The private pensions scandal -
The Financial Supervisory
<\/p>\n
The Serbian police detain former
The former Romanian MP and
<\/p>\n
The unitary pay law is yet to
The submission of the
<\/p>\n
Vaccination bill is made public<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Romanian healthcare ministry
<\/p>\n
Government adopts country’s
The government adopted the
<\/p>\n
Crowding at border check
A look at the main headline-grabbing events this past week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40944],"tags":[31873,29008,30930,42386,30118,31678,32350],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-124477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-week-in-review","tag-decentralization","tag-easter","tag-financial-supervisory-authority","tag-nn","tag-sebastian-ghita","tag-unitary-pay-law","tag-vaccination-bill"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nmeasures and penalties<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nAuthority in Romania on Thursday levelled penalties against NN, the country’s
\nbiggest private pensions fund for spreading information meant to destabilise
\nthe pensions system. On Wednesday, NN sent an email to all its clients warning
\nabout possible measures to nationalise private pensions funds. The leader of
\nthe Social Democratic Party and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu
\nDragnea said Parliament would soon take steps to sack the entire management of
\nthe Financial Supervisory Authority. The Finance Ministry has categorically
\ndenied plans to nationalise the private pensions funds.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomanian MP Sebastian Ghita in Belgrade<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nbusinessman Sebastian Ghita, who was on an international most wanted fugitives
\nlist, was tracked and detained by the Serbian police on Thursday night in
\nBelgrade four months after his disappearance. The Romanian authorities are now taking
\nthe necessary action to obtain his extradition. When asked for identification
\nby the police, he presented false EU ID. Sebastian Ghita disappeared on the 21st
\nof December 2016 and was first named on the country’s most wanted fugitives
\nlist for breaking the conditions of his bail. On the 10th of
\nJanuary, a Supreme Court panel issued a European arrest warrant for Ghita, who
\nwas then also named on an international most wanted fugitives list through
\nInterpol. Ghita is facing trial in two corruption cases and is under criminal
\ninvestigation in two others. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nbe submitted to Parliament<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nmuch-awaited unitary pay law for public sector employees to Parliament for
\ndebate and approval has been postponed. The leader of the ruling Social
\nDemocratic Party and Chamber of Deputies speaker Liviu Dragnea said the bill
\nwill also remain available for public input this week. The bill provides for an
\nincrease in monthly incomes by more than 50% over the following five years. The
\nplanned increases are estimated at more than 7 billion euros in total. Prime
\nminister Sorin Grindeanu says the talks with trade unions and the institutions
\ntargeted by the bill will continue in Parliament to speed up the passing of the
\nlaw. The law, which is supposed to come into force on the 1st of
\nJuly, covers all public institutions with the exception of the National Bank of
\nRomania and the Financial Supervisory Authority. The army and police staff are
\nthe first to benefit from the pay rises. The other categories of public sector
\nemployees will see their salaries grow as of January next year. The president
\nwill have the biggest salary in the public system, accounting for 12 minimum
\nwages per month. The salaries of the highest dignitaries will drop, while those
\nof parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors will go up.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\non Tuesday published its new vaccination bill. This provides for the creation of
\ncounty vaccination commissions able to step in if parents refuse the compulsory
\nimmunisation scheme. Healthcare minister Florian Bodog says a chapter
\ncontaining penalties will also be introduced into the bill after public and
\nparliamentary debate. He says his ministry will assume responsibility for the
\ntreatment of the possible side effects of vaccination. According to the
\nministry, 21 persons have died in Romania from measles. Since last September,
\naround 4,000 cases have been reported, according to the National Centre for the
\nCommunicable Disease Surveillance and Control. To contain the spread of
\nmeasles, medical authorities continue a campaign to vaccinate children aged
\nbetween 9 months and 9 years.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ndecentralisation strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ncountry’s decentralisation strategy on Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Sevil
\nShhaideh says all ministries will carry out impact studies in the next three
\nmonths and that the sectoral laws regulating the decentralisation process will
\nbe adopted within the next 7 months at the latest. The areas covered by the
\nprocess are agriculture, culture, tourism, the environment, healthcare,
\neducation and extracurricular activities, youth and sport. The general goal of
\nthe strategy is the transfer of new responsibilities, with the exception of
\nthose relating to inspection and control, to local authorities, namely mayors
\nand local and county councils. Many of these responsibilities are currently
\nheld by the ministries’ decentralised directorates. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\npoints in Romania<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
\nTraffic is busy at Romania’s border crossing
\npoints following the implementation, on the 7th of April, of a new
\nEuropean regulation tightening border control ahead of the Easter holidays.
\nWaiting time at the border varies from one to six hours. The busiest
\ncheckpoints are in the west of the country. The authorities are trying to
\nstrike a balance between citizen security and traffic flow and recommend the
\nuse of all border checkpoints. To support Romanian citizens travelling abroad
\nduring the Easter holidays, the foreign ministry has made available a travel
\nguide containing useful recommendations, information about the most frequented
\ntourist destinations at this time of the year, as well as information that can
\nhelp Romanian citizens avoid possible unpleasant situations that may appear
\nduring their stay abroad. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"