September 1, 2018 UPDATE

Click here for a round-up of news from Romania and the region

Florentin Căpitănescu, 01.09.2018, 17:50

PSD– The leadership of the Social Democratic Party, PSD, the main party in the ruling coalition, on Saturday gathered in the Romanian Black Sea resort of Neptun, to attend a session of the National Executive Committee. The seven- month activity report by the cabinet led by Viorica Dăncilă and the stage of implementation of the measures included in the governing program were among the focal points of the talks held by the Social-Democrats. Also, the PSD leadership, jointly with the parliamentary groups established the strategy for the autumn parliamentary session, having the pension law as a priority.

FINANCES – The Romanian Finance Minister, Eugen Teodorovici, considers it a good omen the fact that Standard & Poor’s rating agency has confirmed the rating and stable outlook of the Romanian economy, thus confirming that Romania continues to be attractive to foreign investors. Standard & Poor’s confirms Romanias rating for long and short terms debts in hard currency and local money at BBB-A-3, with a stable outlook. According to the agency, the rating is supported by the moderate level of the foreign debt and by solid growth perspectives. However, the GDP per capita stood at 10,000 USD in 2017,one of the lowest in the EU. Standard & Poor’s analysts claim the low level of incomes and wealth are impacting Romanias rating, just like many other factors like the budget deficit, the poor institutional and governmental efficiency and last but not least political uncertainty. As regards 2018, Standard & Poor’s expects the real growth of the GDP will slow down to 4.3%, against the backdrop of a consumption which will get back to normal and a decreasing external demand.

MEASLES – Some 90 cases of measles have been confirmed in Romania this week, the National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control announced on Saturday. The number of cases registered since the start of the outbreak has exceeded 15,000. Some 60 people have died of measles so far. Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus and which very often leads to complications.

ASF- Bulgaria has reported a first outbreak of African swine fever, ASF, in a household in the north-east. The Bulgarian government has recently erected a 133 km long fence alongside its border with neighboring Romania, to stop wild boars from entering into Bulgaria. In Romania, some 800 ASF outbreaks have been confirmed in Romania since June. The Bucharest authorities continue to take measures to prevent the spread of the virus, and pigs have been culled in the areas where the presence of the virus has been confirmed, that is in a quarter of Romanias counties. The authorities have imposed preemptive restrictions on the sale of pork and veterinary -safety checkpoints have been set up on the borders of the counties where the virus has been confirmed. The Romanian government has given assurances the affected pig owners will receive damages.

MULTINATIONAL EXERCISE – Some 40 Romanian military of 61st Mountain Troops Brigade “General Virgil Bădulescu are taking part in the Multinational Exercise “Rapid Trident 18 which is unfolding in Yavoriv, Ukraine, over September 1-15. The drills which are organized by the United States Army Europe, USAREUR, jointly with the Ukrainian Armed Forces are aimed at training military for the planning and execution of coalition-led multinational operations, at brigade and battalion level.

GEORGE ENESCU FESTIVAL – The 16th edition of the George Enescu International Festival opened its doors in Bucharest on Saturday. No less than 270 budding musicians from 39 countries, among whom 22 from Romania and the Republic of Moldova, will compete in the four sections – Composition, Violin, Cello and Piano. This is the 60 year anniversary of the festival dedicated to the famous composer, violinist, pianist and conductor George Enescu. The festival, which comes to a close on September 23, will bring to the public a number of exceptional recitals with three great musicians, who are going to also be members on the festival’s jury. Among the guests are Italian violinist Salvatore Accardo, Swedish pianist Peter Jablonnski and British cellist Raphael Wallfisch.