The supply chain problems generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and by
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to EUR 920 billion losses at
the level of the euro area’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2023,
according to an Accenture report. The potential loss is equivalent to
7.7% of euro area’s GDP in 2023. Published on the occasion of the
annual World Economic Forum in Davos, the report "From Disruption to
Reinvention - The future of supply chains in Europe" explores three
possible scenarios for how the war could evolve over the next year,
simulating the impact of each scenario on the euro area in terms of
costs and recovery timescales.
Finance Minister Adrian Câciu has stated that the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) will not return to Romania as long as he leads the
ruling coalition and the budget deficit commitments are maintained.
Adrian Câciu has added that, for the first time in history, Romania’s
fiscal-budgetary strategy will be submitted and adopted by the
government on 31 July, as required by law.
Finance Minister Adrian Câciu stated, during the Chamber of Deputies
plenary session on Monday, when he participated in the "Government
Hour", as previously requested by Save Romania Union (USR), that the
current Executive had taken over a complicated situation "representing
huge deficits, 7% deficit, a large public deficit estimated to reach
7.3% in 2021, after having got to 9.4% in 2020, during the pandemic",
an inflation that tripled in one year, when USR was also part of the
governing, from 2.6% to 7.8%, and interest rates that doubled in a
single year as well, in 2021, from 2.4% to 5.5%. The Social Democrat
added that the government had come up with a support package for the
Romanian economy, which had required pressure on the deficit, which was
why the Executive had reduced spending by at least 10%.
Agrinvest Credit IFN, a company that finances small and medium-sized
companies activating in the agricultural sector, aims to grant more
than RON 45 million new loans in 2022, after having recorded an over
280% increase in the volume of granted loans at the end of April,
compared to the same period of 2021, the company announced on Monday.
In this context, the company has increased its ongoing credit facility
at BRD Groupe Societe Generale by RON 10 million. Total exposure
contracted from BRD has thus reached RON 20 million.
ING Bank recorded a RON 276 million profit in Q1 of 2022, up by 67%
year-on-year, while the bank’s revenues grew by 23%, to RON 667
million. The bank claims its balance of granted loans increased by 21%
compared to Q1/2021, to RON 35.5 billion lei. The need for stability
and predictability among individual clients grew in the first quarter
of the year. More than 70% of persons who contracted a new housing loan
opted for the ING Ipotecar 7FIX loan, with a fixed interest rate for
the first seven years, according to information provided by ING Bank.
BCR Asigurări de Viață, the second biggest local player on the life
insurance market and part of the Austrian group Vienna Insurance Group,
is to distribute RON 24.798 million dividends to shareholders from the
RON 30.71 million net profit recorded in 2021. The dividends granted to
shareholders for 2020 tax year amounted to RON 24.22 million, compared
to RON 28 million in 2019. The rest of the money will be distributed to
increase the legal reserve – RON 1.54 million and as non-retained
earnings.
Morgan Stanley, the US investor that bought the America House office
building in 2019, has finalized a EUR 10 million investment in its
modernization. Renovation works focused on both the technical and
aesthetic aspects of the building. Renovation was followed by an
upgrade of the exterior ground floor area, including the expansion of
terrace spaces, the adding of green spaces and corresponding lighting,
the extension of the sidewalk, the replacing of paving and the
unification of the shops and restaurants signage methods.
Brothers Marius and Dan Ștefan, who control Autonom, the powerful group
of companies from Piatra-Neamt, have set up a company specializing in
software programming, which will develop an IT platform dedicated to
the insurance sector following a EUR 500,000 investment. Daniel Valeriu
Petcu, a specialist with more than 15 years of experience in IT and
insurance, has also joined the project. The company will employ 5-6
people and will collaborate with specialized subcontractors by the end
of the year.
Delgaz Grid, a company member of the E.ON Romania Group, is to invest
RON 719 million (EUR 143 million) this year as a priority for the
modernization, expansion, automation and digitalization of natural gas
and electricity distribution networks. This is the biggest budget
allocated in the past 17 years, since E.ON entered the Romanian energy
market, according to a press release. The cited source also indicates
that the investments are meant to increase the quality of services in
terms of continuity and reliability, as well as the number of clients
connected to the natural gas and electricity supply networks.
