Romania continues to rank last in the
European Union in terms of waste collection, recycling and recovery. In
this context, the Foreign Investors Council (FIC), the organization
that reunites the largest Romanian companies with foreign capital, has
identified 18 difficulties in the application of waste legislation and
has come up with several proposed solutions. FIC Board members, Paris
Nikolopoulos and Mircea Moga coordinate FIC activities related to
environmental protection.
The delegation of
representatives of the Coalition for Romania’s Development (CDR)
coordinated by Daniel Anghel (FIC Board member) met with Foreign
Affairs Minister, Bogdan Aurescu on Thursday, 10 November. Participants
discussed, among other things, how the business sector can collaborate
with the Romanian Government to promote Romania’s accession to the
Schengen area. Minister Aurescu appreciated CDR representatives’
interest and readiness in supporting Romania’s joining the border-free
area and in taking complementary actions that add to the political,
diplomatic and technical steps taken by Romanian authorities to achieve
this objective.
On Thursday, 10 November, the European Parliament approved the
REPowerEU Plan to reduce energy dependence on the Russian Federation.
Romania is to receive EUR 1.39 billion under the Plan. The REPowerEU
Plan is a new pillar that will add to Member States’ national recovery
and resilience plans (PNRRs) and will be dedicated to investments in
the energy sector. These non-refundable funds will add to the
approximately EUR 30 billion Romania already receives for the National
Recovery and Resilience Plan under the European Recovery and Resilience
Facility.
Romania ranks 31st out of 42 countries in Europe in terms of purchasing
power, with an average of EUR 8,017 per capita in 2022, representing
49% of the European average, according to a study conducted by GfK.
Romania is outranked by Hungary, with an average of EUR 8,751 (53.5% of
the European average) and Poland, on the 29th place, with EUR 9,254
(56.6%). The Czech Republic fills the 22nd place, with a purchasing
power of EUR 12,970 per capita, representing 79.4% of the European
average.
Romania could record 4.5% economic growth in 2022 and a 2.3% advance in
2023, according to a presentation held by Raiffeisen Bank’s Chief
Economist Ionuț Dumitru during the 25th edition of the Romanian Banking
Forum. He said that Romania had the second best performance in Europe,
after Slovenia, having managed to recover all the declines recorded
during the pandemic. According to the economist, consumption was the
main economic growth driver.
ING Bank Romania has announced that starting from November 2022, the
bank’s clients will be able to split the bill digitally, using a new
functionality introduced into the Home’Bank application, called Split
the bill. This can be used for any type of common expense: at the
restaurant, at the theatre, at the gas station, for travel and many
more. The maximum number of payment requests is seven per day and the
total amount of a request sent to a maximum of ten friends is RON
30,000.
Banks in Romania will continue to develop programs to increase the
level of financial education, as sustainable development depends on the
level of education as well, according to dreptullabanking.ro platform,
a campaign carried out by Romanian banks. The average financial
literacy score among the more than 4,000 Romanians who tested their
financial education knowledge within the "#Dreptullabanking brings you
freedom of movement" campaign is 7.53.
On 11 November, Banca Transilvania is to launch Bank Friday, a new
online banking shopping campaign. For one day, Bank Friday will come
with the best interest rate since the beginning of the year on six- and
twelve-month RON-denominated deposits, of 7.25% and 7.45%, as well as
with benefits on personal loans, housing loans, shopping cards, car
leasing and insurance, according to a press release. This year’s
campaign, whose message is "Do I want or do I need?" and which has
reached its eight edition, focuses on responsible consumption.
Aegon incurred EUR 206 million net losses in Q3/2022, mainly driven by
a non-economic loss on interest rate hedges in the US, according to a
press release. The cited source indicates that the operating result
stood at EUR 429 million, down by 11% year-on-year on a constant
currency basis. Benefits from cost savings, growth initiatives and an
improvement in claims experience are more than offset by lower fees due
to adverse markets.
European group EIT InnoEnergy Group is to become a shareholder of Prime
Batteries Technology in Ilfov, the European giant’s representatives
announced in Brussels on Thursday, 10 November. The Romanian batteries
manufacturer would increase its annual battery production capacity to 8
GWh, an investment that would amount to more than EUR 1 billion. Prime
Batteries currently has a lithium-ion battery production capacity in
Romania of about 0.2 GWh annually.
