantime founded the REPER party.

SWIMMING -
Romanian swimmer David Popovici has won gold in the 100m freestyle event on
Sunday at the European Junior Swimming Championships hosted by Otopeni near
Bucharest. Popovici thus grabbed his fourth European title, after also winning
the 50m freestyle, the 200m freestyle and the men’s 4x100m relay events. Also
on Sunday, Vlad Stancu won silver in the 400m freestyle event. With 9 medals (5
gold and 4 silver), Romania has secured 3rd place in the medal standings,
after Hungary and Poland. Some 500 athletes from 42 countries took part in the
competition. Representing Romania were 26 swimmers, 14 in the men’s competition
and 12 in the women’s competition.

FOOTBALL -
Romanian football club Sepsi OSK Sfântu
Gheorghe has won for the first time in its history the Romanian
Supercup after defeating Romanian champions CFR Cluj 2-1 in a match played on
neutral turf, in Arad, western Romania. Founded in 2011, Sepsi managed to win
its second trophy this year after winning the Romanian Cup this season. CFR
Cluj will next week play the return leg against Piunik Yerevan of Armenia which
will decide which of the two teams advances to the Champions League second
preliminary round. In the first match played away from home, CFR drew 0-0.
Should it secure qualification, CFR will play the winner of the match pitting
F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg against KF Tirana of Albania. If it loses the match
against Piunik, CFR will perform in the Europa Conference League second
preliminary round. Here it will face the winner of a playoff tournament
featuring Levadia Talinn of Estonia, Vikingur Reykjavik of Iceland, La Fiorita
of San Marino and Inter Club d’Escaldes of Andorra. The three Romanian teams
qualified to European Conference League will go up against less formidable
clubs in the second preliminary round. Therefore, Romanian vice-champions, FCSB
will take on the winner of the match pitting FC Saburtalo of Georgia against
Partizani Tirana of Albania. Sepsi OSK will play the winner of the match
pitting Olimpja Ljubljana of Slovenia against Differedange 03 of Luxembourg,
whereas finally, Universitatea Craiova will play KF Vllaznia Shkoder of
Albania, the winner of the Albanian Cup. The return legs are scheduled this
month.

ROWING – The
Romanian delegation at the World Rowing Championships hosted by Lucerne,
Switzerland, has won six medals – 1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze. The Romanian
women’s pair made up of Simona Radiș and Ancuța Bodnar won gold. The silver went to the
women’s pair made up Ioana Vrînceanu and Denisa Tîlvescu, as well as to the
women’s quad-scull crew made up of Mădălina Bereş, Iuliana Buhuş, Magdalena
Rusu and Amalia Bereș. The bronze medals were won by the women’s 8 crew, made
up of Gianina Beleagă, Ioana-Mădălina Moroșan, Adriana Ailincăi, Elena
Logofătu, Cristina Popescu, Roxana Anghel, Ioana Vrînceanu, Denisa Tîlvescu and
Victoria-Ștefania Petreanu. In the men’s competition, the men’s quad-scull crew
made up of Mihai Chiruță, Ciprian Tudosă, Ioan Prundeanu and Florin-Marian
Enache scooped bronze, as did the men’s four crew, made up of Mihăiță
Țigănescu, Mugurel Semciuc, Ștefan Berariu and Florin Lehaci. (VP)