14 August, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 14.08.2014, 20:12
In a televised address on Thursday, Romanian President Traian Basescu said that, according to the EU standards, Romania is now in recession, the main causes of this situation being Government’s bad performance and the drop in investments. The head of state confirmed the data made public on Thursday by the European Statistics Office, according to which Romania’s economy contracted two quarters in a row. According to Eurostat, the GDP dropped by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2014 as compared to the last quarter of 2013, and was 1% smaller in the second quarter of the 2014. In the second semester Romania registered the biggest economic contraction in the EU. The Romanian head of state made the announcement against the background of contradictory information coming from Eurostat on the one hand and the Romanian Statistics Institute on the other. Basescu said the National Institute lied through omission. The Institute had announced that Romania’s GDP in the second quarter of 2014 was smaller by 1%, but compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Romanian economy grew by 1.4%.
Next week the European Commission will announce fresh measures to support the EU producers affected by Russia’s embargo on foodstuffs from the EU. The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Romanian Dacian Ciolos, who on Thursday in Brussels met with EU experts in agriculture, has stated that the measures will target in particular the fruit and vegetable sector. Previously, Ciolos had stated that the Common Agricultural Policy had new and modern instruments to support its producers. Romania has already notified the European Commission with regard to the situation of the sector, as the market is now overloaded with stocks that were meant to reach the Russian Federation. The damage is estimated at 300 million Euros.
The Romanian Senate has been summoned for an extraordinary session on August 18th. According to Ioan Chelaru, vice-president of the Senate, the meeting will focus on the law regarding the reduction of the contribution to the social security fund by 5%. Representatives of the Christian Liberal Alliance, in the opposition, have called for extraordinary sessions of the two chambers of parliament to debate the draft law. Last month, President Traian Basescu decided to sent the law back to Parliament for reexamination. He said he supported the measure, but was not so sure about the sustainability of the sources meant to cover the deficit created by the implementation of the measure.
Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean will on Friday attend in Brussels the extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers, focusing on the situation in Iraq, the ministry in Bucharest has announced. The EU foreign ministers will also discuss the latest developments in Ukraine, the situation in Lybia and the conflict in Gaza, as well as measures aimed at protecting Europe against the Ebola epidemics that is ravaging west Africa.
The Iasi — Ungheni gas pipeline, which will connect Romania to the Republic of Moldova will be officially inaugurated at the end of August and the first exchanges of natural gas will take place in early September. According to a communiqué issued by the Energy Department in Bucharest, representatives of Romanian company Transgaz and the Moldovan Vestmodtransgaz on Thursday signed the agreement regarding the operation of the gas pipeline. According to the same source, this is a major energy infrastructure project completed in a record period of time, costing 26 million Euros, less than estimated in the initial phase.
The film “The Japanese Dog” by Tudor Jurgiu is Romania’s proposal for the best foreign film at the Oscar awards. The film was chosen, through majority voting, by a group of specialists in the field. Out of the proposals made by all foreign countries, organizers will make up the shortlist. The Oscars will be awarded on February 22nd 2015 in Los Angeles.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, aged 22nd, ranked second in the WTA classification, on Thursday qualified for the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Cincinnati, the USA, with 2.6 million dollars in prize money. She defeated in the eight-finals Lucia Safarova from the Check Republic, ranked 16th. In the men double’s competition the pair made up of Romanian Horia Tecau and Dutch Jean Julen Rojer qualified for the quarter finals after beating the all Spanish pair Marcel Granoller/Marc Lopez.
