English

Romania Resumes Clunkers Program For Individuals, Cos As Of Feb 20, 2010

13:34, 05 Feb. 2010
Romanian private individuals and companies can scrap their old cars and get a scrap bonus from the Government to buy new ones as of February 20, 2010 when Romania resumes its clunkers program, Prime Minister Emil Boc said Friday.

Romanian Govt Postpones Talk On Mandatory Energy Certification For Buildings

13:22, 05 Feb. 2010
The Romanian Government has postponed talks on making energy certification for buildings mandatory as of March, saying procedures to apply the new system are not clear enough and the country lacks a sufficient number of energy auditors, people close to the matter told MEDIASFAX Friday.

Romania Ctrl Bk To Keep Monetary Policy Decisions ‘Prudent’

13:18, 05 Feb. 2010
Romanian central bank will maintain a prudent monetary stance, factoring in the market’s response to the policy decisions, central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said Friday.

Romania’s PM Calls For Laws To Stop “Ghost” Firms, Share Transfer To Indebted Firms

13:11, 05 Feb. 2010
Romania’s Government said it will sanction people who transfer shares to firms that have debts to deceased people, people with disabilities or foreign citizens outside the EU.

Southern Romania Under Weather Advisory For Gusty Wind, Snow Until Monday

13:06, 05 Feb. 2010
Romanian weather authorities issued Friday a yellow code advisory forecasting snow and gusty wind throughout the southern half of the country Saturday through Monday morning.

Romanian Govt Allows Employers To Put Employees On Furlough For 3 Months This Year

12:35, 05 Feb. 2010
Romania’s Government on Friday passed an emergency decree allowing companies to put employees on furlough for three months instead of slashing jobs, Prime Minister Emil Boc said.

Private Lending To Grow Gradually In 2010 – Romanian Ctrl Bker

12:18, 05 Feb. 2010
Romanian private lending is bound to return to growth in the following period, but there will be no jump-starting of the sector, central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said Friday.

Romania’s Ctrl Bk Ups ’10 Inflation Forecast At 3.5%

12:05, 05 Feb. 2010
Romania's central bank raised its forecast on 2010 inflation to 3.5%, from the previous 2.6%, central bank governor Mugur Isarescu told a news conference Friday.

Romanian Subway Unionists Threaten To Resume Strikes Over Collective Work Contract, Wages

11:52, 05 Feb. 2010
Unionists with Romanian state-owned subway company Metrorex have threatened to call work conflict within a week unless management starts negotiations for a new collective work contract and raises wages by 3.7%.

Romania’s PM Urges Health Min To Ban Psychedelic Plant Consumption, Regardless Of EC Approval

11:45, 05 Feb. 2010
Romania’s Prime Minister Emil Boc urged the health minister Friday to urgently complete a normative act banning the consumption of psychedelic plants, irrespective of the approval of the European Commission concerning the matter.

Romania’s Fmr Fin Min Denies Incompatibility With Public Office

11:09, 05 Feb. 2010
Romania’s former finance minister Gheorghe Pogea said Friday he was never incompatible with public office as he resigned his management position when appointed minister but the Trade Registry probably took too long to register the change.

Romania Integrity Agency Finds Fmr Finance Minister Was Incompatible With Public Office

10:39, 05 Feb. 2010
Romania’s National Integrity Agency, which screens politicians’ wealth and interest statements, said Friday former Finance Minister Gheorghe Pogea was incompatible with public office for two months because of his ownership in a commercial company.

NW Romania Employment Agency Mulls Suing U.S. Builder Bechtel Over Illegal Massive Layoffs

18:15, 04 Feb. 2010
The employment agency in Cluj, northwestern Romania, is considering suing U.S. Bechtel, the company building Romania’s Transylvania highway, arguing the company's massive layoff proceedings breach all valid regulations.

Romanian Insurers Owe EUR300M To Auto Repair Shops

17:52, 04 Feb. 2010
The delayed payments owed by Romanian insurers to auto repair shops currently cumulate EUR300 million, with an average debt of EUR100,000 per company, said Thursday Cristian Muntean, a manager of independent auto repair shop association ASSAI.

