May 30, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 30.05.2024, 19:45

Digitalisation. The websites of one thousand town halls and county councils in Romania will be adapted or redeveloped according to a national standardised format, based on a programme coordinated by the ministry of research, development and digitalisation and approved on Thursday by the government. In a first stage, the town halls’ current platforms will be interconnected to electronic payment platforms such as ghişeul.ro and cyber security solutions will be purchased, the relevant minister said. In another move, 2,700 vacant jobs in the healthcare system will be filled based on a competition, most of them at Bucharest’s University Emergency Hospital. The government also gave additional funding to the ministry for family to continue the programme proving support for in vitro fertilisation.

Survey. Almost 70% of young Romanians are willing to pay more for sustainable products and services, according to a study conducted internationally by Deloitte. The cost of living is the main concern for 43% of young people born between 1983 and 1994, as well as for those born between 1995 and 2003. The survey also shows they wish to get more involved in combating the effects of climate change and to demand businesses and the authorities to act in this regard. A third of young Romanians said they are willing to avoid fast fashion products, to fly less and check the environmental impact of companies before buying their products. The survey was conducted among 8,400 young people from the millennial and Z generations from 44 countries.

Investigation. The Romanian authorities have arrested or started criminal investigations against 13 people suspected of fraud and issuing forged drug prescriptions for diabetes. One medical nurse, eight drugstore workers and four physicians are targeted by an investigation into the issuance of subsidised drugs, in particular Ozempic, a drug used in the treatment of diabetes, which also causes weight loss. The illegally issued prescriptions were picked up by the suspects’ relatives from 140 pharmacies in Bucharest and Ilfov County. Although they did not have the right to issue them, gynaecologists, cardiologists and family physicians issued the prescriptions from private clinics, and the drugs were sold via online platforms to clients all over the country. The losses are estimated at over 200,000 euros.

Defence. Europe’s first maintenance centre for HIMARS systems was inaugurated on Thursday in Bacău, in eastern Romania. Defence minister Angel Tîlvăr said the system would deter possible aggression and new jobs will be created. In 2021, Romania became the first country in Europe to use this American system. Aerostar Bacău established the centre in partnership with Lockheed Martin, with which it is already working on  the maintenance of Romania’s Black Hawk helicopters and F-16 aircraft.

Protest. Members of the National Federation of Administrative Trade Unions on Thursday staged a protest against the Government’s discriminatory salary policies and its refusal to pass fair and proportionate measures with a view to doing away with salary inequities. The trade federation represents employees of local and central authorities. Unionists have recently criticised the draft decree stipulating a 10% salary increase for certain categories of public workers, accusing the government of encouraging salary disparities between similar institutions and of disregarding the actual needs of public sector employees.

Unemployment. The unemployment rate went up in Romania to 5.3% in April, a 0.1% increase compared to March, said the National Institute for Statistics. Youth unemployment stood at 20.5% for the 15-24 age bracket, although it saw a drop compared to March. Unemployment among the male population is 0.6% higher than among women.

Credits. Consumer credits in lei for the population grew by 70% in March this year compared with the same month last year, according to a report by the National Bank of Romania. A record sum was thus reached of around 835 million euros, more even than that for the purchase of homes, which stood at 770 million euros. The rise comes as the actual annual average interest rate on consumer credits in lei stood below 11.3% per year in March 2024 compared to 14% in March 2023. Analysts believe recent income increases have boosted consumption and this will contribute to economic growth and also have an impact on inflation, which is dropping at a slower pace than expected.