Investment.<\/strong> Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca encourages
<\/p>\n
Gas.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
IMF.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Embassy.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Talks.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Refugees.<\/strong>
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\ncompanies to invest in Romania and promises them legislative stability,
\npredictability and support measures. He told the Foreign Investors Council on
\nTuesday that investments were the best solution to any type of crisis. Nicolae
\nCiuca also said that the Romanian Government had taken a significant step in
\nthis direction, allocating for 2022 the largest budget in the last 30 years for
\ninvestments, namely 88 billion euros. He said that in the first two months of
\nthis year, foreign investment increased by 10% compared to the same period last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe first extraction of natural gas from
\nthe Romanian perimeters in the Black Sea could take place soon, Prime Minister
\nNicolae Ciuca announced on Radio Romania. Meanwhile, the Senate, as the first
\nnotified chamber, is to urgently debate the new, amended draft of the Offshore
\nLaw. Authorities say the changes will ensure stability and legal predictability
\nfor companies interested in participating in the operation. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe International Monetary Fund has
\nsignificantly revised Romania’s economic growth forecast for this year from
\n4.8%, as it estimated in autumn, down to 2.2%, according to the latest World Economic
\nOutlook report, published on Tuesday by the international financial
\ninstitution. Next year, Romania will accelerate the growth to 3.4%. The new
\nrevised IMF figures are slightly more optimistic than the World Bank’s
\nforecast, which in early April predicted that the economy would register a
\nmodest advance of just 1.9% this year and that the risks triggered by the
\ncrisis in Ukraine were high. In terms of inflation, too, the IMF has
\nsignificantly revised its estimates, predicting that Romania will see an
\naverage annual price increase of 9.3% this year, two and a half times more than
\nthe 3.4% increase forecast last autumn. The growth rate of prices will slow to 4% next
\nyear. The draft budget for 2022 was developed based on an estimated economic
\ngrowth of 4.6%.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nUkraine.<\/strong> Russia has officially announced the launch of the Donbas offensive. Attacks have intensified along the eastern Ukrainian front, and Ukrainian troops are trying to resist. International reporters say there is a rapid increase in the intensity of Russian firing, including in the west of the country, in Lviv, near the border with Poland. A series of powerful explosions were reported along the eastern front line. Cities like Kharkov, Mykolaiv and Zaporzhzhia were also the target of Russian bombing. More than 7,000 alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops are being investigated, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomanian authorities have decided to reopen
\nthe embassy in Kyiv, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu announced on Twitter on
\nTuesday. The effective resumption of the activity will take place in the next
\nperiod, immediately after the necessary technical and security preparations
\nhave been completed. 17 diplomatic missions have already resumed operations in
\nKyiv, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry previously announced. Prior to the Russian
\ninvasion, on February 24, most foreign embassies relocated from Kyiv to Lviv in
\nthe western part of the country.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe Romanian Ministers of Defense and
\nForeign Affairs, Vasile D\u00eencu and Bogdan Aurescu, had telephone conversations
\nwith their counterparts from the United States, Lloyd Austin and Antony
\nBlinken. The talks focused on security in the Black Sea region in the context
\nof the war in Ukraine and NATO’s efforts to strengthen the Allied position on
\nthe eastern flank. The issue of operationalizing the allied fighting group in
\nRomania was also addressed. The two defense ministers expressed concern over
\nthe current situation in Ukraine. The heads of diplomacy in Bucharest and
\nWashington discussed, among other things, the consolidation of the American
\nmilitary presence in Romania.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nAccording to the General Inspectorate of
\nthe Border Police, on Monday, at national level, almost 77,000 people entered
\nRomania through the border crossing points, of whom 6,602 Ukrainian citizens (by
\n2.1% less than on previous day). There was a record number of Ukrainian
\nrefugees who called for help at the Timi\u015foara (West) support center. Since the
\nonset of the crisis in the neighboring country and until April 18, more than
\n743 thousand Ukrainians entered Romania, most of them transiting to other
\ncountries. On the other hand, almost 40% of all Ukrainian refugees who, after
\nthe start of the war, found work in Romania, have jobs the manufacturing
\nindustry, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. Most of the
\nrest work in construction and HORECA. (MI)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"