Romanian Public Radio Plans Expansion Into Moldova

16:52, 04 Feb. 2010
Romania’s public radio SRR wants to expand to the Republic of Moldova, where a large part of the population is ethnic Romanian.

Fitch Revises Outlook On 4 Romanian Banks Following Sovereign Action

16:43, 04 Feb. 2010
Fitch Ratings on Thursday revised four Romanian banks' outlooks to stable from negative following the similar action on Romania's sovereign rating earlier this week.

Romania To Get Loan With State Guarantee For Transylvania Highway Construction

16:09, 04 Feb. 2010
Construction works in 2010 on Romania’s Transylvania highway, linking central Brasov to western Bors on the border with Hungary, will be funded from a state-guaranteed loan, Transport Ministry state secretary Constantin Dascalu said Thursday.

Romania Could Make Energy Certificates For Buildings Mandatory As Of March

16:00, 04 Feb. 2010
Romanian could make energy certification for buildings mandatory as of March if the government approves the Development’s Ministry’s emergency decree regulating it, the ministry said Thursday.

Romania’s Tobacco Excise Revenue Up 31.5% In 2009

15:38, 04 Feb. 2010
Excises on tobacco brought revenues of 5.09 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.1214) to Romania’s state budget in 2009, 31.5% higher on the year, the head of the tax authority ANAF told MEDIAFAX.

U.S. Antimissile System Operational In Romania As Of 2015

15:30, 04 Feb. 2010
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Thursday the U.S. antimissile defense system, to which the country has agreed to participate, will be up and running in Romania starting 2015.

Romania Accepts U.S. Request To Participate In Antimissile Plan – President

14:45, 04 Feb. 2010
Romanian President Traian Basescu said Thursday the country’s High Defense Council has accepted a proposition of U.S. President Barack Obama, who has invited the country, a NATO and EU member, to participate in the development of the United States’ antimissile plan and host components on its territory.

Sun Plaza Shopping Mall In Bucharest To Open On Feb 25 After EUR200M Invest

14:33, 04 Feb. 2010
Sun Plaza shopping mall in Romania’s capital city Bucharest will be opened on February 25, following a EUR200 million investment, according to Austrian investor Sparkassen Immobilien AG and Romania-registered developer EMCT, with a one-week delay from the latest announced date.

Bucharest Hotels See 20-Year Low In January ’10 Load Factor

14:31, 04 Feb. 2010
January 2010 was the weakest month in the past 20 years for hotels in Bucharest, which were forced to close some 30% of their rooms, due to an average load factor below 30%, Hotel Industry Federation secretary general Mihai Rijnita told MEDIAFAX Thursday.

Romanian Realty Transactions Drop More Than 27% In ‘09, Total Taxes Dn 52% – Notaries

14:29, 04 Feb. 2010
The number of real estate transactions was down 27.28% on the year in 2009, at 352,518, below notaries' estimates early 2009, and the value of income taxes from property deals was down 52%, to 498.7 million lei (EUR1=RON4.1214), the National Union of Notaries Public In Romania (UNNPR) said Thursday.

One Romanian Aboard Libyan-Owned Pirate-Seized Cargo Ship

14:15, 04 Feb. 2010
A North Korean-flagged and Libyan-owned cargo ship hijacked on Wednesday south of the Yemeni coast has one Romanian and nine Syrian sailors aboard, said Thursday Adrian Mihalcioiu, an official of the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

Romania Fin Min Looks For Solutions To Restart Lending

14:05, 04 Feb. 2010
Romania's Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu said Thursday, after meeting officials of the Romanian Banking Association ARB, they are looking for solutions to restart lending, but banks have no new projects to finance.

Romanian Social Democrat Leader Apologizes To Those He Disappointed In Elections

14:02, 04 Feb. 2010
Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Mircea Geoana, speaking in the party’s National Council on Thursday, apologized to those he disappointed, but said that blaming the party’s failure in the presidential elections on a single person would be unfair.

