August 18, 2026 UPDATE
A roundup of national and international news.
Newsroom, 18.08.2026, 20:00
POWER PLANT – Unit 4 of the Rovinari coal-fired power plant was connected to the national power grid on Tuesday, after the Romanian Energy Ministry requested that the unit be taken out of reserve. The approximately 300 megawatts of additional power generated at Rovinari were fed into the grid from Tuesday afternoon, helping to cover part of the shortfall caused by the controlled shutdown of Unit 2 at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, amid low Danube water levels that are preventing the reactor from being adequately cooled. Cristian Buşoi, State Secretary at the Energy Ministry, said that if the drought continues, Reactor 2 at Cernavodă will not be able to resume operations over the next 10 days.
TRANSPORTERS – The Romanian Federation of Transport Operators (FORT) is calling on Parliament to amend the law on the temporary adjustment of fuel excise duties in line with market developments and to introduce effective oversight of the cap on commercial mark-ups, the organisation’s president, Beniamin Lucescu, said on Tuesday. He added that the federation had also asked the Competition Council to examine the composition of fuel prices. FORT is calling for fuel prices and profit margins to be brought back to normal levels, so that they reflect actual market developments and do not undermine the Romanian economy. Transport operators say that, while the price of a barrel of oil remains well below the peaks reached during the conflict in the Middle East, diesel prices in Romania have hit historic highs. Romanian transport companies, businesses and millions of consumers are facing increasingly higher costs, while the economy as a whole is losing competitiveness, FORT representatives said. According to the Finance Ministry, a temporary 20% cut in the excise duty on standard diesel is in effect from August 16 to 31, 2026. The measure was introduced in response to a significant rise in international quotations and pump prices, with the aim of limiting pressure on households and the economy.
EDUCATION – Public spending on education, from pre-school through secondary school, in the European Union amounted to 4.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, unchanged from 2022, according to data released by Eurostat on Tuesday. Among EU member states, Sweden recorded the highest level of public spending on education as a share of GDP, at 6.8%, followed by Finland at 6.3% and Belgium at 6.2%. At the other end of the scale, the lowest levels were recorded in Romania, at 3% of GDP, Greece at 3.3% and Malta at 3.4%.
GRAIN – The League of Agricultural Producers’ Associations (LAPAR) is calling on the authorities to closely monitor the route taken by Ukrainian grain transiting Romania, amid the possible reactivation of solidarity corridors for agricultural products from neighbouring Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russian forces. LAPAR is calling for entry documents to be compulsorily cross-checked against exit documents, so as to ensure that the entire quantity of grain declared as being in transit actually leaves Romanian territory. It is also proposing predefined routes monitored by the National Road Infrastructure Management Company and the Romanian Police, as well as mobile weighbridges at all border crossings. In the case of trains, farmers are calling for the sealing of loading and unloading hatches to be checked. A similar request was made last week to the authorities in Bucharest by the Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation (AAC) in Romania. It is calling for strict controls and full traceability of Ukrainian grain in transit, as well as concrete measures to protect the country’s economic interests.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea (WTA No. 19) reached the last 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, which offers total prize money of $7,433,076, after Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya (WTA No. 21) retired with Cîrstea leading 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 5-0. In the last 16, Cîrstea will face American Jessica Pegula (WTA No. 3), who beat compatriot Emma Navarro 7-5, 6-2 in the previous round. Meanwhile, Cîrstea withdrew from the doubles event, where she had been due to partner Russia’s Mirra Andreeva against the pairing of Italy’s Sara Errani and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez. (EE)
