April 12, 2023 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 12.04.2023, 19:48
Ordinance – The public expenditure reform bill should be ready next week, the Romanian Finance Minister Adrian Câciu announced. Until then, the Government members will present solutions to reduce expenses in their areas of responsibility. The Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă asked them not to plan salary cuts or give up investments. He also said that he wanted to improve the collection of taxes, not to increase taxes. All in all, the cuts should amount to 20 billion lei – approximately 4 billion Euros – by the end of the year. On Wednesday, the Romanian government approved an emergency decree that provides for simplification and digitalization measures for the management of European funds for the 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy. Also on Wednesday, the program through which the Romanian state financially supports the refugees from Ukraine was modified: from now on they will receive an amount of money per person, for four consecutive months. After this period, they will be able to benefit from unemployment or enter the employment program, but before that, they must register with the employment offices. Those who host the refugees will no longer receive money for accommodation and food, as was the case until now.
Aid – The Romanian government will grant a first installment of the financial aid intended to compensate for the losses caused by the conflict in Ukraine to cattle breeders and the dairy market. More than 21 million Euros will be granted starting on May 15, with a second tranche, worth 22 million Euros, to be disbursed in the second semester. Following Tuesday evening’s consultations between the government team led by the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă and the representatives of dairy processors and big store chains, a price reduction for milk was agreed upon for the next six months. Also to support the consumption of milk produced in Romania, the Government wants to expand the “Hot Lunch in Schools” Program starting next year. Thus, pupils will receive milk every day at school, not just three times a week, as happens at present.
Visit – The European Commission has identified 15 companies, from 11 countries, where the production capacity in the defense industry could be increased, and Romania is one of these countries, said the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton. On Wednesday, he visited two factories in Romanias defense industry. Breton previously met in Bucharest with the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă, and, following talks, he stated that Romania would be able to play an even more important role in the defense industry, in the context of the war in neighboring Ukraine. Breton highlighted the fact that Romania increased the budget allocated to defense from 2% to 2.5% of the GDP, giving Romania as an example to follow. The discussions with Nicolae Ciucă also focused on cyber security, the European commissioner saying that the field should be competitive.
Gymnastics — Romania’s mens team ranked 11th, on Tuesday, at the European Championships in Artistic Gymnastics in Antalya (Turkey), thus qualifying for the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. The Romanian athletes needed to be ranked among the first 13 teams to obtain qualification for the World Cup, a competition that will decide the teams that will participate in the 2024 Olympics. Italy won the gold medals, the silver went to Turkey, and Great Britain got the bronze.
Motion — In Bucharest, Save Romania Union – USR and ‘Forţa Dreptei’ – Force of the Right party (both opposition) tabled a simple motion to the Chamber of Deputies against the Agriculture Minister, Petre Daea. The signatories claim that he is the weakest agriculture minister in the last 30 years, registering failure after failure and endangering both Romanias economy and development, as well as the countrys food security. They accuse him of willingly destroying Romanian agriculture. This is what people can see in the markets where the prices are the highest in the last 30 years, said the leader of the USR deputies, Ionuţ Moşteanu, who announced the initiative. The motion will be voted on next Wednesday.
NATO – The Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr and the Chief of the General Staff General Daniel Petrescu, met on Wednesday with the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Robert Bauer. He is visiting Romania from April 11 to 14. According to a press release from the Romanian Defense Ministry, talks will focus on the security situation in the Black Sea region, the dynamics of the implementation of allied measures to deter and defend the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO operations and missions, as well as major training events this year. (LS)
