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ICJ Decision Allows Romania To Start Exploiting Oil Resources In Black Sea

15:32, 03 Feb. 2009
The Romanian Foreign Ministry said in a press release Tuesday that the ruling of the International Court of Justice allows Romania to start direct exploitation of oil resources that have so far been “blocked”, which helps the country reduce its energy dependence.

Romania To Launch Intl Bids For Black Sea Reserves Lease

15:25, 03 Feb. 2009
Romania's Mineral Resources Agency ANRM will launch international bids to lease the oil and gas reserves in the continental shelf of the Black Sea, expecting “big names” to attend the bids, ANMR president Bogdan Gabudeanu told MEDIAFAX on Tuesday.

ICJ Ruling Does Romania Justice – President

14:30, 03 Feb. 2009
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Tuesday in Budapest, Hungary that the ruling of the International Court in The Hague does Romania justice in the maritime delimitation dispute with Ukraine, adding the ruling is a great success of the Romanian Foreign Ministry.

Italian Court Pays EUR45,000 To Romanian Brothers Wrongly Arrested For Rape

13:48, 03 Feb. 2009
Italian authorities decided to pay nearly EUR45,000 in damages to Romanian brothers Adrian and Gheorghe Nichitean, who have been wrongly detained on charges of sexual assault, Italian paper Cronacaqui reported Tuesday.

State Secretary Appointments Caused Interior Minister To Resign – Sources

13:24, 03 Feb. 2009
The reason which led to the resignation of Liviu Dragnea from the helm of Romania’s Interior Ministry was the refusal of Prime Minister Emil Boc to appoint the state secretary nominations he made within the ministry.

Romanian Ctrl Bk To Gradually Ease Monetary Policy – BCR

13:20, 03 Feb. 2009
The National Bank of Romania, or BNR, will cut the key rate in several steps, of 0.25 percentage points, along with reductions in the minimum required reserve ratios, Lucian Anghel, chief economist within Romanian largest bank BCR, said Tuesday.

Lukoil Romania Hikes Gas, Diesel Oil Pump Price By Up To RON0.14

12:24, 03 Feb. 2009
Lukoil Romania, a unit of Russian oil company Lukoil Holdings, increased Tuesday its gasoline and diesel oil pump prices by up to 0.14 lei (EUR1=RON4.2987), the company said in a statement.

Gorbunov Remains Main Suspect In C Romania Armed Robbery, Double Homicide

11:59, 03 Feb. 2009
The Prosecutors’ Office of the Brasov Court of Appeals dismissed recent rumors and information in the media alleging Moldovan citizen Serghei Gorbunov is no longer the main suspect in the armed robbery that occurred in central city of Brasov last Thursday.

Romania’s Govt OKs Not To Tax Cos’ Reinvested Pft As Of 2Q ’09

11:10, 03 Feb. 2009
Romania’s Government decided not to tax companies’ reinvested profit as of the second quarter of this year, Prime Minister Emil Boc said Monday evening, at the end of his talks with social partners.

Romanian PM Urges Parliament To Lower Its Budget Spending

10:29, 03 Feb. 2009
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc urged the Chamber of Deputies and Senate Monday evening to lower spending in their budgets for this year, citing the need for "solidarity” in the context of financial difficulties.

Romanian Interior Minister Resigns

09:15, 03 Feb. 2009
Romania’s Interior Minister Liviu Dragnea said Monday night he is resigning, after just ten days in office, saying the ministry received too little money in draft state budget for this year.

Romanian Senate Rejects Telecom Watchdog Setup

19:51, 02 Feb. 2009
Romanian senators on Monday rejected two government ordinances turning communications regulator ANRCTI into National Communications Authority ANC and bringing the telecom authority under the premier’s control.

P&G Begins Constructing Its Second Romanian Factory In Feb

18:53, 02 Feb. 2009
Giant consumer goods Procter&Gamble will begin this month the construction of its second factory in Romania, in the country’s southern town of Urlati, Prahova county, in an investment initially estimated at $50 million, the company announced Monday.

Romanian Medicine Prices Up 10-20% Starting Feb 1

16:10, 02 Feb. 2009
The price of compensated medicine in Romania grew, starting February 1, by 10% for foreign products and 20% for local ones, according to the recalculation of the prices at an exchange rate of RON4 to the euro.

