English

Romania Transelectrica Head Steps Down

20:28, 26 Oct. 2010
Adrian Baicusi, general manager of Romania’s state-run power grid operator Transelectrica (TEL.RO), has resigned from his position effective November 15, a company official said Tuesday.

Romanian CNH Could Be Divided In Two Cos – Hidroelectrica Boss

19:27, 26 Oct. 2010
Romanian state-owned company CNH could be divided into two companies, one of which would be later closed, Tuesday said Mihai David, general manager of hydropower generator Hidroelectrica.

Romanian Senate Labor Committee Adopts Several Amendments To Revised Pension Bill

19:23, 26 Oct. 2010
The Romanian Senate’s labor committee Tuesday adopted, with amendments, a favorable report on the pension bill, which was sent back to Parliament for reexamination by President Traian Basescu.

Romanian Senate Labor Committee Votes To Lower Retirement Age For Both Men, Women

15:40, 26 Oct. 2010
The Romanian Senate's labor committee Tuesday adopted with six to three votes and one abstention an amendment to the country’s pension bill, which sets at 64 the retirement age for men and at 60 the retirement age for women.

Romanian Health Ministry Pushes For Higher Autonomy Over Healthcare Sys Resources

14:41, 26 Oct. 2010
Romania’s Health Minister Cseke Attila said Tuesday he plans to bring the National Health Insurance House under the Health Ministry’s authority and have it manage the single health insurance fund, which is currently managed by the Finance Ministry.

Romania Ranked 69th In Transparency International 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index

14:41, 26 Oct. 2010
Romania is ranked 69th with a score of 3.7 points in the 2010 corruption perceptions index conducted by Transparency International.

Romania To Lobby EU On Cutting Pension Costs From Budget

14:41, 26 Oct. 2010
Romanian President Traian Basescu Tuesday said the country will lobby the European Council and MEPs to have the pension fund deficit excluded from the state budget deficit.

Romania Consumer Credit Law Complies With EU Directive – Watchdog

14:14, 26 Oct. 2010
Romania’s consumer protection authority ANPC Tuesday said the country’s ordinance transposing an EU directive on consumer loans observes the community standards and applying it retroactively for existing loans will not damage the client/bank relationship.

IMF Worried About Retroactive Consumer Loan Norms In Romania

13:37, 26 Oct. 2010
The International Monetary Fund is concerned about Romania’s decision to apply the EU directive on consumer loans retroactively, because the measure could lead to “negative effects” for the eastern European country, IMF mission head Jeffrey Franks said Tuesday.

Romanian Lower Chamber Ratifies IMF Letter Of Intent Signed In June

12:40, 26 Oct. 2010
The Romanian Chamber of Deputies Tuesday adopted with 103 votes in favor, 80 votes against and five abstentions the draft law ratifying the Government's letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund, signed in June 2010.

Romania Will Not Overcome Crisis In 2011 – E.ON

12:16, 26 Oct. 2010
Romania’s industry does not seem to be reviving and the country’s economy will not defeat the crisis in 2011, Tuesday said Frank Hajdinjak, the general manager of utility group E.ON Romania, the local subsidiary of Germany's E.ON AG.

Romanian Healthcare Co-Payment System Likely To Be Introduced In First Half Of 2011- Min

21:20, 25 Oct. 2010
Romanian Health Minister Cseke Attila said Monday, after talks with Jeffrey Franks, head of the International Monetary Fund mission to Bucharest, that Romania will probably introduce the co-payment system for healthcare services in the first half of 2011, following debates in Parliament.

Romanian Opp Party Won’t File No-Conf Motion When Govt Pushes Educ Bill Through Parl

20:35, 25 Oct. 2010
Romania’s opposition Social Democratic Party won’t file a no-confidence motion against the Government, when it seeks the lawmakers’ confidence vote to pass the education bill, if the Government survives the opposition’s no-confidence motion on Wednesday, people close to the matter said Monday.

