December 3, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 03.12.2014, 19:45
The Romanian delegate minister for budget, Darius Valcov, has stated that the Romanian side will not propose any new tax raise while negotiating with the IMF and the European Commission. The joint expert mission is in Bucharest until December 10, discussing with the Romanian authorities the budget for 2015. In the meantime, the government has announced one last adjustment for this year. More after the news.
Romania has registered 1.8% economic growth in this third quarter as opposed to the previous one, and in the first nine months the GDP growth was 2.8%, according to preliminary data from the national statistics institution. The most important contributor to this growth before September 30, as contrasted with that same period in 2013, was industry, with 30.3% of the GDP, followed by IT and telecommunications, with 5.2%. Construction, financial management and insurance were a drag on GDP growth, as the data for November showed that the Romanian economy was in technical recession, with a GDP growth up only 0.5%.
Romania ranks 69th, just as last year, in the ranking of countries according to perceived corruption, the lowest ranking in the EU. This annual report issued by Transparency International ranks Romanian on a par with Brazil, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Senegal. The countries with the worst perceived corruption in the world are Sudan, North Korea and Somalia, while Denmark, New Zealand and Finland are considered the least corrupt. The phenomenon of corruption is seen as rising in China, Turkey and other countries with strong economic growth.
The Liberal Democrat MP Catalin Tedorescu was announced on Wednesday he would be prosecuted under certain legal restrictions, pending trial. Prosecutors made the decision after the Chamber of Deputies rejected the National Anti-Corruption Directorate’s request for Teodorescu to be taken in temporary custody. On the other hand, the Romanian deputies accepted a similar request concerning Marko Attila, member of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Both Catalin Teodorescu and Marko Attila are being prosecuted for their involvement in a case of compensations granted for an over-evaluated piece of land in Bucharest. Also accused in the case is the former Anti-Mob Chief Prosecutor Alina Bica, who is currently being held in temporary custody. The damage caused in this case is estimated at over 60 million Euros.
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu met on Wednesday in Brussels with the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. During the meeting he said that NATO should keep focusing on the security of the Black Sea area, including by carrying on joint exercises, exchanges of information and assessments. Also, the Romanian Foreign Minister reconfirmed Romania’s willingness to host NATO control and command elements on its soil. Also in Brussels, Bogdan Aurescu had talks with his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, and the two agreed upon setting up a regular consultation mechanism to be used by the foreign ministries of the two countries to discuss European affairs and security issues. Minister Aurescu attended in Brussels the first meeting of the international coalition against the Islamic State terrorist organisation. On the occasion, Romania reiterated its commitment to supporting coalition’s efforts, in particular through humanitarian aid.
The Romanian Minister of the Environment, Attial Korodi, on Wednesday summoned the Emergency Committee to analyse all information regarding the accident at the Zaporojie nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine, some 500 km from Romania. A technical malfunction affected the nuclear plant in Ukraine, the largest in Europe, on November 28th, but the Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodimir Demcisin has stated there is no danger of radiation. He has also stated that the plant will start working again in normal conditions on December 5th. We recall that in 1986 Ukraine was the stage of the biggest nuclear catastrophe in history. An explosion at the Cernobal plant released a radioactive cloud that affected Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Europe.
Romania is among the countries with the most expensive gasoline in the world, according to Bloomberg, which looked at the prices of car fuel in 61 states, based on average pricing and daily average spending for a gallon of gasoline. Romanian ranks 30th in the standings, ranking 11th in terms of purchasing power. The country with the most expensive gasoline is Norway, with almost 2 Euro per liter, while Venezuela has the cheapest, one cent per liter. Countries with less expensive gasoline than Romania are Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary.
The leaders of the pro-European parties in the Moldovan parliament continue negotiations on a new government. In Sunday’s elections, the Liberal Democrats, Democrats and Liberals, who are currently allied to rule, got 55 of the 101 seats in the unicameral legislative body. The Chisinau government hopes to gain the status of European Union candidate country in 2017, becoming a member in 2020. The rest of the seats went to the pro-Russian opposition, dominated by communist leaning parties. The communists demand the renegotiation of the association and free trade agreements with the EU, with a view to joining the trade union controlled by Russia.
