February 5, 2021 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 05.02.2021, 19:53
Inquiry. Romanian prime
minister Florin Cîțu has asked the government’s control division to verify
the management by the economy ministry of the awarding of one-off Covid grants
to small and medium sized companies. The move comes after a discussion with
economy minister Claudiu Năsui who earlier posted on Facebook that the measure
did not achieve the goal for which it was intended. He said that while the
grant was supposed to help businesses cope with the pandemic, it ended up
financing property purchases. Năsui said more than half of the businesses
eligible for this grant applied for the purchase of real estate. Last summer,
the Liberal government led by Ludovic Orban adopted a funding scheme aimed at
helping small and medium sized businesses affected by the pandemic in the form
of investment grants worth between 50,000 and 200,000 euros.
Travel. Romania has
expanded the list of countries with a high epidemiological risk and, as of 12th
February, will require the presentation of a negative Covid test taken up to 72
hours before entering the country. Arrivals to Romania will be asked to
isolate for 14 days, with the exception of children under the age of 3, people
who have received the Covid vaccine, including the second dose, and persons who
tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 90 days.
Vaccination. Almost 2,600 new Covid
cases and 73 new deaths were recorded in Romania on Friday. The total number of
infections in this country now passes 740,000, while the death toll is nearing
18,750. Romania will only administer the Covid vaccine produced by AstraZeneca
together with Oxford University to adults between 18 and 55. At the end of last
month, the European Medicines Agency said there was insufficient data on the
efficacy of this vaccine in persons over 55 but that it expects it to protect
them, based on the information provided by the manufacturer. However, a number
of European states decided not to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to the
elderly. Romania is to receive 800,000 doses of this vaccine by the end of the
month. In the meantime, the roll-out of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine continues
in Romania, where the Moderna vaccine also began to be administered on
Thursday. Some 640,000 people have received the Covid jab in Romania so far.
Investigation.
The prosecutor’s office attached to the Bucharest Tribunal announced the
conclusion on Friday of the ground investigation into the fire at the Matei
Bals Institute in the capital. At the same time, the procedure for establishing
the identity of the charred patients was completed. Moreover, the prosecutors
have requested a technical expertise for establishing the causes of the fire at
Matei Balş. So far, 33 people, medical staff, administrative staff, police
officers who participated in the initial intervention and relatives of the
victims have been heard. We recall that
on January 29, at the main Romanian hospital for infectious diseases in
Bucharest, where patients with Covid-19 are treated, a fire broke out killing
12 patients. Several wards burned and the whole building was affected by smoke.
More than 100 patients were evacuated and transferred to other health
facilities. A similar tragedy took place in November, at the emergency hospital
in Piatra Neamţ (northeast), as a result of which 10 patients died.
EC. The
European Commission has opened an investigation to assess whether the support
measures granted by the Romanian authorities to the Oltenia Energy Complex
comply with the unitary rules on state aid offered to companies in difficulty -
the EU executive announced on Friday. In particular, the Commission will
examine whether the proposed plan can restore the long-term viability of the
company without further state support. Bucharest sent to Brussels last month a
plan to restructure the company, for a period of 5 years. For the implementation
of this plan, the company is to benefit from a grant from budgetary funds in
the amount of about 1,327 million euros, as well as another 711 million euros
from the EU Modernization Fund. Oltenia Energy Complex is the second player on
the local electricity market, with a market share of 22%.
Schools. The Romanian authorities
are making the final preparations for the reopening of schools next week. Three
scenarios are in place, depending on the local infection rate. With the
exception of two months, teaching has been conducted exclusively online in
Romania since last March, amid discontent from pupils, parents, teachers and
non-governmental organisations in the field.
Navalny. On Friday in
Moscow, the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell voiced worries over the
situation of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and called for his
release. During the meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergehi Lavrov,
Josep Borrell stated that an investigation must be carried out into the
poisoning of Navalny. Navalny was arrested and then sentenced to prison on his
return from Germany, where he had received treatment for poisoning. He is now
due to serve 2 years and 8 months in jail. In another move, Russia on Friday
announced the expulsion of diplomats from Sweden, Germany and Poland, accusing
them of taking part in last month’s illegal protests against the imprisonment
of Alexei Navalny.
Tennis. World no. 2 Simona
Halep of Romania will be facing Australia’s Lizette Cabrera in her opening
match at the Australian Open which gets under way on Monday in Melbourne. Two
other Romanian players will face each other in the first round, Patricia Ţig
and Sorana Cîrstea, while Irina Begu will face Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic and Ana
Bogdan will be playing Danielle Collins of the US. Mihaela Buzărnescu, the
sixth Romanian player on the main draw at the Australian Open, will face the
Romanian-born Canadian player Bianca Andreescu.
