The Romanian government has allocated €2.5 million (£2.2 million) for creating protective forestry in the south of the country, it has been revealed.
Speaking to Financialrul.ro, Nicolae Nemirschi, minister of the environment, explained that the move was aimed at combating desertification in the region.
"The desertification problem is a real one in the southern region of this country. I have seen it is real and I have asked for information from experts immediately," he said.
This was how he discovered that farm output would fall by 60 per cent over the next 20 years in the region if action was not taken, the minister explained.
According to Mr Nemirschi, the new funding will be used to plant 10,000 hectares of forestry land in the south of Romania.
Recently, it was revealed that the EU funded Models for Adaptive Forest Management project is to look at the impact of climate change on the forestry industry.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Romania commits €2.5m to forestry projects
Romainian president visits Israel
May 31, 2009
ROME (JTA) -- Romanian President Train Basescu began a three-day official visit to Israel.
Basescu, who arrived Sunday, was accompanied by Romania's foreign minister, economics minister and other officials.
During his visit, Basescu will meet with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, and he will also visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum.
On the eve of the trip - Basescu's first to Israel as head of state - Israeli Ambassador to Bucharest Oren David characterized relations between the two countries as "very, very good."
David noted that Basescu's visit marked more than 60 years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations between Israel and Romania. Romania was the only state in the Soviet bloc that did not break relations with Israel following the Six-Day War in 1967.
About 400,000 Romanian Jews survived the Holocaust and most of them moved to Israel. The two countries enjoy close economic ties, with much Israeli investment in Romania.Romania open to all pipeline options
BUCHAREST, Romania, May 29 (UPI) -- The decision to back the Nabucco gas pipeline to Europe does not exclude Romanian participation in rival projects, the Romanian prime minister said.
Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc said his country holds Nabucco as a top financial priority, as well as domestic projects, but left open the possibility for other regional projects, the Romanian daily newspaper Curierul National reports.
"Romania has the strategic advantage of holding an important position in any of them, so Romania's policy will be flexible, as it can be part of other European projects," he said.
Romania lies along the route for the Nabucco gas pipeline, which Europe hopes will ease its energy dependence on Russia, while a rival project, South Stream, would secure Russia's position in the southeastern European energy sector.
Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH had announced British consulting company Penspen is coordinating planning efforts for five local front-end engineering and design firms for Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Meanwhile, South Stream would bring around 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from Central Asia and Russia along a route that includes Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia. Romania may be included on a northern branch of the artery.
"We can be party to any of these projects, evidently we must see how the European Union and the other partners will be inclined to support one or other of the projects," the premier said.
Romania recalls its Portugal ambassador
UCHAREST, Romania, May 31 (UPI) -- Romania recalled its ambassador to Portugal after a Bucharest court ruled he collaborated with the communist-era secret police, officials said.
Alin Serbanescu, a spokesperson for the Romanian foreign ministry, said the Appellate Court in Bucharest ruled Ambassador Gabriel Gafita collaborated with the Securitate communist secret police, the Romanian HotNews.ro Web site reported Sunday.
The court's ruling was based on documents provided by the Romanian national council on security archives.
Gafita denied the allegations and said he will appeal the court's decision.
He reportedly began collaborating with the feared Securitate police when he was 25 years old, the Web site said.
Romania repairs nuclear plant water pipe
BUCHAREST, Romania, May 31 (UPI) -- Romania's only nuclear power plant at Cernavoda on the Danube River will go back in operation after experts fix a cracked water pipe, authorities said.
Specialists Sunday worked to repair the water pipe on the Unit 1 nuclear reactor, which was shut down Saturday. The crack posed no radiation risk, officials of Romania's Nuclearelectrica operator said.
The reactor will go back on lineTuesday, the officials told the Romanian Mediafax news agency.
The second reactor unit of the Cernavoda plant, on the Danube delta in eastern Romania, was being overhauled and was also out of operation, Pompiliu Budulan, general manager of Nuclearelectrica said.
The Cernavoda nuclear power plant has two 700-megawatt reactors that produce about 17 percent of Romania's electricity needs.
Romania plans to add two more reactors in the Cernavoda plant by 2016.
Romanian rate cuts need to be slow - central banker
BUCHAREST, May 31 (Reuters) - Any future cuts in Romanian interest rates should be gradual, without sharp changes, central bank governor Mugur Isarescu was quoted saying on Sunday.
Isarescu said inflation was "obviously" on a downward path and any further monetary easing should follow the pace of changes in consumer price growth.
"An interest rate path in line with inflation, with no sudden moves, is preferable to any other option," he told local news agency Mediafax in comments published on its internet site.
"I don't see how brutal moves should be needed because we do not have major uncertainties over the path of price growth."
The Romanian central bank cut interest rates by half a percentage point earlier in May as the economy slid into recession, damaged by global financial turmoil that wiped out demand for the country's exports and domestic consumption.
Still, local interest rates are at a hefty 9.50 percent, with consumer prices rising just under 7 percent on an annual basis.
Many economists expect interest rates to come down further this year as Romania battles recession.
