February 14, 2022 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 14.02.2022, 20:15

COVID-19 Ro — The Romanian authorities on Monday reported more than 12,000 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours. 75 deaths were also reported, of which 11 were from previous days. 1,155 patients are in ICUs. The health minister, Alexandru Rafila, said on Monday that, in Romania, the number of COVID-19 infections is in a downward trend, adding that the decision to eliminate restrictions and even lift the state of alert at some point, will be made according to certain important indicators, one of them being the number of COVID patients admitted to intensive care. The decision to lift the state of alert will be made by the government with all the actors involved in the management of the pandemic, Alexandru Rafila explained. He has again called for vaccination, especially in the case of vulnerable groups, given that the vaccination pace is declining rapidly.

Special Section – The Romanian government on Monday approved the draft law on dismantling the controversial Section for the Investigation of Offences in the Judiciary. The law provides for the taking over of the files under investigation and of the future cases by other prosecutors offices. Thus, high-ranking judges and prosecutors will be investigated by the Prosecutors Office with the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and the lower-rank judges and prosecutors will be judged by the prosecutors offices with other courts of lower rank. The bill will be sent to Parliament for debate and approval. Also on Monday, the Romanian government adopted a financial scheme that will help the local authorities to get through the winter months, when they received high energy bills.

Energy — The Romanian executive continues talks to finalize new support measures that will benefit the population to deal with the crisis caused by rising energy prices. The authorities are also considering the big consumers for whom they are preparing an additional assistance package, a package that needs the approval of the European Commission. In this regard, the Energy Ministry officials will discuss with the EC representatives about the authorization of the scheme that would allow them to maintain their competitiveness in relation to the other competitors in the European space and outside it, and also to keep about 200 thousand jobs. The ruling coalition is also considering measures to reduce the VAT and the employees social security contributions.

Inflation – In Romania, the annual inflation rate rose to 8.35% in January, from 8.19% in December, given that the prices of non-foods increased by more than 10%, of foods by 7%, and of services by almost 6%, show data released on Monday by the National Statistics Institute. The National Bank of Romania forecasts an inflation rate of 11.2% at the end of the second quarter, of 10.2% at the end of the third quarter of this year and 9.6% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the Quarterly Inflation Report published at the end of last week. The forecast trajectory of the annual inflation rate is substantially influenced by the future evolution of the prices of energy products, burdened by major uncertainties, the central bank underlined.

Protest — Several trade unions in the Romanian metallurgical industry, mainly representing employees from ALRO Slatina (south) and Alum Tulcea (southeast), organized a protest rally in front of the Government building on Monday, their main demand being the regulation of the energy market . They are calling for the capping of natural gas and electricity prices at the value reported in December 2020, for at least one year, and the establishment of a different treatment between non-household consumers who have not benefited from state aid, as regulated by a government emergency ordinance in 2019, and those who benefited from the provisions of this law. Also, the trade unions are asking for the elimination of the exemption of the beneficiaries of this ordinance from the capping of the electricity price and the capping of its price at a maximum of 750 lei/Mwh. The ALRO trade union leader said that a total of 40,000 jobs in the horizontal industries are being endangered by diminishing the plant’s activity.

Visit — On a visit to Kiev, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Russia, on Monday, to take advantage of the dialogue offers aimed at defusing the crisis and gave assurances that Germany would ‘resolutely continue’ the economic aid and support for Ukraine. “Russias military activities on the Ukrainian border are incomprehensible. There is no reasonable reason for such a military deployment” Scholz said in a press conference with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The latter said his country considered the controversial Russian-German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 a geopolitical weapon. From Kiev, Olaf Scholz goes to Moscow for talks, on Tuesday, with President Vladimir Putin. The Italian foreign minister Luigi Di Maio will travel to Kiev on Tuesday, and to Moscow on Wednesday, in a move to deescalate the situation on the Ukrainian border, where Moscow has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers and military equipment.

Germany – On Monday, Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, congratulated the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on the occasion of his re-election. Klaus Iohannis points out that the solidity of the excellent relations between Romania and Germany, which have a strategic character, has been strengthened in recent years. “These relations are enhanced by frequent and substantial bilateral political dialogue, strong economic relations and the strong bridge between our countries represented by the Romanian community in Germany and the German minority in Romania,” said President Iohannis. He went on to say that in 2022 it’s 30 years since the signing of the Treaty between Romania and Germany on friendly cooperation and partnership in Europe. On Sunday, the German President, Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier, was re-elected for a second five-year term. (LS)