President Traian Basescu and the head of the International Monetary Fund delegation Jeffrey Franks, examined red tape obstacles in Romania.
President Traian Basescu yesterday met at Cotroceni Palace with Jeffrey Franks, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission in Romania. The head of state availed himself of this opportunity to suggest the need for an extension of the ongoing accord between Romania and the IMF or the conclusion of a precautionary type agreement. ‘I’m glad to see you again, and I’m looking forward to the October visit, not an anniversary one, but an assessment of the difficulties we are facing. At any rate, my proposal is that, during the visit in October, we should look into the next agreement between Romania and the IMF to see which is the right solution, to extend the current accord or conclude a precautionary type agreement.
A fiscal area is needed for the absorption of European funds,’ Agerpres cited the Romanian president as saying. In Romania to attend the anniversary celebration of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), Jeffrey Franks stressed the need for no red tape...
Moldova’s European path also an important topic on the agenda. Poland minister reconfirms support for Romania’s Schengen accession.
The strategic partnership between Romania and Poland, already established on political level, will be consolidated this autumn with a roadmap, which will be signed by both countries’ prime ministers, FM Teodor Baconschi said yesterday in a joint press statement with his Polish counterpart Radoslav Sikorski.
“We also have the intention to achieve a more systematic coordination in European affairs, especially that we are coming closer to the moment when Poland will take over the rotating EU presidency. From this point of view, the 2020 Strategy, energy...
President Traian Basescu wrote a letter to Parliament speakers yesterday, expressing his wish to hold a speech before a joint session of both chambers on September 21, on issues related to internal politics, according to a press release from the presidential administration. “Given work agenda conditions, I propose to you the date of September 21, 2010, at a time you are free to set yourselves,” the president wrote in his letter to Senate Speaker Mircea Geoana and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Roberta Anastase. The letter makes no mention of what internal politics...
Last week’s reshuffle has stirred dissatisfaction and has opened the way towards several scenarios concerning PDL’s and ruling coalition’s future.
According to sources quoted by ‘Jurnalul National,’ last week’s government reshuffle has displeased President Traian Basescu and the PDL faction centered on Elena Udrea. They are allegedly preparing to leave the party next spring. Their destination could be UNPR, the People’s Party or a newly-formed party. That is how ‘Jurnalul National’ explains the persistence with which Presidential adviser Sebastian Lazaroiu has talked about Dan Diaconescu’s party as being one that has more than 20 per cent in opinion polls or a “snow-white” party, meaning a party that will...
WASHINGTON - As many as 2,000 additional troops - including a number of U.S. forces - may be headed to Afghanistan in the coming weeks under a plan being proposed by Gen. David Petraeus, according to CNN. Petraeus has not commented publicly on the need for more troops, but a U.S. defense official and a senior NATO official directly familiar with his thinking and the entire matter have confirmed details to CNN. The Petraeus proposal for more troops has been briefed to NATO officials behind closed doors.
According to the NATO source, it calls for an...
Moldova poll fails, ruling Alliance on back foot
Moldova’s pro-Western leaders pondered their next move on Monday after a referendum designed to break a political deadlock in the ex-Soviet republic failed due to poor turnout, dealing them a humiliating setback. As opposition Communists in the country of 3.5 million revelled, one leader in the ruling four-party Alliance for European Integration conceded that the referendum, called to decide on whether the country should switch to direct presidential elections, had been “a tactical error”. “Some of...
Concerned with the recent outbreak of riots over food prices in the African nation of Mozambique, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced Saturday it will hold a special meeting this month to discuss rising wheat prices, CNN reported. FAO officials, food experts and government representatives are scheduled to meet in Rome on Sept. 24 to find ways to ease the price fluctuation affecting grain markets, U.N. officials said in a statement.
Studies show that wheat prices soared in August, the biggest monthly rise in almost a year,...
Dollar weaker vs. euro and yen.
Encouraging news about the U.S. employment picture continued to spill over onto financial markets on Monday, lifting world stocks on hopes that a slip back into recession could be avoided. The mood continued despite a relatively gloomy outlook from Olivier Blanchard, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, who told France’s Le Figaro he expected weak growth in both the United States and Europe. Some investors, particularly in Asia, were catching up with Friday’s U.S. jobs data, which was not as bad as some had feared. The slowing of the U.S. economy...
A self-employed earner will pay the Romanian state at least 25.36 per cent of their income in accumulated social contributions. Given a regular Romanian employee pays social contributions equal to 16.5 per cent of their monthly pay and intellectual property rights will be as of January 1, 2011 subject to a tax of 25.36 per cent makes the intellectual property contract useless, according to ‘Adevarul’ daily newspaper.
