The Social Democratic Party (PSD) believes that the reform of the tax
system in Romania mainly aims to reduce social inequalities and ensure
social solidarity among taxpayers. From PSD’s point of view, the tax
burden must be fairly distributed across society. Two essential
conditions must thus be simultaneously met: oversized incomes must be
over-taxed and low incomes must benefit from lower taxes, according to
a press release issued by the party.
Total industry turnover (domestic and external markets) grew by 24.8%
in nominal terms in the first four months of the year compared to the
same period of 2021, according to data published by the National
Institute of Statistics (INS) on Wednesday. Turnover in industry
decreased by 10.6% in nominal terms in April 2022, compared to the
previous month, as a result of declines recorded in the mining industry
(-12.8%) and in the manufacturing industry (-10.5%). By major
industrial group, decreases were recorded in the durable goods industry
(-19.2%), the capital goods industry (-12.6%), the energy industry
(-12.4%), the intermediate goods industry (-11.9%) and in the
non-durable goods industry (-1.2%).
New orders in the manufacturing industry increased by 20% in nominal
terms in the first four months of 2022 compared to the same period of
last year, according to data published by the National Institute of
Statistics (INS) on Wednesday. Total new orders in the manufacturing
industry decreased by 10.7% in nominal terms in April 2022, compared to
the previous month, as a result of declines recorded in the durable
goods industry (-29.4%), the intermediate goods industry (-13.4%), the
capital goods industry (-8.1%) and the non-durable goods industry
(-4.9%).
BCR has launched a new green senior non-preferred bonds issue, worth
RON 702 million, with five-year maturity and 9.079% interest rate. The
issue represents BCR’s second green bonds transaction and will be
listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange. The bonds received a BBB+ long-term
rating from Fitch. The bank has issued RON 3.75 billion bonds in the
past three years and is one of the main active issuers on Bucharest
Stock Exchange.
The top of the ten biggest banks in Romania in 2021 shows a strong rise
in the assets of Romanian banks, amid an increase in lending. Banca
Transilvania (first place in the top), CEC Bank (6th place) and
EximBank (10th place) recorded the biggest annual increases in assets,
of over 20%, last year. Banca Transilvania, which had become the leader
of the Romanian banking market in 2018, for the first time, stood out
from the rest of the banks in 2021, having reached RON 125 billion
assets, up by 21% against 2020. The rise in assets in recent years was
the result of both growing lending and acquisitions. The balance of net
loans granted by the bank from Cluj recorded an almost 15% advance in
2021 compared to 2020, to about RON 46.3 billion. The volume of loans
at the level of the entire Banca Transilvania Group stood at RON 50.2
billion, up by 19%.
Groupama, one of the leaders of the Romanian insurance market, has
launched the ÎntreabăMedic telemedicine service, which will be included
free of charge in travel insurance contracts. The company’s clients
will benefit from medical advice and examinations provided by doctors
via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram or SMS, with the help of a
medical chat service that combines artificial intelligence and human
interaction.
Braicoop agricultural cooperative in Brăila, formed of more than 50
farmers who grow grains on an area of about 20,000 hectares, aims to
reach an irrigable area of almost 5,000 hectares and is investing in
drip irrigation systems in 2022. Farmers associated in Water User
Organisations (WUAs) could obtain up to EUR 1 million EU funds in 2020
to set up irrigation systems. In the case of the aforementioned
cooperative, members also used their own funds or bank financing.
TMK Hydroenergy Power, part of the CEZ group, has started works on a
new hydropower plant in Caras Severin County, on Bârzava River, a EUR
700,000 investment that will ensure green energy production amounting
to about 2,500 MWh per year. The project is carried out during the
period 01.09.2020-31.12.2022, and CEZ has accessed non-reimbursable
financing for about 44.7% (EUR 300,000) of the total value of the
investment through the Energy in Romania Program, via the EEA and
Norwegian Financial Mechanisms for 2014-2021.
Early Game Ventures (earlygame.vc) has announced a new investment
round, of EUR 500,000, in Meetgeek.ai (meetgeek.ai), a tech start-up
building an AI assistant that helps teams take control of their
meetings, according to a press release. The robot automatically
records, transcribes and summarizes conversations between participants.
In doing so, it saves time by highlighting key moments in meetings,
such as conclusions, concerns expressed, tasks taken on by
participants, and many other useful pieces of information during
meetings.
On Wednesday, 15 June, the Chamber of Deputies adopted a draft law
amending the Patients’ Rights Law, according to which, when concluding
insurance contracts, if the insurance distributor asks the cancer
survivor for information and documents related to their oncological
condition, the latter has the right not to provide them if more than
seven years have passed since the conclusion of the oncological
protocol. The draft law also stipulates that insurance distributors who
fail to comply with this right of the patients can be held legally
liable, in accordance with the legal provisions in force.
On Wednesday 15 June, the Chamber of Deputies adopted a draft law
according to which people who choose to participate in voluntary
activities can carry out the latter within social integration
enterprises as well. The draft law amends the Volunteering Law.
According to the explanatory memorandum, a social integration
enterprise is a social enterprise whose aim is to combat exclusion,
discrimination and unemployment through the social and occupational
integration of underprivileged people. At least 30% of the employees of
such enterprises are vulnerable persons, and these employees’
cumulative working time represents at least 30% of the total working
time of all employees.
In its future Strategic Concept, NATO needs to depict the new security
situation as adequately and realistically as possible, starting with
identifying Russia as NATO’s main threat, President Klaus Iohannis said
on Tuesday. The Strategic Concept needs to prioritize collective
defense and strengthen the Alliance at all levels so that NATO would be
able to meet all the challenges of the present and the future, Iohannis
said during a meeting in The Hague in preparation for the upcoming NATO
Summit in Madrid. The meeting was attended by the heads of state and
government of Belgium, Denmark, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal and Romania.
Consumers around the world are faced with growing prices. More than 75%
of respondents to a PwC survey expect similar or higher spending over
the next six months compared to the current level of expenditure for
most categories. Moreover, 47% of consumers estimate that they will
spend more on food products, and many expect to cut spending on
luxury/premium goods (37% of respondents), dining out (34%), arts,
culture and sports (30%) and fashion (25%).
Studies conducted in the past few years on customer satisfaction with
the services provided by medical clinics, pharmacies, gas stations,
banks or stores in Romania show an extremely low level of satisfaction.
According to the specialists from "Din Grijă pentru Client" Association
and to the marketing and market research experts from VBS Business
Solutions, customers tend to place growing focus on customer
experience. This element overshadows the price and sometimes even the
product or service itself.