Recently, the FIC member companies decided on the 15 top executives and professionals in the composition of the Board who will take on the leadership during the 2021 – 2022 mandate. The vision of the new FIC Board is based on the following main topics that could continue shaping the sustainable growth of the Romanian economy: the corollary of a sustainable recovery of the economy is the continuation of the vaccination campaign, with the support and involvement of the private sector in order to minimize the social and economic damage; a continued involvement for supporting attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs) to Romania, aiming at obtaining a multiplying development effect for the SMEs ecosystem; the elaboration of public policies and recommendations regarding the perspective of the green and digital transitions awaiting Romania in the 2021 – 2030 decade; and the improvement and consolidation of the consultative process between the authorities and the business environment with the objective of attaining and implementing sound policy measures. The business environment represented by the FIC members will continue to support the authorities’ efforts and be involved in the mass vaccination campaign.
NBR governor Mugur Isărescu has stated that, while global economy seems to be recovering, future challenges are imminent, and identifying the right time to phase out the current support measures is one of the most important challenges. Under the current circumstances as well, the role of central banks continues to be highlighted by the monetary policy conduct which must be flexible and well-balanced, while focusing on the fundamental objective of ensuring and maintaining prices stability in the medium term, in a way that supports economic recovery, the NBR governor has pointed out.
Retail trade turnover grew by 8.7% in the first four months of 2021 compared to the similar period of last year, as a working-day and seasonally adjusted series. The increase as a gross series was 12.5%, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics on Friday.
The hourly labor cost adjusted by the number of working days decreased by 2.58% in Q1 of 2021 compared to the previous quarter, and was up 5.56% against the same quarter of the previous year, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Friday. The most significant decreases in the hourly labor cost in Q1 of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 were recorded in financial intermediation and insurance, in electrical and thermal power, gas, hot water and air conditioning production and supply, and in shows, cultural and recreational activities.
Alpha Bank, one of the top 10 biggest banks on the Romanian market asset-wise, has launched a complete payments acceptance solution through POS terminals with cards issued by Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay and American Express. The bank continues to consolidate its position on the payments market, in line with global trends, thus responding to the growing demand for digital payment solutions.
The Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) conducted several verifications at City Insurance Insurance-Reinsurance Company during the period 2019-2021 and decided to sanction the members of the company’s Board of Directors, the Supervisory Board and the company with a total amount of RON 11 million. Moreover, the approvals granted by ASF were withdrawn from the members of the company’s Board of Directors and Supervisory Board, and the Insured Guarantee Fund is to temporarily replace the insurer’s management body, with a four month term of office from the date when the decision has entered into force.
Construction company Bog’Art, owned by businessman Raul Doicescu, has started works on Art City, a EUR 20 million worth real estate project located in the north of Bucharest and which will include 141 apartments to be finalized by October 2022. Apart from residential spaces, the complex will also include 500 square meters of commercial spaces and 180 parking spaces.
Health Minister Ioana Mihăilă has stated that EUR 8.1 billion projects for the construction of healthcare infrastructure have been centralized in order to be financed from funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and will enter subsequent selection stages that will take into account several criteria. The Minister has emphasized the fact that maximum settled limits will be set for the hospital infrastructure.
The Samaa Group has invested over EUR 3 million into the renovation of the Apollo hotel in Neptun, which will thus become a family resort. After modernization works are finalized, the hotel will apply to obtain the 4-star rating. Neptun resort offers tourists rapid access to Tuzla Aerodrome, Mangalia Stud Farm, one of the largest in south-eastern Europe, to the Clos de Colombes Domains, where a rich vineyard and quality wines can be found, and to Paradis Land Amusement Park.
The Senate’s Legal Affairs, Economic Affairs, Defense and Communications Committees, reunited in a meeting on Friday, 4 May, issued a favorable report, with amendments, on the draft law initiated by the Government regarding measures targeting IT and communications infrastructures of national interest and the conditions for 5G networks’ rollout. According to the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Iulia Scântei, who chaired the meeting on Friday, the approval report obtained a majority of votes "in favor", except for the senators from the Alliance for Romanians’ Unity (AUR), who voted against it.
The EU on Friday (4 June) set out its plan to boost deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries, which banks on open supply chains, encouraging production and compulsory licences rather than waiving intellectual property rights. The plan maintains that where voluntary cooperation fails, compulsory licencing within the WTO’s existing Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should be used to facilitate the expansion of production and sharing of expertise, rather than IP waiver.
The coordinator of the national anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiţă has stated that he cannot find an explanation for some parents’ decision not to prevent, through vaccination, the appearance of some infectious diseases. On Saturday, he made public some data showing that more than 5,100 children aged 12-15 had been vaccinated in the past 72 hours, and 114,000 teenagers and young people aged between 16 and 19 had been immunized since the beginning of the vaccination campaign.
A new tranche of 964,080 doses of Pfizer BioNTech vaccines will arrive in Romania today, according to a press release issued by the National Committee for the Coordination of Anti-COVID-19 Vaccination Activities (CNCAV) yesterday. According to the cited source, the vaccines will be delivered by air and will get onto the airports of Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca and Timişoara.