September 10, 2022

Click here for a roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 10.09.2022, 13:55

KING King Charles III was officially proclaimed
monarch in a ceremony held at St. James’s Palace in London on Saturday, by the Accession Council, a body convened to confirm the new British
monarchs throughout history.
Also today, the Cabinet will have their first meeting with King Charles III,
just days after PM Liz Truss formed a new government. Thousands have gathered in front of Buckingham Palace, the main
residence of British monarchs in London, to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II,
who passed away on Thursday, aged 96, at Balmoral
Castle in Scotland. She will be brought to London, at Westminster Hall, and
the public will have 4-5 days to say goodbye. The
funerals will take place at Westminster Abbey, the church where British kings
are crowned. The BBC notes that the last funeral of a monarch at Westminster
Abbey took place in the 18th century. After the funeral, to be attended by
heads of state and government from around the world, the Queen will be taken to
Windsor Castle and buried in the Saint George Chapel within its premises.

ENERGY EU energy ministers voiced support for emergency
measures in response to the energy crisis, and even mentioned price capping for
natural gas imports. At Friday’s extraordinary meeting in Brussels, officials
for the 27 Member States agreed that a unified approach was needed to address
the rise in energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. They gave the
European Commission several days to come up with a solid and concrete plan, said
the Czech industry minister Jozef Sikela, whose country holds the rotating
presidency of the Union. Romania, who was represented by the energy minister,
Virgil Popescu, pleaded for measures such as a price cap on Russian gas imports
or an EU-wide platform for the joint procurement of natural gas. As for cutting
down consumption, Bucharest said this should be voluntary, depending on
national capacities and market developments.

FLIGHTS The national airline TAROM provides today
2 additional flights to Greece to repatriate the Romanian passengers abandoned
by the low-cost operator Blue Air, which announced it lacked funding even for
fuel. TAROM has so far organised 4 other special flights, to Israel, Greece,
Cyprus and Spain. Several thousand Romanians have been stranded in
international airports since Tuesday night, when Blue Air announced it was
suspending flights. Although the authorities have unfrozen the accounts of the
airline, which had excessive debts to the Romanian state, Blue Air said it
would only resume flights on 10 October. The transport minister Sorin Grindeanu
urged Blue Air customers to try to find other options to return, and pointed
out TAROM could not replace all the flights that had been cancelled. In 2020, during
the COVID pandemic, Blue Air took out a state-guaranteed loan of over EUR 60
mln. This summer, it was fined EUR 2 mln by the Consumer Protection Authority, for
cancelling over 11,000 flights in 2021 and 2022. Blue Air’s current estimated
debts amount to EUR 230 mln.

AUTOMOTIVE Romania’s
automotive industry output went up nearly 25% in July and August, compared to
the corresponding period of 2021. According to the Automotive Producers
Association, more than 61,000 vehicles were assembled in the Ford plant in
Craiova and Dacia-Renault plant in Mioveni. In the first 8 months of the year, over
330,000 vehicles were produced, accounting for a 15.5% increase since 2021.

UKRAINE Romania and 3
other EU member states (Greece, Poland and Lithuania) call on the European
Commission to grant them exemptions from the budget deficit rules, with respect
to military expenditure, in order to be able to make the investments required
after the Russian invasion in Ukraine. They want this expenditure excluded from
the deficit calculation, so that the 3% of GDP ceiling required by the EU may
be observed. The 4 countries argue that this would help them mitigate the risks
facing the Union. Meanwhile, a report made public by the World Bank, the
Ukrainian government and the European Commission indicates that Ukraine’s
reconstruction after the Russian invasion may cost around USD 350 bln, with figures set to increase in the coming months,
as the war continues. According to the report, reconstruction and revamping
needs in the social, industrial and infrastructure fields are 1.5 times higher
than Ukraine’s GDP in 2021. Russia’s aggression had caused direct damages of
over USD 97 bln by 1 June, with the most affected areas including housing (40% of
the total damages), transports (31%), trade and industry (10%). The regions of Donetsk,
Luhansk and Kharkiv are the most heavily hit, followed by Kyiv, Chernihiv and
Zaporizhzhia.

TENNIS The Romanian tennis players Sorana Cîrstea and Irina Begu,
ranking 37 and 42 in the world, respectively, take part in the first edition of
Ţiriac Foundation Trophy, held between the 10th and 18th September in
Bucharest. The 2 players received wild cards from the organisers, and their
current world rankings makes them seed no 1 and 2 in the tournament hosted by
the Romanian capital city. Ţiriac Foundation Trophy is a WTA 125 tournament
organised by the Romanian Tennis Federation and supported by the Ţiriac
Foundation and the Sports Ministry. The main draw includes 32 players, and the
doubles competition involves another 16. They compete for USD 115,000 in total
prize money and 160 points in the WTA ranking. (AMP)