Rents Dropped 26% In Capital City Bucharest In ’09

13:54, 04 Feb. 2010
Rents in Romania’s capital city Bucharest and the surrounding Ilfov county dropped by an average 26% in January 2010 compared to the same interval last year, and the biggest rent decrease was reported for studio flats (27%).

Half Of Romanians Say Prices Of Food, Non-Food Products Went Up During Crisis – Poll

13:10, 04 Feb. 2010
Nearly half of Romanians believe prices of food and non-food products went up during the economic crisis, over 40% of Romanians believe prices remained unchanged, while 46% of them said they noticed a wider range of consumer sales promotions, according to market research agency Mercury Research.

Romanian Fast-Food Tax Won’t Target Pizza, Shawarma, Mineral Water – Health Ministry

12:51, 04 Feb. 2010
Romanian Health Ministry secretary of state Adrian Streinu Cercel said Thursday the proposed tax on unhealthy foods might be applied to fizzy drinks and products very rich in fats and sugar, adding it won't target foods such as dairy products, meat, pizza, shawarma or mineral water.

One Dead, Sixteen Hospitalized After Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In NE Romania Hotel

12:04, 04 Feb. 2010
One person died and sixteen others were taken to the emergency room in Suceava, northeastern Romania, most likely due to carbon monoxide poisoning in the hotel where they were staying.

EU Cuts Subsidies For Energy Crops In 2010 – Romanian Agriculture Min

11:20, 04 Feb. 2010
Romania’s Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry said Thursday no subsidies will be grated for crops used to produce bio-fuels starting 2010.

Romanian FM Suspends Diplomat Investigated For Negligent Homicide

10:44, 04 Feb. 2010
Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi decided to suspend the country’s charge d’affaires to Singapore, Silviu Ionescu, who was indicted for negligent homicide following a car accident.

Romanian Sibiu Bypass Road To Be Complete By End ’10

20:07, 03 Feb. 2010
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc told a press conference Wednesday that the bypass roar around the city of Sibiu will be complete by the end of 2010, even though the deadline is 2011, adding this project’s financing is secured.

World Bank Proposes Romanian Public Wage System Which Could Freeze Certain Salaries

19:36, 03 Feb. 2010
The World Bank proposed to the Romanian Government a simplified public wage system, under which jobs would be classified into around 10 occupational groups and 1,000 positions, but warned that these changes could indefinitely freeze salary increases for jobs which are downgraded in value.

Employees Of Nokia Factory In Romania To Receive 9% Higher Wages

16:30, 03 Feb. 2010
The employees of the Nokia factory in Jucu, northwestern Romania, will receive a 9% increase in their salary this year, according to the collective labor contract signed Monday with the company’s management.

Romania Must Uphold Strategic Business Fields To Make It Out Of Econ Crisis – PM

14:56, 03 Feb. 2010
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc on Wednesday said Romania will rejoice many achievements as European Union member state and will be able to make it out of the crisis if it focuses on fields that can bring out its business potential.

Romanian Small Businesses To Go Bankrupt, Move Offshore Over Tax Raise

14:16, 03 Feb. 2010
Most Romanian small businesses will go bankrupt, move their business offshore or continue to work as authorized individuals because of the government’s plan to stop allowing them to pay a 3% income tax, fiscal consultancy company R&M Audit said Wednesday.

Romania To Attract EUR4.3B In European Funds In 2010 – PM

14:03, 03 Feb. 2010
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc said Wednesday during a visit to Sibiu, central Romania, the country will attract EUR4.3 billion in European funds this year, adding the money could help economy out of the recession.

Somali Pirates Demand Record Ransom For Asian Glory – Media

13:34, 03 Feb. 2010
The Somali pirates who have captured the Asian Glory ship, which also had two Romanians in its crew, allegedly demand a record $15 million ransom to release the ship, according to Ukrainian intelligence sources quoted by the Bulgarian News Agency.