April 5, 2016 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 05.04.2016, 12:15

PANAMA PAPERS The
Chief Prosecutor of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and
Terrorism, Daniel Horodniceanu, announced on Tuesday that the institution would
conduct an analysis, triggered by the Panama Papers scandal. He said he was
waiting for additional information from the National Office for Prevention and
Control of Money Laundering. The National Fiscal Administration Agency has also
confirmed the start of an investigation. The documents concerning Romania
mention over 100 individuals, mostly business people. Tax authorities from
several countries have started investigations, after media from all over the
world published classified data about the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca.
According to these disclosures, which seem to be proof of the biggest data leak
in the history, heads of state, top level politicians, business people and
famous athletes, as well as criminal networks, were helped to hide their
fortunes in tax havens. The list published by the media includes people from
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s entourage, the father of the British PM
David Cameron and the Ukrainian President Petro Porosenko.

REVOLUTION CASE Romania’s
interim Prosecutor General Bogdan Licu has announced the reopening of the so
called ‘Revolution Case’, investigating into the events that led to the fall of
the communist regime in December 1989. In October last year, the Military
Prosecutor’s Office decided to close the case, but according to Licu, the
decision was neither grounded, nor legal, but based on incomplete research,
which ignored some essential documents. He has also stated that the statute of
limitations has not ran out in this case. We recall that the European Court of
Human Rights has sentenced Romania for the many delays in the Revolution Case.
According to the Court, the importance of this case to Romanian society should
have motivated authorities to
investigate it at a faster pace. The passing of time damages the investigation
and jeopardizes the chances of it being carried through. According to official
statistics, over 1,100 people died and over 3,000 were wounded in December
1989.

DAIMLER INVESTMENT The
German Daimler Group has invested 300 million Euro in the newest major
greenfield initiative in Romania, in the town of Sebes, in Transylvania. The
latest type of automobile gearboxes are going to be built there, for 20 models
of Mercedes cars, which will be sold in 200 countries. The investment provides
500 jobs in Sebes, a city with 24,000 inhabitants, bringing the unemployment
there to below 2%.

UNEMPLOYMENT According
to Eurostat, the number of the
unemployed in Romania went below 600,000 in February. With an unemployment rate
below 6.5%, Romania is one of the countries with the unemployment rates lower than the EU average. This year, the average unemployment rate in the EU finally went below 9%, the lowest in 7 years. The total number of people without jobs
exceeds 21 million in the Union. Topping the list are still Greece and Spain,
with 24% and 20% unemployment rate respectively.

TRANSPORT MASTER PLAN The final version of Romania’s Transport Master Plan will be submitted
to Parliament next month, once talks with EC experts have completed, announced
on Tuesday the line minister, Dan Costescu. Speaking before the joint Transport
Committee of Romania’s Parliament, he said that infrastructure projects in the
centre and west of the country remained key priorities, but authorities were
considering transport corridors in the east as well. Costescu talked about a
potential new European corridor, in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea areas, thanks
to China’s opening. Romania stands good chances of taking over this inflow of
freight from China to Europe, Costescu also said.

DEFENCE COOPERATION On Tuesday in Bucharest, the Romanian Defence Minister
Mihnea Motoc held talks with the Turkish Deputy Defence Minister Suay Alpay
regarding cooperation in the defence industry. Mihnea Motoc said that the
agreement signed by the two countries in May last year was a major step towards
resuming cooperation in the field. In
the Romanian Black Sea Port of Constanta, Romanian and Turkish defence
companies signed a collaboration protocol for the modernisation of the Romanian frigates King Ferdinand and
Queen Marie. The frigates’ sensors and missiles systems will be upgraded. Recently, three Turkish warships taking part in a naval exercise in the Black
Sea have made a two-day stopover in the port of Constanta.

PROTESTS Family
physicians in Romania resumed their normal activity on Tuesday, after days when
they refused to issue referrals and subsidized medicine prescriptions, in protest against
the under-funding of the health-care system. They said, however, that
they would not stop protesting until their claims were met. Family doctors demand
a renegotiation of the framework agreement, already postponed for three months,
double the funds allocated to primary healthcare, as well as legislative
changes such as tax breaks and transparency in spending.

TAROM-ZAVENTEM Flights
by Romanian airline Tarom to Brussels resumed partially on Tuesday, after Zaventem airport reopened. According to
the company, the airport in Brussels has enhanced security measures, allowing
only passengers with a boarding pass in the check-in area. Air traffic resumed
on Sunday, almost two weeks after the bloody attacks on the airport and metro
in Brussels, which left 32 dead. Zaventem is transited by some 23 million
people every year. Losses incurred due to the airport being closed down in the
aftermath of the attacks stand at five million Euros every day.