August 22, 2016 UPDATE

PM Dacian Cioloş will pay an official visit to the Republic of Moldova on Thursday

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Newsroom, 22.08.2016, 12:15

CORRUPTION — Romania’s Supreme Court on Monday extended by 30 days the temporary detainment of the former deputy governor of Romania’s Central Bank, Bogdan Olteanu. The decision is not final and has already been appealed by Olteanu’s lawyers. On August 12, judges decided to place Olteanu under 16-day arrest. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, Olteanu received 1 million euros and other benefits from Sorin Ovidiu Vantu to use his influence and get the Government to name Liviu Mihaiu as governor of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. This happened in 2008, when Olteanu was president of the Chamber of Deputies. The Parliament voted him into the Central Bank board in October 2009.

CONFLICT – Iran says Russia has stopped using one of its airbases to bomb targets in Syria for the time being, according to the BBC. Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Deghan had earlier criticized Russia for publicizing the raids last week. Both Russia and Iran are key allies of Syrias President Bashar al-Assad, but Iran speaks little about its involvement in the conflict.

VISIT – The Romanian PM Dacian Cioloş will pay an official visit to the Republic of Moldova on Thursday, after earlier this month the Romanian Government disbursed a first instalment worth 60 million euros of the non-repayable financial aid package for the Republic of Moldova of 150 million euros. The two sides have agreed on a number of obligations that the Republic of Moldova has to fulfil for this first instalment to be disbursed, such as the setting up of a roadmap for reaching an agreement with the IMF and the passing of laws meant to improve the business environment. The Republic of Moldova also has to present a plan for updating the reform strategy in the justice sector and a national anti-corruption strategy.

STRIKE ACTION — On hunger strike since Thursday, Romanian farmers say they would not renounce their protest in front of the Government building until they get subsidies for their animals. The total amount demanded stands at 360 million euros. Protesters say the Agriculture Ministry must disburse the money by August 15. The Agency for Payments and Interventions in Agriculture claims that 61% of subsidies have been paid by mid-August, the equivalent of 193 million euros.

TRANSPORTERS — Romanian carriers have called a work-in strike. They will run at 30 km/h for an hour every day across the country, until the civil liability premiums for car owners will be reduced to 1,100 euros per year. Employers in the field will also stage a large protest nationwide on September 15. Carriers say that unless immediate action is taken, they might opt for calling an all-out strike. They claim premiums for car owners doubled their cost from 2,000 to over 4,000 euros only in one year. Under these circumstances, carriers in Romania are reporting huge costs and can no longer be competitive at European level.

OLYMPICS — The Olympic Games in Rio ended with a modest result for Romania, with only 5 medals. Romania ranks 47 in the medal standings, with one gold for the women’s epee team, the silver won by Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the men’s tennis doubles and three bronze medals, grabbed by weightlifter Gabriel Sincraian, the women’s coxed eight rowing crew and Albert Saritov in wrestling. Tokyo will host the Olympic Games of 2020.

TENNIS — Tennis player Simona Halep went down one position in WTA standings to 5th place after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Angelique Kerber of Germany in the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Cincinnati, the US. In the doubles competition, Horia Tecau of Romania and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands lost to Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Mercelo Melo of Brazil in the finals, score 6-7, 7-6, 6-10.

(Translated by Elena Enache)