July 3, 2014
News and current affairs from Romania
Ştefan Stoica, 03.07.2014, 11:05
The Romanian Senate meets today in special session to ratify the association agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the EU. On Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies passed the document that was signed last week in Brussels. All 28 member states are supposed to endorse this act, which Bucharest described as historic, with major consequences for society, with particular emphasis on the economy.
The Romanian state railway company in charge of freight trains will downsize by 2,500 employees, part of their restructuring and re-organization program. The people who lose their jobs will get 12 to 14 monthly salaries as part of their severance package, around 370 Euros per month. They will also get six gross worth monthly salaries matching their pay grade, worth around 205 Euros. The restructuring aims to restore the balance between the volume of freight and the number of employees, in order to increase competitiveness. The freight division of the national railroad company holds 54.8% of the market at this point, with a turnover last year of around 210 million Euros, 5% less than 2012.
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the assassination of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem, possibly in retaliation for the abduction and killing of three Israelis on June 12 in the West Bank. The ministry condemns firmly the violence and loss of life on both sides, appealing to calm. Israel threatened Hamas with heavy handed retaliation. As a first measure, the IDF demolished the homes of the suspects, and bombed the Gaza Strip. Hamas denied having anything to do with the kidnapping, at the same time endorsing the killing.
The former president of the National Tax Agency Administration of Romania, Sorin Blejnar, has been indicted by anti-corruption prosecutors, accused alongside others of conspiracy to commit tax fraud and organized criminal activity. Damages to the state were estimated to be 56 million Euro. According to prosecutors, Sorin Blejnar supported the crime ring, which avoided paying taxes for around 90,000 tons of diesel fuel, sold as inferior grade fuel.
Romania’s best tennis player, WTA 3rd seed Simona Halep today will be facing the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. The confrontation counts towards the semi-finals of the Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon. We recall that in the quarterfinals, Halep defeated the German Sabine Lisicki, in two sets. If she makes headway into the Wimbledon tournament’s finals, Simona Halep will be 2nd seed in the WTA rankings. We recall in the Roland Garros tournament finals this year, Halep was defeated by Maria Sharapova from Russia.
The representatives of 30 French producers of automotive equipment and the Romanian branches of French, German, American, Italian and Japanese automotive parts maker, meet today in Bucharest to discuss cooperation. The conference is presided by the Minister of the Economy, Constantin Nita, and French Ambassador Francois St-Paul. The Romanian branch of Renault, which took over the local brand Dacia, is the company which had the largest turnover in 2013 in Romania. It is a strategic industry in Romania, accounting for 8 to 10% of the GDP, in spite of a slump of 70% of business in 2009 and 2010.
