FOODSTUFFS The markup for 14 categories of
\nfoodstuffs is curbed for a limited period of three months under a
\ngovernment order passed in late June. Prices for dairy products, meat,
\nvegetable and fruit are therefore expected to go down. Farmers will not have to
\nset a cap on prices, government officials say. Failure to observe the new
\nlegislation will incur fines up to EUR 400,000.<\/p>\n
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VEHICLES The local segment of the car
\nscrapping programme Rabla\u02ee started in Romania, in an effort to get
\nheavily polluting vehicles out of circulation. Apart from the funds provided by
\nthe Environment Ministry, local authorities contribute 20% of the vouchers
\ngranted to citizens who de-register cars older than 15 years. In a first stage
\nin April, town halls enrolled in this programme, and between August 1 and 31
\ncitizens may apply for the funds available in the programme. The number of
\nbeneficiaries for each administrative unit was set according to its population.
\nThe programme was originally scheduled for 2022, but it was postponed several
\ntimes. <\/p>\n
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3SI Bucharest will host a new summit of the
\nThree Seas Initiative (3SI) on September 6, held under the high patronage of
\npresident Klaus Iohannis. The summit will be followed by a 3SI Business Forum.
\nAttending will be Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 and Prime Minister Marcel
\nCiolacu. The 3SI brings together 12 EU member states from the Baltic, Black and
\nAdriatic Seas – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
\nHungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Political
\nand economic support for Ukraine will rank high on the summit’s agenda.<\/p>\n
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FORESTS The surface areas in Romania where forest
\nclearing is banned will be increased approx. 10 fold, to nearly half of
\nRomania’s forests, the environment minister Mircea Fechet announced at a press
\nconference releasing the new draft Forestry Code for public consultation. The
\ndocument will enable the government to take over the task of reforesting land
\nthat has been cleared and subsequently abandoned by its owners. Concurrently,
\nthe Criminal Code will also be amended, to include penalties of up to 5 years
\nof imprisonment for false statements concerning the transport of wood. Vehicles
\nthat carry wood illegally will also be seized. An updated Forestry Code is
\nnecessary given the infringement procedure initiated by the European Commission
\nagainst Romania for failure to meet its environment protection obligations. Critics
\nwarn however that the bill might have the exact opposite effect to the desired
\none.<\/p>\n
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TENNIS Romania currently has 4 athletes among
\nthe WTA top 100 players. Sorana C\u00eerstea stays on the 32nd position
\nand Irina Begu on 41st. Ana Bogdan has lost 8 places and currently
\nranks 47th. Simona Halep, who was provisionally suspended after
\ntesting positive for a prohibited substance at the US Open in 2022, dropped 2
\nplaces, to 56. In the doubles ranking, Gabriela Ruse and Monica Niculescu keep
\ntheir positions as 39th and 48th players in the world,
\nrespectively. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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