English

Romanian President Opposes Tax Hikes, Including VAT

15:42, 28 Oct. 2009
Romanian President Traian Basescu on Wednesday said he opposes any tax hikes in times of crisis, as the measure would only increase tax evasion, dismissing recent media reports about him favoring a higher level of the value added tax to boost revenues to the state budget.

Romanian Govt Can Pay Livestock Farming Subsidies In 2010 – Interim Agric Min

15:42, 28 Oct. 2009
Romanian interim Agriculture Minister Radu Berceanu asked livestock farmers to consent to receiving part of the subsidy for cattle and sheep in 2009 and the rest in the first two months of 2010, as the budget does not allow for the allocation of the entire amount at the moment.

Romania Will Be Normal When An Ethnic Hungarian Has Equal Chance To Be President

15:41, 28 Oct. 2009
Kelemen Hunor, running for president of Romania in the November 22 election, said Wednesday Romania will be a normal country when people no longer consider an ethnic Hungarian has a slimmer chance of becoming president than a Romanian.

Heavy Fog Delayed 21 Carpatair Flights On W Romanian Timisoara Airport

15:14, 28 Oct. 2009
Twenty-one flights operated by Romanian airliner Carpatair, due to land on Timisoara international airport, western Romania, registered delays of three to four hours on Wednesday due to heavy fog, airport spokesperson Roxana Manasia said Wednesday.

Romanian School Teacher Catches Severe AH1N1 Flu

14:36, 28 Oct. 2009
A school teacher in Bucharest developed a severe infection with the AH1N1 virus and children in her class were sent home for a week and will be monitored by their family physicians.

Airliners To Pay Higher Taxes On Bucharest’s Baneasa Airport

14:16, 28 Oct. 2009
Airliners operating on the Bucharest's Baneasa Airport will pay higher taxes and might relocate their activity to Otopeni Airport, just outside Bucharest, starting 2012, general manager of Baneasa airport George Mihalcea said Wednesday.

Romania’s Tarom Launched New Flights From Bucharest To Budapest, Bari

14:15, 28 Oct. 2009
Romania’s state-run airliner Tarom started to operate new flights from capital city Bucharest to Budapest in Hungary, on October 25, and it will also launch new flights from Bucharest to Bari in Italy, on December 11, the company said Wednesday.

French Group Alcatel-Lucent To Transfer Romanian Employees To Partner Firms

14:03, 28 Oct. 2009
French telecommunications equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent will transfer some of the staff of its Romanian division to firms set up in partnership with other companies and there will be no layoffs, as part of a program to streamline its operations, according to local branch officials.

Russia’s Future Logistical Center In Serbia Might Pose Problems For Romania – U.S. Think Tank

11:32, 28 Oct. 2009
Russia will set up a “humanitarian” logistical center in Serbia to prevent natural disasters and technological catastrophes, but the center might pose problems for Romania or Bulgaria by requesting over flight permission to resupply the center, U.S. Jamestown Foundation reported on its website.

Romanian Farmers Clash With Security Forces During Protest In Bucharest

11:10, 28 Oct. 2009
Romanian farmers protesting outside the Finance Ministry in Bucharest clashed with gendarmes Wednesday morning when they tried to break through security lines.

Romanian Parliament Legal Committee To Hear Two High Officials In Connection With Controversial Cases

09:27, 28 Oct. 2009
The defense committee of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies will hear Wednesday democrat liberal interim Interior Minister Vasile Blaga and presidential adviser Constantin Degeratu on the indictment of four intelligence officers and the Omar Hayssam case, respectively.

Romanian President Pledges New Govt Before Presidential Polls If Croitoru’ Cabinet Falls

20:58, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania’s acting President Traian Basescu on Tuesday said that, if the new Cabinet formed by designated Prime Minister Lucian Croitoru does not get the Parliament’s confidence vote, he will see that a new Cabinet is formed before the presidential elections due on November 22.

