January 9, 2018 UPDATE
Click here for a round-up of news from Romania
Newsroom, 09.01.2018, 19:51
CABINET – Romanias Social Democratic Prime Minister Mihai Tudose has sent to President Klaus Iohannis the nomination of Senator Ioan Deneş for the Water and Forestry Minister post. In Mondays meeting of the National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party Deneş was chosen to replace Doina Pana, who last week resigned because of health reasons. The Social Democrats postponed for the end of this month discussions on a possible reshuffling, after the Prime Minister announced he would like his Cabinet downsized from 27 to 16 ministries.
SECURITY CHALLENGES – Romanian foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu, said on Tuesday in Bucharest that the states and societies in the region, are to Russia, a trial range for new forms of manifestation. According to Melescanu, these include hybrid tactics, cyber attacks, propaganda and fake news campaigns or military activities extended close to NATO territory, which leads to deeper regional instability. The foreign minister has said, in this context, that strategic relations with the Black Sea countries should be tightened, their own military capacities should be boosted and projects on energy security should be stepped up. The Romanian foreign minister has made that declaration at the debate on “Security Challenges in the Black Sea Region organised by Hudson Institute.
HEALTHCARE – Romanian PM Mihai Tudose said on Tuesday that the public health system needs a shock treatment, which should be administered in the medical infrastructure, in modern devices and to motivate the medical staff. He also underlined his cabinets intention to build the eight regional hospitals and a republican hospital, as is stipulated in the governing program. In another move, also on Tuesday, health minister Florian Bodog signed several contracts, worth some 20 million Euros, based on which 34 hospitals in the country will be equipped with new medical devices.
TRADE – Romania continued to import more than it exported last year, and the trade deficit deepened by nearly 3%, according to the National Statistics Institute. Although exports grew by around 9%, they remain below imports, generating a trade deficit of 1.12 billion euro. The most important trade partners were EU member states.
AIRPORTS – Bucharests 2 international airports, Henri Coandă and Băneasa, reported for 2017 record-large passenger numbers: nearly 13 million, which is 16.8% more than in 2016. According to the National Airport Corporation, in 2017 the number of take-offs and landings was also 7.7% higher than in the previous year, reaching 130,000. In fact, Airports Council International-Europe has ranked Henri Coandă as one of Europes top 5 airports in terms of the increase in air traffic figures in the first 10 months of the year, in the category of airports with 10-25 million passengers a year. Henri Coandă airport came ahead of the international airports in Lisbon, Berlin, Brussels, Athens, Milan, Prague and Budapest.
TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu Tuesday qualified into the quarter-finals of the Hobart tournament in Australia, which has 226,750 US dollars in total prizes, while Monica Niculescu has reached the eighth-finals. Buzărnescu outplayed Germanys Anna-Lena Friedsam, and is to play next against the American Alison Riske. Monica Niculescu will take on Varvara Lepchenko, also of the USA. On Monday the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open, begins, with world no. 1 Simona Halep seeded first. (Translated by D. Vijeu and AM Popescu)
