A miserable few weeks for Romania look set to get even worse: Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu warned that the economy would probably contract by more than 1.5 per cent this year, a comment by ‘Financial Times’ reads. The downbeat outlook reflects Bucharest’s decision to raise value-added tax in order to keep within a 6.8 per cent budget deficit target agreed with the International Monetary Fund.

The paper is very critical towards the government and the head of state. The report signed by Chris Bryant points to the fact that Romania was hit by floods, but the main problem is the government. “On top of all this, Romania has a government that is at best dysfunctional, and at worst incompetent. Traian Basescu, the country’s bull-in-a-chinashop president, spoke out again this weekend against his government’s decision to raise VAT, proposing a taxation of pensions...

S-MAX and Galaxy, the new Ford models launched yesterday, complete the company’s portfolio by adding the most recent kinetic design developments, new interior materials, a series of efficient engines and last generation technologies. The CIP prices on the local market start from EUR 20,480 for the S-MAX model and from EUR 22,820 for the Galaxy model, both of them having 2-litre, 145 HP gasoline engines and featuring the Trend configuration. The S-MAX and Galaxy models have a 2-litre EcoBoost gasoline engine (203 HP) and are thus joining the new 2-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel engines (115 HP and 163 HP). The full engine series consist of two Euro 5 gasoline options (145 HP and 203 HP), three Euro 5 diesel options (115 HP, 140 HP, 163 HP) and one Euro 4 diesel option (2.2-litre 175 HP). The new models also have a Ford PowerShift 6-speed automatic transmission that is standard feature for the new gasoline engines and an optional one for the 140 HP and 163 HP diesel engines.

A whole range of passenger safety technologies will debut simultaneously with the launching of Ford’s two new European products, a range that includes a system for monitoring the blind spot and an auto...

Beyond the acute manifestations of the crisis in the finance and banking sector, themselves prompting stances - preponderant at some stage – to suggest that the industry had been home to the genesis of crisis, especially following sector-specific real estate speculations, as time goes by it becomes more and more apparent that the problem may well be looked for somewhere else: with a certain economic model that is now setting. It applies to the whole of the European area and, to a certain extent, to the North American region as well. Meaning the exact same places where, in a variety of forms and with different intensities, the social market economy involving a strong social protection dimension was embraced.

America being included to the model may sound intriguing. The US never really excelled at social welfare, always translating into a plus of labour productivity hence into a competitive edge compared to Western Europe. But one should not overlook the fact that the current crisis is unanimously said to have broken out with the US subprime mortgage industry. But what is subprime lending, after all?! It meant lending money to a segment of poor population all banks must...

Ruling Democrat Liberal Party Vice-President Cezar Preda told RFI Romania yesterday he was very concerned about the PM’s inability to ‘master’ his cabinet, claiming that, although he “should have immediately ousted” the minister of finance, Emil Boc was “incapable of doing that,” Mediafax quoted him as saying. “To me at least, what the minister of finance did came as no surprise at all. He does it when he wants to, how he wants to, he says what he chooses to. The PM can at best be responsive to what Mr. Vladescu and Mr. Seitan (e.n. labour minister) say, if you can remember,” the PDL vice-president further stated.

Preda went on to say he was sorry for the prime minister for “ending up in a situation where no one obeys him.” “What else are Romanian citizens expected to understand except that there is chaos? It is the prime minister’s fault. I cannot imagine how a minister affords to sabotage a whole cabinet and practically make the prime minister look ridiculous every time he tries to deal with what the country needs now: flood and crisis relief,” Preda added.

The PDL vice-president further stated: “We, just as you do, witness one incredible situation: a cabinet...

National Trade Register Office (ONRC) data, quoted by Mediafax, shows the number of companies that have temporarily suspended their activity has dropped by approximately 50 per cent to 42,417 in the first six months of the year. On the other hand, the number of companies that asked to be struck off the register has grown by 550 per cent compared to the same period last year. A total of 80,646 companies suspended their activity in the first six months of 2009. In the first half of 2010 the number of companies that asked to be struck off stood at 118,340, up by 549 per cent compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, the number of companies that filed for dissolution dropped by 54.44 per cent from 11,064 to 5,041. The number of registered companies stood at over 58,000, compared to 60,800 companies registered in the first half of 2009. Thus, at the end of June there were over 900,000 companies. More than 133,000 companies suspended their activity in 2009, a figure that was 11 times higher than the one reported in 2008....

