August 16, 2022 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.08.2022, 19:48

Budget. The Romanian Government
is this week preparing the first budget adjustment in 2022, which has been
described by the country’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca as positive. The
Ministries of Finance, Labour and European Projects are to get more money and
so are the Ministries of Healthcare, Energy, Transport, Justice and
Agriculture. The Ministries of the Interior, the Environment and Culture have
seen their funds trimmed as Finance Minister Adrian Caciu has announced that a
key priority are the measures the Executive has taken in order to boost the
economy and support the citizens against the backdrop of a soaring inflation
rate. Among the aforementioned measures there are a support scheme aimed at
offsetting growing prices in gas and electricity, state subsidies for fuel
consumption in agriculture as well as loans for farmers. Under the new measures,
the consolidated budget deficit is estimated to exceed 16 billion euros, accounting
for 5.8% of the GDP.

Protests. Police trade
unionists took to the streets again on Tuesday, this time in front of the
Ministry of Interior and in front of the Ministry of Labor, after picketing the
Ministry of Finance last week. They claim that their rights and those of
military pensioners are still ignored by the Government and demand a fair
application of the salary law for budget employees, higher bonuses and the
right meal tickets. The Minister of
Labour, Marius Budai, talked to the protesters. According to Radio Romania News and Current
Affairs, on Wednesday, the police unionists will picket the offices of the
Government, of the Social Democratic Party and of the National Liberal Party.

Ukraine. An ammunition
depot of the Russian army exploded on Tuesday in the occupied Crimea. Sources
cited by the Russian media say that the explosion was caused by a fire and that
there are no serious injuries. Recently, in Crimea, there have been several
incidents of this type, including a series of simultaneous explosions at an air
base. Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied that the explosions were caused by
attacks carried out by its forces. In another Russian-controlled area, in
Donbas, Ukrainian forces bombed the headquarters of the Wagner Group, a
mercenary organization controlled by the oligarch Evgeni Prigozhin, dubbed Putin’s
chef. The Wagner Group was also involved in the Syrian civil war and conflicts
in Africa. Its members have allegedly committed war crimes both in Syria, with
at least one case documented by independent Russian media, and in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Kyiv Parliament voted the extension of the state of emergency
throughout the country for another 90 days.

Baccalaureate. Roughly 35 thousand students have registered for the autumn session
of the national baccalaureate, which started on Tuesday. 22 thousand of them have
graduated from high-school this year. The exam’s final results are to be made
public on September 3rd. The success rate in the first session of this exam
held in July stood at 75%, the highest rate in the past 10 years.

Border-crossing. Over 1, 500, 000 people,
Romanian and foreign nationals, crossed Romania’s borders over August 12th and
15th the General Border Police Inspectorate has announced. The most intense
traffic was reported at Romania’s border with Hungary. 13 thousand Ukrainian
nationals entered Romania on Monday 0.2% more than in the previous day, which
brings up to 2 million the number of refugees that have crossed into Romania
since the beginning of the conflict in February.

Covid. 3,600 new cases of
Covid-19 were registered in 24 hours in Romania, which is less than a week ago.
Most cases – over 400 – and the highest incidence rate, 7.3 per one thousand
inhabitants – have been reported in Bucharest. Some 4000 patients are
hospitalized, of whom 280 in intensive care. Also, 18 related deaths were
reported, three of which from the previous reporting period.

Swimming. On Monday, Romanian swimmer David Popovici won
gold in the 200 meter freestyle race of the European Aquatics Championships in
Rome. Popovici, aged 17, the world’s defending champion, ended the race in one
minute, 42 seconds and 97 hundredths, a new world and European record. We
recall that Popovici also walked away with gold from the 100 and 200 meter
freestyle races of the World Championships in Budapest. The Romanian swimmer
also got the title on Saturday night in the 100 meter freestyle race with a new
world record of 46 seconds and 86 hundredths. David Popovici will be racing in
the 400 meter event on Wednesday. (MI)