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Marius Lacatus Steps Down As Steaua Bucharest Coach

20:59, 17 Mai 2009
Marius Lacatus resigned as coach of FC Steaua Bucharest on Sunday, May 17, according to a release on the football club’s official website.

Romanian Presidential Palace Overcrowded On “Open Gates” Day

20:00, 17 Mai 2009
Romanians rushed to visit the presidential Cotroceni Palace during the “Open Gates” event on Sunday, which managed to bring thousands of people together.

Romanian Posta Romana To Get EUR50M Loan From EBRD Until End-Oct ’09 – Min

18:52, 17 Mai 2009
Romania’s state-owned postal company Posta Romana will get a EUR50 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), until the end of October 2009, for investments in mail sorting centers in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca, communications minister Gabriel Sandu said Sunday.

Austrian Strabag Appeals Auction Result For Romanian Comarnic-Brasov Hwy Segment Constr

16:16, 17 Mai 2009
Austria’s Strabag Group appealed the result of the auction for the construction of the Comarnic and Brasov highway segment, which was won by the consortium formed of France’s Vinci Concession and Greece’s Aktor Concession, Adrian Ionescu, director with Romania’s Transport Ministry, told Mediafax.

Romanian Bancpost CEO: Keeping Banking System Liquid, Solvent Is A Priority

15:36, 17 Mai 2009
Mihai Bogza, CEO of Romanian lender Bancpost, told Mediafax that keeping the banking system liquid and solvent is a priority in times of economic crisis, adding that profit increase, although important, come second.

Romania Places 19th At 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, Norway Wins Trophy

09:46, 17 Mai 2009
Romanian singer Elena Gheorghe and her song "The Balkan Girls" placed 19th in the grand final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest early Sunday, May 17, in Moscow, while Norwegian singer Alexander Rybak won the contest with the upbeat ballad "Fairytale."

EBRD Signs EUR20.3M Financing Agreements With Romania’s Arad, Brasov Mayoralties

17:51, 16 Mai 2009
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) concluded Saturday, in London, financing agreements worth a total EUR20.3 million with Arad and Brasov mayoralties, in western and central Romania, meant to refurbish local infrastructure.

Romanian PM Upbeat On Govt’s Ability To Revive Ailing Economy

16:38, 16 Mai 2009
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc said Saturday in northwestern city of Cluj-Napoca, at the launch of democrat liberal candidates for EP elections, that the government managed to curb the effects of the economic crisis, adding "Romania’s economy is likely to revive in the second and third quarters."

Romania’s Economy Is Not In Recession, Despite 6.4% Decrease In 1Q GDP – Pres

15:25, 16 Mai 2009
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Saturday, at the Congress of Romanian Students’ Union, that Romania’s economy is not in recession, despite the 6.4% contraction of the gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2009, adding the economy actually saw an upward trend in April.

Romanian Pres: Justice, Education, Healthcare- The Least Reformed Sectors

14:34, 16 Mai 2009
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Saturday, at the Congress of Romanian Students’ Union, that justice, education and healthcare are the least reformed sectors and cast the blame on political schemes and interests.

The Basarab Passage In Bucharest Is 30-35% Complete – Constructor

20:17, 15 Mai 2009
Representatives of construction company Astaldi said Friday works on the Basarab Passage in Bucharest are 30-35% complete, and construction will be started for the pillars on both sides of the river Dambovita in the next two weeks.

Romanian Embassy In Chisinau Receives Thousands Of Citizenship Requests Daily – Foreign Ministry

19:08, 15 Mai 2009
The number of requests for Romanian citizenship submitted to the Romanian embassy in the Republic of Moldova has increased to several thousand per day, the Romanian Foreign Ministry told MEDIAFAX Friday.

Campia Turzii-Gilau Segment Of Transylvania Hwy To Be Completed This Year – Romanian PM

18:13, 15 Mai 2009
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc, who will visit the construction site of the Transylvania Highway on Friday, gave assurance that the Campia Turzii-Gilau segment will be completed by the end of the year.