According to the National Bank of Austria’s latest report on financial stability, non-performing loans make up a quarter of the loans given by Romanian banks, Money.ro informs. The Romanian and Ukrainian banking systems are the region’s worst hit. In Poland and Hungary non-performing loans represent only 6-7 per cent of the banks’ total assets. In 2008 the Romanian banking system was one of the most profitable in Central and Eastern Europe, with a return on assets of 1.6 per cent. The bank analyzed the main regional markets on which Austrian banks are active. In 2009 the return on assets dropped eight times and Romania became the second most unprofitable country for bankers after Ukraine, a country whose financial system has major problems. And things could get worse for financial institutions in Romania.

Erste: Romanians’ available incomes to drop by 10 pc this year and by 0.8 pc in 2011

According to an Erste Bank release, in Romania the population’s available incomes will drop by approximately 10 per cent in real terms this year and by another 0.8 per cent in 2011 despite the fact that workforce competitiveness will hike available incomes in the region...

“The tax authority will focus its attention on large taxpayers, towards increasing its ability to collect taxes and dues from them,” the president of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) said at the start of the talks with representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Money.ro reports.

Upon arriving at the Finance Ministry headquarters, the head of the IMF technical delegation, Thomas Martin Story, said he came to provide technical assistance, not to impose certain measures, in order to help ANAF with tax management.

Talks will also deal with ANAF’s IT system, but also with solutions aimed at improving tax collection. “In a first stage we will make together with the IMF an analysis of ANAF’s IT system towards better collection. We will also talk about a higher ability to collect from large taxpayers, which provide 70.80 per cent of budgetary incomes. Thanks to better implementation of IMF recommendations throughout the past year and to our working 12 hours at a stretch we have collected more than forecasted,” ANAF director Sorin Blejnar said.

Referring to some ANAF offices going to close, Blejnar said that despite their...

Romania in June reported the third highest annual inflation rate in the EU, the indicator dropping in the EU27 from 2 per cent to 1.9 per cent and in the eurozone from 1.6 per cent to 1.4 per cent, according to Eurostat. Lowest annual inflation rates in June were reported by Ireland (-2 per cent), Latvia (-1.6 per cent) and the Netherlands (0.2 per cent), while the highest came from Greece (5.2 per cent), Hungary (5 per cent) and Romania (4.3 per cent). The annual inflation rate in June decreased in 15 member states, stayed unchanged in four and rose in eight from a month earlier. Consumer prices in June registered slight month-on-month rise by 0.16 per cent, while the annual inflation rate also experienced a mild drop from 4.42 per cent in May to 4.38 per cent, with food prices decreasing for a second consecutive month, according to National Statistics information. Also, in May 2010 compared with April 2010, seasonally adjusted industrial production grew by 0.9 per cent in the eurozone and by 1.0 per cent in the EU27, Eurostat informs. In April production increased by 0.9 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively. In May 2010 compared with May 2009, industrial production rose by 9.4...

The conclusions of the recently publicised final report compiled by the Senate Commission for Privatisation, quoted by HotNews.ro, accuse ENEL SpA of not making the investments it had committed itself to make by signing Electrica Muntenia Sud’s privatisation contract and the state authorities, namely the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) and certain Economy Ministry representatives within the Administration Board, of being accomplices. Thus, consumers are paying a tariff calculated on the basis of the sums that ENEL Distributie Muntenia had committed itself to invest.

“The distribution tariff paid by the consumer rose against the backdrop in which ENEL Distributie Muntenia did not respect the annual investment plan that it had initially presented to ANRE. Compared to the promised investments, the investments that ENEL Distributie Muntenia actually made stood at 53 per cent in 2008 and 52 per cent in 2009,” the report reads.

ENEL representatives have rejected the accusations. “ENEL is fully committed to running the investment plan stipulated in Muntenia Sud’s privatisation contract, a plan that provisions investments of EUR 220 M in 2009-2011. The...

The agreement that the seven investors involved in the EUR 4 bln project to build nuclear reactors 3 and 4 within the Cernavoda nuclear power plant had reached could be extended by at least six months, sources familiar with the negotiations stated yesterday, quoted by Mediafax.

