November 7, 2013 UPDATE
For an update on domestic and international news, click here.
România Internațional, 07.11.2013, 19:07
EARTHQUAKE An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.8 on the Richter scale occured on Thursday afternoon in the Vrancea area in eastern Romania. Another eartquake measuring 5.5 occured in the same area a month ago and was felt in Bucharest, northern Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova. As many as 7 eartquakes with a magnitude of at least 4 have taken place in the Vrancea area this year.
CELEBRATION Over 1 million Romanians are celebrating their name day on Friday, on the occasion of the religious feast of Saints Michael and Gabriel. Michael the 1st, the former king of Romania is also celebrating his name day, occasion on which he will welcome at the Elisabeth Palace, all those who want to congratulate him. Among the events aimed to celebrate King Michael the 1st, who has recently turned 92, is an extraordnary concert, held at Radio Romania’s Concert Hall, with maestro Dan Grigore, a pianist of the Royal House, on stage.
GOLD MINING The special parliamentary committee for Rosia Montana resumed works on Thursday. The committee is to draw up a report on gold mining in the Apuseni Mountains. The gold and silver mining project in Rosia Montana, in central Romania, has sparked protests over the past few months because of the use of cyanides and their impact on the environment.
VISIT The Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter on Thursday in Berne, after a meeting with his Romanian counterpart Titus Corlatean, hailed the good cooperation between the Police in the two countries but pointed out that delinquency continues to be a big challenge”. Burkhalter and Corlatean also discussed about the Swiss financial assistance programme offered to Bucharest under a more extensive programme, aimed at bridging the gap between the social and economic standards within an enlarged European Union.
INFLATION The National Bank of Romania has significantly revised downward the inflation rate forecast for this year, from 3.1%, to 1.8%. The announcement was made by the central bank governor, Mugur Isarescu. As regards the outlook for 2014, the National Bank of Romania has slightly decreased the inflation forecast from 3.1% to 3%, the central bank estimating a decrease in the inflation rate below the variation interval in the first half of next year, and afterwards, followed by an increase. Mugur Isarescu has also said the domestic demand is going up slowly and that the overall economic situation is stagnating. As regards financing, Isarescu has said loans in foreign currencies will continue to lose ground and the interest rate earned by new loans in the Romanian currency, the leu, for the population, is significantly reduced.
INVESTMENT The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) wants to invest up to 600 million Euros in Romania next year, mainly in the energy and banking sectors, says the Director of EBRD Romania, James Hyslop, in an interview to Bloomberg. According to Hyslop, the aforementioned bank has granted Romania 3 billion Euros over the past five years, to help transform the country from a former communist state into a democracy with a market economy. Hyslop has also said that EBRD, which last week purchased 1.9% of the shares in the national company Romgaz, might also participate in other share selling operations planned by the government. According to the figures made available by the bank, Romania is the fourth destination of EBRD’s investments, after Russia, Poland and Ukraine.
