April 15, 2022 UPDATE

A round up of local and international news.

Newsroom, 15.04.2022, 19:27

Law.
The offshore bill, which sets the conditions for the excavation of oil and gas
deposits in the Black Sea was submitted in Parliament, said Romanian prime
minister Nicolae Ciucă. The bill
stipulates that 60% of the profits obtained from the exploitation of natural
gas will go to the Romanian state, and the rest of 40% to investors. The
Romanian state and companies will have priority in buying the gas extracted,
the surplus being exported. The bill
also regulates the tax status of the onshore perimeter deeper than 3,000 metres
discovered in the Buzău and Brăila counties. The prime minister said the
exploitation of the Neptun Deep perimeter will begin at the end of 2026 or the
beginning of 2027 at the earliest and the onshore excavation in Buzău county at
the beginning of 2024. He said the law would help ensure the country’s energy
independence and cheaper access to gas.

NATO.
180 Portuguese military deployed by NATO as part of efforts to consolidate its
eastern flank, arrived on Friday in Romania, where they were met by the chief
of defence staff, general Daniel Petrescu. The detachment will be integrated
into the national and NATO structures in order to increase response
capabilities, interoperability and, last but not least, to underline allied
solidarity. The presence of the allied troops in Romania is the new normal. The
measures adopted are strictly defensive and adapted to the security situation
in our area of responsibility, said the chief of the Romanian defence staff. The
rest of the Portuguese detachment, which is made up of 220 military, as well as
military equipment, will reach Romania in the next few days.

MiG-21. Romania is grounding all its MiG 21 jets
because of their high rate of accidents. The defence minister Vasile Dîncu said
their crew will be retrained to fly F-16 aircraft or for other missions. He
said this will not affect Romania’s air defence capability at the moment, as
the country has a fleet of F-16 fighter jets and a strong multinational air
policing squadron of 22 aircraft is deployed in Romania under NATO
command.

Refugees. Some
10,000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed Romania’s borders in the past 24 hours,
the Border Police Inspectorate has announced. According to Romanian authorities,
some 714 thousand Ukrainians have arrived in Romania since February 24th, the
start of the Russian invasion. 30 thousand of them are children, and more than
4 thousand have requested asylum.

Cannes. Directors
Cristian Mungiu and Alexandru Belc will represent Romania at the 75th edition
of the Cannes International Film Festival, which takes place this year, between
May 17-28. Cristian Mungiu will compete with the film R.M.N., a
French-Romanian-Belgian co-production, in the official competition for the
coveted La Palme d’Or, while Alexandru Belc will compete with the film
Metronom in the second most important section of festival, Un
Certain Regard. A veteran of the festival, Mungiu was awarded the La Palme d’Or
in 2007 for 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days. At the same festival, his
film Beyond the Hills was awarded, in 2012, the best screenplay
award, and the film Baccalaureate won the trophy for best director
in 2016. Metronome is Alexandru Belc’s debut film. 18 films will
compete this year for the grand prize of the Cannes Film Festival, and 15
were included in the Un Certain Regard section. The official selection was made
from 2,200 films received by the organisers.

Tennis. Romania
are led 2-nil by Poland in the qualifications for the Billie Jean King Cup
competition. Irina Begu lost to Magda Linette, and Mihaela Buzărnescu lost to
world no. 1 Iga Swiatek. On Saturday, the other singles matches are scheduled,
Begu – Swiatek and Buzărnescu – Linette, as well as the doubles match between
Magdalena Frech / Alicja Rosolska and Andreea Mitu / Andreea Prisăcariu.
Romania’s best player, Simona Halep, is unavailable for this competition,
as are Monica Niculescu, Raluca Olaru, Gabriela Ruse and Jaqueline
Cristian. (CM)