January 3, 2018 UPDATE

Former Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Valeriu Zgonea, prosecuted for corruption / Minister of Waters and Forests resigns

Newsroom, 03.01.2018, 19:55

Prosecution — Anti-corruption prosecutors on Wednesday placed former Chamber of Deputies Speaker, Valeriu Zgonea, under judicial control, in a case in which he is prosecuted for influence peddling. According to prosecutors, between July 2012 and April 2013, while Zgonea was Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and vice-president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), another defendant, Dumitru Dobrica, promised him, and Zgonea accepted, undue benefits in exchange for using his influence upon some public servants, in order to appoint one of Dobrica’s relatives in an important public position. Investigators say that Zgonea received undue benefits of around 15 thousand euros. Also, Felicia Pop, office manager of the Minister for the Relation with Parliament, Viorel Ilie, was indicted by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate for using directly or indirectly information that is not intended for public disclosure, or for allowing unauthorized access to such information, in a case regarding the organisation of a contest to hire civil servants on contractual positions.

Resignation – The Romanian Minister of Waters and Forests, the Social Democrat Doina Pana, resigned on Wednesday, for medical reasons. Doina Pana will preserve, however, her position as Parliament member. She is Vice-President of the Parliament’s Committee for Environment and Ecological Balance and a member of the Romanian Parliament’s Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean. Doina Pana became a minister in June 2017, a position she also held in 2014.

Budget — The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday promulgated the state budget and the social security budget laws for 2018. However, he pointed to the laws’ vulnerabilities and to the challenges posed by the current fiscal and budget framework, given that Romania needs a credible and balanced budget that should consistently observe the fundamental objectives of macroeconomic stability, predictability and fiscal and budgetary sustainability. The 2018 budget is based on a 5.5% economic growth rate, an average annual inflation rate of 3.1%, an average currency exchange rate of 4.55 lei for one Euro and an average net monthly salary of 565 Euros. The budget deficit is estimated at 2.97% of the GDP, in keeping with the under 3% target. Also on Wednesday, Klaus Iohannis promulgated the Law on the revision of the Government’s emergency decree regarding the organisation and functioning of the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE).

Chisinau — In the Republic of Moldova, the speaker of Parliament, with pro-western views, Adrian Candu, will take over the interim presidency from the pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, to sign the decree for appointing 7 new ministers. The announcement was made by the Parliament’s press office, after the Constitutional Court decided that the pro-Russian president Igor Dodon could be suspended again, following his repeated refusal to promulgate the government reshuffles. Radio Romania’s correspondents to Chisinau say this measure was already applied last October in the case of the appointment of the defense minister, Eugen Sturza. Prime Minister Pavel Filip announced the change of seven of the thirteen members of the government with the avowed purpose of boosting reforms. Among the nominees are also two former prime ministers, Iurie Leancă, proposed as deputy prime minister for European integration and Chiril Gaburici, who is to take over the Economy portfolio.

Tennis — World no. 1, Simona Halep, on Wednesday defeated the Chinese Ying-Ying Duan (91 WTA), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 and made it to the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament held in Shenzen, China, with almost 630 thousand dollars up for grabs. Thus Simona Halep keeps the 1st place in the WTA ranking. Another Romanian, Irina Begu (no. 43 WTA) also qualified to the quarterfinals after defeating Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (96 WTA), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Also on Wednesday, Romania’s 3rd representative in the tournament, Ana Bogdan (105 WTA) lost to the Czech player Kristyna Pliskova, 4-6, 6-7, in an eighth finals match. In the doubles, the pair made up of Irina Begu and Simona Halep on Tuesday qualified to the semifinals after a dramatic match against another Romanian pair made up of Mihaela Buzarnescu and Irina Bara. (Translated by Elena Enache)