“Not all problems have been solved, that is why there are concrete talks about extending the investors’ agreement by at least six months. The process of establishing the sources of financing alone lasts at least a year for example and that process has not even started. But the extension period is the object of negotiations too. The investors’ agreement currently in force stipulates that if an agreement is not reached EnergoNuclear will be dissolved, however the chances for that to happen are extremely small,” the sources stated.

The investors’ agreement, signed in November 2008 and approved through a government decision, stipulates that the companies involved should settle the commercial arrangements concerning the two nuclear reactors’ construction, long-term exploitation and sources of financing, and should obtain the European Commission’s notices. The agreement expires on September...

Local banks report RON 200 M loss in first five months

Cumulated financial results reported by all banks in Romania indicate the system in the first five month sustained total loss of over RON 200 M, despite Q1 bringing notable earnings. BNR-processed data indicates total banking system loss in May of RON 204 M (almost EUR 49 M), actually a repeat of the situation reported in May 2009, when losses amounting to RON 228 M were reported. Q1 figures indicated Romanian banks had made a profit of EUR 100 M representing half of the entire 2009 profit, as compared to EUR 50 M loss registered in Q1 of 2009. The same BNR data shows the entire banking system posted RON 815 M (EUR 200 M) net profit for last year, with 22 lenders posting a profit and 20 posting losses.

Romanian state owns world’s 31st biggest gold reserve

The World Gold Council ranks Romanian state’s official gold reserves 31st in the world, the standings being led by the US, followed by Germany, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mediafax reports. With its 103.7 tonnes of gold in the central bank’s reserves, Romania comes after Greece - 112.2 tonnes, and before Poland - 103...

According to an analysis conducted by the imobiliare.ro portal, the number of hotels and boarding houses for sale has risen by approximately 60 per cent in the first six months compared to the level reported on January 1, with most of the units put up for sale being located at the mountainside, Mediafax informs. “At national level we are witnessing an explosion in the number of hospitality facilities put up for sale. While the number of sale announcements stood at 217 at the beginning of the first semester, there are currently 344 announcements. The highest growth was seen in mountainside resorts. On the other hand the developments were not as spectacular at the seaside and in large cities such as Timisoara, Sibiu, Constanta, Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest,” Adrian Erimescu, general manager www.imobiliare.ro, stated in a release. Thus, according to the portal’s analysis, significant growth was seen in the number of sale offers on the Prahova Valley. While at the beginning of the first semester there were five hotels and boarding houses put up for sale there, at the end of the first semester their number had climbed to 52. Likewise, in Busteni the number of boarding houses and hotels...

Oil eases below USD 77 as supplies weigh

Oil eased to below USD 77 a barrel on Wednesday, falling from a two-week high, as a report showing a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories countered support from firmer equities. U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 1.7 million barrels, industry group the American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday. Analysts had expected stocks to fall by 1.4 million barrels. “From a fundamental point of view, another leg down is more likely than a strong price increase,” said Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. Equities offered some support. World stocks hit a three-week high after Intel’s forecast-beating quarterly results raised expectations of strong earnings in the second quarter.”The oil market is going to be taken for a ride to a large degree by what happens in equity markets,” said Toby Hassall, an analyst at CWA Global Markets in Sydney. Investors often see strength in equity markets as a sign of wider economic health and an indication that future demand for oil and energy will rise. “The line to conquer for the bulls today will be the resistance of the 200-day moving average,” said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix....

The Ministry of Finance (MFP) has included Central Bank (BNR) employees in the order transferring to the state budget of the sums resulted from diminishing civil servants’ salaries by 25 pc, Realitatea reports. National bank personnel do not normally have the status of civil servants and European regulations - implicitly the Accession Treaty - restrict the right of governments to interfere with the salaries paid by member states’ central banks. Considering this, and evoking Art. 11 of the Constitution that compels the state to fulfill “as provided, and in good faith” the obligations assumed through international treaties it is part of, the European Central Bank (ECB) ruled as illegal the measures envisaged by Romanian authorities. MFP ignored the warning issued by ECB Governor Jean-Claude Trichet and enforced the decision to cut salaries. Sources with BNR said the bank will challenge the decision at the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR)....

Data of the National Statistical Institute (INS) confirm estimates published a few weeks ago. According to a release, the economy grew by 0.3 per cent in Q2 compared to Q1 of the year. On the other hand, economy was unable to recuperate enough on a year-on-year basis, reregistering a minus of 0.5 per cent. In fact, Romania has been in recession since Q3 of 2008, when the GDP started going down. In Q2 this year, the economy gained some strength, mainly thanks to export. Romania-made cars and telephones sold well, therefore the entire sector grew by over 20 per cent in H1 this year compared to H1 of last year.

