September 3, 2024
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 03.09.2024, 13:55
PARLIAMENT The Parliament of Romania has convened for the last session in its current term, given that general elections are due to take place on December 1, the National Day of Romania. One of the priorities is a bill raising the pension tax threshold to EUR 600. The bill is being reviewed and voted on today in the Chamber of Deputies, and is to take effect on October 1. Meanwhile, the Senate voted on a bill under which Romania will donate a PATRIOT missile system to neighbouring Ukraine. The bill was also endorsed by the lower Chamber under an emergency procedure.
GRANTS The Romanian foreign ministry (MAE) announced the results of the selection of non-EU students to receive grants from the Romanian government this academic year. A record-high number of applications have been received (81,914, from 160 countries on 5 continents), which according to a news release reflects the growing interest of students in the educational opportunities provided by Romanian universities. The applications have been submitted online, at www.studyinromania.gov.ro, between January 16 and March 16, 2024. Selection criteria included academic excellence, geographic diversity and gender equality, as well as Romania’s foreign policy interests in relation to the applicants’ home countries. The 500 grant beneficiaries will go to prestigious university centres in the country (Braşov, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Constanţa, Craiova, Iaşi, Sibiu, Timişoara and others) and will study a variety of fields, such as international relations, engineering, law, computer sciences, performing arts, economy, business or education sciences.
CYBERATTACK Personal data stolen in a cyber-attack targeting the Timişoara City Hall, local police and tax agency have been put up for sale by hackers on a Telegram channel. The discovery was made by the founder of a consulting platform for corporate victims of cyber-attacks. The Mayor of Timişoara, Dominic Fritz, has neither confirmed or denied the personal data theft, and said he was waiting for the relevant authorities to investigate the matter. After the attack that took place 10 days ago, the City Hall announced that the institution took counter-measures and managed to prevent the entire system from being compromised. The institution also said at that point that there were no indications that personal data had been extracted. Online tax payments were subsequently discontinued.
FACILITIES The Romanian government would collect nearly EUR 2 bln if at least 15% of the taxpayers with debts to the authorities accessed a facility that extinguishes penalties, under a draft emergency order posted by the finance ministry. The bill exempts debtors from the payment of interest and penalties provided that they pay their back taxes by November 25. For individuals with debts up to EUR 1,000, half of the overdue amount may be written off, if the remaining 50% is paid. According to the ministry, the total debts to the state budget at the end of June reached around 10% of the country’s GDP. Debts to local authorities amounted to nearly RON 22 bln, debts to the social security funds to RON 4 bln, and debts to the public health insurance funds were close to RON 8 bln.
AUTOMOTIVE The number of new cars registered in Romania in the first 8 months of the year was 106,534, up 6.35% compared to the corresponding period of 2023, according to the Vehicle Registration and Driving License Directorate quoted by the Romanian Carmakers Association (ACAROM). Broken down by car make, the largest number of new registrations was reported by Dacia (more than 32,000), followed by Toyota (9,206), Hyundai (6,961), Skoda (6,938), Renault (6,873), Volkswagen (6,352), Ford (4,503), Mercedes (3,689), BMW (3,420) and Suzuki (3,301).
TRANSPORT Air freight transport increased in Romania in the first half of 2024 by 7.4%, compared to the corresponding period of last year, more specifically from 24,400 tonnes to 26,200 tonnes, according to data made public by the National Statistics Institute. For both domestic and international shipments, the largest cargo quantities were registered on Bucharest’s Henri Coandă Airport, followed by Avram Iancu Airport in Cluj-Napoca (north-west), and Traian Vuia Airport in Timişoara (west).
TENNIS The Romanian tennis players Irina Begu and Anca Todoni have qualified in the 8th-finals of the WTA 125 tournament in Montreux (Switzerland). Irina Begu (34 yo, no. 130 WTA) only needed 68 minutes to beat the 19-year old Swiss player Celine Naef (177 WTA), 6-0, 6-3. Anca Todoni (aged 19, no. 136 WTA) won 6-2, 6-4 against Maja Chwalińska of Poland (172 WTA), in a 1.5-hour match. The two Romanian players won USD 2,000 each and 15 WTA points. In the 8th-finals, Begu takes on Laura Pigossi of Brazil (141 WTA), and Todoni plays the winner of the match pitting seed no. 1 Maria Lourdes Carle (Argentina) against Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (Andorra). Miriam Bulgaru is also to play against Italy’s Camilla Rosatello in the main draw of the tournament. (AMP)