Romanian Thermal Pwr Plants May Borrow State Reserve Coal For 2010 Winter

19:14, 25 Oct. 2010
Romanian thermal power plants and energy producers obtained the government’s approval to borrow 1.6 millions tons of coal and over 178,000 tons of fuel oil from the state reserve, due to their insufficient stocks for this winter.

Romanian President Passes Law Speeding Up Trials

18:21, 25 Oct. 2010
Romanian President Traian Basescu on Monday passed the law on the “small reform” in the justice system, which implements a series of measures to speed up trials.

Romania Could Raise Minimum Wage, Increase Level Must Be Carefully Analyzed– IMF Official

14:57, 25 Oct. 2010
The head of the International Monetary Fund mission to Bucharest, Jeffrey Franks, said Monday that there might be room for an increase of the Romanian minimum wage, but any decision in this respect should be carefully analyzed.

Romanian Opp Party Head Set To Join Unions’ Protest Rally During No-Conf Motion Debates In Parl

14:42, 25 Oct. 2010
Victor Ponta, head of Romania’s opposition Social Democratic Party, which initiated a no-confidence motion to overthrow the democratic liberal Government, said Monday he would join unionists’ protest rally planned on October 27, when the Parliament is to debate and vote on the motion.

Romania Govt Receives Interest In Oltchim – State Secretary

13:40, 25 Oct. 2010
Two investment funds, including a U.S.-based one, are interested in buying stakes of Romania chemical company Oltchim Ramnicu-Valcea (OLT.RO), should it be privatized, Monday said Karoly Borbely, state secretary within the local Economy Ministry.

Romanian TV Station Owner, TV Producer, Journalist Indicted On Blackmail Charges

13:17, 25 Oct. 2010
Romanian TV station owner Dan Diaconescu, TV producer Doru Parv and journalist Ghezea Mitrus were indicted on charges of blackmail, anticorruption prosecutors said Monday.

Romanian Army Retirees Protest Outside Presidential Palace Over Pension Reform

13:10, 25 Oct. 2010
Over one thousand retired army members are protesting close to the presidential palace in Romania’s capital Bucharest and a few hundred others are protesting prefects’ offices in other Romanian cities, displeased with the pension reform, which lowers their pensions.

Nabucco Consortium To Lobby EU For Additional Funding

12:22, 25 Oct. 2010
The Nabucco consortium will lobby the European Union for additional financing, aside from the EUR200 million already allotted by the EU, consortium spokesman Christian Dolezal told a news conference in Bucharest Monday.

Romania May Get Another IMF Loan Tranche By Yearend

12:09, 25 Oct. 2010
Romania may receive by the end of the year another tranche out of the EUR13 billion stand-by loan from the International Monetary Fund, a fund official said Monday.

Romanian IT Service Co Asesoft Takes Over Media Group Realitatea Media Mgmt

11:56, 25 Oct. 2010
Romanian IT service provider Asesoft took over the management of media group Realitatea Media, owned by Sorin Ovidiu Vintu, and plans to invest EUR75 million in the business in the next five years.

Romanian Diana Chelaru Wins Silver On Floor At 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship

19:02, 24 Oct. 2010
Romanian gymnast Diana Chelaru on Sunday won the silver medal in floor exercise at the 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Romanian Ana Porgras Wins Gold On Beam At 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship

17:23, 24 Oct. 2010
Romanian gymnast Ana Porgras on Sunday won the gold medal on balance beam at the 2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

U.S. Ambassador Says Expropriations, Poor Financing Hinder Constr Of Romania’s Transylvania Hwy

15:39, 24 Oct. 2010
U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest Mark Gitenstein told Pro TV in an interview Sunday that expropriations and the lack of solid financing sources are the main problems regarding Romania’s Transylvania Highway, built by U.S. constructor Bechtel.

EXCLUSIVE: Romanian Govt Starts Procedures To Introduce Highway Toll System

13:57, 24 Oct. 2010
The Romanian Government approved a draft act which introduces a highway toll system alongside the existing road toll system.