Romanian Public Servants Threaten To Go On Gen Strike As Of Feb 27

15:08, 02 Feb. 2009
Members of Romania’s National Union of Public Servants threaten to go on general strike as of Feb 27 and demand wage increase of 50%, the protection of public servants in control institutions and public office stability.

C Romania Armed Robbery, Double Homicide Suspect Has Alibi

15:08, 02 Feb. 2009
Ninel Ianculescu, sparring partner of Romanian armed robbery and double homicide suspect Serghei Gorbunov, told MEDIAFAX that on the day of the armed robbery, between 16.30 and 18.20 local time, Gorbunov was in k-boxing training, with at least ten other people.

Romania Needs Law Regulating Retailer-Supplier Relations – Producers

14:39, 02 Feb. 2009
The Code of Good Practice signed in July last year by Romanian retailers and producers hasn’t changed taxes and practices of large stores and the retail sector needs a law in this respect, representatives of producers in the Romanian food industry said Monday in a press conference.

Romanian Authorities Pull Down Illegal Constructions In Mamaia Seaside Resort

14:34, 02 Feb. 2009
Romania’s Dobrogea Litoral Water Administration (DADL) started Monday morning to pull down all illegal constructions on the beaches of Mamaia resort on the Black Sea coast, following recent talks between environment minister Nicolae Nemirschi, hotel owners and local authorities.

Romania’s Forex Reserves Dn EUR211M In Jan To EUR26B

14:34, 02 Feb. 2009
Romania’s foreign exchange reserves decreased by EUR211 million in January to a total of EUR26.009 billion, the central bank said in a statement Monday.

Romania’s Petrom Hikes Gas, Diesel Oil Pump Prices By RON0.09/Liter

14:14, 02 Feb. 2009
Romania’s largest vertically integrated oil company Petrom (SNP.RO), owned by Austria’s OMV (OMV.VI), hiked Monday its gasoline and diesel oil pump prices by 0.09 lei (EUR1=RON 4.2775) per liter, due to the international oil price increase, the company said in a statement.

Romanian Dacia To Launch Fuel-Efficient Sandero on Local Mkt In 1H ‘09

12:57, 02 Feb. 2009
Romanian carmaker Dacia, the local unit of French Renault, will launch in Romania, in the first half of the year, the Logan Sandero model equipped with a fuel-efficient 1.2- liter gasoline engine, which develops 75 HP.

At Least 10-15% Of Jobs In Romanian Food Industry To Be Scrapped This Year – Union

12:55, 02 Feb. 2009
At least 10-15% of the 175,000 - 190,000 employees in the Romanian food industry could lose their jobs this year, said Monday Dragos Frumosu, head of the national food industry union federation.

Romanian RAFO Onesti Resumes Ops To Complete Equip Upgrade Program

11:35, 02 Feb. 2009
Romanian refinery Rafo Onesti resumed operations Monday, to carry out the equipment upgrade program, and almost 900 of its 1,300 employees returned to work, two weeks after the return of its first 350 employees.

Romania’s Chemical Plant Azomures Resumes Ops

11:12, 02 Feb. 2009
Romania’s chemical plant Azomures (AZO.RO) resumed operations Monday and its approximately 2,500 employees put on technical unemployment in December returned to work.

Romania’s ’09 Budget Is Illegal, Immoral, Top Secret – Opposition VP

17:02, 01 Feb. 2009
Romanian Liberal Party vice-president Eugen Nicolaescu said Sunday during a press conference that the 2009 state budget draft was illegally approved, is immoral because it doesn’t keep promises made during elections, and is also top secret.

Romanian PM Chancellery To Cut 40-50% Of Jobs

16:28, 01 Feb. 2009
The organizational chart of the Romanian Prime Minister’s Chancellery will be reduced to 144-154 employees from the current 304, and the government will restrict the employees’ mobile phone calls and lower their gas consumption for government cars.

Romania Estimates To Collect RON13.44B In Tax Per Pft This Year

16:01, 01 Feb. 2009
Romania estimates to collect 13.445 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2775) this year from the tax per profit, up 3.19% compared to 2008, and banks will contribute RON750 million, 6.95% more than last year.