According to INS, in Q2 of 2010, the industry grew by 5.9 per cent and compensated for the 8.3 per cent decrease suffered by the construction sector. Compared to Q2 of 2009, slight volume growth was also reported in Agriculture, hunting and forestry, fishing and fisheries (+0.7 per cent) and in financial activities, real estate activities, rentals and services for companies (+0.8 per cent). At the other end, activity volumes dropped in retail, automobile and home appliance repairs, hotels and restaurants, transport and telecom (-4.2 per cent) and in other activities...

The home consumption of fast-moving consumer goods in H1 dropped by 4 per cent in national currency from a year earlier, being the first decrease recorded in the last ten years, with personal care products and home cleaning goods being the most affected, a GfK press release issued yesterday states. Among the categories with the steepest volume falls the ones that stand out are deodorants (-21 per cent), universal cleaning products (-19 per cent), chocolate tablets (-18 per cent), the decrease being primarily due to the fact that they were purchased by fewer consumers. Total market shares in terms of value at a national level of the various forms of retail remained relatively constant in H1 of 2010 on a year-on-year basis. According to GfK, hypermarkets’ market share in the first half of the year was 21 per cent compared to 20 per cent the year earlier, supermarkets – 13 per cent compared to 12 per cent, discount stores – 8 per cent compared to 10 per cent and cash&carry stores kept their 2 per cent market share....

Financial analysts claim that renewing the agreement with international financiers is a must. Most consider this is the advisable strategy, ‘Adevarul’ reports. The idea of a new agreement for a loan is already being accredited in the public sphere. Some economists argue this is not the best approach. “The present agreement is still in progress, yet, at Cabinet level, the idea of a new agreement is already explored. Or, the focus should be on restructuring expenses, otherwise, the effect on investors may be the exact opposite,” investment consultant Doru Lionachescu, managing partner at Capital Partners, says. Economic analyst Ilie Serbanescu is persuaded the new agreement will not be a precautionary one, but yet another stand-by agreement. “The state is bankrupt, pensions and wages are paid out of loans. More than half of the loan will have to be paid by the selfsame state. Where are they going to find the money, under present market conditions?” the analyst wonders. Economist Aurelian Dochia argues that, in the present international context, it is hard to believe that an economy as the Romanian one is will be able to recover without external support. At the same time, Dochia...

Government will amend ordinance 58/2010 on the payment of social contributions corresponding to intellectual property activities. The amendments shall first receive the nod from the Economic and Social Council, Environment Minister Laszlo Borbely told Agerpres yesterday. He made the point it was Fin Min Sebastian Vladescu who came up with the changes, first read at Wednesday’s government session. Minister Borbely made the point the changes refer to the employer, and not the employee, going to submit the social contribution statements on intellectual property and other self-employed activities. Ordinance 58/201 sparked a heated controversy after thousands of people stood in endless lines to pay their contributions last...

Renault Group yesterday opened its largest car part centre based outside of France at Oarja. The new centre will distribute spare parts and accessories for the Dacia, Renault and Nissan brands in Romania, Agerpres informs. Situated at km number 102 on the Bucharest-Pitesti motorway, close to the Dacia plant and to the industrial suppliers’ area, the centre stands on a total of 65,000 sq m, being the fourth largest in the Renault world network made up of 29 such facilities. The spare part warehouse manages 70,000 car parts for the Dacia, Renault and Nissan brands, from 369 different suppliers – 206 from Romania and 163 for abroad – and delivers to a total of 110 clients in Romania and to clients based in 33 other countries. Nearly 40 per cent of the centre’s activity consists of export, with main destinations being France, Russia and Turkey, and most important parts being oil filters and rims. Renault Group Post-Sale Services Division Director General Jacques Daniel says the availability rate for car parts for the three automotive brands at the Oarja spare part centre is 95 per cent. The new centre was developed during a year, after Renault Group’s 2008 strategic decision to expand...