E-Distribuţie Dobrogea, the electrical power distribution operator part
of the Enel group, has invested RON 1.7 million for the modernization
of the medium-voltage power line supplying electricity to both
household consumers and economic operators in Agighiol, Colina,
Iazurile and Valea Nucarilor localities, Tulcea County. The
modernization works involved the installation of a 4.2 kilometer long
20 kV underground power line, of loops, poles and remote-controlled
separators. This upgrade will reduces the number and duration of power
supply cuts in the area, will allow taking over clients in the
aforementioned localities and will increase operational safety and the
capacity to connect new consumers.
On Monday, the Government adopted an Emergency Ordinance amending the
Criminal Code in order to bring the latter in line with the
Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR)’s ruling and to prevent many
defendants from avoiding penalties based on the statute of limitations.
By amending the Criminal Code in accordance with CCR’s decision, the
Government avoided a legislative vacuum. If CCR’s ruling had been
published in the Official Gazette of Romania before the Criminal Code
was amended, the more favorable law would have applied and many
criminal cases would have been at risk of being closed due to the
statute of limitations. According to judicial sources, Elena Udrea,
Tudor Pendiuc (a former mayor of Pitești), Lucian Duță (a former
director of the National Health Insurance House), Sorin Blejnar (the
former head of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration) were
among the potential beneficiaries of CCR’s decision.
On Monday, Senators adopted a draft law establishing the Romanian
Sports Day on the first Sunday of June, with 68 votes "in favor" and 23
votes "against". According to the explanatory memorandum, fewer and
fewer Romanians are practicing recreational or performance sports, one
of the negative consequences of this phenomenon being a reduction in
population’s overall health. The Senate is the first legislative
chamber to deal with this project.
President Klaus Iohannis promulgated a new emergency ordinance on
Monday. The promulgated normative act approves Government Emergency
Ordinance 110/2021, which regulates the granting of days off to parents
to supervise their children, in the event of limitation or suspension
of teaching activities involving physical presence in educational
establishments, due to the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as
well as to parents or legal guardians of severely disabled children who
do not go to school or who have in their care, supervision and
maintenance an adult person classified as disabled or severely disabled
with a personal assistant, in the event of limitation or suspension of
the day-care services they benefit from.
The Chamber of Deputies has adopted, as the decision-making body, the
draft law regarding "Anghel Saligny" National Investments Program. The
draft law regulates the creation of a legislative framework that would
allow administrative-territorial units to promote investment projects
in eligible sectors, in order to ensure access to essential services
for the entire population, increase the quality of living and avoid the
risk of depopulation in underdeveloped communities.
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu had phone calls with his Finnish and
Swedish counterparts and with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg
about their plans to join the alliance. Finland and Sweden formally
applied to join the NATO alliance on 18 May, but Turkey has vowed to
block the process. Aurescu said he informed Stoltenberg, Swedish
Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto
about his discussions in Istanbul with the Turkey leadership about the
two Nordic countries’ bid to join NATO. On Friday (27 May), Aurescu
took part in the Romania-Poland-Turkey Trilateral meeting on security
issues in Istanbul and met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
On 1 June, the Ministry of European Projects and Investment (MIPE) will
start issuing, distributing and charging the social vouchers offered
through the governmental program "Support for Romania". The vouchers
with a nominal value of RON 250 are intended for people in situations
of material deprivation or at risk of poverty. More than 2.5 million
beneficiaries will receive such vouchers.
On Monday, the Government extended, through an emergency ordinance,
until 31 December 2022, the implementation of the financial support
measure for reduced working hours (Kurzarbeit Program), targeting
employers and other economic entities facing a reduction in production
due to the international economic crisis, generated by the rising
inflation and the dropping purchasing power, as well as amid the armed
conflict in Ukraine. The Kurzarbeit program had been initiated by the
Government in the context of the epidemiological situation caused by
the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and had been implemented during the state of
emergency/alert period and for three months after its end, i.e. until 8
June.