“I started my term mid-way through a heavy snowfall warning and I have to admit it was a baptism of fire, (…) an exam which I do believe I’ve managed to pass with honours, also thanks to your efforts,” PM Ungureanu told the IGSU staff yesterday.

Approximately 79 pc of the local Emergency Situations Inspectorates (ISU) interventions concerned accidents, while 14 pc were fire-fighting operations, in which 224 people, including 197 adults and 27 children, were killed. The announcement was made yesterday by the head of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), Marcel Lucaciu, presenting a review of the institution’s activity in 2011. According to the same source, 688 people were killed in fires last year alone. As regards the number of fires reported in 2001, Lucaciu argues the figure nearly doubled compared to 2010, from 18,271 to 31,995, that is, an average 88 fires a day. Out of these, 37 pc broke out in households. “This adds up to an average four villages wiped off the map every year,” Lucaciu stated, quoted by Mediafax. According to the inspector-general, 603,529 calls requesting emergency assistance were made in 2011, that is, a daily average of 1,654 calls. An average 14,270 such calls were made at local ISU level, 23 pc above 2010 figures. The head of IGSU further stated that the number of interventions by the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD) had risen in turn by 27 pc compared to 2010, with a daily average of 493 interventions and an average nine minutes’ waiting time.

“It is an honour to attend this IGSU review meeting. I am doing this as a mark of my respect to you, but also to express my gratitude for your joining in the government’s efforts from the very first days of our term in office,” Ungurean argued, thanking the fire-fighters for their hard work during the time the heavy snowfalls warning was in place. Furthermore, the Cabinet head underlined that he could see the people’s appreciation for SMURD’s activity and voiced his hope the service would soon be operational across the country, for a full integration of emergency operations. “I am proud to be your countryman. You are a model to us and I can only hope you will remain a model,” the prime-minister told the IGSU workers.On the other hand, the prime-minister told the fire-fighters he was well aware of the problems they were facing, owing to the poor technical equipment, but promised he would try to solve these problems as soon as the economic situation allowed it. To this purpose, Ungureanu called on Interior Minister Gabriel Berca to come up with projects to draw European funds, which could be used to update IGSU’s technical equipment. “We need initiatives to access European funds. Funds have been allotted to implementing institutional development projects, funds which can be used to enhance the professional emergency service’s response capacity. I call on you, minister Berca, to come up with as many effective projects as possible to meet this target,” Ungureanu stated. The prime-minister also argued that voluntary emergency intervention services should be set up at local level, to revive a civic spirit which “has waned” in the past years.Interior Minister Gabriel Berca (the Democratic-Liberal Party) spoke, in turn, in highly appreciative terms about IGSU workers. “In 2011, you were the department reporting the best results within the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs (MAI). We are aware of the financial and logistic problems you are facing, we are well aware of them and will try to solve them, insofar as the budget allows us,” Berca stated. The minister added that he envisaged a “legislative adjustment” for this year.  “We’ve got the National Committee for Emergency Situations, which is doing its job, county committees which are doing their job, we also need local committees,” Berca argued. However, the minister warned IGSU workers that he would show zero tolerance to corruption. We remind our readers that, according to a GfK survey, fire-fighters lead in a ranking measuring the people’s trust in professional categories, with 93 pc, followed by the military and teachers, with a little above 80 pc. At the time, presidential advisor Iulian Fota claimed that this trust ratio made the fire-fighter a fit emblem of MAI.

Petrom posts record profit in times of crisis – EUR 887 M in 2011.

OMV Petrom, and ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania yesterday announced a significant discovery under the Black Sea, with preliminary estimations speaking about a natural gas deposit of 42-84 billion cubic meters, equivalent to 3-6 times the annual consumption of Romania. The drilling operations conducted by the two companies in the Black Sea started at the end of 2011 and are about to be finalised, reads a press release issued Wednesday by OMV Petrom.

