July 5, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news.
România Internațional, 05.07.2014, 00:00
As many as five million shares of Transelectrica, the most important power distribution company in Romania, were traded on Friday, on the first day of their listing on the stock exchange. The shares were traded on the Bucharest and London stock exchange markets at the same time, and the total value of the sold shares exceeded 430 million euros. Electrica is the second Romanian state-owned company listed on both the Bucharest and the London Stock Exchanges after Romgaz. The success of the simultaneous trading of Electrica shares is proof that investors trust Romania’s economy, Prime Minister Victor Ponta has said.
Seven Romanian citizens were repatriated from Syria on Friday, upon request. According to the Bucharest authorities, the Romanian embassies in Syria and Lebanon assisted the Romanian citizens during the repatriation procedures. Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Romania’s Embassy in Damascus repatriated over 500 Romanian citizens. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has called on all Romanian citizens in Syria to urgently leave the country.
Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Turkey are taking part in a one-week NATO multinational exercise in the Black Sea. Alongside search and rescue missions and maritime traffic monitoring, the military will conduct artillery fire with the equipment on board. Russia also initiated extensive military manoeuvres in the Black Sea on Friday, involving 20 warships and auxiliary ships and over 20 planes and helicopters.
Violent clashes between police forces and Arab protesters took place on Friday night in Eastern Jerusalem and the Arab towns in northern Israel, while the south of the country continued to be the target of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, news agencies report. Thousands of Palestinians attended on Friday, in Eastern Jerusalem, the funeral of an Arab teenager, whose body had been found on Wednesday, in a forest near the city. An information circulated on social networks saying that the murder was an act of revenge after three Israeli teens, kidnapped on June 12, were later found dead in the occupied West Bank. Israel, that blames Hamas for the murder, has deemed as positive their cooperation with the Palestinian security forces in the file of the three teenagers murdered in Hebron.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday ordered the army to raise the national flag over the separatist stronghold of Slaviansk, in eastern Ukraine, where, during the night, the army succeeded to force pro-Russian rebels and their leader to withdraw, the presidential website said. Previously, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that a large number of pro-Russian separatists had fled Slaviansk, following an extensive operation of the Ukrainian army. According to the presidential website ,the pro-Russian rebels lost a tank and several armoured vehicles during the fight.
As of Saturday, July 5th until July 13, Bucharest is playing host to the first WTA tournament in Romania – the BRD Bucharest Open – worth 250,000 dollars. Romanian Simona Halep, the WTA 3th ranked, is seeded first in the competition. Monica Niculescu, Irina Begu, Alexandra Cadantu, Alexandra Dulgheru and Andreea Mitu also represent Romania in this competition.
