September 25, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 25.09.2014, 20:03
The Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice has postponed to September 30th the trial of the case in which the mayor of Sibiu, in central Romania, Klaus Johannis was declared incompatible with his status by the National Integrity Agency ANI. According to ANI, besides holding the office of mayor, Johannis is also municipality’s representative in the boards of two companies. Earlier another court had ruled against the validity of report, but ANI filed an appeal. Under the law, people declared incompatible with their status, are not allowed to hold a public position for three years. Iohannis is the candidate of the Christian-Liberal Alliance made up of the National-Liberal Party and the Liberal-Democratic Party for the presidential election in November. According a poll on voters’ intentions Iohannis will probably go into runoff with his counter-candidate Prime Minister Victor Ponta. 14 candidates are currently vying for the presidential seat and have registered their candidacies with the Central Electoral Bureau. Among them, the president of the Senate Calin Popescu Tariceanu, independent MEP Monica Macovei and the head of the opposition pro-presidential People’s Movement Party Elena Udrea.
Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean has firmly condemned the beheading in Algeria of a French citizen by militants members of a Jihadist group linked to the Islamic State. He has voiced his shock and revolt in the face of such a cruel act, the victim of which was the French citizen Herve Gourdel. Also, Corlatean has reconfirmed Romania’s firm commitment to the fight against international terrorism and the Islamic State movement in particular. Herve Gourdel was killed after the ultimatum given to France to end the air strikes against the Islamic State expired. This is the fourth execution by decapitation operated by Islamits. The other victims are two American journalists and a British citizen. In the meantime, the military attacks carried out by the US and its allies have continued in Syria, targeting oil refineries controlled by the Jihadist group.
The Romanian Customs Directorate on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement against counterfeiting with three big tobacco companies. According to a report drawn up by the Directorate, in the first eight months of the year cigarettes worth over six million Euros were seized. Producers say that the black market accounts for 17% of the total. In another development, Romanian police officers participated in the biggest operation organized a few days ago by the European agency Europol in all 28 EU countries. They conducted search operations around the Bucharest airport and at the cross border points and detained several people. The operation, run under the name of Archimedes, was aimed at attacking Europe’s cyber-crime infrastructure.
Within a few years, Romania wants to have its own communications satellites, and thus reduce costs in the field, said on Thursday the Information Society Minister Razvan Cotovelea. He said that both the state and private companies would thus pay two and a half times less for communications. The satellite would cover all types of communications, including the special ones, such as those of the Foreign and Defense Ministries. The price of such a satellite starts from 70-80 million Euros, the Minister also said.
The European Commission on Thursday approved the taking over by the Hungarian company MOL of the gas stations that ENI had in Romania, Slovakia and the Check Republic. The commission said the transaction does not raise any competition issues. In May, MOL announced it had purchased from the Italian company ENI, some 200 Agip gas stations, of which 40 in Romania. This transaction takes MOL up to the fourth position on the fuel distribution market in Romania.
The French car maker Renault, who owns the Romanian brand Dacia, has decided to transfer its production capacity from India to Romania, to make the Duster model for the British market. The announcement was made by the head of Renault India, Sumit Sawhney, quoted by the Economis Times. He said that the decision was motivated by a reduction in the waiting time for the British clients. Renault India used to make all the Duster cars with steering wheel on the right side. Dacia Duster was produced for the first time in 2010 at the plant that Renault owns in Pitesti, in southern Romania.