Romanian BCR Gives 12-Mo Grace Period To Troubled Clients

18:12, 15 Mai 2009
Banca Comerciala Romana, or BCR, the Romanian unit of Austrian Erste Bank, gives grace periods of up to 12 months to clients that face with financial problems due to the crisis, depending on each client, the bank’s president Dominic Bruynseels said Friday.

Romanian Sets Himself Ablaze In Rome Protesting Against Red Tape

16:49, 15 Mai 2009
One Romanian citizen set himself on fire in the center of Rome, protesting against the bureaucracy in Italy, Il Messaggero informed online.

Most Romanians Want Felonies Punished With Jail Time

16:06, 15 Mai 2009
Six out of ten Romanians want felonies to be punished with jail time and think fear of the penalty would discourage felons and current laws don’t stipulate punishments that discourage misdemeanors, according to a poll of Transparency International Romania (TI-Ro).

Romanian PM Is Confident The Economy Will Revive Soon

15:20, 15 Mai 2009
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc said Friday he chooses to see the glass half-full as regards the economic recession, pointing to some signs of an economic revival in March and April, such as increasing budget receipts and lower unemployment, despite grim data on first quarter GDP.

Romanian Prosecutors Indict Former Secret Service Head On Fraud, Forgery Charges

14:48, 15 Mai 2009
Romanian anticorruption prosecutors indicted former head of the country’s Secret service SRI on charges of fraud and forgery in connection with the illegal purchase of an apartment from the country’s state protocol authority RA-APPS.

Romanian Public Sector Pensions Calculated On Entire Activity – State Adviser

14:24, 15 Mai 2009
Romanian state adviser Mihai Seitan said Friday that the pension calculations will consider the entire active interval, not just the final months before retirement, and the calculation will be the same for all employees in the public sector.

Romanian President Sees Potential Romanian-Moldovan Border Treaty „Useless”

12:53, 15 Mai 2009
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Friday the signing of a border treaty between Romania and the Republic of Moldova is “useless”, stressing this is a prerequisite voiced out by the authorities in Chisinau for the agreement on small-scale border traffic between the two countries.

Romanian 1Q FDI At EUR1.46B, Dn 14% On Yr

12:17, 15 Mai 2009
Foreign direct investments, or FDI, in Romania were down 13.9% in the first quarter, at EUR1.46 billion, from EUR1.69 billion in the same period a year earlier, the central bank said Friday.

Romania’s Public Sector Unitary Pay Law To Include All Institutions – Labor Min

11:57, 15 Mai 2009
Romania’s labor minister Marian Sarbu said Friday that the single and unitary wage law for the public sector would be applied to all institutions, with no exceptions, including the country’s regulatory agencies, public and private pension regulators and the securities watchdog.

Romanian 1Q GDP -2.6% On Quarter, -6.4% On Year

10:07, 15 Mai 2009
Romanian gross domestic product in the first quarter posted its first fall in almost ten years, flash estimates from the National Statistics Institute, or INS, showed Friday.

Depeche Mode Cancels Bucharest Show

09:21, 15 Mai 2009
Depeche Mode on Thursday said it cancelled a concert in Bucharest due for May 16 on their Sounds of the Universe tour, following further complications from singer Dave Gahan’s severe bout of gastroenteritis.

Market Sensitive Indicators In The IMF Agreement Won’t Be Published – Romanian Ctrl Bk Gov

19:18, 14 Mai 2009
The market sensitive indicators in Romania's agreement with the International Monetary Fund will not be published, as in all the agreements there are included such indicators that may distort the markets, Romanian central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said Thursday.

CNN To Feature Romania In “Autumn Of Change” Series

17:57, 14 Mai 2009
American TV network CNN will produce several reports in Romania this year, as part of the series “Autumn of Change” on former Communist countries 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, PR firm Links Associates said in a statement Thursday.

Romania Won’t Exempt Reinvested Pft From Taxation In ’09

17:15, 14 Mai 2009
Romania’s Government will not exempt this year the tax on reinvested profit, and the fiscal incentive will be introduced in 2010 only for "certain activities," according to the revised version of the Convergence Program, obtained by MEDIAFAX.

Romania Pres, Supreme Court Head, Parl Leaders To See Highest Wages Over Next Yrs- Official

16:33, 14 Mai 2009
Romania's President, Supreme Court head, Senate chairman and Chamber of Deputies speaker will have the highest salaries in the public sector over the next years, Valentin Mocan, state secretary with Romania’s Labor Ministry, said Thursday.

