August 2, 2022
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 02.08.2022, 14:25
COMMEMORATION – Improving the living standards of the Romanian citizens part of the Roma minority, based on active citizenship and social and economic inclusion and on capitalising on its cultural heritage is a priority of the Government, said PM Nicolae Ciuca in a message occasioned by the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day marked in Romania. The Foreign Ministry said that the sufferance of the Roma in the Nazi concentration camps during WW2 has unfortunately remained unknown to the large public for a long time. That is why the Foreign Ministry supports national and international initiatives that promote education, research and the commemoration of the genocide against the Roma. In turn, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in a message that discrimination and stigmatization of minorities must be sanctioned. Around 3000 Roma in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp fell victim to the Nazi regime on August 2, 1944. Around 500,000 Roma were killed in Europe during the Holocaust.
NATURAL GAS – The Romanian state owned company Romgaz has announced it completed the purchase of shares from the American company ExxonMobil as part of the Neptun Deep project of exploiting natural gas in the Black Sea. Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, said on a social network that the completion of the transaction worth more than 1 billion dollars is in important step ahead for Romania in its bid to become independent energetically, at a difficult time for the whole Europe. Romania, which is currently the European country less dependent on Russian gas, owns large reserves in the Black Sea — around 200 billion cubic meters. Most of it is in the Neptun Deep perimeter, which Romgaz will exploit alongside OMV Petrom.
MOTORWAY – The Transport Ministry in Bucharest has signed the biggest contract for a motorway segment in Romania – section 3 of the Sibiu – Piteşti highway – worth 5.3 billion lei (about 1 billion Euros). The design phase will take 12 months and the construction almost four years. Once this contract signed, all five sections of the highway on the Olt Valley have designated contractors, said Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu. Stay tuned for more on this topic, after the news.
FIREFIGHTERS – The Romanian firefighters have completed their mission in Greece, being replaced by colleagues from other European countries. Romania’s mission was made up of 56 members who put down fires and worked in two consecutive shifts in groups of 28 people. Greece has been dealing with hundreds of fires since the beginning of summer, triggered by the prolonged heat and draught. Firefighters from Bulgaria, France and Germany will be replacing, for one month, their colleagues from Romania, Finland and Norway.
FESTIVAL — The electronic music festival Untold, held in Cluj, in the north-west, one of the world’s top five festivals of its kind and the largest music event in Romania will be held between August 4 and 7. There will be four nights and four days of fun for tens of thousands of music lovers from all continents. Among the artists to perform this year in Cluj are J Balvin, David Guetta, Hardwell and Vini Vici.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (WTA 16) qualified to the round of 16 of the Washington tournament after defeating the Moldovan Cristina Bucsa (WTA 123), 6-3, 7-5. Halep will next be up against the winner of the match between American Madison Brengle and Russian Ana Kalinskaya. Also, the Romanian-Czech pair Monica Niculescu/Lucie Hradecka (WTA 250) qualified to the quarterfinals after a victory against Emma Răducanu (UK) /Clara Tauson (Denmark), 6-4, 6-1. Niculescu and Hradecka will next be up against Americans Makenna Jones/Sloane Stephens. (EE)