First production could be obtained at the end of this decade, at the earliest. The Domino -1 rig is located in the Neptun block, 170 km off the Romanian coast, in water with the average depth of 1,000 metres, and is drilled with state-of-the-art technology. It is estimated that the total depth of the well will be 3,000 metres under the sea level, HotNews.ro informs. The Neptun perimeter has a surface of about 9,900 square km, with a depth of water between 50 and 1,700 metres. In November 2008, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, and Petrom signed an accord through which ExxonMobil acquired a stake of 50 pc in the deep-sea zone of the Neptun perimeter. Deepwater Champion was built in Korea and has been specifically designed for easy access to and from the Black Sea. Deepwater Champion is a double-hull sea drilling vessel that can operate in moderate environments, and down to a maximum depth of 3,000 metres. The ship was built in 2011 by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea. Deepwater Champion can operate in a maximum water depth of 3,000 metres (which can be extended to 3,600 m), and can drill wells with a maximum depth of 12,191 metres.Meanwhile, despite the severe economic crisis, Petrom ended last year with the record profit of RON 3.759 bln (EUR 887 M). The gain of the company increased to 72% against last year, according to financial data presented yesterday morning to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Mediafax informs. This is the biggest profit ever registered by a company in Romania. The increase of the profit posted by Petrom was mainly driven by record sales worth RON 22.61 bln (EUR 5.3 bln), up 21 pc from the previous year, after an increase by 17 pc in the last quarter of 2011, to RON 6.39 bln (EUR 1.5 bln).Another reason for the record profit was represented by the higher prices charged for fuel. Last year, oil became 40 pc more expensive. Petrom CEO Mariana Gheorghe explains in a press release that, looking back, 2011 was a year of challenges coming from abroad, but with sound financial results and a remarkable operational performance. This is the result of considerable investment efforts, efficient cost management, as well as favourable prices of crude, the CEO of Petrom stated. “Demand for natural gas advanced by 3 pc, from 13.8 billion cubic metres in 2010, and our sales were in line with the market,” the CEO of OMV Petrom mentioned. OMV Petrom is a pillar of stability and a trustworthy partner of the Romanian economy in terms of the taxes it pays to the state budget, and also when it comes to providing energy to consumers and investments, Mariana Gheorghe said. “First of all, we speak about our contribution to securing the energy supply. We secured between 35 pc and 40 pc of the energy consumption, no matter if we speak about oil or gas. The second pillar is the contribution to the state budget. Each year, we secured between 10 pc and 11 pc of the incomes to the budget of the country. Then, there is the contribution to economic development, through the investments we made. Over the last seven years, we reinvested the entire operating income before depreciation,” the Petrom official said.For 2012, Petrom estimates that the average annual price of crude will remain above 100 USD, so we will not see significant changes in fuel prices. The company wants to invest EUR 1 bln this year. As for the Romanian economy, Petrom officials estimate that “performance will depend both on the economic conditions abroad and on the successful implementation of adequate economic policies at home. Although the economic growth is estimated at 1.5 pc in 2012, there are significant risks that this forecast might prove to be optimistic.” Mariana Gheorghe says that “the parliamentary elections of this year might increase the political risk, which might have an unwanted effect on the country’s macroeconomic stability and reforms. Consolidating the public debt, corroborated with the continuous efforts aimed at curbing the deficit in the public sector and further promoting structural reforms should remain the priorities of the government for 2012.”

E.ON Gaz teams arrived in Sighetu Marmatiei yesterday in order to check the city’s entire gas distribution system, the preliminary checks conducted in the area in which the two explosions took place showing that at present there is no other risk of explosion. The prosecutors have asked the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) to urgently designate two teams of specialists from companies other than the one which distributes methane gas in the city, in order to check the city’s entire gas network. Deputy Mayor Ovidiu Nemes stated that the E.ON teams will stay in Sighetu Marmatiei for as long as needed, until they check the 48-kilometer gas network. Gas supply is still shut down and will continue to be so for two more days on two streets in Sighetu Marmatiei. 40 consumers were left without gas and electricity on Sunday. Yesterday, the General Prosecutor Codruta Kovesi announced she ordered the investigation in the explosions would be taken over by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court, arguing the HQs of the gas distribution company are in Bucharest. Meanwhile, there are still doubts in what concerns the demolition of a part of the building in which the two explosions took place, on account of the danger the operation poses to citizens. Although the prosecutor’s office has approved the demolition, the authorities have decided to demolish only one wall of the building, the other set to be consolidated at the request made by the owner’s brother. At the same time, investigators have taken the club’s video recording system. 14 persons are being heard in this case, including employees of gas distribution company SC Berg Sistem Gaz SA.

