FIC launched the 2022
edition of Va Urma (https://vaurma.ro) with the participation of the
Prime Minister of Romania, Mr. Nicolae Ciuca, together with members of
the Government and Parliament, international institutions, and economic
leaders. The event was a first step in setting country directions
agreed and supported by the authorities, representative international
institutions, and the business environment. The participation of the
Prime Minister confirms the partnership and the relationship of trust
between the Government of Romania and the Foreign Investors
Council.
The "Va
Urma" project represents an economic development model for the next 20
years that includes several scenarios. Va Urma emphasises the multiple
advantages of combining private (foreign and domestic) and public
investments together with measures aiming to stimulate digitisation and
innovation. The key elements of the programme comprise: improving
institutional capacity and the efficiency of state-owned companies;
protecting human capital by facilitating access to jobs, education and
health; transforming the energy mix in the directions established by
the Green Deal at European level and the development of energy
infrastructure.
Daniel Anghel (FIC Board Member) chaired the delegation of the
Coalition for Romania’s Development at the meeting with the Prime
Minister Nicolae Ciucă held on 20 September. Ramona Jurubita, FIC Vice
Presindet also joined the discussion. The main topics adressed were tax
reform, Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area, Structural Funds and
the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). According to a press
release issued by the Government, the protection of vulnerable
consumers and of legal entity consumers, as well as risk security and
reforms were also among the topics debated on the same occasion.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă announced on Wednesday, 21 September that
the Government would adopt the draft budget for 2023 no later than 27
October. The Prime Minister pointed out that through the new budget,
the Government would make sure the budget deficit and inflation were
properly managed while identifying budgetary resources to increase
salaries and pensions from 2023. PM Ciucă also said that the Ministry
of Finance in coordination with the main credit release authorities
would present the budget for its first reading no later than 20
October.
Hopes for a "mild recession" in Europe this winter have been abandoned
by Deutsche Bank strategists, who have dramatically slashed their 2023
growth forecasts. The bank now expects EU-area growth to decline 2.2%
in 2023, from a previous forecast for a 0.3% decline. That downgrade
comes after the indefinite closure of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for
Russian gas into Europe that was announced in early September.
EximBank has announced that it is participating in the drafting of the
Initial Memorandum for Romania’s Accession to the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), being the only specialized
financial institution with a role to promote exports in accordance with
the standards of the OECD Agreement on export loans benefitting from
official support. The bank says it has extensive experience in
establishing common technical positions in the EU regarding financial
instruments through which governments can contribute to the development
of global trade, which allows for a rapid integration of OECD practices
for boosting exports and harmonizing local companies’ policies with the
organization’s requirements.
A total of 42 regional players from the public administration, private
and academic sectors, as well as representatives of NGOs participated
in the workshop on regional strategic planning and innovation services,
organized by the OECD in partnership with ROREG - Association of
Regional Development Agencies in Romania, in Timişoara, according to a
press release. The Regional Development Agency for the Western Region
(ADR Vest) is the first regional agency in Romania to implement this
series of focus groups and workshops at regional level, important in
the process of Romania’s accession to the above-mentioned organization.
Raiffeisen Bank has increased interest rates on RON-denominated
deposits, offering an interest rate of 3% per year on the Super Access
Plus savings account and 6% on the three-month deposit. The highest
interest in RON paid by Raiffeisen Bank is 7% per year, for two-year
term deposits, The six-month term deposit, Flexidepozit - a product
that allows multiple subsequent top-ups and a partial withdrawal - now
has an interest rate of 6.25% per year.
tbi bank, a challenger bank from South-Eastern Europe, has added a new
RON-denominated five-month deposit to its local portfolio, with an
interest rate of 10%, and has updated all short-term interest rates
amid the rising inflation. As a result, the institution now offers
several maturities, with interest rates ranging from 7% to 10%. The new
five-month deposit is available to both online and new offline
customers, and the offer is valid until the end of the year, according
to the information transmitted by tbi bank officials on Wednesday.
CEC Bank has launched the multicurrency card offering customers direct
access to accounts in ten currencies and allowing them to make payments
at merchants and withdraw money without paying any fees and costs
associated with the currency exchange. According to CEC Bank officials,
the Visa Multicurrency debit card for individuals can have up to ten
associated accounts in RON, euro and other currencies and has zero
management fees and zero fees for withdrawals from ATMs in Romania and
the European Union. The nine foreign currencies that can be associated
with the VISA Multicurrency Debit Card are Euro, US Dollar, Canadian
Dollar, Pound Sterling, Swiss Franc, Danish Krone, Swedish Krona,
Forint and Zloty.
