October 12, 2016 UPDATE

The Romanian government will pay approximately 10 million Euro to purchase a work of art by the Romanian born sculptor Constantin Brancusi/Romanian foreign minister Lazar Comanescu will attend the EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting

Newsroom, 12.10.2016, 12:30

WISDOM OF THE EARTH — The Romanian government on Wednesday adopted an emergency ordinance which provides for setting up a fund to purchase works of art. The fund will be financed by donations, sponsorships and allotments from the state budget. The Romanian government has decided not to extend the public subscription to purchase the sculpture “Wisdom of the Earth”. The purchasing price of the work of art by the world famous Constantin Brancusi is 11 million Euro, of which the state initially announced it would provide 5 million Euro, also launching a public subscription in order to cover the rest of 6 million Euro. Only 1.2 million Euro has been collected from donations, so the government will pay some 10 million Euro for the work of art, belonging to private persons from Romania, to get into the possession of the Romanian state.

JAKARTA — Romanian foreign minister, Lazar Comanescu, will attend the 21st ministerial meeting of the EU- Association of South East Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday and Friday. Earlier, the Romanian foreign minister had travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia, for talks with his counterpart Retno L.P. Marsudi about ways to boost bilateral dialogue at political, economic and commercial level. The two officials attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Chambers of Commerce of the two countries. Lazar Comanescu and trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita agreed to encourage Romanian and Indonesian companies to participate in economy-advertising events. During the talks with transport minister, Budi Karya Sumadi, the Romanian foreign minister underlined Romania’s capacity to become a sea gateway to Europe for Indonesia.

KIDNAPPING — The Bucharest Foreign Ministry has activated an emergency response centre after a Romanian engineer has been abducted in Nigeria. The ministry said that they follow closely the situation through the embassy in that country, keeping in touch with Nigerian authorities, as well as with the Romanian citizens family and employer. The Nigerian police and media claim the man was abducted as part of the wave of rebel attacks against oil and gas installations.

PENITENCIARIES — The employees of penitentiaries in Romania on Wednesday picketed the headquarters of the National Administration of Penitentiaries. They are discontent about the level of salaries and improper working conditions. Trade unionists denounce the shortage of personnel, prompting them to work extra hours and criticize the delayed procedures to hire personnel.

WEATHER– As of Tuesday evening, heavy downpour has caused flooding in several regions of the country. Counties in eastern, southern and southeastern Romania have been particularly affected. A red code alert against flooding has been instated in the southeastern county of Galati, where, waters have affected hundreds of households. Scores of people have been evacuated and schools have been closed down. Railroad traffic has been disrupted in the same county. Many streets and houses have been flooded in Bucharest, too, where road traffic has also been disrupted.