Romania’s economic growth slowed down considerably in Q3 of 2021, and a
slight recession is possible in Q4/2021, as economy has exceeded
pre-pandemic levels. The pandemic situation continues to deteriorate
and the rising inflation has started eroding people’s incomes,
according to OTP Bank analysts. Moreover, the OTP specialists have
transmitted that Romanian economy grew by 7.2% in Q3/2021, compared to
the same period of the previous year, an evolution below economic
analysts’ expectations.
Industrial producer prices rose by 5% in the European Union and by 5.4%
in the euro area in October 2021 compared to September 2021, almost
double than the advance of 2.7% and 2.8% respectively recorded in
September compared to August, according to data published by Eurostat
on Thursday. The data also indicates that industrial producer prices
grew in most EU member states month-on-month, but the biggest increases
were recorded in Belgium (11.2%), Italy (8.4%) and Romania (8.6%, after
a 4.1% advance in September). The only member states where industrial
producer prices decreased month-on-month were Estonia (minus 2.1%),
Luxembourg (minus 0.3%) and Sweden (minus 0.2%).
The overall VAT Gap in the European Union member states decreased by
around EUR 7 billion in 2019, compared to 2018, but, in Romania, it
grew from RON 29.1 billion in 2018 to RON 35.1 billion in 2019,
according to a new report published by the European Commission. The
same document also indicates that in 2019, Romania recorded the highest
national VAT compliance gap, with 34.9% of VAT revenues going missing
in 2019 (compared to 32.7% in 2018), followed by Greece (25.8%) and
Malta (23.5%). The smallest gaps were observed in Croatia (1.0%),
Sweden (1.4%), and Cyprus (2.7%). The European Commission points out
that, in relative terms, the VAT Gap in Romania was the largest in the
EU over the entire period 2015-2019.
The Ministry of Finance plans to borrow RON 3.4 billion from the
domestic market in December, after having attracted RON 3.6 billion in
November, under the plan established at the beginning of the month,
which targeted RON 4.4 billion loans. The state’s financing costs have
exploded in the past few weeks amid the accelerating inflation, with
the interest rate on ten-year government bonds (RO10Y) - a barometer
for the cost of financing in economy – having increased to 5.53%, the
highest level of the past eight years.
Patria Bank, an institution listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, has
become the sixth bank in the local community of banks to have added
instant payments to its portfolio of services, along with Banca
Transilvania, CEC Bank, Libra Internet Bank, Banca Comercială Română
and Vista Bank. The payments processing infrastructure was developed by
Transfond, the operator of the interbank payments Automated Clearing
House, in collaboration with commercial banks, the Romanian Association
of Banks, which is the administrator of the national payments scheme
and the National Bank of Romania (NBR), which is the supervisor of
payment schemes.
Italian banking group UniCredit SpA is considering cutting around 3,000
jobs through voluntary departures under a new strategic plan the
Italian lender is due to present on 9 December, two sources familiar
with the matter told Reuters. The new job cuts will add to the
approximately 3,900 jobs that need to be eliminated in accordance with
the previous strategic plan that has already been agreed upon with
unions and employees. UniCredit, which operates in 13 markets including
Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe, employs 87,102 staff globally, of
whom around 36,000 are in Italy. The cuts would amount to 3.4% of
UniCredit’s overall workforce.
The National Bank of Romania (NBR)’s foreign exchange reserves
decreased to EUR 39.2 billion in November, compared to October,
following EUR 2.04 billion worth of inflows and EUR 2.6 billion worth
of outflows. The EUR 2.04 billion worth of inflows represented changes
in credit institutions’ foreign currency-denominated required reserves
with the Romanian National Bank, inflows into the Ministry of Finance’s
accounts, inflows into the European Commission’s account and other,
according to data transmitted by NBR on Thursday, 2 December.
Polish fashion retailer Sinsay, part of the LPP group, will open two
stores in the Family Market shopping centers which Iulius Group is
developing in Iași County, currently under construction. The two stores
will have about 1,000 square meters each and will be inaugurated in the
second quarter of 2022. The investment in the two stores will amount to
EUR 17 million.
Altex, one of the most important retailers on the Romanian electro-IT
market, has opened its third store in Ploiești and the fourth one in
Prahova County, in Prahova Value Center shopping center. The new store
has an area of more than 1,000 square meters and a stock of over 4,000
products in categories such as electronic and electrical household
appliances, IT&multimedia, gaming and bricolage.
Canadian businessman Michael Topolinski is to invest EUR 10 million,
from his own liquidity reserves, for finalizing a block of 280
apartments whose construction was suspended by brothers Robert and
Ionuț Negoiță. The company InteRo Property Development, indirectly
owned by the Topolinski family, bought the land and the abandoned
construction from Piraeus Leasing, in March. Topolinski has renamed the
block New Confort City and has divided it into four different
buildings, with 70 apartments each.
Premier Restaurants Romania, the operator of McDonald’s restaurant
chain in Romania, keeps expanding on the local market by opening a new
restaurant in Brăila, inside Brăila Mall shopping center. The network
has thus reached 91 restaurants at national level following the
inauguration of the new unit. The total investment for the restaurant
in Brăila amounts to over RON 3 million.
On Thursday, 2 December, President Klaus Iohannis promulgated the
amendments and completions to Law no. 203/2018 on measures to
streamline the payment of fines, which stipulates, among other things,
that the report on their payment shall no longer have to be sent to the
Police. During the debates in the Chamber of Deputies, the
decision-making body in the case of this law, the UDMR deputy Benedek
Zacharie, the initiator, indicated that citizens would no longer have
to send the report to the Police to prove that they had paid the fines.
Senator Dragoş Popescu, from Save Romania Union (USR), has submitted a
legislative initiative that tightens environmental legislation.
According to the initiative, burying or burning waste is a crime and
shall be punished with six months to three years in prison or with a
fine unless it is done by economic operators authorized to carry out
waste recovery and disposal activities.
Romania sent a special flight to Morocco on Thursday, 2 December, to
repatriate around 180 Romanians and other EU citizens, the country’s
foreign ministry has announced. By Wednesday afternoon, 127 Romanian
citizens had asked to return to Romania, the ministry said. The
government of Morocco banned flights for two weeks in the context of
the COVID-19 pandemic, so dozens of tourists have no other way to get
back home. The flight will also provide passage to 53 EU citizens
return to Europe, following coordination between Romania’s embassy and
the diplomatic missions of other EU states in Rabat, the foreign
ministry said in a news release.
According to the Department for Emergency Situations, 120 oxygen
concentrators, medical equipment used in treating Covid-19 patients,
were offered to the Romanian state by South Korea on Thursday, 2
December, in order to help Romanian authorities limit the effects of
SARS-CoV-2. Kim Young Ho, the ambassador of the Republic of Korea to
Romania, stated that this donation would not have been possible without
the close ties existing between the two countries.
The National Committee for the Coordination of Anti-Covid-19
Vaccination Activities (CNCAV) has announced that a total of 144,000
doses of Janssen vaccine arrived at "Cantacuzino" National Institute
for Medical-Military Research and Development on Thursday, 2 December.
According to CNCAV, the transport is ensured by the manufacturing
company, and the vaccine doses were brought to Bucharest by land. The
doses were stored at the National Storage Center, and will be
distributed to the existing regional centers at national level in the
following period.