January 13, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 13.01.2021, 19:57

State of alert. On Wednesday Romania extended its
state of alert over the COVID-19 pandemic by another 30 days. Among other
things, wearing a face mask remains mandatory in all indoor and outdoor public spaces.
After a first stage of the national vaccination programme that targeted
healthcare workers, registration begins on Friday for the beneficiaries of
phase two, namely people over 65, chronic patients and employees in key
sectors. President Klaus Iohannis said in a press conference that the success
of the vaccine rollout is a prerequisite for a return to normal and relaunching
the economy. More than 4,400 new COVID-19 cases and 88 related deaths were reported
on Wednesday in Romania.

Minimum wage. The government decided to increase
the gross minimum wage from the equivalent in lei of some 455 euros to 470
euros. The minimum wage for persons in positions that require a university
degree remains at 480 euros. The government also discussed the state budget
bill for this year, which is to be submitted for debate in Parliament next
month. Prime minister Florin Cîţu asked his ministers to come up with a list of
priority projects and urged them to take into account the budget deficit, which
is estimated at 7% of GDP this year.

Protests. Trade
unions in the police, public administration, social assistance and the prisons
system staged a rally on Wednesday outside the Labour Ministry in Bucharest and
in front of prefecture offices elsewhere in the country. PUBLISIND trade union
federation initiated the protests on December 31, 2020, after the government
decided to freeze salaries in the public sector. Sanitas Federation also
started employee support actions on Tuesday, picketing the government
headquarters and prefecture offices. They say the government’s unwillingness to
observe the law and give healthcare personnel their due salaries is an insult
to the efforts they make every day at the work place. President Klaus Iohannis
said freezing salaries is a fair measure given the current economic crisis.

Poll. Romanians are pessimistic about the general
situation in their country, according to an opinion poll conducted by the
Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES). Seven in ten people
surveyed believe the country is heading in the wrong direction and eight in ten
say 2020 was a bad year for Romania, but almost three quarters are more
optimistic about this year. Half of respondents believe life will probably
return to normal in Romania in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic, but two
thirds are sceptical about a full economic recovery. Only one in ten
respondents believes incomes will grow this year. The poll was conducted among
1,030 respondents on 7th and 8th January over the
telephone and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.

Corruption. President Klaus Iohannis gave the green
light on Wednesday to the start of prosecution against former prime minister
and Senate speaker Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, who is accused by the National
Anticorruption Directorate of bribe taking. In 2007 and 2008, he allegedly
received material benefits worth 800,000 dollars from representatives of an
Austrian company. Also on Wednesday, former MEP Marian
Zlotea was sentenced to 8 years and a half in prison for aggravated bribe
taking. As head of the National Sanitary and Veterinary Authority, he forced
his employees to pay monthly contributions to the now defunct Liberal
Democratic Party. In another case, the court upheld a 4-year sentence from 2019
against the former head of the organised crime body Alina Bica. She fled Romania
before the court issued its ruling, first to Costa Rica and now to Italy, from
where she asks not to be extradited.

Decoration. President Klaus Iohannis
on Wednesday signed a decree to award US ambassador to Bucharest Adrian
Zuckerman the Star of Romania national order for his entire activity during his
term in Romania and his substantial involvement in developing and deepening the
strategic partnership between Romania and the US. The son of Romanian
emigrants, Zuckerman began his term on 14th December 2019. He is not
a career diplomat, but a political appointee of president Donald Trump and will
resign his post based on a common practice according to which the term of
politically appointed ambassadors ends when a new administration takes office.

Investment. According to the National Bank, foreign direct
investment in Romania dropped in the first 11 months of last year by more than
60% compared with the same period in 2019, from 4.7 billion euros to less than
1.9 billion. Romania’s foreign debt grew between January and November 2020 by almost
10.2 billion euros, with the country’s long-term debt amounting to almost 86
billion euros at the end of November.

Tennis. Mihaela Buzărnescu of Romania lost to Whitney Osuigwe of the US in
straight sets in Dubai on Wednesday in the last qualifying round for the
Australian Open. All six Romanian players in qualifiers were eliminated, but
there are still five Romanians on the main draw: world no. 2 Simona Halep, Patricia
Ţig (56 WTA), Sorana Cîrstea (71 WTA), Irina Begu (78 WTA) and Ana Bogdan (92
WTA). The Australian Open will be held between 8th and 21st
February in Melbourne. (CM)