July 15, 2022

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 15.07.2022, 13:55

GOVERNMENT – The Government today adopted
new amendments to the Fiscal Code. Following a series of talks with social
partners, employers, trade unions and representatives of local officials, the
Ministry of Finance has operated a number of changes to the Fiscal Code. The
Ministry accepted the employers’ proposal that hospitality companies may opt
between paying regular taxes or the tax on profits starting January 1, 2023.
Another modification is linked to lowering taxes on betting revenues and the
elaboration of a separate bill on amending the legislation regarding the
organization and monetization of games of chance. In the case of property
taxes, the new bill stipulates that the tax is calculated based on older
records kept by local authorities whenever notary grids provide for values that
are lower compared to those used so far.

COVID – Over 4,100 new cases of
COVID-19 and 3 related deaths were reported within the space of 24 hours,
health authorities announced on Friday. Most new cases are reported in
Bucharest and Ilfov County. Some 1,700 people are treated for COVID in
hospitals across the country, 101 of whom in intensive care. Since the start of
the pandemic, over 65 thousand people have died to the virus in Romania.

LAWS – Two new bills on secondary and
higher education have been submitted for public debate in Romania. Education
Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu says the modifications are designed to radically reform
the system and that they are the results of the project Educated Romania
launched by president Klaus Iohannis. Over 10,000 education experts have
contributed to the elaboration of this project.

VISIT – Germany’s Foreign Minister,
Annalena Baerbock on Friday said that the Republic of Moldova ‘is not alone’,
announcing an additional financial assistance package worth 77 million EUR for
this country. Minister Baerbock is paying a state visit to Romania, attending the
second ministerial conference of the Moldova Support Platform in Bucharest,
alongside her Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, and France’s Secretary of
State for Development, La Francophonie and International Partnerships,
Chrysoula Zacharopoulou. In turn, Minister Aurescu underscored the importance
of providing Moldova with direct grants, saying that every day the war
generates shockwaves beyond the borders of Ukraine. In turn, Moldova’s
president, Maia Sandu, pointed out in her address on the sidelines of the
conference that it is important to know that we’re not alone, that we can rely
on you. Moldova is a small country, and the scale of the current developments exceeds
its capacity to cope with the situation. Also today, Minister Annalena Baerbock will pay a visit to the city of
Constanța (southeast), where she will meet local officials and
representatives of German businesses to discuss the Ukrainian grain exports.

BLUE AIR – The National Consumer
Protection Authority (ANPC) has handed a 2-million-EUR fine to the Romanian
low-cost flight operator Blue Air, which cancelled over 11 thousand flights
over April 30, 2021 – April 30, 2022, also forcing the company to return the
money to its clients within ten days for every flight cancelled. During this
period, Blue Air received payments worth 13.4 million EUR from clients from 20
EU Member States. ANPC has recommended consumers to be extremely vigilant and
avoid purchasing tickets from airlines that cancelled a large number of flights
in the past and that failed to observe passenger rights. On the other hand,
ANPC has issued warnings to other airline companies that cancelled flights or
reported delays during the aforementioned period, with no regard whatsoever to
passenger rights. This is the biggest fine ever awarded to an economic
operator, ANPC officials say.

WAR IN UKRAINE – A national day of
mourning is today observed in Vinnytsia, Western Ukraine, after a Russian
missile attack killed at least 23 people on Thursday. Over 100 people were
wounded and dozens are missing. Two missiles launched from a submarine in the
Black Sea hit buildings in central Vinnytsia, the blast damaging scores of
nearby buildings. The UN Secretary General, Antoniu Guterres, and the EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, have expressed their shock
with Russia’s latest aggression. The attack was carried out just ahead of a new
conference of the International Criminal Court designed to investigate Russia’s
war crimes in Ukraine. The city of Mykolaiv in the south was also hit by
missiles. Several buildings were shelled, including two schools and a hotel.
Hostilities continue in the northeast as well. In the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian
forces are facing attacks from multiple directions, but have so far been
successful in preventing the Russians from advancing. In Donbas too, attacks
have been reported in the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, where Russian
forces are hitting rail infrastructure to cut off weapon supplies. (VP)