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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Romanian Politicians Treat Econ Crisis Too Dramatically – Ctrl Bk Head

Romanian politicians treat the economic crisis in an overstressed way, and they should apply already tested solutions, the central bank’s governor Mugur Isarescu said Wednesday.

Romania’s Bks To Notify Insolvent Clients To Ctrl Bk In 2-Days

The Romanian banks should send the central bank BNR, as of next week, information on the clients subject to insolvency procedure, in two working days from the clients' notification.

Bucharest Apartment Prices Unchanged On Month In April – Colliers

The average price of both old and new apartments in Romania’s capital city Bucharest was flat on the month in April, after the sharp depreciation in March, real estate consultancy firm Colliers International said Wednesday in its most recent price index.

Decision To Adopt Responsibility For Codes Must Be Taken In Coalition – Romanian PM

The decision that the Romanian Government take responsibility before Parliament for the legal codes will be taken in the ruling Coalition, Prime Minister Emil Boc said Wednesday.

Romanian Parliament Rejects Liberals’ No-Confidence Motion

Romania’s Parliament voted 272 to 130 to reject the no-confidence motion submitted by opposition liberals and backed by the Hungarian minority party.

Romanian Holiday Tickets Still To Gain Popularity – Tour Operators

Romania’s recently introduced holiday tickets for employees seem to lack popularity, as tour operators have yet to receive vacation requests from people who wish to use the tickets to pay for their vacation, officials of tour operators said Wednesday.

Vinci-Aktor Consortium To Build Comarnic-Brasov Hwy Segment – Romanian Transp Min

Romania’s transport minister Radu Berceanu said Wednesday that the consortium formed of companies Vinci Concession, Aktor Concession, Vinci Construction Grand Projets and Aktor won the auction for the construction of a highway segment to link central Romanian cities of Comarnic and Brasov.

Romanian Transport Min Blasts Transporters For Poor Road Quality

Romanian transport companies are the ones bringing the most damage to roads, and some of them don’t pay road toll, put too much cargo in their trucks and "are the first ones to complain about the bad roads," said transport minister Radu Berceanu in a press conference.

Romanian Justice Min Says Social Democrats Attacks Against Him Political

Romanian justice minister Catalin Predoiu said Wednesday, referring to the Social Democratic Party’s intent to demand his dismissal in case the European Commission’s report on the justice system is unfavorable, that some are interested in politics, he is interested in running projects.