Forex reserves continue decline to EUR 31.55 bln

The country’s foreign exchange reserves held by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) suffered a slight negative correction in August for the fourth consecutive month, from EUR 31.58 bln to EUR 31.55 bln, of which EUR 733 bln were inflows and EUR 759 bln were outflows, central bank data shows. The gold reserve stayed at 103.7 tonnes, but its value rose to EUR 3.24 bln in the context of growing international prices. Official international reserves (foreign exchange and gold) at the end of August were EUR 34.79 bln, slightly up from the EUR 34.57 bln at the end of the previous month. Payments servicing external public debt (direct or guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance) and falling due in September amounted to EUR 78.7 M.

BCR launches real estate portal

Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR) yesterday launched Romania’s first property portal managed by a bank. Apart from the complex supply of residential properties in all of the country’s counties, the portal also provides information on procedures to follow when buying a home. The portal includes advice and recommendations on preparing property...

EximBank initiated a project of collaboration with the Management Authorities involved in the management of structural funds, which is meant to help companies interested in acceding European funds obtain access to information.

“The absorption of European funds is essential for economic recovery, and greater transparency and a more active communication are the main solutions to draw European funds more effectively. That is why we are trying, by this project of collaboration with the Management Authorities, to jointly promote ways of accessing European funds and banking products offered by EximBank to support trading companies and public authorities in their endeavour to accede to funds offered by the European Union,” Ionut Costea, the president of EximBank, stated.

In setting up this project, EximBank approached 17 Management Authorities and intermediating bodies (units meant to implement operational programmes at a regional level), with a view to initiating partnerships which will allow for joint action to expedite the absorption of European funds.

EximBank offers to companies and public authorities running projects financed out of structural funds a...

The 25 per cent wage cuts of National Bank of Romania (BNR) employees will remain in force, after the Government modified the law which imposed the cuts, Mediafax reports. However, the money resulting from the cuts will no longer be allotted to the state budget, but will remain instead at the disposal of the central bank, contributing to boost the bank’s statutory reserves, a Government spokesperson, Ioana Muntean (photo), stated.

The Government debated, on Monday, an emergency ordinance to modify the law by which BNR employees’ wages, alongside public sector wages, were cut by 25 per cent, to fend off potential sanctions from the European Commission (EC). The European Central Bank (ECB) issued a warning related to the emergency ordinance to modify the said law so that the saved amounts remain in the bank’s accounts, underlining this wouldn’t solve the problem of the central bank’s autonomy.

Thus, the Government has to return the money transferred to the state budget following the wage cuts, to prevent the violation of European Union Treaty provisions.

“Article II in the emergency ordinance bill stipulates that the amounts derived from the reduction of...

Romanian companies manufacturing goods for the local market announce layoffs, whereas multinationals are hiring more employees, according to a survey by “Gandul” daily newspaper. Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, Ford and Dacia are among the top companies recruiting employees. “Foreign companies are more upbeat given business gets better. They are already readying for next year, when they expect things to go even better. We should say this only applies to foreign companies working for customers from countries where economy picked up. It is normal for them to hire more people given the rising orders,” said George Butunoiu, a human resources expert. The auto industry will be one of the chief employers in Romania, given investments made by Ford and Renault. Ford workforce will top 3,500, and 7,000 in the upcoming years. Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, will employ 12 more software experts at its new development centre. The work force, circa 30 so far, will double over the next two to three years, local company officials say. In early spring, Microsoft too announced it needed 70 more employees by year’s end, in addition to the 300-plus workforce in place. HP too is among the...

The results of American European Marketing & Enterprises (AEM&E), a company which reported, for 2009, at the Registry of Trade, a RON 15.47 bln-turnover and the same amount of profit, were not included when adding up the GDP and are “aberrant figures,” according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS), Mediafax reports. The institute explains that, following investigations, it emerged that the economic and financial results of American European Marketing & Enterprises were not included in the Gross Domestic Product, neither in 2009, nor in 2010, as a consequence of the fact that the company is not featured in the operating economic agents’ poll database used by INS in the calculation of macroeconomic indicators.

According to INS investigations, the company in question is not to be found in the city where it is supposed to operate, so that the Ministry of Public Finance was notified of this case, for supplementary checks. “To conclude, reiterating that this company’s economic and financial results did not influence the level and dynamics of macroeconomic indicators as calculated by the National Institute of Statistics, we cannot say, until these investigations are...

ECB President in Bucharest

Jean Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), will arrive to Bucharest on September 4, HotNews.ro informs. He will attend manifestations which mark 130 years since the founding of the National Bank of Romania (BNR). Trichet will remain only 24 hours in Romania, as he is due back in Frankfurt on the following morning. According to organisers, the conference proceedings will be held in English, but will not be broadcast live.