UniCredit and Teach For All are joining forces to promote education for
children within a pan-European partnership covering seven countries
where UniCredit is present, i.e. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy,
Romania, Slovakia, and the partnership will shortly be extended to
Teach For Serbia, which is taking steps to join the global Teach For
All network in the following months, according to a press release. This
new alliance will target a joint approach, focusing on innovation and
inclusion, to achieve results and foster the potential of European
young people.
Economy Minister Florin Spătaru has announced that more money will be
invested in the defense industry. The Romanian Government has thus
allocated an additional RON 25 million from the State Budget Reserve
Fund available for 2022. This amount will ensure the financing of the
necessary activities to be carried out in the following period.
Moreover, it will allow, as a financial support measure, maintaining
jobs, retaining specialists in the productive circuit and fulfilling
the requirements of the National Defence System Forces.
On Tuesday, 20 September, Development, Public Works and Administration
Minister Cseke Attila participated in the signing of the contract for
the design and execution of a student dormitory at the Polytechnic
University in Bucharest. The contract has a total value of RON
101,803,241.16, ensured by the Ministry of Development. The building
will be equipped with reading rooms, kitchenettes and dining areas,
laundry and drying rooms, administrative spaces, technical spaces, as
well as four lifts that can be used by people with disabilities as
well.
Penny, one of the most active retailers in Romania, continues its
expansion plan by opening a new store in Călăraşi. All stores in Penny
network will be recertified every three years. This way, the company is
setting up a policy aimed at monitoring and improving its stores’
sustainability. Moreover, maintenance and investment plans over time
will also be analyzed in terms of their impact on stores’
sustainability in relation to the communities they are integrated in
and to the built and natural environment.
The Romanian Government adopted, during the meeting on Wednesday, 21
September, the National Strategy on Circular Economy, drawn up under
the coordination of the Department for Sustainable Development,
according to a press release. The document provides an overview of 14
economic sectors in Romania in terms of their circularity potential,
setting a clear general direction to accelerate the transition from a
linear to a circular economic model. The success indicator for this
transition is the decoupling of economic development from natural
resource use and environmental degradation.
Non-affiliated MP Daniel Rusu announced on Wednesday, 21 September that
he had initiated a draft law to reduce the number of MPs to 300, as
voted in the 2009 referendum. According to the draft law, the
representation norm for the Chamber of Deputies is of one deputy per
101,000 inhabitants, while the representation norm for the Senate is
one senator per 203,000 inhabitants.
On Wednesday, 21 September 2022, the Constitutional Court of Romania
(CCR) debated President Klaus Iohannis’s challenge to the Law exempting
the personnel paid from public funds from the payment of certain
amounts representing salary income. The Head of State indicated that
the exemption from payment had targeted amounts representing income
from salaries and assimilated to salaries according to the provisions
of Article 76 of Law 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, with
subsequent amendments and additions, or from social assistance, amounts
considered to be unlawfully received and which the personnel must
return after the Court of Auditors or other structures or institutions
with similar control attributions had acknowledged salary prejudices.
The Romanian Government approved, during the meeting on Wednesday, 21
September 2022, a draft law completing Government Emergency Ordinance
(OUG) 57/2019 on the Administrative Code, upon the Ministry of
Development, Public Works and Administration’s proposal. A new
mechanism of cooperation and association between
administrative-territorial units (UAT) is created through this
normative act. It allows establishing administrative consortia, without
legal personality, to carry out activities necessary for the exercise
of legal powers of certain UATs with insufficient administrative
capacity and boosts association at the level of local public
administration and the transfer of expertise and unitary practices.
The scheme that was launched in July to reduce the price of gasoline
and diesel and was set to end in September will be extended for another
three months, the coalition government has decided. At the start of
July, the government and the oil companies initiated a measure to
reduce the price of fuels by RON 0.5 (EUR 0.1) per liter. The measure
is supported in equal terms by the state budget and oil companies.
Before the decision to prolong the measure was taken, discussions
within the government coalition focused on only maintaining the measure
for diesel prices. However, the decision was to continue applying the
measure to both fuel types.
The pandemic has brought the future of work closer and has transformed
the way people relate to jobs. With Millennials predominant on the
labor market and the introduction of Gen Z employees, organizational
culture has also changed, as bigger focus is being placed on wellbeing
and flexibility. However, 53% of Gen Z young people and 45% of
Millennials would choose to earn a higher income that allows them to
maintain their comfortable, carefree lifestyle over more vacation days,
according to a BestJobs survey.
A total of 45,062 jobs are vacant at national level and another 196
jobs are available in the European Economic Area (EEA), through the
Eures network, according to data published by the National Employment
Agency (ANOFM) on Wednesday. Of the over 45,000 vacant jobs, 10,565 are
available for people with vocational education and 21,767 jobs are for
people with no education or with primary/secondary education.