December 6, UPDATE
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Newsroom, 06.12.2015, 19:20
In Romania the draft budget for 2016 is now under public debate and is to be approved next week by the Government. The PM Dacian Ciolos said that, besides the draft budget, the executive also wants to present in Parliament a plan of sectorial actions. Some of the ministries that will receive more money than before are the ministries of defense, the interior, education, culture and healthcare. The ministries that will receive less money are the transport, labour, justice and finance ministries. According to the bill, the budget revenues for 2016 are by 3.6 billion lei, that is 0.8 billion euros higher than in 2015, and expenses by almost 16 billion lei that is 3.5 billion euros higher and cover all measures passed this year by the Government and Parliament. The government officials say that a series of principles will be imposed through the draft budget, such as boosting private investments, using efficiently the budget resources, increasing transparency in using public money and changing the state’s relation with the taxpayers in the sense of adopting a more friendly policy towards them. The 2016 budget was drafted based on a deficit of 2.8% of the GDP and on a 4.1% economic growth.
The trial in the case of the fire of October 30th at the Colectiv nightclub has started in Bucharest. The two firefighters who verified the location are still in temporary custody. They were sent to trial by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate prosecutors on charges of abuse of office because following the checking of the club, they allowed the continuation of its activity without a fire-security certificate. The healthcare ministry announced that all the victims of the fire who are still in Romania’s hospitals would be transferred abroad if doctors recommend it. The decision was made after the board of the Hospital of Plastic Surgery and Burns admitted that three of the seriously injured people died due to hospital-acquired infections. 60 people died following the October 30th fire and many more have been wounded. At present 31 people are still in hospitals from Bucharest and 30 in clinics from abroad.
Christian Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Roman- Catholic believers in Romania on Sunday celebrated Saint Nicholas. Born in the 3rd century in the Asia Minor, he became a legend thanks to his kindness and philanthropist spirit. He is said to have worked miracles both during his lifetime and after death. As many as 800 thousand Romanians who bear the name Nicholas or Nicoleta marked their name day on Sunday.
Romania’s national handball team will take on, Monday, the team of Kazakhstan, as part of the final tournament of the World Championship hosted by Denmark. In their first match, on Saturday, the Romanians defeated the Puerto Rican team 47-14. Group D also includes Spain, Norway and Russia. The first 4 in the group will qualify for the eighth finals. The World Handball Championship is also a criterion for qualification to the Olympic Games to be hosted by Rio. The winner of the competition will directly qualify to the Olympic Games while the teams ranked 2nd to 7th will have the right to play in pre-Olympic tournaments, scheduled for April 2016. Romania is the only country, which starting in 1957, has participated in all final tournaments of the World Handball Championships.
The American vice-president Joe Biden is paying a visit to Kiev to reiterate the US’s support for Ukraine in front of Russia and also to encourage it to double efforts in combating corruption which continues to undermine the society, France press reports. The American high official will meet Monday with President Petro Poroşenko and the PM Arseni Iaţeniuk. His agenda also includes a speech before Parliament. This is the American official’s 4th visit to Ukraine after the pro-European protest movement that led to the resignation of the pro-Russian president Viktor Ianukovici and generated an unprecedented crisis between Ukraine and neighboring Russia. Torn by a conflict with the pro-Russian separatists, that made more than 8 thousand victims in the east of the country, Ukraine is afraid that the support of its western allies will diminish, given that some of them are trying to resume dialogue with Moscow in order to solve the Syrian conflict, the international press reports.
The journalist Luca Niculescu will be appointed ambassador of Romania to France, the presidential administration confirmed on Sunday, as quoted by news agencies. The president, Klaus Iohannis, will sign next week the decree for his appointment. Employed as of 1992 by Radio France Internationale and editor in chief of the same station as of 2000, Niculescu has been a correspondent for the channels France Info, France Inter, France Culture, TV5 and the daily Liberation.
