August 16, 2015 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.

Newsroom, 16.08.2015, 12:15

DROUGHT – Romanian Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin on Monday is meeting with leaders of the agricultural companies to discuss the severe drought this year and the possibility of handing out compensations. Previously Prime Minister Victor Ponta had said the Government was preparing to compensate farmers for their crops destroyed by the drought. Farmers claim hundreds of thousands of hectares have been lost, with losses amounting to over 2 billion euros. After a long period of extreme heat, meteorologists have issued a warning against heavy rainfall in place until Tuesday evening.

FISCAL CODE – Representatives of parliamentary parties in Romania are next week holding talks on the new Fiscal Code. The code was sent back to Parliament for reanalysis on July 17. The president believes the fiscal relaxation measures provided by the code would have serious consequences on the budget planning for the next years. The same view seems to be shared by the National Bank governor and the representativs of IMF and the European Commission. Romanias international lenders have warned that the simultaneous implementation of such measures could cause serious macroeconomic imbalances.

ROMANIANS ABROAD – Participants in the Summer University Izvorul Muresului on Saturday adopted a resolution whereby calling for the creation of a Ministry for Romanians Worldwide, charged with overseeing relations with Romanians abroad, as well as for drafting and urgently implementing a strategy allowing Romanian communities in the Balkans and the West to keep their national identity. The participants also called for smoothing the process of obtaining Romanian citizenship for ethnic Romanians living on the borders with Romania, as well as for the introduction of postal voting. The resolution will be forwarded to the Presidential Administration, Parliament, the Government and political parties. Held between August 10-15, the Summer University Izvorul Muresului was focused on Romanians on the EU and NATO borders.

STUDY – 96% of Romanians believe in God. 86% say the Church meets the spiritual needs of people, 69% pray daily and over 50% go to confession, reads a recent study conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy. Attending religious events also has a high rate among Romanians. 45% of respondents said they attend service at least once a month. Over a quarter of respondents say they have been on pilgrimage at least once. Faith conversion is an isolated phenomenon in Romania. Only 4 in 100 people said they changed their faith. The study was conducted in August over a sample of 1000 people at national level, with an error margin of 3.1%.

GAS – Romania has imported by 80% less natural gas in the first six month of the year as compared to the same period of last year, according to the National Institute of Statistics. The 2015-2035 National Energy Strategy places Romania at the top of a list of countries in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of natural gas supplies. With an annual average production of 11 billion cubic meters, current gas reserves might run out in approximately 14 years.

FEAST DAY – Orthodox Christians in Romania on Sunday celebrated the family of holy martyrs Brancoveanu. Constantin Brancoveanu, Prince of Wallachia in the 17th and 18th centuries, was killed in Istanbul, alongside his four sons, for refusing to renounce the Christian faith and convert to Islam. Brancoveanu was a patron of the arts, founding many churches and monasteries built in the style that bears his name. Sanctified in 1992, the earthly remains of Brancoveanu now rest in a church in downtown Bucharest.