March 16, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.03.2021, 13:55

COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – The anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaign
continues in Romania. Since the debut of the campaign on December 27, 2020, some
1.5 million people have been immunized with the vaccines produced by
Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca. On Monday the campaign entered its
third phase addressing the general population. For the time being the
immunization process is carried out in towns and villages where the COVID
infection rate exceeds 4.5 per thousand inhabitants. People can register on waiting
lists on the online platform, where over 350 thousand people have already
signed up. On Tuesday, over 6,000 new COVID infections were reported in Romania
in addition to 133 related fatalities. Over 1,200 people are in intensive care.
The total number of infections at national level exceeded 868,000, while some
21,700 people have died. We recall the state of alert has been extended for
another 30 days. All restrictions imposed so far remain in place, with the
exception of the nighttime curfew, which now begins at 10 PM and ends at 5 AM.

COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – The World
Health Organization (WHO) has today summoned its group of vaccine experts to
study health risks posed by the vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca, WHO
director Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said. The WHO on Monday announced its consultative
group examined the reports on the anti-COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca
and found no evidence that the vaccine could result in blood clots. Numerous
countries have suspended the administration of this vaccine as a precaution
after numerous side effects have been reported. The European Medicines Agency
(EMA) also announced it would hold a special meeting on Thursday to discuss
this topic, saying that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the
risks.

ENERGY – Romania’s Energy
Minister, Virgil Popescu, is today concluding his two-day visit to Brussels,
where he held talsk with EU officials regarding plans to restructure the Oltenia
Energy Company (southern Romania). In December, Romanian authorities officially
notified the European Commission regarding plans to restructure the Company,
which include financial assistance from the state. On February 5, the European
Commission announced the launch of a comprehensive investigation of the state
funding allotted to restructure the company. The Oltenia Energy Company needs
the approval of the European Commission by the end of April in order to receive
the funds which will be used to pay carbon gas emission permits for 2020
penalty-free.

CAR SECTOR – The sale of
new cars went down in Romania by nearly 40% in the first two months of 2021,
compared to the same period of 2020, data published by the Association of Car
Manufacturers and Importers shows. The share of cars running on gas dropped by
5%, reaching 60% of the total number of cars on the market. Diesel-fuel cars
have a share of 26%. Electric and hybrid cars account for 13% of the total
number of cars, which is double the number of cars reported last year. In terms
of ownership, most cars were purchased by businesses in the first two months of
this year, accounting for two thirds of total car sales.

MOTION – The Senate is today
debating and voting a simple motion filed by the Social-Democratic Party in
opposition against Economy Minister, Claudiu Năsui. The Social-Democrats accuse
the USR Minister for failing to present any strategy to support the Romanian
industry, postponing the implementation of state assistance to the hospitality
sector, slashing holiday vouchers and blocking payments under the Start-Up
Nation programme. In turn, Claudiu Năsui says this motion is linked with the
publication of all contracts signed by the Economy Ministry in previous years
and that disclosures would continue. Liberal Senators have been urged to vote
against the motion. On the other hand, Parliament is due to set the date for a
new plenary session to vote on Romania’s contribution to the EU budget, after
last week the power and the opposition couldn’t reach an agreement. A decision
in this respect needs two thirds of the votes, while the Social-Democrats said
they would vote in favor only if the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is
presented before Parliament.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player
Simona Halep (no. 3 WTA) has confirmed her participation in the tennis
tournament in Miami, to take place over March 23 – April 3. Halep grabbed her
best results in Miami in 2015 and 2019, when she reached the semi-finals. The defending
champion is Ashleigh Barty of Australia, who won the tournament in 2019, since
last year’s tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic. Taking part will be
all players in the WTA Top 10. Representing Romania in the main draw will also
be Patricia Ţig, Sorana Cîrstea and Irina Begu. (V.P.)