Romanian Farmers May Sell Milk, Eggs In Mkts As Of Feb 1 Only If Registered With Sanitary Auth

15:31, 01 Feb. 2009
Romanian farmers who want to sell food products such as milk and eggs in markets need to be registered with the sanitary veterinary authority and observe hygiene and labeling conditions as of Feb 1, and will be checked in the upcoming period.

Romania’s Budgets Always Included Unpaid Bills Of Previous Year – Ex Fin Min

15:23, 01 Feb. 2009
The payment of bills left over from the previous financial year has always been a constant in Romania’s state budgets, said Sunday former finance minister Varujan Vosganian, adding the current government is partly to blame for the 2008 budget deficit, which doubled in December.

Agencies, Authorities Coordinated By Romanian PM Could Be Transferred To Govt Secretariat, Deputy PM

14:51, 01 Feb. 2009
Agencies and authorities coordinated by the Romanian prime minister are being evaluated by performance and budget and some, such as the Sanitary Veterinary Authority and the Anti-doping Authority, could be transferred to the Government Secretariat General or the deputy prime minister.

Romanian MEP Rares Niculescu To Be Appointed Govt Spokesman

13:51, 01 Feb. 2009
Romanian MEP Rares Niculescu is the spokesman for the Romanian Government, Niculescu told MEDIAFAX Sunday.

Romania’s Financing Needs To Stay Extremely High – Analysts

13:37, 01 Feb. 2009
Romania’s financing needs will continue to grow, despite a sharp contraction of the current account deficit in absolute terms increasing the possibility of getting external loans, but authorities must keep in mind that such arrangements entail strong commitments.

Keeping Contribution To Romanian Pvt Pension Funds At 2% In ‘09 Lowers Contributions By EUR80M

12:57, 01 Feb. 2009
Keeping contributions to the Romanian mandatory private pension system at 2% of contributors’ gross income this year will lower by over EUR80 million the sum that should have been transferred to the accounts of over 4 million private pension fund contributors.

Five Romanians Rape Romanian Woman In Italy – Press

12:19, 01 Feb. 2009
A 22-year-old Romanian woman was raped in Italy by five Romanians, who were arrested by Italian police within hours, Italian paper Il Tempo said in its online edition Sunday.

Romanian Police Arrest Three Suspects In Major Cocaine Bust Case

12:13, 01 Feb. 2009
Three of the suspects in the case of the massive cocaine transport found in Constanta Sud Agigea port, southeastern Romania, were placed under preventive arrest Sunday.

Romanian Labor, Education, Transport Mins To Spend Nearly EUR10B This Year

20:16, 31 Ian. 2009
Romania’s Ministries of Labor, Education and Transport will be able to spend a total RON38.9 billion (EUR9.7 billion, or 6.7% of GDP) from the state budget, European funds and self-financing.

Romanian Liberals Must Nominate Presidential Candidate Soon – Party VP

20:07, 31 Ian. 2009
Romania liberal leaders agree that they need to nominate a presidential candidate as soon as possible, liberal vice-president Ludovic Orban said in a press conference Saturday, adding talk of a potential candidacy on his part is premature.

Romanian Pension Point To Increase To RON718.4 In April, RON732.8 In Oct

19:42, 31 Ian. 2009
The Romanian government decided to increase the value of one pension point to RON718.4 from RON697.5 as of April 1, and to RON732.8 as of October 1, according to the 2009 social insurance budget draft.

Romanian Employees’ Social Insurance Contributions Upped To 10.5% Of Gross Wage As Of Feb

19:25, 31 Ian. 2009
Social insurance contributions paid by Romanian employees will increase by one percentage point as of Feb 1, to 10.5% from 9.5% of the employee’s gross monthly income, and employers will pay 20.8% to 30.8% of their employees’ gross income.

Romanian Ministries Obliged To Ensure Co-Funding For EU-Funded Projs

19:14, 31 Ian. 2009
Romanian ministries will be obligated in 2009 to ensure in full and as top priority funds needed to co-finance programs benefiting from external financing and are banned from redistributing this money to other projects in “budget revisions throughout the year".