October 22, 2013 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 22.10.2013, 19:21
On Tuesday, by will of the majority, the Romanian Chamber of Deputies rejected the simple motion filed by the two main opposition parties in Romania, the Liberal Democratic Party and the “Dan Diaconescu” People’s Party, concerning the Insolvency Code. The initiators of the motion called on the ruling alliance to withdraw the emergency ordinance that put the insolvency code into force, as, in their opinion, the code is an unprecedented attack on the freedom of the press and the business environment. On the other hand, Prime Minister Victor Ponta argues the ordinance is aimed at effectively combating tax evasion and improving tax and fee collection.
Starting Tuesday until the end of the month, 15% of the shares of the state-owned company Romgaz are up for sale not only at the Bucharest Exchanges but, also, as a first, at the London Exchange. The Government hopes to get between 300 and 400 million Euros in exchange for the stock. 15% of the shares is reserved for small investors, and the rest will be sold to institutional investors. Romgaz owns over half of the country’s gas reserves and exploitation facilities, as the largest producer and supplier of gas in Romania.
In Bucharest, three of the Romanians accused of stealing paintings from a Dutch Museum last year admitted their crime on Tuesday. They asked to be tried based on regular criminal proceedings, which would entail a reduction of penalty. One of the defendants stated that the paintings signed, among others, by Picasso, Monet, Gaugin and Matisse, were not burned. In July, the Romanian prosecutors sent to court six people in the case concerning 7 paintings that had been stolen from a museum in Rotterdam, whose value was estimated at approximately 18 million Euros.
