April 19, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 19.04.2022, 20:00

Investment. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca encourages
companies to invest in Romania and promises them legislative stability,
predictability and support measures. He told the Foreign Investors Council on
Tuesday that investments were the best solution to any type of crisis. Nicolae
Ciuca also said that the Romanian Government had taken a significant step in
this direction, allocating for 2022 the largest budget in the last 30 years for
investments, namely 88 billion euros. He said that in the first two months of
this year, foreign investment increased by 10% compared to the same period last
year.

Gas.
The first extraction of natural gas from
the Romanian perimeters in the Black Sea could take place soon, Prime Minister
Nicolae Ciuca announced on Radio Romania. Meanwhile, the Senate, as the first
notified chamber, is to urgently debate the new, amended draft of the Offshore
Law. Authorities say the changes will ensure stability and legal predictability
for companies interested in participating in the operation.

IMF.
The International Monetary Fund has
significantly revised Romania’s economic growth forecast for this year from
4.8%, as it estimated in autumn, down to 2.2%, according to the latest World Economic
Outlook report, published on Tuesday by the international financial
institution. Next year, Romania will accelerate the growth to 3.4%. The new
revised IMF figures are slightly more optimistic than the World Bank’s
forecast, which in early April predicted that the economy would register a
modest advance of just 1.9% this year and that the risks triggered by the
crisis in Ukraine were high. In terms of inflation, too, the IMF has
significantly revised its estimates, predicting that Romania will see an
average annual price increase of 9.3% this year, two and a half times more than
the 3.4% increase forecast last autumn. The growth rate of prices will slow to 4% next
year. The draft budget for 2022 was developed based on an estimated economic
growth of 4.6%.

Ukraine. Russia has officially announced the launch of the Donbas offensive. Attacks have intensified along the eastern Ukrainian front, and Ukrainian troops are trying to resist. International reporters say there is a rapid increase in the intensity of Russian firing, including in the west of the country, in Lviv, near the border with Poland. A series of powerful explosions were reported along the eastern front line. Cities like Kharkov, Mykolaiv and Zaporzhzhia were also the target of Russian bombing. More than 7,000 alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops are being investigated, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office.

Embassy.
Romanian authorities have decided to reopen
the embassy in Kyiv, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu announced on Twitter on
Tuesday. The effective resumption of the activity will take place in the next
period, immediately after the necessary technical and security preparations
have been completed. 17 diplomatic missions have already resumed operations in
Kyiv, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry previously announced. Prior to the Russian
invasion, on February 24, most foreign embassies relocated from Kyiv to Lviv in
the western part of the country.

Talks.
The Romanian Ministers of Defense and
Foreign Affairs, Vasile Dîncu and Bogdan Aurescu, had telephone conversations
with their counterparts from the United States, Lloyd Austin and Antony
Blinken. The talks focused on security in the Black Sea region in the context
of the war in Ukraine and NATO’s efforts to strengthen the Allied position on
the eastern flank. The issue of operationalizing the allied fighting group in
Romania was also addressed. The two defense ministers expressed concern over
the current situation in Ukraine. The heads of diplomacy in Bucharest and
Washington discussed, among other things, the consolidation of the American
military presence in Romania.

Refugees.
According to the General Inspectorate of
the Border Police, on Monday, at national level, almost 77,000 people entered
Romania through the border crossing points, of whom 6,602 Ukrainian citizens (by
2.1% less than on previous day). There was a record number of Ukrainian
refugees who called for help at the Timişoara (West) support center. Since the
onset of the crisis in the neighboring country and until April 18, more than
743 thousand Ukrainians entered Romania, most of them transiting to other
countries. On the other hand, almost 40% of all Ukrainian refugees who, after
the start of the war, found work in Romania, have jobs the manufacturing
industry, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. Most of the
rest work in construction and HORECA. (MI)