Friday, May 29, 2009
EU elections in Romania: Searching for a 'captain'
EU elections will take place in Romania on 7 June, but Romanian politicians and commentators admit that debates are being hijacked by disputes over the upcoming presidential poll, which is due in the autumn. Romania will elect 33 MEPs, two less than in 2007. This is because the number of MEPs will have to be reduced from 785 to 736 in the 2009 elections, which will be held under the terms of the Nice Treaty. Should the Lisbon Treaty come into force in 2010, Romania will still have 33 MEPs, from a total of 751. Recent surveys paint a grim picture when it comes to expected turnout. During the first EU elections in Romania in 2007, turnout was 29.46%, and according to the latest Eurobarometer poll (EurActiv 15/04/09), 34% of Romanians will vote in the June ballot, which is coincidentally the exact average figure for the EU 27 as a whole. Average turnout among the 25 countries in the 2004 poll was 45.5%. Unemployment and social protection are big issues in Romania, which has fallen from being one of Europe's fastest-growing economies to become a recipient of international rescue loans (EurActiv 26/03/09). Romania will vote on 7 June to elect 33 MEPs. Although Romanians are enthusiastic supporters of EU membership and their awareness about the EU elections is among the bloc's highest, they are not expected to vote in huge numbers. In comparison, turnout at presidential elections in the country is usually well above 50%. The last presidential elections in Romania were held on 28 November 2004, and took place alongside legislative elections. Centre-right candidate Traian Basescu, a former mayor of Bucharest and a ship captain by profession, emerged as the winner. A 2003 amendment to the country's constitution extended the term of the presidential mandate from four to five years, and the two polls will no longer coincide. As politicians and commentators have pointed out (EurActiv 22/05/09), debate around the EU elections has been hijacked by disputes over the presidential poll, which is due in the autumn. Incumbent Traian Basescu is widely expected to run for re-election, although he has not formally announced his intention to do so yet. Other candidates are Mircea Geoana, leader of the Social Democrats (PSD), Crin Antonescu, leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and Prince Radu of Hohenzollern-Veringen, born in 1960 as Radu Duda, a non-dynastic member of the Romanian royal family. A recent poll showed that if presidential elections were to be held now, Traian Basescu would come first (37% of the vote), followed by PSD leader Mircea Geoana with 23% and PNL leader Crin Antonescu with 16%. Romania has a tradition of nepotism. Elena, one of Basescu's daughters, is running for election to the European Parliament as an independent candidate. Her ticket is considered a winning one (EurActiv 27/02/09). The major players According to analysts, the political landscape has not changed much since the 2007 by-elections to the EU assembly. After the 25 November 2007 poll in Romania, the following parties succeeded in sending MEPs to Strasbourg: The Greater Romania Party (PRM) of ultranationalist Corneliu Vadim Tudor obtained 4.15% of the vote, which is below the 5% threshold, and thus PRM did not manage to send a MEP. Not many new faces Among PDL's first 12 MEP candidates, six are current MEPs. Eight of the 12 first PSD candidates are presently MEPs, as are four of the first six PNL candidates and the top three UDMR candidates. The best-known of the new faces is Monica Macovei, who is number two on the PDL list. A former justice minister (2004-2007), Macovei is highly respected in Brussels for her efforts to combat corruption. PDL candidates: PSD candidates: PNL candidates UDMR candidates: PRM candidates: Debate of ideas? Prime Minister and PDL Chairman Emil Boc said on 22 May that the Liberal Democrats were the only ones with a European programme for the elections. He added that his political rivals merely attacked President Basescu and offered only controversy on domestic issues. However, his main rival and coalition partner, the PSD, has published a 16-page 'Political Offer for the European Elections' on its website, while PNL, his other big rival, also put texts with a similar scope on its site. In its programme, PSD rejects a "rightist and egoistic vision of Europe," blames the centre-right for the world economic crisis and wants a European commissioner of Romanian nationality from the PSD. Romanian sources told EurActiv that current MEP Adrian Severin was an obvious candidate for the post. The name of Rovana Plumb is also being mulled in this context. The PNL focuses on the need to remove existing labour restrictions on Romanians in EU countries, and the need for more European engagement in Moldova and Ukraine. For its part, PDL is calling for the administrative burden on firms to be eased and the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs to be relaunched. Ultranationalist arrangements On 7 May, the leader of the ultranationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM), Corneliu Vadim Tudor, announced that business tycoon Gigi Becali had joined his party and would run for a seat in the European Parliament in second position on the PRM ticket. Both men have a realistic chance of being elected. George Becali, commonly known as Gigi Becali, is a controversial Romanian businessman and politician (EurActiv 27/03/09), primarily known for his involvement in football. Becali claims he is a follower of the fascist Romanian Legionnaire Movement. One of his favourite targets are homosexuals, and he even threatened to "finish" them if he is given the power to do so. In the November 2007 European Parliament elections, his party (PNG-CD) obtained 4.86% of the popular vote, just under the 5% threshold. Vadim Tudor's PRM is in decline after winning almost 20% of the vote in the national legislative elections in 2000. In the most recent elections, PRM was unable to enter parliament, after only receiving 3.15% of the vote and failing to reach the 5% threshold. Tudor, once a Communist propagandist and now reborn into nationalism, mainly draws his inspiration from anti-Hungarian conspiracy theories. Parliamentary immunity may be another motivation for Becali to run for election. He was arrested and imprisoned on 3 April after a gang stole his car, and he sent armed bodyguards to recover it. They attacked the thieves and took them to Becali, who then carried his own inquiries. This attempt at private justice led to criminal charges. EurActiv.com
Thursday 28 May 2009
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