The growth coefficient of average net wages per economy in March 2022
was 13,336.72 compared to January and 3,095.86 compared to February
1992, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) announced on Friday.
The coefficient is reported to county and local councils, town/city
halls and mayor’s offices, trading companies and units specializing in
the sale of residences, in accordance with the provisions of Law
112/1995 regarding the sale/purchase of nationalized dwellings.
On Friday, the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration
(MDLPA) transferred the amount of RON 48,547,115.81 for the settlement
of invoices for 86 investment projects carried out within the first and
second phase of the National Local Development Program (PNDL). RON
12,309,774.10 was thus paid for the first phase, for 12 projects under
implementation, and RON 36,237,341.71 was settled for the second phase,
for 74 investment projects.
Romanian managers expect prices in the manufacturing industry, in
constructions and in retail trade to grow considerably over the next
three months, according to data published by the National Institute of
Statistics (INS) on Friday. Within the survey conducted in May 2022,
managers in the manufacturing industry forecast a moderate increase in
the volume of production for the following three months (cyclical
balance +12%). The biggest increase will be recorded by the beverages
manufacturing activity (cyclical balance +31%). As to the number of
employees, relative stability was projected, with a cyclical balance of
+4% for the overall manufacturing industry. Industrial producer prices
are expected to grow significantly over the next three months (cyclical
balance +43%).
BCR, the second biggest credit institution in Romania after Banca
Transilvania, is preparing to bring a RON-denominated green bonds issue
onto Bucharest Stock Exchange at the beginning of June. The financing
would be senior non-preferential, i.e. which there is no trading
history for, and compliant with minimum requirement for own fund and
eligible liabilities (MREL) criteria. According to Ziarul Financiar
information, the green bonds will have four-year maturity, but the
interest rate and value have yet to be determined.
Alpha Bank, one top 10 biggest banks on the Romanian market asset-wise,
recorded a EUR 5.6 million operating profit in Q1/2022, up by 143%
compared to the EUR 2.3 million level reported in the same period of
last year. At the end of March, Alpha Bank Romania’s loans portfolio
stood at about EUR 2.8 billion, up by 6.1% year-on-year, while deposits
attracted from clients reached nearly EUR 2.7 billion, according to
data transmitted by representatives of the banking institution on
Friday.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has
recently announced that it increased its presence in Romania by
inaugurating a new regional office in Cluj-Napoca, the second biggest
city in the country. The office in Cluj-Napoca will mainly support
local SMEs in the region by providing expert consultancy, training and
access to financing. Located in the heart of historic Transylvania,
Cluj-Napoca is a gateway to three strategic regions in Romania: the
north-west (where it is located), the center and the west.
OTP Bank Romania is one of the partner financial institutions to have
joined the program aimed at supporting SMEs activating in the agri-food
sector by allocating micro-grants and working capital grants. The
program, launched by the Ministry of European Projects and Investments
together with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism and the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is part of the "Support
for Romania" package of measures and aims to reduce the significant
impact generated by the growing prices of basic products and to provide
support for the recovery of enterprises in agriculture, fish farming,
aquaculture and food industry.
Lucian Grecu, the owner of Unirea Hotel in Iaşi, has started
construction works on two blocks of flats located on the land of the
former Nicolina machinery plant in Iaşi, on a 5,200 square meter area.
The investment amounts to EUR 20 million, which comes from the
developer’s own funds and from a loan contracted from Banca
Transilvania. The entrepreneur had announced his intention to build the
dwellings ever since 2019, but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented the
start of the investment projects.
This spring, Chef Cezar Predescu has launched Caupona, a restaurant
that focuses on new contemporary Romanian cuisine with Italian
influences, located in the north of Bucharest, in Primăverii area. The
initial investment amounted to about EUR 400,000, and financial
investments will continue for the development of educational projects
in the gastronomic area. Caupona brings to Bucharest a gastronomic
culture, a restaurant concept centered on an intimate atmosphere
(developed during the pandemic period, when social distancing was very
important) and a cuisine that combines innovation, premium ingredients
and modern techniques.
