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November 9, 2015

46 people have so far died following the October 30th fire in a Bucharest nightclub, the authorities say. Tens of wounded, of whom many are in a serious condition, are still in care in the Bucharest hospitals. 30 patients have been transferred abroad. In another development, the Romanian government has today approved the financial aid necessary for treating the injured. The interim prime minister, Sorin Campeanu, has announced the Labor Ministry is preparing programs to assist and help the victims of the tragedy integrate.

Newsroom, 09.11.2015, 14:07

The Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, has today invited the presidents of parliamentary parties for a new round of consultations with a view to designating a candidate for the position of prime minister. A first round of talks was held last week when the political parties failed to assume responsibility for governing the country. For the first time invited at the consultations were the representatives of civil society and of the protesters, who have been protesting in the streets of Bucharest for one week. They call for the eradication of corruption, saying that the new government should be made up of people who do not have legal problems. On Sunday evening President Iohannis went to the University Square to talk with the protesters.

One of the biggest British destroyers, DUNCAN, is in the Romanian port of Constanta until November 11. During this time the Romanian and British marines will exercise the joint operation procedures for the drills to be held in the Romanian territorial waters and in the Black Sea international waters in the coming period. The destroyer is ready to take part in operational missions around the globe. Its propulsion system is able to produce enough energy to fuel an entire small town. The current missions of such ships in the international waters include fighting piracy and drug trafficking as well as providing humanitarian aid to the population affected by natural disasters in various parts of the world.

The President of the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population), Nicolae Timofti, continues consultations, on Monday, with parliamentary parties with a view to designating a new candidate for the prime minister position. Last week the Moldovan president held talks with the leaders of the pro-European parties in the former governing alliance including the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party, whom he asked to reach a consensus. The former government led by the Liberal-Democrat Valeriu Strelet was dismissed at the end of last month following a no-confidence motion filed by the socialist and Communist opposition and also voted by the Democratic Party.

The National Bank of Romania revised the inflation rate estimate for 2015 downwards by 0.4%, down to minus 0.7%, while the estimate for 2016 was revised upwards to 1.1%, the increase being of 0.4%. The national bank governor Mugur Isarescu said the drop in the inflation rate was caused by the reduction of the VAT for foodstuffs to 9% this summer. He also warned that the fiscal measures taken generated big fluctuations in terms of inflation rate evolution. So, from a negative estimate this year valid until mid 2016, the inflation rate estimates will go up. The national bank inflation rate target for the next years is 2.5%, plus/minus 1%. In another move Romania’s trade balance deficit increased by more than 1.23 billion euros in the first 9 months of 2015 as compared to the same period of last year.