On 8 December, the Justice and Home Affairs Council is to vote on the
full participation of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia to the Schengen
area without internal border controls, the European Commission
announced on Wednesday. The vote must be unanimous. However, a
resolution backing Croatia’s Schengen accession exclusively, without
mentioning Romania and Bulgaria, is also under discussion. FIC Board
members, Daniel Anghel (CDR Coordinator) and Ramona Jurubita (FIC
Vice-President) had interventions during the Coalition for the
Development of Romania press conference - "Merităm în Schengen" held on
17 November. Daniel Anghel, Coordinator of the Coalition for the
Development of Romania (CDR):"The accession to the Schengen area would
contribute enormously to a positive perception of our country on the
part of investors and would bring additional investments necessary for
the development of Romania. Moreover, it would help Romanian businesses
to reduce their costs for exports".
The general consolidated budget deficit grew to 3.37% of GDP after the
first ten months of 2022, from 3.04% of GDP at the end of September,
according to data published by the Ministry of Finance on Friday, 25
November. The budget deficit decreased by 0.68% during the interval
January-October, compared to the same period of 2021, when it had stood
at 4.06% of GDP, the aforementioned source also indicated. The revenues
of the general consolidated budget amounted to RON 378.80 billion in
the first ten months of 2022, up by 22.7% year-on-year.
On Friday, 25 November, the Ministry of Finance raised RON 60 million
from banks, in addition to the auction on Thursday, when it had
borrowed RON 1.003 billion at an interest rate of 8.06% per year,
through a benchmark government bonds issue with 118-month residual
maturity, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania
(NBR). The nominal value of the additional issue was RON 60 million and
banks submitted bids worth RON 170 million.
Arrears to the general consolidated budget grew by 2.2% in September
2022, compared to the previous month, to RON 312.53 million, from RON
305.78 million, according to data published on the Finance Ministry
(MF)’s website. Arrears of over 90 days decreased by 14.7%, from RON
145 million to RON 123.7 million, while arrears of over 120 days
increased by 29.3%, from RON 103.7 million in August to RON 134.2
million in September 2022. In contrast, arrears of over 360 days
decreased from RON 57 million to RON 54.6 million (-4.2%).
The Romanian insurance industry paid about EUR 2 million compensations
for mandatory civil liability car insurance (RCA) policies alone every
calendar day last year, almost double the amount paid in 2016, the
National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Romania
(UNSAR) has announced. Insurers have indicated, based on data presented
by the Romanian Police in the 2021 Road Safety Bulletin that Friday is
the darkest day on Romania’s roads when most serious road accidents
occur. More than 770 serious accidents occurred on Fridays in 2021.
Elena-Simona Goga and Cătălina-Georgeta Preda have received the
Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF)’s authorization to become members
of the Board of Directors of Signal Iduna Asigurări de Viaţă, formerly
Ergo Asigurări de Viaţă, according to the information transmitted by
the ASF. Signal Iduna received its last approval, from the ASF, to take
over the two Ergo companies, namely Ergo Asigurări and Ergo Asigurări
de Viță in February 2022, after having received the green light from
the Competition Council. Elena-Simona Goga has served as Chief
Financial Officer of Ergo Asigurări de Viaţă since January 2012 up to
present.
OTP Bank Romania will support the first edition of Transylvanian Design
Week, the first such event dedicated to the entire community of
designers in Transylvania, according to a press release. The event will
take place in Miercurea Ciuc, during the period 18 February - 20 March
2023 and will be organized by the Csíki Székely Múzeum and Miercurea
Ciuc City Hall, with OTP Bank Romania’s support. According to the cited
source, the first edition of Transylvanian Design Week aims to create a
collage together with artists in the field and the general public about
what design means today in Transylvania.
CFR Infrastructură has announced that RON 55.6 million will be invested
in repair works on rail lines, railway track equipment and railway
installations on the territory of SRCF Bucharest and Constanța regional
railway divisions. Repair and maintenance works are being carried out
on the components of the railway infrastructure and superstructure in
the two regional railway divisions in the south of Romania, in order to
improve traffic conditions on direct lines and in train stations, by
lifting speed restrictions, enhancing rail and road safety, increasing
operating capacity and avoiding the introduction of speed restrictions
by bringing the lines within the designed parameters.
BMW has announced that it will also build an electric battery assembly
plant next to its electric vehicle factory under construction in
Debrecen (Hungary). Both units are due to open at the end of 2025.
Construction works on the EV factory started six months ago, and 500
more people will be employed than initially announced on the entire
industrial platform called BMW iFACTORY. BMW promises EUR 2 billion
total investments at the unit in Debrecen, a town located not far from
the Romanian border.
Lidl continues its investments in Romania by inaugurating three new
stores on 28 November (one in Bucharest, one in Vaslui and the third
one in Pecica, Arad County). More than 65 jobs will be created with the
opening of the three stores, the company has announced. The three newly
inaugurated stores each have a sales area of around 1,300 square
meters. The new Lidl store in Bucharest also has 100 parking spaces,
the one in Vaslui has more than 130 parking spaces, while the new unit
in Pecica offers customers more than 80 parking spaces.
The Senate has approved a draft law that gives non-governmental
organizations (NGO) only a very short period of time to challenge in
court building permits and urban planning documents suspected of having
been issued illegally. The legislative initiative had been launched by
21 Liberal (PNL) MPs and was debated and approved within an emergency
procedure in just two weeks by the Senate.
Save Romania Union (USR) MPs have announced that they have submitted a
draft law to simplify and decentralize procedures for settling
transport costs for pupils, following consultations with several
associations. The draft law stipulates that local authorities must
provide free transport for pupils and then recover the allocated
amounts from the Government, USR indicated in a press release issued on
Sunday, 27 November.
The National Council of SANITAS Federation in Romania has called on the
Romanian government to fully apply the Public Sector Salary Law,
currently in force. The trade unionists have referred to the inflation
rate, the highest one in the past 19 years, and to the fact that the
cost of living has doubled compared to 2021. According to them, society
as a whole has to cope with this cost-of-living crisis, "but it is
unfair and immoral for employees with the lowest salaries in the two
systems to be the main victims".
Ahead of a meeting of EU industry ministers, a majority of member state
negotiators agreed on a common position on the Corporate Sustainability
Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) that aims to make companies liable for
violations of human rights and environmental standards in their value
chain. Industry ministers of the 27 EU member states will decide on 1
December whether the compromise agreement will stand, since not all
member states are happy with the proposed outcome. The directive was
proposed by the EU Commission in February this year, after which the
proposal went to the EU Parliament and to the Council of EU member
states so that each could agree on a common position on the file.
The Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE) has announced
that vulnerable Romanians are to receive RON 1,400 for the payment of
energy bills and social vouchers for the entire year 2023. In 2023,
MIPE will offer vulnerable Romanians support for the payment of energy
bills worth RON 700 twice a year, from European funds. The cards for
cashing the aid will be issued and distributed by the Romanian National
Post Company and the lists of beneficiaries will be drawn up by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity.
The Romanian government and social partners have agreed upon an
increase in the minimum gross wage in economy to RON 3,000, of which
RON 200 is exempt from tax and insurance contributions, following talks
held at Victoria Palace, during the meeting of the National Tripartite
Council for Social Dialog, which Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă attended
as well. According to the Executive, employers’ associations and trade
unions’ proposals related to the increase in the minimum wage starting
from 1 January 2023 were analyzed during the discussions.