The employer will remain the sole party to reap the advantage of this form of income payment staying in place, as they are exempted from...
The incoming Minister of Finance, Gheorghe Ialomitianu, has made the announcement that people paying royalties and those working under civil agreements would not have to submit income statements and pay associated contributions. ‘People who get an income from royalties and those working under civil agreements do no longer have to submit the statement and make the payment themselves. The legislation will be changed and the money will be withheld at the source, meaning that the payer will have the duty to sent the contribution to the budget; it is the most...
The long-expected cabinet reshuffle has finally happened. As political personalities, the five in-coming ministers are rather pale figures. They do not come from the ranks of high-profile leaders, personalities with a reputation made outside of the political scope or outstanding professionals in some field. Two of them have held ministerial offices before, however without putting themselves on the map. At least three of the ministers dropped in the reshuffle were better than replacements in terms of political influence and professional profile. Then why were they the chosen ones? One first possible answer is the scarcity of staff meeting the combined requirements of political regimentation and professionalism.
Truth is that such individuals are generally a rare presence in Romania. To be a good minister of finance, for example, it takes not only a solid ability to master the field as such, but also a political philosophy of strategic options.
Under the...
The failed start in EURO 2012 qualifiers, 1-1 against Albania, and below-expectations playing by the team has made Razvan Lucescu’s (photo) tenure with the squad rather uncertain, with Gica Hagi, Ladislau Boloni or Dan Petrescu being the names circulated as his possible replacements, according to Hotnews. Officials at the Romanian Football Association (FRF) declared themselves unhappy with the...
Andy Murray hobbled out of the U.S. Open on Sunday, beaten 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-3 in the third round by Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka after his ailing body let him down.
Struggling to run at full speed after requiring treatment to his legs, elbow and neck, Murray appeared powerless to stop Wawrinka, who was battling his own injury problems but still played superbly, from pulling off the...
MotoGP is looking to develop improved body protection for riders to help them survive the kind of accident that has killed two teenagers on successive race weekends. Nineteen-year-old Japanese Shoya Tomizawa, a rising talent who won this year’s first Moto2 race, died in Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix after he fell and was hit at around 240kph by other riders close behind.
Only a week...
Two Romanian castles made it into world buildings ranking: the Hunyad, included among the world’s most frightening places, and Peles, selected among world’s finest castles.
There may be no vampires walking its halls, but the Gothic architecture and a dark, non-fictional history are enough to give you the shivers, according to “Huffington Post”, quoting the world’s most frightening buildings ranking, made by Lonely Planet. The Hunyad or Corvinus Castle, in Hunedoara, came in second in the ranking which includes, among other frightening buildings, reactor 4 of...
The first edition of the Film and Culinary Art-Tasting Festival opened, on Sunday night, with exclusive excerpts from the film “Undeva la Palilula” (Somewhere in Palilula), in the presence of personalities including the minister of Culture, Kelemen Hunor, Maria Dinulescu, Constantin Chiriac and Tudor Giurgiu. The poet Mircea Dinescu, the host of the festival taking place in the Cetate Cultural...
George Clooney outgunned his rivals at the Labor Day holiday weekend box office in North America with a low-calibre opening for his assassin drama “The American,” as the lucrative summer movie going season wound down on a traditionally weak note. According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, “The American” earned $13 million during the three-day period beginning Sept. 3; its tally stands at...
The Foreign Ministry’s Roma advisor resigns, while Italy starts own evictions.
Some fifty Roma gathered yesterday in front of the French Embassy in Bucharest, fuming against Paris expulsions policy. Most of the protesters were wearing T-shirts reading ‘rom pakivalo’ (respectable Roma, e.n.). Put together by Roma Civic Alliance the spontaneous protest came in reaction to the Immigration Summit held on Monday in Paris that was due to tackle the Roma issue as well. Chanting...
Armed robbery at Timisoara betting office
A sports betting office in Timisoara was robbed yesterday by a young man who threatened one of the two female employees with a gun and then took off with RON 17,000, Timis Police Inspectorate spokesperson Emil Matei said, quoted by Mediafax. Both female workers at the betting office were locked in the bathroom by the assailant, who is...
The suspect is reportedly member of a feared underworld clan with political connections.
Repeat offender Daniel Uta, accused of hitting a police officer and leaving him in a coma in a pub in Targoviste, was detained on Monday for 24 hours, being accused of attempted murder, Mediafax informs. Uta was heard by prosecutors for over five hours. According to investigators, during the hearing he did not admit to having committed the crime. On Monday the prosecutors were expected to ask the...
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