July 4, 2014
A look at some of the top stories in Romania today.
România Internațional, 04.07.2014, 12:30
Romania’s prime minister Victor Ponta and the minister delegate for energy Razvan Nicolescu today opened the trading session on the London Stock Exchange, which has started the listing of the country’s biggest electricity supplier Electrica. It is the second time that the Romanian prime minister opened the trading session in London following the listing of Romgaz 6 months ago. Electrica raised 444 million euros through a public tender carried out in June, by which the state has transferred 51% of the company’s shares to private investors.
Navy forces from Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and the United States are taking part in a ten-day exercise known as Breeze-2014 carried out in the western part of the Black Sea. The operations involve navy vessels, a US patrol aircraft and vessels from the permanent NATO anti-mine naval group. The joint military exercise carried out by the five states as part of NATO is aimed at improving cooperation and the capability of participating in anti-crisis operations.
Prime minister Victor Ponta says the partnership with the United States has always been very important for Romania. In a talk given on Thursday at the US Embassy in Bucharest ahead of the 4th of July celebrations, Mr Ponta underlined that the Romanian military paid a high cost in Afghanistan to show that Romania is a reliable partner. He also thanked the US for its support to the ex-Soviet, majority Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova on its path towards democracy and European integration.
Water quality parameters are good on the Romanian coast, according to the latest tests carried out by the Public Health Directorate. Local authorities assure tourists on the Romanian coast that these tests are carried out regularly. Earlier, the foreign ministry in Bucharest warned Romanian citizens travelling or planning to travel to the Bulgarian coast of the risk that the seawater may be contaminated with the hepatitis A strain. According to a report by Bulgarian hepataology experts, strains of escherichia coli and intestinal enterococi have been found in the sea water in the city of Varna and other Black Sea resorts, after the flooding caused by heavy rain fall last month. Experts recommend tourists not to eat raw mussels, to shower after bathing in the sea, to respect hygienic and sanitary rules, and, as a precaution for those who spend their holiday on the Bulgarian coast, to have the hepatitis A vaccine.
The businessman and founding president of the Conservative Party, a junior member of the government in Bucharest, Dan Voiculescu, is under investigation for extortion. He is accused of threatening three business people of launching an aggressive campaign to destroy their reputation unless they sign advertising deals with the influential media trust run by Voiculescu. The latter rejected the accusations saying he has never met the three people in question. Dan Voiculescu has also been on trial since 2008 for a case about the illegal privatisation of the Bucharest Food Research Institute, which led to losses of 60 million euros.
