ARREST – Former national football team headcoach Victor Pi\u021burc\u0103 has been arrested by
\nanti-corruption prosecutors in an investigation into the acquisition of
\nnon-compliant medical products for military hospitals during the pandemic,
\njudicial sources say. As a footballer, Victor Pi\u021burc\u0103 won
\nthe European Champions’ Cup with Steaua Bucharest in 1986. He later coached Steaua
\nBucharest, FC U Craiova, Romania’s Under-21 team, FCSB, Romania’s senior team
\n(twice, over 2004-2009 and 2011-2014), Universitatea Craiova and Al-Ittihad
\n(Saudi Arabia). The head of Romania’s top military manufacturer and exporter,
\nRomarm, Gabriel \u021au\u021bu, was also detained. <\/p>\n
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FORESTS – The European Union will grant Romania \u20ac1 billion under the
\nNational Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), of which \u20ac800 million will be
\nearmarked to a forestation program targeting 55 thousand hectares. The
\nremaining \u20ac200 million will be spent on digitizing surveillance and control
\nsystems designed to combat illegal logging. Cristian Ghinea, the former
\ncoordinator of Romania’s PNRR and a former USR Minister for Investment and
\nEuropean Projects, warned that, to be able to meet forest protection targets,
\nthe National Forest Authority – ROMSILVA must be reformed and digitized. <\/p>\n
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AGRIFISH – Romania’s Agriculture Minister, Petre Daea, on Monday said in
\nBrussels that Romania is a major exporter of farm animals to third countries,
\nand expressed support for legislative changes designed to increase the
\nwell-being of animals, although any change should not rule out certain types of
\ntransport. Minister Daea pointed out that Bucharest will not accept a ban on
\nlive animal transport over long distances. The Romanian official also said that
\nRomania opposes the cap on 150 UVM on animal transports as well as the application
\nof this criterion to cattle transports. According to a European Parliament
\npress release, the Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during
\nTransport found systematic failures to enforce the existing rules on the
\nprotection of animals during transport and made recommendations for the
\nrevision of the rules, which is expected in 2023. Minister Petre Daea is
\nattending the Agrifish (Agriculture and Fishing) Council meeting in Brussels.
\nHigh on the agenda are the situation of food markets, bioeconomy, honey
\nlabeling, the industrial emission directive and animal transport. <\/p>\n
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HEALTH – Health Minister Alexandru
\nRafila has told a private television station that the number of flu and viral
\ninfection cases is decreasing in Romania. According to the minister, the flu
\nepidemic will end in approximately two to three weeks. Alexandru Rafila said
\nthat in the last week alone, the number of cases reported was by 25% lower
\ncompared to the previous week, standing at some 100,000 new infections. He also
\nstressed that there were no problems with the stocks of medicines used in viral
\nrespiratory infections, even if their consumption has increased more than
\nusual.<\/p>\n
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SESSION – Romanian senators and
\ndeputies return, this week, to Parliament, for the first parliamentary session
\nof the year. Among the priorities on the agenda are sensitive bills, such as
\nthe one on public service pensions, which should no longer exceed the salary
\nfrom the active period, or the proposals to amend the education laws, on which
\nthe parties in the government coalition have so far failed to reach consensus.<\/p>\n
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ICR – The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR)
\nannounced the relaunch of the Cantemir Cultural Partnerships and Financing
\nProgram, intended for international projects. The main aim of the program is to
\nconnect culture operators from Romania with partners from abroad. Through the
\nCantemir Program, previously run between 2006 – 2012 and resumed in 2023 with
\nsome changes, ICR will grant non-refundable funding for cultural initiatives in
\nthe fields of visual arts – fine arts, decorative arts, science\/research and
\narchitecture, design, new media, photography, performance and performing arts -
\ntheater, music and dance. (LS & VP)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[36313,34411,37355,37353,29232,33179,36165,37354],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-agrifish","tag-flu-epidemic","tag-forestation-program","tag-icr","tag-parliament-session","tag-petre-daea","tag-pnrr","tag-victor-piturca"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n