Notaries forced to reduce property transaction fee by 10 pc

The Bucharest Chamber of Notaries Public is cutting real estate transaction fees by 10 per cent in Bucharest and in a few other counties, the measure being applicable as of today, in the context of the negative trend of the property market in the first seven months of the year. The counties that will benefit from reduced fees are Calarasi, Giurgiu, Ialomita, Ilfov and Teleorman, Mediafax informs. This year’s grid used by notaries to calculate minimum fees and taxes on apartment transactions in Bucharest was set at 30-40 per cent smaller values, the adjustment being called for by the decline of the property market...

Disgruntled about salary cuts, the blanket salary law and government’s offer over the minimum salary, teachers, police, medical staff and other public sector employees are readying for a new round of protests, Antena 3 reports. Farmers too threaten street protests against the Boc government’s lack of policies to address their discontent.

On September 2, the Agrostar Federation will mobilise trade unionists for protest rallies in each county seat. After one week of such protests, farmers are coming to Bucharest to hold a massive rally. Agrostar president Niculae Stefan says government has not met its pledges, as it failed paying subsidies to farmers, as stipulated by law. Stefan has repeatedly called on the agriculture minister to step down and announced this would be one of the protesters’ chief demands.

Trade unions announced major street protests unless the executive yields to union demand, Agerpres quoted Cartel Alfa vice-president Romulus Nita as saying.

However, Tonny Lybek, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative in Romania, yesterday said that salary-related spending in the public sector will be cut back to the year 2005 level of 7.4...

On August 19, Romania’s Finance Ministry filed to the European Central Bank a draft ordinance in which salary cuts applied to employees of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) were “masked,” after the previous ordinance had received a red light from the ECB, HotNews informs. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet once again expressed his “concern” with the fact that the Finance Ministry fails to understand that it has no right to cut salaries within the central bank. According to the draft, the sums that result from cutting BNR employees’ salaries will no longer be sent to the budget and will remain within BNR instead. The calculus was simple. The resulting funds remain within BNR but then we take 80 per cent of them – the profit margin that BNR pays to the state.

Despite the diplomacy that always characterises this institution’s opinions, one can note the categorical crescendo of dissatisfaction with the attitude adopted by the draft’s authors. The ECB’s opinion is technical but still extremely clear for a specialist and it diplomatically says “please don’t try to fool us, it won’t work.” Referring to the sums resulting from salary cuts, the ECB points out that if they end up...

The index of trust in Romanian economy is on the rise in August, as consumers’ expectations rose and prospects of retail trade and constructions are more optimistic, according to a monthly poll of the European Commission. At the same time, the prospects in industry remain unchanged compared to the preceding month, and trust in the services sector dropped. Thus, the index of trust in the economy rose at 76.4 points in August, compared to 75 in July, marking the third consecutive month in which the perception of Romanian economy changed for the better.

Nonetheless, Romania ranks last but one in the European Union according to this index, taking precedence only over Greece (67.9 points). The countries boasting the highest index of trust in the economy are Sweden (115.4 points) and Germany (111.2 points).

Managers in industry were more optimistic about their order books; in particular they were upbeat about their export order books. Managers’ assessment of production observed in recent months and production and employment expectations remained unchanged. Meanwhile, managers’ assessment of their stocks of finished products worsened slightly. After the surge in July,...

The individuals who made, in the past five years, incomes from professional activities, without a work contract, will have to pay, retroactively, healthcare contributions for the past five years.

“The moment they come to file a statement of income here, citizens are asked to bring also, from the fiscal administration, a record of their financial situation for the past five years. If they haven’t paid healthcare contributions, they will be asked to do so,” officials of the National Healthcare Home stated, quoted by Money.ro.

Thus, if an individual was paid exclusively in royalties, the person in question would have had to go to the Healthcare Home to state one’s income and pay the healthcare contributions corresponding to their income. The provision refers, however, not only to those who were paid exclusively in royalties, but to all citizens who make work-based incomes, according to the Government’s Emergency Ordinance 58/ 2010, which imposes the payment of social contributions for all types of income. Officials of the institution say there is nothing new about that, given that the law instituting the obligation to pay healthcare contribution has been in force...

