October 15, 2014 UPDATE
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Valentin Țigău, 15.10.2014, 00:05
In Wednesday’s meeting the Government of Romania decided to increase child support benefits for underprivileged families. The measure will benefit around 500 thousand children from families with incomes of up to 120 euros per month per family member, and will take effect on November the 1st. The Labour Minister, Rovana Plumb, also announced that the daily food ratios for persons with disabilities or living in care institutions will be doubled as of January the 1st, 2015.
The Social Democratic Deputy, Miron Mitrea, a former minister of transport, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in prison for bribe taking. The ruling of the High Court is on hold, pending appeal. In another development, in the central Romanian city of Brasov hearings carry on in a case involving the illegal restitution of around 90 thousand hectares of forest and 100 hectares of farming land. Anti-corruption prosecutors have invited for discussions in this case three Social Democratic MPs as well as the illegitimate grandson of King Carol II of Romania, Prince Paul. They are suspected of having tried to obtain a tract of around 30 thousand hectares of forested land in Suceava County, northern Romania.
Russia has once again reduced natural gas deliveries to Romania by close to 27%, according to the Energy Department. For the first time however the Russian Embassy in Bucharest also provided an explanation for this. According to the Romanian minister delegate for energy, Razvan Nicolescu, the Russian Ambassador officially said the drop was caused by technical problems generated by the filling of Gazprom storage facilities in preparation for winter. Romania’s current imports of natural gas from Russia are rather insignificant, because the national output exceeds consumption levels.
