September 2, 2016 UPDATE

IMF report: Romania's National Agency for Fiscal Administration, unproductive

Newsroom, 02.09.2016, 12:15

IMF REPORT — The Romanian National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) is wasting its resources on unproductive audits, which lead to very poor results, reads a recent IMF report. According to the “Technical assistance report – Improving Compliance Risk Management of Large Taxpayers”, about 46% of annual audit resources are used on VAT refund issues as compared to only 5% in advanced administrations. There are also shortcomings in taxpayer services and collection enforcement. The Large Taxpayer Office (LTO) lacks an integrated compliance approach to guide operational activities toward major tax risks and its ability to implement modern risk-based methods continues to be impeded by its organizational structure, the report says. Also, according to the IMF, the LTO Risk Management Unit needs appropriately skilled staff and good analytic facilities to identify and mitigate risks.

VISIT — Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos met on Friday in Bucharest the vice-president of the European Commission, Jyrki Katainen, paying an official visit to Romania. The two officials discussed about the EU’s future after Brexit and about European funds. PM Ciolos emphasised the fact that Romania remained strongly attached to the European project. On Thursday, the two officials took part in a dialogue with Romanian citizens. The discussions revolved around current topics on the EU and Romanian agenda, especially the Investment Plan for Europe, also known as the Juncker plan, which provides at least 315 billion Euro in private and public investment over three years.

MOURNING — Friday was a national day of mourning in Romania in memory of the victims of the earthquake in Italy and in solidarity with the Italian people. All public institutions flew their flags at half-mast, while national radio and television stations, as well as institutions of culture, ran special programs. Eleven Romanians were killed in the quake in Italy. The last of the Romanians declared missing has been recently found alive. Five injured Romanians are still being treated in a hospital in Italy.

MEETING — Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu travelled to Bratislava on Friday to attend the informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers. Talks revolve around the recent situation in Turkey, the situation in Ukraine, with a focus on implementing the Minsk Accords, as well as the EU global foreign and security policy. These informal meetings are held twice a year by the country holding the EU rotating presidency, currently Slovakia. On Thursday, the foreign minister was in Potsdam, Germany, attending the informal meeting of foreign ministers from OSCE countries. He said that one of Romanias major priorities is to solve the conflict in Transdniester while safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity of the Republic of Moldova.

INVESTIGATION — The Romanian Senate on Friday received the official request by anti-corruption prosecutors to start an investigation of senator Gabriel Oprea, former deputy prime minister and minister of the interior, who is accused of manslaughter in the case of police officer Bogdan Gigina. The officer lost his life in a motorcycle accident while being part of the escort for the then minister. Part of the investigation was establishing if Oprea had the right to an official escort, since at the time he was attending a personal errand. According to the prosecutors, Oprea was responsible for the motorcade travelling at high speed, in violation of standing procedures. This in turn is seen as leading directly to the accident that killed the escorting police officer.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football squad on Saturday leaves for Cluj, in central Romania, to take on Montenegro in their first match of the World Cup 2018 preliminaries. Romania is part of a group that also includes Poland, Denmark, Armenia and Kazakhstan. The game against Montenegro also represents the debut match of a selection with Cristoph Daum at the helm. The German coach is the first foreign national to lead the Romanian national team, replacing Anghel Iordanescu. We recall that Romania’s national selection, coached by Iordanescu, ended up at the bottom of group A in the European championship in France, with a single point. Our footballers obtained a one-all draw against Switzerland, and lost to France and Albania.

(Translated by Elena Enache)