Activity in the processing industry and services will be characterised by a relative stability in the August-October period compared with the previous three months, company managers polled by the National Statistical Institute (INS) say. They anticipate that, in the period to come, the number of employees will continue to drop in all economic sectors end especially in small companies of less than 50 workers, Agerpres informs. On the other hand, industrial goods’ prices are expected to have a slight growth in the next three months. In the construction sector, the volume of production will decrease moderately and the stock of contracts and orders will decrease in the next three months. Construction work prices are expected to go up slightly. Retail managers in August anticipated a mild decrease of economic activity in the next three months. From a distinct point of view, over 24,000 residential building permits were issued in the first seven months of the year, more by 15.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, the average job vacancy rate in Q2 was of 0.59 per cent, down by 0.11 percentage points compared to the previous three months and by...

Five resort-like complexes will be developed on the Black Sea Coast in the Terra resort still to be developed near the 23 August commune. The new resort could attract dozens of thousands of tourists every year, especially German and Austrian ones, ‘Gandul’ daily says. The downside to it is that the state will need to invest in road infrastructure and utilities a total of EUR 7 M, because the road and the water and power supply network are provided by the local authorities. The local mayor hopes to receive the funds needed to start the project. “Every time she came to the seaside, (Tourism and Regional Development) Minister Udrea invited all the mayors in the county. She saw the plans, she was thrilled by the zoning plans, was happy about it and said it would be something nice. We asked her if she would help us and she said the money would come either from the state budget or from European funds. She told me: ‘Mugur, despite poverty, we will give it to you’. She means well,” Mayor Mugur Mitrana says. Despite the industry’s efforts, the all-inclusive regime has not been really successful in Romania, Corina Martin, President of the National Association of Tour Agencies (ANAT) said,...

Italian company CIR to develop wind turbines in Vaslui

Company Sorgenia, part of the Italian group Compagnie Industriali Riunite (CIR), is planning on building several wind turbines in Vaslui County, Romania. “At present, Sorgenia holds permits to develop wind turbines with a total capacity of 106 MW,” CIR group communication director Salvatore Rico told Mediafax. The permits obtained by Sorgenia in December 2009 and April 2010 were issued for the commune of Falciu, Vaslui County. The CIR group, established in 1976, conducts operations in the energy, media, automotive components, healthcare and financial services sectors. In its turn, CIR is under the control of Compagnia Finanziaria de Benedetti, a financial holding property of De Benedetti family.

Chinese companies slowly investing in Romania

Commerce and agriculture are two Romanian economic sectors Chinese businessmen want to invest in, ‘Adevarul’ daily writes. China has surpassed Japan to become the second-largest economy of the world after the United States. However, the three decades of impressive growth that China experienced were based exclusively on investments and exports, with...

Prime Minister Emil Boc stated, recently, at the Labour Ministry, in a meeting with representatives of the patronages that, according to official figures presented by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), in the second quarter there was positive economic growth and a growth in industrial production, but voiced a “moderate optimism,” Realitatea.net report. The Gross Domestic Product, in adjusted terms, rose by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter compared to the first, but remains considerably lower compared to the same interval in 2009, so that the economy contracted in the first six months by 1.5 per cent, according to data signal published by the INS. Moreover, Boc explained that, according to the analysis for the first seven months of the year budget expenses, as well as social assistance expenses, are dropping, as is the number of jobs in the public sector, while the state budget revenue started rising.

When asked what the economic figures for the second half of the year are, Boc pointed out this is still in progress, and that the only certainty, according to analyses made by the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, is the fact that Romania...

The minister of Culture, Kelemen Hunor, stated, on Saturday, at the “Peninsula” Festival in Targu Mures that he disapproved of the artists’ tax strike, arguing that all incomes should be taxed, in a unified manner, and that all corresponding contributions should be paid, Mediafax reports. In the same context, Deputy Prime Minister Marko Bela stated that people who complained they had been faced with problems in filing the royalties’ statements were right, as there’s too much bureaucracy in Romania.

At the same time, the vice president of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), Ioan Oltean, stated, on Friday, in a press conference, that the present Government cannot afford to sanction such an important segment as that of journalists just because the latter do not support the ruling party. Moreover, Prime Minister Emil Boc stated, on the same day, that he is open to talks with the initiators of the tax strike so that the latter would understand that the Government’s Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 58/ 2010 was not aimed at genuine creators, but was meant to “eliminate” people benefiting abusively from royalties, such as drivers. At the same time, a spokesperson for the National...