December 31, 2014

News and Current Affairs from Romania

Valentin Țigău, 31.12.2014, 11:59

In his New Year message for Romanians all over the world, President Klaus Iohannis said he was confident that 2015 will be the year that Romania enters an era of normalcy. He urged his compatriots to set aside what divides them and focus on what unites them. ‘My thoughts are with the people who call Romania home, wherever they may be’, the president said in his address.

In Romania, an extreme cold alert has been issued until January 2nd 2015. during this interval, the weather will be freezing all over the country, with minimum temperatures often reaching below minus 15 degrees in most areas, in places going as low as minus 25 degrees. Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing this entire period. Stay tuned for more after the news.

The Romanian authorities have provided further assurances that the 30% slash in Russian natural gas deliveries operated early this week by Gazprom is no reason to worry. Minister of Energy Andrei Gerea said that this quantity is very small seen in the context of national consumption, and would not create problems. According to the latest report from the National Energy Regulatory Agency, last week gas imports made up for 15% of consumption, while this year in September imports were only 1.6% of total consumption.

The head of the OSCE, Didier Burkgalter, said that the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation was the worst violation of the Helsinki principles in 2014. He said that in 2014 the security situation in Europe deteriorated significantly, and called on OSCE member states to double their efforts to overcome the crisis. In Helsinki in 1975, 35 heads of state signed a major agreement to safeguard security in a post-WWII world.

Starting January 1, Romanian state pensions go up by 5%, reaching a minimum of 400 lei. The national minimum wage also goes up, from 9900 to 975 lei. State support for people with disabilities goes up by 16% on the same day. Starting in 2015, excises will be calculated based on the 2014 exchange rate, 4,738 lei per Euro, while all inclusive tourism services will be enjoying a reduced VAT rate of 9%. The special purposes building tax goes down from 1.5% to 1%. Also on January 1st, the authorities will liberalize the natural gas market for SMEs, while the average regulated price for electricity goes up 0.26%.