April 4, 2025

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.04.2026, 13:55

Ordinance – The Romanian government has approved the second package of intervention measures on the fuel market, after the decision to cap the commercial markup on gasoline and diesel, which came into force on April 1. This involves reducing the excise duty on standard diesel by 36 bani including the VAT per liter, after more than a month of price increases at the pump, during which it approached 11 lei (approx. 2.2 Euros). The ordinance will enter into force next week and will be in effect as long as the fuel price crisis persists, both internationally and domestically. The regulatory law also introduces a solidarity contribution for companies that extract oil from Romania, funds from which part of the excise duty reduction would be supported. The government will take money to cover this decrease from three sources, namely the additional VAT collected during the period of price increases, the state budget and the solidarity fund. 60% of the exceptional profits that certain companies in the sector have made since prices began to rise will go into that fund. The President of IMM Romania (the SMEs sector), Florin Jianu, claims that the Government’s measure to reduce the excise duty on diesel is insufficient and says that there is room for a more consistent decrease. He recalls that Romania has one of the highest excise duties on oil in the EU. In his opinion, a broader intervention by the government is needed.

Rating – The reconfirmation of Romania’s sovereign rating highlights the confidence of international agencies in the authorities’ ability to continue fiscal consolidation and to maintain macroeconomic stability, said Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare. On Friday, the financial rating agency S&P Global Ratings reconfirmed Romania’s sovereign rating at BBB-/A-3 for long-term and short-term debt, while maintaining a negative outlook. The decision reconfirms Romania’s placement in the investment-grade category and reflects, according to the agency, the authorities’ continued efforts to consolidate fiscally, in the context of domestic and external economic challenges. According to the agency’s assessment, the budget deficit is estimated to be reduced to 6.5% of GDP in 2026 and to 5.5% of GDP in 2027, compared to 7.7% in 2025, against the backdrop of fiscal adjustment measures already implemented. At the same time, investments financed from European funds continue to represent an important factor supporting economic growth. The report highlights that Romania’s economy is going through a period of moderate growth, with an estimated advance of 0.25% in 2026, with the growth rate expected to improve in the period 2027-2029, to an average of approximately 2.5%.

Religious holidays – In Romania, approximately 24 thousand employees of the Interior Ministry, police officers, gendarmes, firefighters and border guards, are mobilized at national level in the context of Sunday’s celebrations: the Orthodox Palm Sunday and the Catholic Easter. They will act to prevent incidents and efficiently manage operational situations, especially in areas with high levels of people. Special attention is paid to places of worship and religious events, where over 1.2 million believers are expected to participate. In Bucharest, on Saturday, over 15 thousand people are expected to participate in the traditional Palm Sunday pilgrimage. The Interior Ministry crews will ensure the necessary measures for the safe conduct of the event. For good organization, temporary traffic restrictions will also be established. We remind you that Orthodox Easter (the Resurrection of Jesus Christ), the greatest celebration of Christianity, is marked on April 12. It is the holiday that brought humanity the hope of salvation and eternal life, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Easter has been celebrated since the apostolic era.

Pfizer – The Romanian Health Minister Alexandru Rogobete (from the Social Democratic Party) has said that he is considering opening direct negotiations with Pfizer so that, on account of the 600 million Euros owed by Romania, it could receive innovative medicines from the company and thus introduce modern therapies into the public health system. He explained that the Romanian authorities ordered more doses of anti-COVID vaccines during the pandemic than would have been necessary for the entire population of the country. We recall that a court in Brussels sentenced Romania, in the first instance, to pay 600 million Euros, the remaining balance for 29 million anti-COVID vaccines ordered from Pfizer and which were no longer purchased. Pfizer sued the two countries in 2023 to enforce the execution of the procurement contracts, which, following the end of the pandemic, Poland and Romania refused to completely fulfill. The American manufacturer complains that after signing the contract in 2021, the authorities in Bucharest invoked logistics and storage problems and had an indecisive behavior in successively accepting and refusing the renegotiation options they received.

Iran – Iran and the United States have today entered a race against time to find one of the two occupants of the first American plane to crash on Iranian soil since the start of the war, AFP reports. The Iranian army said it shot down the aircraft, an F-15E fighter-bomber. US media reported that one of the two pilots ejected mid-flight and was evacuated during a Special Forces raid in southwestern Iran, while the fate of the second remains unknown. Tehran urged locals to search for the American pilot and offered a reward for his surrender. The Iranian military also said it had shot down another American plane, an A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft, which then crashed in the Persian Gulf. US President Donald Trump has refused to discuss the rescue operation, but said it would not affect negotiations to end the month-long conflict with Iran. He has threatened to attack Iranian civilian infrastructure, such as power plants. On the other hand, Tehran has rejected a US proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire, an Iranian source told the Iranian Fars news agency on Friday, Reuters reports. Also on Friday, the US newspaper Wall Street Journal wrote that current mediation efforts led by several countries, notably Pakistan, for a ceasefire between the US and Israel, on the one hand, and Iran, on the other, are at an impasse. (LS)