July 16, 2022 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.07.2022, 19:32

USR Catalin Drula was validated as president of the USR, the
center-right opposition of the Bucharest Parliament during a USR online
congress held on Saturday. A former
Transport Minister, Drula had been elected by the members of his political
group during an online poll held recently where he mustered 71% of the total
number of votes. ‘It is a mandate I asked my colleagues for unity, stability,
coherence and efficiency and this is exactly what I am going to deliver’, the
new leader said adding that the ruling coalition is pushing Romania to the
brink of bankruptcy. ‘Inflation is through the roof, interest rates and taxes
are growing exponentially and poverty is rearing its ugly head in Romania’,
Drula went on to say.

SUPPORT ‘The Republic of Moldova doesn’t have to be and won’t be
alone in its efforts to implement the reforms it needs’, Romania’s Foreign
Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Friday at the end of the second edition of the
Ministerial Conference of the Support Platform for the Republic of Moldova.
According to the head of the Romanian diplomacy this platform is ‘a permanent
instrument’ and is useful for Chisinau’s efforts to join the European Union.
Financial assistance pledges of up to 600 million euros were issued during the
conference for the support of this ex-soviet republic with a Romanian-speaking
majority. The event in Bucharest brought together delegations from 33
countries, members of the EU, G7, the European Free Trade Association,
international bodies, financial institutions and UN agencies. German Foreign
Minister Annalena Baerbock announced a financial assistance package for this
state of up to 77 million euros. On the sidelines of the conference Minister
Aurescu held talks with the OSCE Secretary General, Helga Schmid on the
security crises triggered by the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

WEATHER Britain is bracing up for a hot weekend
with very high temperatures. A national emergency has been declared after a red
extreme heat warning was issued for a first time. Temperatures are expected to
hit 40 degrees Celsius and hot weather warnings have been issued in France as
well. In only three days in Spain the heatwave caused 84 deaths mostly among
the elderly. Weathermen have cautioned that temperatures will remain high for
another 10 days.

GREECE A second contingent of 28
Romanian firefighters has left for Greece to replace their colleagues who in
the past two weeks have assisted the local authorities in monitoring and
extinguishing forest fires in areas north of Athens. Several fire engines, a
tanker as well as command and control vehicles have been deployed to the
affected areas. In the past 15 days, firefighters from Romania have
participated in various missions in the regions of Schimatari and Porto
Germeno. Last year Romania also helped Greece in its fight against devastating
forest fires.

WAR Ukraine has accused the Russian army of
using the platform of the nuclear power plant they occupied in Zaporozhe to
launch attacks in the southern region of Nikopol, an industrial area on the
Dnieper River. Ukraine has lashed out at the International Atomic Energy Agency
for not putting enough pressure on Moscow to pull out its troops from the
plant. According to Ukraine’s security service, on Friday night, the Ukrainian
army managed to bring down two Russian warplanes. The Russians shelled the city
of Kramatorsk in Donbas while in Donetsk, several Russian rockets have
destroyed the railway infrastructure and also hit civilian targets. The
anti-aircraft defence system of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday managed to
shoot down a Russian missile and in Mykolaiv an Orlan-10 Russian drone has been
shot down by the Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has
appointed a fresh regional government in Cernauti, close to the NATO border.

COVID-19 Romanian authorities on Saturday have reported 3,718 new
SARS-CoV-2 infections. 103 patients are being treated in ICUs and 7 related
fatalities have been registered. Since the beginning of the pandemic in
Romania, authorities have reported 65,800 related fatalities.

AMENDMENTS The government in Bucharest on
Friday endorsed the final amendments to tax legislation. Some changes are set
to come into effect on August 1, while others on January 1 next year. After
consultations with social partners, with employers’ associations, trade unions,
and local elected representatives, the Finance Ministry made several changes to
the initial bill. They accepted the proposal by hospitality industry employers
for companies to choose between specific taxes and tax on profits. According to
the changes, VAT would go up from 5 to 9% for restaurants, hotels, and catering
firms, while VAT for soft drinks would go up from 9 to 19%. Starting on August
1, tax incentives in construction and the food industry are granted for
salaries of up to 10,000 lei, about 2,000 Euro, and not up to 30,000 lei, about
6,000 Euro, as it is at present. Also next month, excises will go up for
alcohol and tobacco products. The tax on dividends goes up from 5 to 8 percent.
At the same time, people with salaries of up to 4,550 lei, about 900 Euro,
young people below 26, and people providing child care would get deductions.

(bill)