IMF Shakes Finger At Romanian Tax Amendment Proposals

18:40, 22 Oct. 2010
The International Monetary Fund analyzes all proposals that aim at changing taxes, but a change in the fiscal system may prove to be dangerous after some very difficult measures were implemented, said Jeffrey Franks, head of the IMF's mission to Bucharest.

IMF Mission Head, Romanian Pres Talk On VAT, Pension Tax Exempt

18:39, 22 Oct. 2010
Jeffrey Franks, head of the International Monetary Fund mission to Bucharest, Friday said Romania's president Traian Basescu may act to correct the situation resulted after parliament's decisions reducing VAT for basic foods and exempting low pensions from taxation.

Romanian President Hasn’t Yet Received Two Hot-Button Bills

14:28, 22 Oct. 2010
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Friday that he will express a standpoint regarding the bills reducing the value added tax on basic foods to 5% and lifting the income tax off pensions lower than 2,000 lei (EUR1=RON4.3083) after he reads the two documents.

Romanian PM Summons Ministers For Talks On Upcoming Confidence Vote On Education Bill

12:46, 22 Oct. 2010
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc summoned the members of his Cabinet and their advisers for talks on Friday on the confidence vote the Government will seek in Parliament to pass the education bill, people close to the matter told MEDIAFAX.

Over 80,000 Expected To Protest Wednesday, As Romania’s Govt Faces No-Conf Vote

11:43, 22 Oct. 2010
Romania’s major trade unions said Friday over 80,000 people will stage a major protest in capital Bucharest on October 27, when the Government faces a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

Romania Daewoo–Mangalia Shipyard Employees Protest Outside Local Town Hall

11:42, 22 Oct. 2010
About 1,000 employees of shipyard Daewoo-Mangalia Heavy Industries (DMHI) in southeastern Romania, who have been on full-blown strike for the past two weeks over employers’ refusal to hike their salaries, staged a protest on Friday at the headquarters of the Mangalia town hall.

Romanian State Employees Handling EU-Funded Projects Might Get 75% Salary Raise

20:27, 21 Oct. 2010
Romanian public sector employees handling projects financed from European Union funds might benefit from a 75% raise in salaries, which would be covered from funds assigned for the respective projects, not from the state budget funds, says a draft emergency decree proposed by the Labor Ministry.

IMF: Romania’s Tax Cut Issue Must Be Resolved By Nov 1

19:20, 21 Oct. 2010
Romanian government must find a way to resolve the issue created by a parliament decision to lower the sales tax for food items and exempt small pensions from the income tax before the International Monetary Fund completes its assessment mission in Bucharest, IMF mission head Jeffrey Franks said.

Erste: Joint CEE5 Government Debt Smaller Than Greece

18:12, 21 Oct. 2010
Overall government debt in Romania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary reaches around EUR200 billion, equal to nearly 70% of Greece’s government debt of EUR300 billion, Erste group said in a report Thursday.

Romania’s New Deal With IMF To Include EU Funds

17:19, 21 Oct. 2010
Romania’s potential new financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund will also include a loan accord with the European Commission, similar to the one signed in 2009, Romanian representative to the IMF, Mihai Tanasescu, said Thursday.

Romania Constitutional Court Rejects Draft Acts On Compensations For Fmr Political Prisoners

16:32, 21 Oct. 2010
Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional several normative acts regarding moral compensations paid to former political prisoners during the communist regime.

Romanian Nurse Charged With Manslaughter To Be Released From Custody

15:25, 21 Oct. 2010
The Bucharest Court Thursday ruled to release from arrest nurse Florentina Cirstea charged with manslaughter in the case involving a fire in the Giulesti hospital’s maternity ward in August this year.

Cigarette Smuggling In Romania At 24.4% Of Overall Market In Sept – Survey

14:45, 21 Oct. 2010
Smuggled cigarettes accounted for 24.4% of the total Romanian cigarette market in September, compared with 21.3% in July, but it remains below the 36.2% level in January, according to a survey by Novel Research.