US surgical robots developer and manufacturer Intuitive Surgical plans
to invest over 80 million leva in Bulgaria. The US company will build a
modern production unit in the town of Parvomay, in the south of
Bulgaria, in order to increase its production capacity for 3D
endoscopes for surgical robots, the Bulgarian Ministry of Innovation
and Growth announced on Monday, 23 May. The Intuitive Surgical 3D
endoscopes, which are currently manufactured in Germany, are used in
the Vinci Surgical System, the world’s most advanced surgical robot.
The investment in Bulgaria will create more than 100 new jobs, and this
number can grow to 300 in the following years.
British American Tobacco (BAT) recruits about 200 new employees per
year and invests over EUR 1 million per year in training and
professional development programs. Even though the labor market has
recorded major fluctuations in the past few years, an employee stays
for at least seven years, on average, with BAT Romania. The company has
tripled the number of employees in its three economic entities in
Romania in recent years (from about 1,200 employees in 2013 to over
3,000 at present) and indirectly generates another 30,000 jobs through
its supply and distribution chain.
On Tuesday, 24 May, National Defence Minister Vasile Dîncu signed a
draft emergency ordinance updating and improving a number of provisions
regarding salaries and other financial rights of the personnel
activating in the Ministry of National Defence and other institutions
part of the defense, public order and national security system, the
ministry announced on Friday. The emergency ordinance provides for the
possibility of updating, as of 1 July 2022, the payment corresponding
to military personnel, policemen and prison officers’ professional
rank. Moreover, professional non-commissioned officers and soldiers
will be entitled to a monthly rent allowance of up to 50% of the rank
payment, under similar conditions as serving military personnel.
The Competition Council has recommended updating the legislation on
food additives, in order to keep up with the European laws, according
to a press release issued by the institution. The norm on food
additives for use in food products for human consumption, issued by the
Ministry of Health, has not been updated since 2011, while the European
legislation (Regulation (EC) No. 1333/2008) has been amended several
times, most recently in December 2020.
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă announced on Friday, while on an official
visit to Brașov, that the security laws package, which would contain
draft laws on the functioning of intelligence services, the army and
the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT), was being analyzed by
the ruling coalition parties and would be debated by the government in
a week’s time. The leaders of the ruling coalition announced two months
ago that they wanted the package of laws to get through Parliament
within an urgency system. A special committee in charge of analyzing
the package has been set up in Parliament, in order to shorten the
debates.
Ministers from the world’s richest democracies agreed on Friday (27
May) to phase out coal-powered energy, but failed to set a date to do
so. The commitment, published at the end of three days of Group of
Seven (G7) talks in Berlin, was weaker than a previous draft of the
final communique seen by Reuters, which had included a target to end
unabated coal power generation by 2030. Sources familiar with the
discussions said Japan and the US had both indicated they could not
support that date. However, the pledge marked the first commitment from
the G7 countries to quit coal-fuelled power. Of all fossil fuels, coal
emits the most climate-killing carbon dioxide and its use needs to
plummet if the world is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
95% of Romanian employees say they work in different fields than those
they dreamed of when they were children, and the choice was influenced
by maturity (55%), by the educational background (36%) and by parents
(9%). According to the survey conducted by BestJobs on the occasion of
1 June, 45% of respondents dreamed of becoming teachers when they were
children, another 18% wanted to become aviators, 10% - lawyers, 9% -
cooks, while 7% dreamed of becoming doctors. Only 5% of these
aspirations eventually came true.
The president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu has
assured that pensions will be increased "at least" by the inflation
rate starting from 1 January 2023. Mr. Ciolacu has admitted that "there
is still a long way to go" before Romania’s economic growth is felt by
the population. The Social Democratic leader has pointed out that the
decisions taken by the Government regarding the social packages "were
the right ones" and can be seen in the economic upturn.
President Klaus Iohannis stated that the relocation of some companies
to Romania, amid the war in Ukraine, could be an opportunity to
encourage those who wanted to return to Romania. In a message published
on the occasion of the Day of Romanians Everywhere, the Head of State
also emphasized the importance of the Government’s actions to support
Romanians who wish to return to their country, through dedicated
programs.