Surgeries continueProfessor Ioan Lascar, head of Floreasca Hospital’s Clinic for plastic surgery and burn injuries, stated yesterday that four persons wounded in the explosions and hospitalized there are in a stable condition and have a favourable outlook. “The patient that is in the worst condition is stable, we could say slightly improving, but the critical moments are not behind us yet,” Lascar stated, being quoted by Mediafax. He pointed out that three patients are hospitalized within the intensive care ward but skin grafts are not being considered yet. Two of the 11 persons injured in the explosions and hospitalized within the Burn Injuries Hospital in Bucharest underwent surgery yesterday. The outlook continues to be cautious in the case of the gas company employee that suffered burns on 90 per cent of his body. The man is connected to life support machines. Three of the patients are in the intensive care ward, while the rest are in other wards. Internal Affairs Minister Gabriel Berca stated yesterday, during the review of the Emergency Situations Inspectorate’s activity that he understood what it means to be a firefighter after he talked with the firefighters injured in Sighetu Marmatiei. An ever increasing number of problems concerning the supply of natural gas have been reported in other cities too. In Bacau the snow that fell from the roof of a high school ruptured a gas pipe. In Zalau 20 persons reported a gas leak in the building belonging to the Association for Deaf People. E.ON employees discovered that the leak came from a gas-burning tiled stove and told the people to clean the chimney. A similar problem was reported in another part of the city, the gas leak there being caused by the erosion of an old gas pipe.

The first vice-president of PDL, Teodor Baconschi said on TVR Info that the architecture of the People’s Movement will be defined after the local elections, when “each party will come with its own result.” Known as an artisan of this initiative (founding the People’s Movement), the former minister of Foreign Affairs says it is important for the new organisation to also have “a civic component” capable of attracting all forces, professional associations, trade unions and NGOs “interested by the finalisation of reforms and the continuation of public policies that will keep under control the deficit, so that we are not exposed to the risk of a Greek scenario.” Actually, Baconschi argued that the People’s Movement is “a tactical necessity” for the Romanian right, “which has been divided so far and isolated in front of an alliance like the USL.” “In order to reach a balance in politics, we need a counterweight,” the Democrat-Liberal explained.Asked about the possibility of a post-electoral PSD-PDL cooperation, the first vice-president of PDL answered that, despite the visible opposition of USL to the reforms initiated by the power, he does not rule out any form of dialogue. “In the life of any politician, one can expect a metamorphosis, a conversion, a return to reality, so I do not rule out any form of dialogue. However, now there is still a rather tough political contraposition between USL and PDL,” Baconschi said.Speaking about the initiative of founding the People’s Movement, PDL EuroDeputy Cristian Preda says that it can only start from the idea that it must be a right-wing movement, open to all the opponents of the left that want to support a new government, including the Liberals that are not pleased to be in the company of Victor Ponta. “On the contrary, one cannot accept in the future majority those who will cheat by claiming that a right-wing party can find shelter in a left-wing alliance, or a leftist party has a place in a right-wing majority. The time of such improvisations should end. The major political problem of this year is supporting a coherent governance – before and after the elections,” Preda wrote in a post on his blog. According to the PDL MEP, the main political issue in 2012 is defined by USL. “USL believes that this year’s elections must result in enthroning Victor Ponta at the Victoria Palace and ousting Traian Basescu from the Cotroceni Palace. Installing MRU (Mihai Razvan Ungureanu) at the helm of the government redefined the data of the problem. (…) The premier said that he assumes a right-wing identity,” the MEP adds.The idea of founding the People’s Movement around PDL has been often evoked in Romanian politics during 2011. This construction should have offered a new, cleaner image to the Democrat-Liberals, like some kind of rebranding PDL. In fact, President Traian Basescu himself asked his daughter Ioana, last April, to register the name of ‘People’s Movement’ with OSIM, saying that one must prepare the idea of a people’s movement, in view of achieving a possible alliance. Basescu thus wanted to take PDL out of its isolation and create a big right-wing party. The idea also enjoys the support of former presidential counsellor Sebastian Lazaroiu and first vice-president Sorin Frunzaverde.