27 November 2015

5,500 European-funded projects to be finalised in Romania by the end of the year as part of the 2007-2013 financial framework

Newsroom, 27.11.2015, 12:00

Around 5,500 European-funded projects forming part of the
2007-2013 financial framework should be finalised by the end of the year, said
the Romanian minister for European funds, Aura Raducu. The entire programme,
which had a budget of 28 billion euros, provides funding for 15,000 different
projects, some of which are in the process of being implemented. The Romanian
minister said the application procedure for European funds should be
simplified.

Romania’s National Anticorruption
Directorate has requested approval to detain two Liberal MPs, Ioan Oltean and
Catalin Teodorescu, who are investigated in a case related to the award of
illegal compensations. Also arrested in this case are six other persons,
including Crinuta Dumitrean, the former head of the National Authority for
Property Restitution, the government agency in charge of restoring property
seized under communism to its original owners. Investigators say Ioan Oltean
received 600,000 euros in bribe from a businessman to put pressure on the
property restitution body to speed up approval of compensation for property
that had been deliberately overvalued by almost 20 million euros. Catalin
Teodorescu, who at the time was part of a panel that established the amount of
compensation, approved the evaluation of the respective property.

Sergei
Naryshkin, the speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of
Russia’s Parliament, travelled to Bucharest today for the handover of the
chairmanship of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation. The Romanian foreign ministry said the Senate in Bucharest was
able to invite Naryshkin, who is on a EU travel ban list of persons, because
Romania is obliged under international law to respect a multilateral agreement
allowing entry to persons who enjoy certain privileges and immunities. The
Romanian ministry also said it notified its European Union partners about this
case.

The president of the Republic of Moldova Nicolae Timofti is today
holding fresh talks with the parliamentary parties to designate a new prime
minister. The former cabinet of the outgoing Liberal Democrat prime minister
Valeriu Strelet was dismissed a month ago following a vote of no-confidence
initiated by the socialists and the communists in the pro-Russian opposition.
The collapse of the government led to the dismantling of the pro-European
ruling alliance made up of the Liberal Party, the Democratic Party and the
Liberal Democratic Party. On Wednesday, the Chairman of
the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok called for the
recreation of the three-party alliance and the formation of a government that
will carry out real reform. According to the Constitutional Court of Moldova,
Parliament will dissolve unless a new government is in place by the end of
January 2016.

The Romanian
women’s handball team lost to France 29:27 in Roanne on Thursday in their first
training match ahead of the World Championship hosted by Denmark between the 5th
and the 20th of December. A minute of silence was held before the
match for the victims of the Paris attacks of November the 13th.
Romania will next take part in a training tournament at Razel-Bec Paris
Île-de-France on Saturday and Sunday along with France, the Czech Republic and
Cuba. Romania have so far won three world medals in women’s handball, gold in
1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005, and are the only team to have taken part in
all editions of the World Championship since 1957.

Rain and snow warnings remain in place across the country
and the capital Bucharest until tomorrow at noon. Rainfall in excess of 25 and
even 50 litres per square metre is expected, as well as heavy snow at high
altitudes. Gale force winds of up to 65 km per hour will batter the southern
and south-eastern part of the country. Temperatures today will not go higher
than 8 degrees Celsius, with 4 degrees reported in Bucharest at noon.

(Edited and translated by: C. Mateescu)