Online stores in Romania invest an average of 10% - 15% of their
turnover in various website software developments in order to offer
customers an improved shopping experience. This is a growing
percentage, which will accelerate, and investments in the software area
are to reach 15% - 20% of turnover within the next five years,
according to estimates by TARA Interactive, a Romanian software
development company.
Bosch remains on the offensive in its digital transformation. By 2025,
the technology and services provider will have invested EUR 10 billion
in digitalization and connectivity. Two-thirds of this investment will
be directed towards the development and expansion of promising new
technologies with a focus on sustainability, mobility and Industry 4.0,
according to a press release.
The company Villar Group, listed on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, is
currently developing 100,000 square meters of modern logistics spaces
in strategic locations and will continue its accelerated expansion in
Romania, according to a press release. The cited source indicates that
Villar Group is currently building a high-tech logistics hub in an area
of maximum interest - the new Bucharest ring road, in
Dragomirești-Vale, at kilometer 13 on the A1 highway. Here, the company
has purchased a 160,000 square meter piece of land that can
successfully accommodate build-to-suit projects and where up to 80,000
square meters of modern storage spaces can be built.
The leaders of the ruling coalition will come up with a new Government
Emergency Ordinance (OUG) for the implementation of several recently
agreed measures on energy. The draft law approving OUG 119 already
includes some of those measures through the amendments adopted in
committees. The draft law approving OUG 119 will be debated during the
plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, as the decision-making
body.
President Klaus Iohannis promulgated the Decree on the promulgation of
the law amending and completing the Public Monuments Law on Thursday,
10 November. The law provides for the installation of commemorative
plaques dedicated to important personalities or events in places
related to them, including on newly built buildings. The plaques would
include a QR code that, once scanned, will redirect the user to a
website managed by the Ministry of Culture, where they will find more
information about the personality or event in question.
Minister for Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities Gabriela Firea
stated on Thursday, while on a visit in Deva, that together with Marcel
Ciolacu, the President of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Social
Democratic Party (PSD), and with other MPs, she had submitted a draft
law stipulating that 30% of candidates on local elections lists must be
women. The same representation percentage would also apply in the case
of state-owned companies’ Boards of Directors.
The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) has ruled that the package of
normative acts through which the Parliament amended the justice laws
this autumn is constitutional and has decided to reject as inadmissible
and unfounded the challenges submitted by Save Romania Union (USR), the
Alliance for Romanians’ Unity (AUR) and the Ombudsman regarding the law
on the organization of the judiciary, magistrates’ statute and the law
on the organization and functioning of the Superior Council of
Magistracy. CCR’s decision is an important step towards the lifting of
the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, which would eliminate any
objection to Romania’s accession to the Schengen area by the EU’s
Justice and Home Affairs Council. Following CCR’s decision, the three
normative acts amending the justice laws will be sent to President
Klaus Iohannis for promulgation.
Romania announced Wednesday (9 November) that the United States would
provide funding worth more than USD 3 billion for the construction of
two new nuclear reactors in the eastern European country, which is
expected to commence early next year. The funding will be granted by
the Washington-based Export-Import Bank (EXIM), an export credit
agency, enabling Romania to cover "about a third of the amount
necessary for the construction of two reactors" at the Cernavoda plant,
Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said. The rest of the needed
funding will come from other financing, Ciuca added, without giving
further details.
70% of the companies that participated in the latest survey conducted
by a well-known recruitment firm said that they would offer holiday
bonuses to their employees in 2022. 7.5% firmly answered that they had
not allocated a budget for such benefits, while 22.5% did not yet know
whether they would grant holiday bonuses. 64.3% chose to offer money as
a Christmas bonus, which is also the most popular incentive among
employees. 43% will organize an end-of-year party for the entire team,
and 28.6% of employers will purchase baskets containing seasonal
products for all employees.
19,774 deaths (10,382 males and 9,392 females) were recorded in
September 2022, 3,370 fewer (1,781 males and 1,589 females) than in
August 2022. Moreover, 17,460 children were born in September 2022, 688
fewer than in August 2022, according to data published by the National
Institute of Statistics (INS) on Thursday, 10 November 2022.