October 10, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 10.10.2014, 12:15
Romania’s prime minister Victor Ponta on Friday in Chisinau, pleaded, alongside his counterpart, Iurie Leanca, for the importance of the European path of the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet republic with a majority Romanian speaking population. In his turn, Prime Minister Leanca voiced appreciation for the financial support that Romania granted Moldova, worth over 40 million euros, for education, medical and cultural programs. The Romanian prime minister also travelled to Cahul, in the south-west, on the border with Romania, to visit a number of cultural and education facilities built with funds allocated by the Romanian government. Victor Ponta has recently been appointed interim Culture Minister and deputy Prime Minister, with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania having 45 days to nominate candidates for this position, to replace the former minister Kelemen Hunor.
Romania is prepared to deal with Ebola, although the risk of an infection is very low, said the state secretary in the Romanian interior ministry, Raed Arafat. The Romanian authorities are setting up, around the capital city Bucharest, a reception centre for Ebola patients as the virus is spreading across the world. In Spain, where a nurse has been contaminated, the government set up a crisis committee to prevent the virus from spreading. A British citizen suspected of infection with Ebola died in Macedonia and more people are feared to have caught the virus in the Czech Republic. French, British, Dutch and Norwegian citizens are being treated in their home countries after contracting the disease in West Africa, where Ebola is seeing the biggest outbreak in history. The United States and Canada have tightened airport control following the death of an American citizen diagnosed with Ebola.
Bucharest- The Petrotel refinery in south-western Romania, near Ploiesti, which is owned by the Russian oil giant Lukoil resumed production on Friday.. The refinery suspended its activity a week ago, following searches by Romanian prosecutors as part of investigations into a fiscal evasion and money laundering case, whose damages are estimated at 230 million euros. The company’s representatives said the refinery would resume production when prosecutors unfreeze its assets and stockpiles. President Traian Basescu accused Lukoil’s management of blackmailing the government and the prosecutors, saying the former must be prepared to take over the refinery if Lukoil decided to close it down. Lukoil Romania has a market share of around 20% and a network of 300 petrol stations.
The American army on Friday took over the command of the military base in Deveselu, southern Romania, which will host elements of the NATO defence shield. An Aegis radar system and around 25 interceptors will be installed here to become operational in 2015. Over the last two years, the US has allocated about 100 million dollars for the modernisation of the base in Deveselu. Romania agreed to host elements of the defence shield for Europe in September 2011. The system is designed by the US with the aim of responding to possible attacks from states considered hostile by the West, such as Iran.
Romanian gymnast, Larisa Iordache, has won all–around silver at the World Gymnastics Championships in China, with 59.765 points. American Simone Biles won the gold, with 60.231 points while Kyla Ross, also from the US, won bronze.
