Ramona Jurubiță, Vice-president of the Foreign Investors Council (FIC)
and Laurian Lungu, macroeconomic analysis coordinator discussed at
Ziarul Financiar.live program on Monday, 26 September about Va Urma
(www.vaurma.ro), a project that 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.
Euro zone companies extended their borrowing binge in August, taking on
bank loans at the fastest pace since 2008 despite rising interest
rates, according to a study published by the European Central Bank
(ECB). Bank lending to companies rose by 8.7% in August from 7.6% in
July, while lending to households grew at a steady 4.5%. The ECB
started raising interest rates in July to try to cool record-high
inflation, but so far this has not discouraged borrowing from banks,
which have been slower than financial markets in raising their lending
rates.
Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă indicated, in a Facebook post
that general consolidated budget revenues had grown by 22% in the first
eight months of 2022, compared to the similar period of 2021, while
investments had increased by 9.6%. Nicolae Ciucă also indicated that
the government’s aim was for all the figures to be reflected in a
higher level of living and the modernization of key areas. He also said
he wanted Romania to grow and become more prosperous.
Bucharest’s contribution to national GDP fell by 2.4% from 2019 to
2021, to 34.6%, with estimated losses to tax revenues of RON 17.2
billion (EUR 3.45 billion) by 2026, according to an impact study
regarding the building permits deadlock in Bucharest. The analysis
indicates that total losses in terms of value added in economy for
2022-2026 amount to about RON 52 billion (EUR 10.4 billion).
On Tuesday, 27 September, Metropolitan Life, one of the biggest life
and private pension insurers in Romania, announced over RON 298.6
million revenues for H1/2022, up by 17% year-on-year. Moreover, the
insurance benefits paid in the first six months of 2022 amounted to RON
88,708,973, up by 20% against the similar period of 2021, when they had
stood at RON 74,224,336.
Raiffeisen Bank clients with ongoing mortgage loans can request
documents related to the loans in question by filling in an online
form. Client can thus obtain certain types of approvals such as to rent
a mortgaged residence, to conclude a bailment agreement, to sell the
mortgaged property, etc. without going to the bank. Requests can be
submitted on the bank’s website directly, in the section Individuals /
Support / Request agreements for ongoing loans ("Persoane Fizice / În
sprijinul tau/Solicitare acorduri privind creditele în derulare").
The insurance market reached RON 8.76 billion underwritten premiums at
the end of the first six months of 2022, up by 37% year-on-year,
according to the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA)’s report on the
evolution of the insurance market in H1/2022. Apart from the total
underwriting recorded by companies on the local market, there is also a
volume of brokered premiums of RON 730 million, representing companies
selling in Romania based on the Freedom of Service (FOS) and Freedom of
Establishment (FOE) systems.
Alpha Bank Romania has been selected as a partner bank for the
implementation of the Women in Management 2022 - 2027 program, carried
out together with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism. The
program, aimed at improving the economic performance of enterprises run
by women, provides for the granting of maximum RON 200,000
non-reimbursable financial aid to SMEs where at least one of the
shareholders/associates is a woman, who holds at least 50% of the
company’s shares. In Romania, only 31% of management positions are held
by women, which is below the European average. Women
shareholders/associates in Romanian companies accounted for more than
37% of all shareholders/associates at the end of 2021.
The Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration has
allocated RON 121 million (EUR 24.5 million) for the construction of a
student complex in Ghiroda locality, Timiş County, for "Victor Babes"
University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timişoara. The investment
project involves the construction of a student dormitory with 100 beds,
which will have a swimming pool, a rehabilitation and physiotherapy
center and a sports field with a night-time lighting system.
Cornel Morcov, Chief Commercial Officer at FAN Courier, has stated that
the courier services company is preparing several investments for the
following period. The company’s investments will focus on several
directions, from consolidating a network of lockers to opening new
centers. The company will thus focus on the out-of-home delivery
infrastructure through lockers. Cornel Morcov has also indicated that
the growth of e-commerce has boosted the development of the courier
services industry, pushing companies operating in this sector towards a
business model focusing on continuous investments in infrastructure and
adaptation to consumers’ new delivery habits.
Provita Medical Group, which currently includes five clinics and a
laboratory in Bucharest, is expanding. The first clinic outside
Bucharest will be opened in Suceava, following a EUR 2.5 million
investment. Provita group is soon to change its name to Nord. The
rebranding process will take several months and the first unit outside
the capital city of Romania will be launched under the new umbrella.
The new five-star Radisson Blu Aurum hotel in Braşov will be
inaugurated on 16 October after a EUR 16.3 million investment, almost
EUR 3 million more than initially estimated. The investment was
financed through EximBank by RaRa Group, the owners and developers of
the hotel. The unit located in the center of the city has 110 rooms, an
event hall with a capacity of 150 people, a restaurant with a terrace,
skybar, swimming pool, SPA center, electric vehicle charging stations
and a car park.
A draft law aimed at eliminating the contraventions applied to victims
of human trafficking and at facilitating the issuing of identity
documents for them, drawn up by Save Romania Union (USR), has received
a favorable opinion in the Senate’s Legal Affairs Committee, according
to USR MP Iulian Lorincz. The draft law thus stipulates that these
documents must be issued within an urgency system, within maximum 15
days (down from 30 days), as well as the possibility for the declared
address to be a lawyer’s address or the headquarters of a
non-governmental organization. The victim would thus no longer have to
travel to the places of origin where traffickers’ networks may operate.
Parliament has decided, through a final vote in the Chamber of
Deputies, that persons sentenced by final court decision to one or more
years in prison for having intentionally committed a crime are unfit to
be lawyers. The draft law has been adopted in this form by the ruling
majority in order to rectify the law on the organization and practice
of the legal profession, following several decisions of the
Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR).
During the plenary session on Tuesday, 27 September, the Senate voted
on the draft law approving Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG)
119/2022 amending and completing Government Emergency Ordinance 27/2022
on measures applicable to end clients on the electricity and natural
gas market for the period from 1 April 2022 - 31 March 2023, as well as
amending and completing certain normative acts in the energy sector.
There were 87 votes in favor and 35 abstentions. The draft law will now
be sent to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body.
A group of European Union countries want to push Brussels to produce
plans this week for a bloc-wide cap on the price of gas, according to a
draft letter seen by Reuters. The EU proposed a package of emergency
measures to tackle soaring energy prices earlier this month, but has
steered clear of a gas price cap, an idea which has split the bloc’s 27
member states. Countries in favor plan to step up pressure on Brussels,
with a letter asking the European Commission to make proposals on a gas
price cap for discussion at a meeting of EU energy ministers on Friday,
followed by a legislative proposal as soon as possible.
More than half of young people feel the need for financial education
and to develop their social and emotion management skills, according to
the Insights PulseZ national study, which has reached its third edition
in 2022. Girls, compared to boys, are significantly more affected by
barriers such as lack of motivation (68% vs. 58% boys), fatigue (55%
vs. 45%), fluctuating emotional states (53% vs. 37%) and anxiety (50%
vs. 35%). Moreover, the top two desires of young people are the ability
to be more self-confident (68%) and to manage their time more
effectively (60%).
National unemployment rate was 2.56% at the end of August, similar to
the one from the previous month and 0.37% lower than in August 2021,
according to a press release issued by the National Employment Agency
(ANOFM). The total number of unemployed at the end of August 2022 was
224,044 people, 564 more than at the end of the previous month.