February 9, 2024

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 09.02.2024, 13:46

Farmers. The Bucharest
government has approved a support package for farmers, including loans with
lower interest rates and electricity subsidies. On the other hand, Romania will
benefit from 34 million Euros from the Solidarity Fund of the European Union, in
support for the damages suffered as a result of the drought of 2022. The money
was already transferred in December of last year, and Romania has one and a
half years to implement the provision of
this aid.

Elections. Merging European
Parliament elections and local elections on June 9 is on the agenda of the PSD-PNL
governing coalition in Bucharest. According to some political sources, the Social
Democrats also proposed combining the elections for the national Parliament
with the first or second round of the presidential elections, which would
complement the first scenario. The opposition is vehemently against these
initiatives. The Save Romania Union has announced that it has started the
proceedings regarding the notification of the Venice Commission for a point of
view on mergin European Parliament and local elections less than six months
before the election date. We recall that, this year, all four types of
elections are taking place in Romania – parliamentary, European, local and
presidential.

Borders. The first two
scanners out of the 26 that Romania is buying with European money have already
arrived in the country and will be functional at the end of this month, Finance
Minister Marcel Boloş announced on social media. They will be located at the
border points with the Republic of Moldova Giurgiulesti and Albița (east) and
will scan the goods entering the country. The minister added that, by the end
of the year, eight scanning systems will be available in Romanian customs.

Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appointed General Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, replacing General Valery Zaluzhny. The head of state said it was time for changes and that the dismissed general should remain in his team. After the failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer, Zaluzhny warned that the war had reached a stalemate, in the stage of a conflict of attrition and that, in order to achieve victories, his country needed weapons technologically superior to the Russian ones and new troops. International media note that Valery Zaluzhny is more popular among Ukrainians than Zelensky. In another move, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has threatened the United States with a global war, which would bring the whole of humanity to the brink of extinction, if Washington sends troops to Ukraine. In an interview to the controversial American journalist Tucker Carlson, Putin claims that Russia will fight to the end to defend its interests.

BRD. BRD CEO Maria
Ruseva, did not want to comment on the recent information covered by the media regarding
the possible intention of Groupe Société Générale to sell the bank owned by
Romania. She specified, instead, that BRD – Groupe Société Générale continues
to aim for third place on the Romanian banking market, where, last year, it
obtained a net profit of 1.66 billion lei (the equivalent of over 33 million of
euros), up by 24%. The bank estimates that this year it will pay between 100
and 120 million lei for the new tax applied to banks. In Romania, BRD – Groupe
Société Générale operates a network of 451 units, and the total assets of the
bank amounted, at the end of March 2023, to 70 billion lei.

Polo. Romania’s
national water polo team was defeated by the Italian team 16-10 in its last
match in Group D of the World Championship in Doha, Qatar. In the first two matches,
the Romanians lost to Hungary and outclassed Kazakhstan 25-3. Romania ranks
third in the group, after Hungary and Italy. The winners of the groups qualify
directly for the quarter-finals, and the teams in the second and third
positions are in for a play-off for the quarters. Last month, Romania finished
in 8th place at the European Championship in Croatia.

Football. Romania’s
national football team will play in Group C2 of the 2024-2025 edition of the
Nations League, alongside Kosovo, Cyprus and Lithuania or Gibraltar,
according to the draw made on Thursday evening in Paris. The group matches are
scheduled in the fall of this year. Until then, Romania will participate, in
June, in the final tournament of the European Championship, organized in
Germany. The Romanians are part of Group E, where they will take on Belgium,
Slovakia and the winner of the playoffs, in which Ukraine, Israel, Bosnia and
Iceland will participate. (MI)