December 31, 2015 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 31.12.2015, 12:15
The year 2016 will bring tax cuts in Romania. As of January 1st the VAT
will drop from 24% to 20% and the tax on dividends from 16% to 5%. Also,
employers who have more employees will pay income taxes of 1% while those who
don’t have employees will pay income taxes of 3%. All these measures account
for almost 2.2 billion euros from the budget, which the Government hopes to
partly recover from the economic growth expected in 2016. In another
development, the Government has decided to raise the minimum salary as of May
1st 2016.
More than 37 thousand policemen, firefighters and gendarmes have been
mobilized to enforce public order at the events organized on New Year’s Eve
across Romania. According to a communiqué of the Romanian Police, 162
large-scale public events were planned for New Year’s Eve, in 40 counties and
the capital Bucharest. Until January 3rd the troops of the Special Intervention
and Action Service will be on duty in the crowded areas of Bucharest and other
big cities of Romania, as well as in airports and marketplaces.
Concern over threats of terrorist attacks has led to the implementation
of enhanced security measures all over the world on the occasion of the
festivities marking the start of the new year 2016. The fireworks shows on the
New Year’s Eve in Paris and Brussels have been canceled for security reasons.
In Brussels all public festivities have been cancelled after two people
suspected of masterminding a terrorist attack were arrested. In Turkey two
people who were planning attacks in Ankara have been arrested. Security
measures have also been tightened in Vienna, Dhaka and Bangladesh. Authorities
in the American cities of New York, Los Angeles and Washington enhanced
security ahead of the New Year’s Eve
festivities.
The victims of the fire at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest were
commemorated two months after the tragedy. Around 300 people brought flowers
and lit candles in front of the club. The fire killed 63 people and wounded
more than 150. According to data provided by the Healthcare Ministry, 23 people
are still in hospitals in Bucharest and abroad. In another development, the
three owners of the Colectiv club have been placed under home arrest.
Prosecutors with the General Prosecutor’s Office seized the assets of the three
owners, who were accused of manslaughter and serious bodily injury alongside
another three people who were in charge of the fireworks show on the night of
October 30 at the Colectiv Club.
The German chancellor Angela Merkel used her New Year’s speech to urge
Germans to see the record influx of refugees to Germany as an opportunity for
the future, drawing attention to those ‘full of hatred’ who want to exclude the
others. I am convinced that, handled properly, today’s great task presented by the influx and the integration of so many people is an opportunity for tomorrow, she said. The German chancellor has been contested both in
Europe and in Germany, by her own Conservative party, for her refugee policy.
According to the daily Saechsische Zeitung, in 2015 Germany received around 1.1
million migrants, 5 times more than in 2014. The Government will publish the
official statistics in early January.
The Romanian tennis players Irina Begu,
Monica Niculescu, Andreea Mitu and Patricia Tig will participate in the
Shenzhen tournament, China, scheduled to take place between January 3rd and
9th. The tournament has prizes up for grabs worth more than 400 thousand
dollars. According to the organizers, Begu and Niculescu will be among the
tournament’s top seeds, Andreea Mitu will also be on the main table while
Patricia Tig will play in the qualifiers. The best known Romanian tennis
player, Simona Halep, who won the Shenzhen tournament in 2015, will be top
seeded in the Brisbane tournament (Australia) which will be unfolding in the
same period. The Brisbane tournament has prizes worth almost 900 thousand
dollars.