Romania’s New President Will Secure Majority In Parliament – President Basescu

19:35, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania's acting President Traian Basescu said Tuesday that, after the presidential elections in November, the country's new president will succeed in putting together a Parliament majority to further form a new government.

Romania Constitutional Court Overrules Contestations Against Five Presidential Candidacies

17:59, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday overruled the contestations against the candidacies in the presidential elections submitted by Remus Florinel Cernea, acting President Traian Basescu, Mircea Geoana, Sorin Oprescu and Kelemen Hunor.

Romania Caretaker PM Changes Tune, Says IMF Deal May Need Renegotiating

16:30, 27 Oct. 2009
Romanian caretaker premier Emil Boc on Tuesday said Romania might have to renegotiate its EUR13 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund, relenting earlier statements on the deal being rock solid.

Cosmote Romania Cleared To Taker Over Telemobil – Competition Watchdog

16:29, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania’s competition watchdog on Tuesday cleared Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications to take over mobile telephony operator Telemobil, the regulator said in a press release Tuesday.

Romanian Govt Keeps RON1,000 Cap On Tax-Exempted Pensions Citing Budget Restraints

15:42, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania’s government won’t raise the ceiling for pensions exempt from income tax to 1,500 lei (EUR1=RON4.2897), as the Labor Ministry had proposed, and will keep it at RON1,000, citing budget restraints.

Romanian-Bulgarian Bridge Over Danube To Be Upgraded – Public Road Auth

15:31, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania’s public roads authority CNADNR plans to upgrade the bridge over the Danube, linking Giurgiu in Romania to Ruse in Bulgaria, and it will set up an auction in November to select the company that will upgrade the bridge.

Romanian Senate Votes To Link Child State Allowance To Parents’ Income

14:57, 27 Oct. 2009
Romanian senators adopted Tuesday a legislative initiative setting that state allowances for children would be of 5% to 25% of the minimum wage depending on their parents’ wages.

Romanian Politician Nati Meir Remains In Custody – Court Of Appeals

14:55, 27 Oct. 2009
The Bucharest Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Romanian politician Nati Meir is to remain in custody for 29 days under charges of forgery, possession and circulation of forged currency, upholding the previous ruling of the Bucharest Court.

Romania Needs No Renegotiation Of IMF Deal – Caretaker PM

14:51, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania does not need to renegotiate its deal with the International Monetary Fund, because it has not missed any of the loan terms by October 1, caretaker Prime Minister Emil Boc said Tuesday.

Romanian Team Ranked First In Europe At International Astrophysics Olympiad

14:49, 27 Oct. 2009
The Romanian team won first place among European countries in the third edition of the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad, which took place between October 19 and 26 in Iran.

Romanian Senate Votes To Exempt People With Accentuated Or Severe Disability From Pension Tax

14:39, 27 Oct. 2009
Romanian senators adopted Tuesday a legislative proposition stipulating that people with accentuated or severe disability should be exempt from paying income taxes on their pensions.

Romanian BRD Sees SMEs As Riskiest Debtors

14:34, 27 Oct. 2009
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent the riskiest category of debtors in Romania, due to their weak financial structure, limited financing possibilities and their high level of indebtedness, an official of Romanian lender BRD Societe Generale (BRD.RO) said Tuesday.

CME Romania 9 Mos Revenues Down To USD120.62M

14:10, 27 Oct. 2009
Net revenues of Central European Media Enterprises (CME) stood at $120.62 million in the first nine months of the year, down from $197.119 million in the same period last year, because of a shrinking advertising market.

Works On Targu Mures – Iasi Highway Might Start After 2012 – Transport Min

14:01, 27 Oct. 2009
The works on the highway that will link central Transylvania to eastern Moldavia might start after 2010 and other projects will unfold meanwhile, Romanian Transport Minister Radu Berceanu said Tuesday during a visit to Sibiu, central Romania.

Romanian Senate Raises Heating Aid Ceiling Back To RON615

14:00, 27 Oct. 2009
Romanian senators Tuesday decided unanimously to raise the ceiling for state subsidy for heating bills to an income of 615 lei (EUR=RON4.2897) per family member after the government had slashed it to RON425 and then pushed to raise it back.