Romania’s Govt Plans New Budget Revision This Summer

16:21, 14 Mai 2009
Romania’s Government plans to revise again in the summer the state budget and the state social insurance budget for 2009, during the parliamentary vacation, according to a normative act drafted by the government.

Romania Labor Min, Social Partners Meet For Talks On Job Openings May 19

15:55, 14 Mai 2009
Romanian Labor Minister Marian Sarbu is to meet the representatives of trade unions and employers’ associations on May 19 to talk about the unionists’ proposals concerning job openings and keeping the existing ones, unionists said Thursday.

Romanian Civil Code Bans Same Sex Marriage, Doesn’t Recognize Such Unions Performed Abroad

15:30, 14 Mai 2009
The Romanian Civil Code bans same sex marriage and doesn’t recognize such marriages legalized abroad, the president of the parliamentary commission drafting the code, Daniel Buda, said in a press conference Thursday.

Romanian Corruption Suspect Aurelian Bogaciu Released From Custody

14:57, 14 Mai 2009
Romanian football referee Aurelian Bogaciu, arrested for 29 days under charges of taking bribe, will be released Thursday according to a decision of the Pitesti Court of Appeal, which rejected the appeal formulated by prosecutors to the Arges Court decision not to extend his arrest.

Romania’s Petrom Hikes Gas, Diesel Oil Pump Prices By RON0.03/Liter

14:10, 14 Mai 2009
Romania’s largest vertically integrated oil company Petrom (SNP.RO), owned by Austria’s OMV (OMV.VI), hiked Thursday its gasoline and diesel oil pump prices by 0.03 lei (EUR1=RON4.1574) per liter, the company said in a statement.

Romanian 1Q GDP Dn 2-4.1%, Analysts See Technical Recession

13:11, 14 Mai 2009
Romania’s gross domestic product, or GDP, fell 2%-4.1% on the year in the first quarter, according to economic analysts, while part of them say the economy might have already entered technical recession based on its first quarter evolution.

Over 7,000 Unionists Rally Thursday In Bucharest Demanding Job Security

13:03, 14 Mai 2009
Over 7,000 unionists affiliated to Romania’s National Union Bloc (BNS) have started an ample rally Thursday in Bucharest, demanding the keeping of jobs and affordable prices for basic services.

Romanian Automobile Dacia Extends Work Schedule On Higher Demand

12:18, 14 Mai 2009
Romania’s automaker, owned by French Group Renault, will start to produce cars on Saturdays, between May 23 and July 31, using two work shifts, in order to cope with high demand and honor its orders.

Romanian Salaries Should Not Rise Above Inflation To Avoid Price Hikes- Ctrl Bk Adviser

12:11, 14 Mai 2009
Adrian Vasilescu, adviser of the central bank’s governor, stated Thursday that the salary hike in 2009 should not exceed inflation rate, estimated at 4.4% for this year, adding that unjustified hikes should be avoided as they would only trigger price hikes.

Bulgarian Organizers Of Depeche Mode Gig In Sofia Say Bucharest Concert Was Cancelled

09:57, 14 Mai 2009
Bulgarian promoters Sofia Music Enterprises, organizing the concert of electro-pop pioneers Depeche Mode in Bulgaria, scheduled for Monday, told MEDIAFAX Wednesday the band’s Bucharest gig was canceled along with those in Athens and Istanbul.

Romanian Ex PM Willing To Run For Soc Dem Party Presidency If Current Leader Becomes President

09:46, 14 Mai 2009
Romania’s former social democrat prime minster Adrian Nastase said late Wednesday on Realitatea TV that he would be interested in running for president of the Social Democratic Party if current president Mircea Geoana gets elected head of state.

Radiation And Confidentiality Bonuses For Romanian Military Temporarily Put Off

19:41, 13 Mai 2009
Bonuses for working in an irradiated environment and bonuses for confidentiality will no longer be paid, as of May, to Romanian military staff, as a temporary measure dictated by the budget revision, Romanian Defense Ministry spokesman Costi Spanu said.