Nokia’s Romanian Factory Certified Among World’s Leading Green Buildings

12:19, 27 Oct. 2009
The Romanian factory in Jucu, Cluj county, of Finnish mobile giant Nokia has been granted the "LEED Gold" certificate by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in Washington, and is the first building in Romania to be chosen as one of the world’s leading green buildings.

Romania Ctrl Bk Must Lower Reserve Requirements To Boost Loans In Lei

12:17, 27 Oct. 2009
Romania’s central bank should lower the required reserve ratios in Romanian lei to 2% from the current 15% levels to encourage the development of private lending in the national currency, bankers said Tuesday.

Romanian Jewelry Store Robbed By Two Ski Masked Men

11:43, 27 Oct. 2009
A jewelry store in Sebis, in the western Romanian county of Arad, was robbed Monday afternoon by two men wearing ski masks who beat the shop assistant and tied her to a pipe.

Loans In Romanian Lei Suffocated By High Margins – Ctrl Bker

11:15, 27 Oct. 2009
Romanian banks are smothering the development of loans in Romanian lei with the high margins they apply, which went up to 7.3 percentage points in August from 2.4 pps late last year, central bank’s chief economist Valentin Lazea said Tuesday.

Romanian Police Use Warning Shots To Catch Fuel Theft Suspects

11:02, 27 Oct. 2009
Romanian police in Constanta county, southeastern Romania, had to use their weapons Monday night to catch a young man caught stealing fuel from freight train wagons near a train station in the county.

Finnish Authorities Demolish Romanian Beggars’ Camps In Helsinki

10:53, 27 Oct. 2009
Local authorities in Finland’s capital Helsinki started demolishing illegal camps hosting Romanian beggars, Finnish national television YLE reported on its website Tuesday.

Romania’s Jan-Sept Budget Deficit At 5.1% Of GDP, Below IMF Cap

20:30, 26 Oct. 2009
Romania’s consolidated budget posted a 25.56 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2877) deficit, or 5.1% of the gross domestic product, after the first nine months, according to Finance Ministry data.

Romanian Petrom To Hike Fuel Prices By RON0.6 Per Liter

19:45, 26 Oct. 2009
Romania’s largest oil company Petrom SA (SNP.RO) will increase Tuesday the gasoline and diesel oil prices by 0.6 lei (EUR1=RON4.2877) per liter, the company said.

Romanian Subway Unionists To Organize Protests On Thursday

18:22, 26 Oct. 2009
Romanian subway unionists will protest Thursday in front of the Transport Ministry and the Finance Ministry, displeased with the talks held Monday with the management of subway company Metrorex.

Developers Delivered Only 37% Of Housing Projs Started In ’06-’08 In Bucharest

16:06, 26 Oct. 2009
Real estate developers completed by July the construction of just 37% of the housing projects started in Romania’s capital city Bucharest between 2006 and 2008, while half of the units built in the past four years are still available for sale, according to real estate consultancy firm Regatta.

Romanian Parliament To Vote On New Govt Next Wednesday

16:02, 26 Oct. 2009
The standing offices of Romania’s Parliament decided Monday to hold the confidence vote for the country’s proposed new government next Wednesday and proposed ministers will be heard by parliament commissions this week.

ESF Project Submission Deadline Extended In Romania Until Mar 31, 2010

15:57, 26 Oct. 2009
The deadline by which Romanian companies can submit projects to draw non-reimbursable funds made available through the European Social Fund (ESF) was pushed back to March 31, 2010, and applications worth a total EUR22.61 million have been selected so far, from the EUR142.4 million allotted.

Bucharest Public Transport Authority To Buy 150 Trolleybuses For EUR60M

15:47, 26 Oct. 2009
RATB, the public transport authority in Romania’s capital Bucharest, will begin on January 11, 2010 the process to purchase 150 trolleybuses, in a contract worth an estimated EUR60 million, net of VAT.